Buyer for Spin Off Series
I hate to be contrary… Actually, I love to be contrary. Contrary is my life. When the majority say “A” I go “eh?” No sooner do I find a pillar of certainty than I have the urge to stick pins in it, to chip away, and generally reduce it to rubble. Heisenberg was made for people like me. I’m living quantum physics.
Anyway, a LEXX spin off isn’t necessarily a lost cause.
First things first, LEXX’s ratings do indeed suck, and there’s no way the series could be renewed from its position in the basement. Ok. But we’re not talking about renewing Lexx, we’re talking about a spin off. This means that in terms of pitching the thing, they’re leaving all the liabilities behind.
It’s not LEXX it’s a new project!
Second, LEXX’s ratings only sucked in the fourth season format. Actually, the ratings
for the second and third season were almost always in the top ten, and ranged as high
as 1.3, with a couple of peeks at 1.5 and 2.0. So, if the new series promised to follow a lot of the format of the 2nd year,
for instance, they might well be able to
claim LEXX’s assets.
Third, LEXX seems to have been an incredibly economical show by American standards. This year, they were producing episodes for an average of about $600,000 US per episode.
That’s cheap like Borsch.
Fourth, by all accounts, Salter had developed a good relationship with US Sci Fi, who were generally happy with the effort. And they’ve got a sterling reputation with British and Canadian Sci Fi channels. So these might be more willing to take a chance on a new series from a well
respected producer with good working relationships.
Fifth, all the infrastructure is in place in terms of an experienced, polished, technical and lighting and production crew that is expert at doing a sci fi concept series. They’re good with greenscreen, they’ve shown, especially in first and second year, an aptitude with a variety of in camera and special effects, including rod, wire and hand puppetry, stop motion,
miniatures, mattes, etc. A set construction crew that’s nothing short of brilliant, and a consolidated and very experienced CGI division. Bottom line, there’s a unique
conglomeration of talent and organization that almost demands an opportunity.
Sixth, marketed right, with some continuity of characters, you could simply fold a failed spin off into LEXX which already has a syndication package. They’ve done something similar with Battlestar Galactica and Galactica 1980. The trouble with new series is that if they die early, its a dead loss, there’s no syndication potential for a series that only had 4 or 6 or 13 or 22 episodes. Thus, if it dies, it goes off the air and never makes money again. With a syndication package of at least 65 episodes, you’ve got a real shot at long term revenue potential. Well, LEXX has 65 eps, and if the new series fails, but follows closely in terms of characters and starting situation, it could simply be retitled and included in the syndication package. It’s cheap, it’s sleazy, but it’s viable. So, this diminishes the real risk and increases the long term revenue potential, possibly making the project more viable.
Seventh, Brian Downey may be taking a lesson from J. Michael Straczynski. Straczynski assiduously cultivated a fan base for Babylon 5 before it was even on the air, and used that fan base to create a groundswell of support for the series that eventually helped to get it on the air. Brian’s been incredibly generous and has a loyal following of hard core working fans. There’s a good chance that Brian could well simply say a word and create a groundswell of support, a dedicated fan campaign, to get
a new series started. Think about it, if fans are able to save borderline series with the smell of failure about them, then it might be easier with a fan movement, to support a brand new virginal series with no
liabilities attached.
So, ultimately, I think that a spin off has an uphill climb. This years ratings frankly suck. But I can see gathering enough support for at least an effort at a spin off.
Perhaps a pilot movie or two parter. Or maybe a four or six or seven episode run like Red Dwarf. Or even a minimal US season of 13 episodes to prove itself.
So what the heck… Who knows.
Den V