Today’s Guest Clack is from Izzy Plumbly, a writer from Manchester, England who has a full-blown addiction to TV and has never quite gotten over the mess that was Buffy season six. Or the last episode of Angel. But The Wire and Sons of Anarchy soon made up for those, as did Mad Men, Bones … the list goes on….
First things first, let’s get this straight. I loved Defying Gravity. Thirteen beautifully crafted episodes that paid off bit by bit, readying me for the big reveal — that I’m pretty sure would have been metered out morsel by tasty morsel over the series — Ron Livingston doing his “man with a difficult past” routine, Christina Cox’s awesome tough-girl act … I could go on.
However, thanks to the popularity of shows effectively the mental equivalent of Paris Hilton reading the phone book, Defying Gravity never stood a chance. Why would viewers invest their time in another multi-layered and twisty-turny plot when they can get everything they want from this week’s Melrose Place or NCIS:LA (which, yes, I have actually watched, tempted by LL Cool J’s once-upon-a-time-coolness, only to find I’d been horribly duped and he’s just terrible. And alongside Chris O’Donnell. There’s a reason why that guy never made it past being a bland sidekick).
Think about it. You turn on Melrose, you get some nice colours, some pretty girls, moderately hot men, quick storylines with just the right amount of naughtiness, a face from the old version of the show (hello Sydney, Jane, Michael and Jo, next Amanda, rescuing Heather Locklear from spending the rest of her career in moderate oblivion) … it’s so easy. And for a few moments, it makes you feel great.
Defying Gravity was something different. There wasn’t much exposition, a shiny blob in one bit of the spaceship turning everyone a bit mad, Livingston’s aforementioned puppy dog and furrowed brow not-at-all-suggesting-that-something- happened-in-his-murky-past and mysterious flashbacks. Unless you commit to watching this, there’s no point at all. And most people can’t be bothered. Between each episode you’re left wondering what Paula is hiding because no one is that bothered about a dog, why Nadia’s hallucination looked like her in a dude’s outfit and what the hell fractal tomatoes are. It really turned my cogs. And that’s not meant in a dodgy way (get your mind out of the gutter. I know what you were thinking).
But the payoff, gentle viewers, would have been fantastic. If James Pariott’s vision would have been allowed to continue, we would have been in for a treat; I was particularly looking forward to when the Antares reached Saturn, when Rollie inevitably told Jen about the crash and when everyone realized Goss was a total wally and revoked his clearance. And when Peter Howitt did some more Dick van Dyke impressions. Wait, that’s not what he was doing?
Clacked by Guest Clacker
on Nov 13, 2009 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
Well written. DG was a more subtle show that is allowed to exist on network television. The saddest part is that it likely would have been a huge success on a cable network like SyFy where they desperately want more mainstream and women-appealing content, but it never had a chance for the numbers that are required to survive on network tv.
I hope people buy the DVDs though — maybe James Pariott will have a better chance with a new show if this is successful with DVD sales (such as with Firefly).
I mourn the loss of this brilliant show as much as I would have had I had a television when Firefly was suddenly but inevitably betrayed by FOX.
I’m hanging on to a tiny glimmer of hope that it will be picked up and continued by another network that can/will give it a real chance (I’m looking at you SyFy). Barring that, a book series (or movie – same cast, please!!) would be incredible.
I didn’t watch DG, because *this* website repeated the label: “Grey’s In Space”. By the time I realized that wasn’t acurate, I didn’t investigate how to watch the episodes that I missed.
My advice to the ClickClack people: be careful what you write. Some of us actually read it.
I never liked that label and felt it brought the show down. I never labeled that myself and I think we only indicated that *others* were labeling it as such. I don’t see it’s our fault — we didn’t come up with the label.
But it was Grey’s in Space. How is that not accurate? Sure the Beta stuff was kind of cool and there was a nice mix of religion/faith/science examination, but much of it was a bunch of intern astronauts and the wacky hijinks and xylophone music that ensues.
Sorry, my comment was in reply to Stuart. Not sure why it attached itself to Keith’s comment.
Not to mention all the drinking. They where drinking like no tomorrow. But aside from the fact that it resembles a mix of an average intelligent Eureka / Sunshine / Grey’s i was hooked in the end. If they had stepped up the science talk a bit, had a little more intriguing plot in each episode (i need some episodes to enjoy then and there without waiting for the next ep to air to get closure), i’d keep watching this till they got back home.
I only experienced the two-hour pilot, but felt that the label was entirely accurate, and didn’t come back the following week. I do wonder if the show would truly have done better with other regular viewers of Syfy.
Did I read that when the show was pitched, they pitched it that way to get it picked up?
Yes. Go see what Parriot said in my interview with him about it.
Using Keith’s interview (awesome btw) as a centerpiece of discovery points, I too am dismayed by us not being able to see this ride continue. Parriott denies actually being the one to initially call it “Greys Anatomy in Space” but obviously jumped on it when the trailers advertised it as “From the Producers of Grey’s Anatomy.” I do however disagree that the reasoning behind the show not succeeding is because it is too smart. Let us look at some of the facts:
1. Parriott tells us that ABC sat on the decision to run DG until three weeks before airing. All of the ad space was gone. Little to no promotion is done and almost no one knows DG is about to premier.
2. ABC decides to run DG as a summer series instead of part of its fall schedule as the fall schedule is already determined. Television viewers normally use the month of August to view re-runs of their favorite television shows to get themselves tuned back up for the new fall episodes.
3. ABC is the last network that DG is shopped to with BBC, ProSieben, and CTV already supporting production when the final episode is shot. Shooting completed around the middle of May 2009.
4. DG airs and the ratings are not stellar. Placed up gainst Sunday Night Football (NBC) and reruns of NCIS (CBS). ABC advertises Episode 8 as the season finale. ABC tells the DG fan base that the show is not cancelled and that they (ABC) are looking for a good time slot for future airings.
Looking at all of the above indicates to me that the reason the show failed is because ABC wanted to kill it. It wouldn’t be the first time a series was killed on purpose. Of course this conclusion can not be proven by me as I do not have the all important why’s answered. The show was smart- not 2001: A Space Odyssey smart, but it hooked me in a way like no other.
I sure would like to see this one in its full six year mission. I caught the Peter Howitt/VanDyke thing as well. And I liked it…
The facebook group Save Defying Gravity has been making some headway in spreading the word. Currently DG is wining the TV Guide Poll “What Is Your Favorite Show of 2009?”
https://www.tvguide.com/PhotoGallery/Favorite-2009-1011839/16.aspx
Hello Jim,
I agree with your points – the difference for me though is that as a UK viewer, it wasn’t billed as “Grey’s In Space” here at all, so I’ve had a totally different perspective on it. I just saw an ad on the BBC and thought I’d give it a go. In the UK, it was originally on a prime-time channel in a prime-time spot, but still no-one watched it. Everyone is too hooked on junk like the X Factor to worry about anything remotely more taxing, unfortunately! I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of someone called Katie Price but she has a reality show over the pond here and it competes in the same slot as DG… which means the latter never stand a chance. It’s already been booted from 9pm on Thursday to near-midnight on a Monday :(
Thanks very much
Izzy
I too watched it on BBC2 (Saturday late I think) but I never saw any trailers or write ups in the paper. Why was there no media coverage? Why must we put up with endless I’m a Celebrity and X-Factor pulp when other programmes are much more entertaining and thought-provoking? I just happened to catch it when flicking. I loved it. Absolutely brilliant. But maybe I’m strange liking both Grey’s Anatomy and Star Trek. I was shocked and saddened to read that the sets have been pulled down. It was jointly financed by Fox in the US (I think) Canadian Broadcasting and the BBC so why is it only the US that gets to say if it continues?
Having been left with a gaping hole in my televisual viewing following the conclusion of Battlestar Galactica, I turned to DG. I have to say that, despite initial reservations with the pilot episode, it has grown in strength and I am really disappointed with the idea that it won’t be continued. The characters were believable, the premise promising and I would love to see how the show pans out.
It does irritate me that the popularity of a show is determined by ratings rather than looking at downloads from the BBC iplayer or other similar sites. T.V. viewing habits have changed and low ratings does not necessarily determine a lack of interest- look at the way in which the previously mentioned Galactica grew in strength (partiularly in the U.K) season to season supported by DVD sales and the rise in downloading.
I’m off to find that facebook site- I’ve not given up hope yet!
I just watched the final two episodes, back to back, on the BBC.
I really enjoyed this series – a bit slow sometimes, but always enough going on to keep the interest level up.
Good cast and character development – I really felt I was getting to know these people and to care about them (which I don’t do very often with the televisual garbage we generally get served up).
The final episode was, for me, probably the best of the series. Interesting and absorbing stuff.
I thought it one of the most “adult” sci-fi programmes I’ve seen in a long time.
Very very disappointed to learn it’s not going to continue. A great shame because given enough publicity it could have enjoyed good ratings.
Sat here having just watched episode 13, i said to my wife “I bet they cancel this”, When she asked why i thought that , stated that it would be because “the ratings would be poor”.
Again “why?” i said “It’s because it’s an intelligently written and well thought out series that will require the average American to think about, therefore it’ll be cancelled”
When i checked…
When will the people that commission these things have the courage to go the distance?
I love America. My wife loves America, we would live there if possible. But COME ON PEOPLE! when are shows that shovel out the same trite plot lines with minimal intelligence and poor dialogue going to end?
I guessed the bad guy in harpers island in the first episode. Got his ‘dad’ by the third-.
America is home of the moon landings, breaking sound barriers, among other innumerable achievements. But it’s also home to the most myopic ideas of what is good tv and what is popular.
A real pity.
I’m gutted.
I watched the last 2 episodes back to back last night after recording them on BBC2 on Monday and came on the web to find out when the next season was due on…only to find out it was cancelled. Unbelievable. It had been a slow burner and had got me hooked by the end. It was intelligent AND entertaining. I cared for the characters…surely everyone had someone they identified with on Antares…and wanted to know where it was all going.
Well, if this is the way TV is going to go…pushing the X-Factor and I’m A Celeb whilst allowing the likes of DG to fall by the wayside, I don’t know if I want a part of it any more.
One of the difficulties with Defying Gravity was that it took too long to develop. I know everyone is saying that it is nice to have a long series, but, within only a limited space cast and the hitchcockian `McGuffin’ the difficulty was the backstories involving the astronauts filled up too much of the time.
The idea was fine, the science, as far as I can work out OK, except for how radio waves broke Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, never mind, but the writers forgot the first principle of drama – it’s got to grip. Battlestar Galactica gripped, right from the beginning, was taughtly written, hard and made challenging points, but Defying Gravity was, in the end, bland. There was no tension between the McGuffin and humans, only vague promises and perhaps they were `good’ guys. Lack of tension in the premise I believe killed the drama.
Most of us in our own lives have enough human drama to deal with but the back stories seemed to be piled on so much that there seemed no reason for them, what we all wanted to know was what the McGuffin was, where it came from, what was it’s purpose (and in drama, I’m afraid, evil does bite more than good, look what happens to Good News Papers, they die).
Some reading of Aristotle’s Poetics by the writers might have made them think about long drawn out episodes that went nowhere. Yes, a spanner in the works could cause damage, but, was it essential to story development. Yes, an abortion is a painful thing to many women, but, what did it have to do with the McGuffin, apart from the obvious point of the crying baby.
In the end it was, as I said before, too bland, too long winded (and before you all leap up I’ve read all 1100 pages of the Count of Monte Cristo, long does not have to be tiresome)and thus destined for the dustbin.
Which is a shame because I believe with tighter scripting, an acknowledgment that it could have been achieved with far less episodes, a thirteen week season could, I believe have encompassed everything that was need. Certainly, by episode 4 the progam could have landed on Venus. What was the necessity of having two episodes containing nothing but about two astronauts selected and then deselected. Surely the McGuffin would have got his crew right before departure.
Venus by 4, Mars by 6 enough minor drama and the planets or asteroids, each episode and you could have still have had a final extended episode to wrap the series up. After all, 2001 encompassed 4 million years in 2 hours 13 minutes.
Cheers
John
Agree wholeheartedly that this show was fantastic. It was intelligent and thought provoking and relied on the characters adn storylines. I was hooked as many were but here in teh UK, the BBC moved each weeks episode all over the place. You had to use theit ‘iPlayer’ on demand feature just to follow it. It seems obvious that ABC never meant to invest much effort into the project so resurrecting under their wind seems unlikely.
I haev however complained to ABC for the good that will doand haev also done so to the BBC which is a co-producer. I actually believe if the BBC picked it up they could make a real go of it as they have everything both creatively and technically needed to keep it going. I did suggest it in my complaint. Who knows?
I hope Defying Gravity get another chance with someone who truly believes in it. With the recent spate of US shows being cancelled within their first season, it now getting to the point where it’s hardly worth watching any new US shows for fear of it dying an abrupt death.
regards,
B
The very best first season of a TV series since Heroes first marvellous season.Acting and writing:simply supurb.Sets and cgi:outstandingly believable.The storyline captured my mind and heart from the pilot.It was fit to burst with possibilities and intrigues.I mourn its untimely death,nay,its premeditated murder.Tv grandees are souless and small-minded.One can only hope for a magical ressurection in the near future.Would that I had the funds to pay for the complete series.A great loss to us all.
I think the mixture of story elements was well conceived, but the pacing a little too slow for mainstream audiences.
Back-story adds another dimension to any good tale – but perhaps this show spent just a little too long dabbling in each character’s past.
The plot for the (canned) later series sounded pretty interesting – and if the formula can be shaken up a little, I think it could have made the show a good commercial success (assuming some basics, like giving the show decent promotion both sides of the Atlantic and a decent time slot).
BBC2’s scheduling was erratic as was the failure to provide episode numbers in the Freeview listings – meaning I saw several episodes out of sequence. Episodes 12 and 13 really brought things to an interesting point – only then did I discover news of the show being scrapped.
A real shame that this good idea went off a bit half-cocked – it was a show that had a huge amount of potential and purely on the basis of episode 13 – had enough scope and depth to become a very long running & successful show.
It is criminal that the show got cancelled. The relationship between the characters and their past unfolded in a mesmerizing way. The filming was magnificent, and the plot intriguing. I do not not understand why it had to end? I’m all for ambiguity when it’s something by David Lynch, but in this case there are too many things left unanswered which should be wrapped up with a second series at least. Go on, make it!