Still Star-Crossed: Discussion Thread

[slick jones]

Cancelled

[DramatistDreamer]

Shonda Rhimes is going to Netflix. I wonder whether Still Star-Crossed will be revived there?

[ChitHappens]

I know folks think this is a huge loss to ABC, but I don't believe that.  Shonda is good for a season and a 1/2 of her shows.  I can't take her for long periods of time, not even with the great Viola Davis leading one of her shows.  They turn into huge messes by S2!

[DramatistDreamer]

I actually don't watch most of Shonda's shows but I do think that ABC didn't give Still Star-Crossed much of a chance, likely due to budget concerns. It would be interesting to see what a much deeper pocketed Netflix could do with a show like SSC, as, in a way, this seems much more up their alley than ABC.

 

As for ABC/Disney, in a way I agree with you @ChitHappens. Scandal is heading toward its final season, Grey's Anatomy is a bit long in the tooth and How To Get Away With Murder...who knows how long that series has left, especially considering how versatile Viola Davis' career is?  And both parties are mum on whether Shondaland would 'reup' when the remaining shows' contracts expire but it seems unlikely.

 

On the other hand, I read that Shondaland shows have earned over $2 billion worth of revenue for ABC/Disney.  That's an enormous amount of money from one showrunner!  ABC/Disney most definitely is thinking long-term impact. I mean, they have an entire night dedicated to Shondaland shows!

[ChitHappens]

Revenue wise?  Huge loss.  Quality good shows? Nope!

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Oh yeah, of course not!  I gave up on Scandal before it even got good because I couldn't stand the dialogue, LOL.

 

This is definitely an impact based on quantity, ratings and ad $$$, not quality!

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There's an old joke that television is called a medium because it's neither rare nor well done.

[te.]

The resilience of Grey's is truly impressive and I'd bet that it stands for a lot of the revenue that Shondaland has earnt ABC - Scandal rode really high for a few seasons, but had an ugly crash for the past two seasons. How To Get Away With Murder had a strong first season, but started crashing, ratingswise in the second. Scandal and Murder are now mid-level performers - not awful, but not very impressive. I imagine Scandal is getting too expensive though to be a mid-level performer, so that's done.

 

Private Practice ran for a somewhat impressive six seasons, but was never more than a mid-level performer for ABC.

 

The Catch, Off the Map and Still Star-Crossed were bombs.

 

Still, she has legal drama For The People coming midseason plus the untitled Grey's spin-off for ABC, so it doesn't seem like she's done with them. Though supposedly ABC wants to move away from serialised shows into a more procedural direction, so maybe it's the right time for her to jump ship.

 

[DramatistDreamer]

The money probably made it the right time to jump ship.

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Still Star-Crossed is very expensive. Period pieces will always be more expensive.  ABC likely didn't have the money to do anything longer than a mini-series. Cost wouldn't be an issue for Netflix. 

 

Also, there is the issue of creative freedom. Shonda Rhimes' shows were seen as tackling taboo topics and pushing the boundaries on network TV but compared with Netflix shows, her shows would seem somewhat tame.

 

Martin Scorcese, Spike Lee and Ava Duvernay and other filmmakers have chosen to do projects with Netflix and some TV producers are bypassing network to bring their work to Amazon and Netflix.