Fox Shelves Tru Calling Until 2005

Just wondering if FOX care about how many hits the official webiste for Tru Calling has? If they do, maybe we all should start visit that site a couple of times per day and start linking there if anyone has a website.

[andrew r]

Thanks for that [Tru]. And also apply what Jonny said about Fox to those people who want Tru cancelled!

anytime Andrew =)

I was wondering... I don't really understand how this things work but, couldn't TC directors choose another channel for the second season? I'm mean, there must be some contract w/ Fox, but what the hell... if Fox doesn't want TC anymore, why don't they move on to another channel?
I know it's not that simple but... oh well, i don't know... [img]graemlins/shake.gif[/img] :(

[Faith_Fan]

Okay, thanks guys for the image of Eliza, Dana and Gary.

Targeting 20th might not help keep TC on the Fox network, but those two are the ones we need to target to get TC moved to another network. They also would be the ones to greenlight a Faith spinoff, or some other tv show with Eliza.

They also could lower the costs for TC. The WB always liked to blame 20th for Angel's cancellation since the WB claimed 20th wouldn't lower the licensing fee (20th actually did lower it, though).

Not confirmed, but even worse news from Hollywood North Report (the Vancouver tv/movie board). A person on there talked to a TC crew member and heard that the ax has swung. TC is cancelled.

Not official. haven't heard from my contacts yet about it, but doesn't look good.

I'm going to go ahead and do the flower campaign. That worked well with Angel.

Also, need ideas for the Hollywood Reporter ad. And we need other postcards to send to Fox (Gail Berman).

http://www.savetrucalling.com

[M@tt]

Do you know what's happening with the 6 or 13 episode deal? I find it hard to believe that it's so up in the air that they don't know whether filming stops next week. That being said, it is FOX.

[Faith_Fan]

I haven't heard about the 6 vs 13 episode thing yet. Hopefully Variety or Hollywood Reporter will have something when they update this evening.

Fox is going crazy with script deals this week. So far they've bought about 10 new scripts to develop into pilots. All sound silly but with broad appeal (cop dramas, Las Vegas high school drama, spy dramas).

Worse news, Fox just bought a script from Richard Hatem, one of the TC writers and supervising producers(he wrote episode 4 of this season), who also worked on Miracles. It looks like Richard will be a producer on that series, so he's gone from TC already.

I have a hunch that Fox is looking at all of these new shows and figure they want Eliza to star in one of them and want talented writers like Hatem and Espenson on one of these new broader appeal type dramas.

[ September 15, 2004, 07:54 PM: Message edited by: Faith_Fan ]

So do you think they are going to leave Eliza Job Less, or put her on one of those new shows? This is all so crazy!

[Faith_Fan]

What Fox does is cancel shows then move the talent to new shows. Immediately after canceling shows like Wonderfalls and Cracking Up, they had key producers and talent signed to lucrative development deals. Fox just recycles ideas, actors and writers until they get a hit show.

For example, several years ago Fox had a show they greenlighted but never aired called Septuplets from Tru Calling's Dawn Parouse. After seeing the script for the first few episodes, Fox decided that it was better as a comedy. So we now have the comedy Quintuplets and half of the Septuplets cast moved on to new Fox pilots.

Had they canceled TC last spring, Eliza would have been let out of her contract. It's likely that if Fox doesn't officially cancel TC now and does what they did with Still Life last year - say they plan to air it but never do, Eliza could be stuck in her TC contract until June. The whole cast of Still Life was unable to sign on for any other roles or audition during pilot season, due their Still Life contracts. So Eliza could be forced to either sit out until June, or sign a lucrative 6 figure development deal with 20th and star in a new pilot in the spring.

Considering the timing of these, I'd say there is a good chance that Fox has some motives like this.

[ September 15, 2004, 09:36 PM: Message edited by: Faith_Fan ]

Can FOX really force Eliza to sit it until June? If they stop production on "Tru Calling" doesn't that mean Eliza is a free agent?

I'm not too worried about our girl. I'm sure Sam Rami would be more than happy to give her a job [img]graemlins/thumbs.gif[/img] She'd do better to sit it out or buy out her contract IMHO.

I am worried about the about the rest of the cast and crew. Do they have to sit around jobless? The way FOX treat it's people is beyond reprehensible. I hope "North Shore" bombs.

Monday's airing of North Shore seemed to have pretty low ratings... if there hoping to have a Priestly effect with Doherty think again... It helped Tru out creatively, but not ratings wise, and I don't think they can pull it off with North Shore.

[Faith_Fan]

If Fox straight out cancels it then, Eliza would probably be released from her contract. More likely Fox halts production and says they'll wait to see if they want to order more episodes if they choose to air Season 2 later in the season. And they have until June to air them or more likely not air them. Meanwhile Eliza and the cast sit and wait.

For example, with the short lived Fox show Pasadena, it was never canceled. The cast's contracts just expired at the end of the season. But Fox never canceled the show so they couldn't book anything else since Fox could have aired Pasadena and it could have been a hit and it could have gone back into production.

However, with the Fox sitcom The Grubbs, Randy Quaid got out of his contract and that's why it never aired (Fox aired the even worse The Pitts). If they aired it and by some freak of nature it was successful, he'd demand too much money to resign. So Fox never aired The Grubbs since it was cheaper to put something else into production to replace it.

So if Eliza is let of of her contract, TC season 2 might never air due to Fox's insane troll logic.

Hopefully enough agents and managers are onto Fox's little tricks. And if Fox and 20th wants to work with Eliza again, they won't play any of these stupid games. That's why they buy out contracts and do huge development deals to suck up to talent.

Also, Zach G's official site sent out a newsletter announcing Zach has a bunch of new comedy tour dates next week. That probably isn't a good sign.

[M@tt]

Dammit, everything is pointing to six episodes and if that's the case, the show is gone. Let's say they do air the show in January and the ratings are up substantially, it would be impossible for them to rush production so that the season could continue after episode six. Just impossible.

I have to say, I'm glad we're in a situation where Jason is in a similar boat to Eliza. Shawn and Zach will frankly have no bargaining power but there's no way that FOX would burn bridges with both Eliza and Jason. I have no idea where Eliza's head is at now but with Jason, I'm sure he would be very open to do another pilot on FOX, apparently that was his original plan before the Tru gig showed up. So I'm quite happy about that, I don't think we need worry about Eliza too much.

And finally, the DVDs. If it is 6 episodes and the show is over, then I have to take a 180 and start agreeing with Faith_Fan's original assessment. First off, with no show in November, the DVDs are destined to fail now. Second, at six episodes (that may never be aired), no DVD would be in order for a second season. So the best case scenario now is for the DVDs to be pushed back to 2005 and for them to release a seven disc complete series boxset. I have no problem giving up my Tru fix for this year if it means we're guaranteed to see every episode of the show. So fingers crossed that happens.

Tru currently at a sales rank of 1,323 on Amazon.com right now... it's a start considering it was almost at 3,000 when news about the show broke. I agree with Matt though, that if we don't get to see the remaining six aired atleast don't cheap out on the DVD, and release it there... Fox owes at least that much to the fans for the hell they're putting us through!

Hmm.. Good to see a couple of u voicing out being not too worried about Eliza. Cos I am. Tru is after all her show. Don't want her going from lead to supporting do we? With all these news about the show, any chance we'd hear anything from Eliza herself?

[M@tt]

Well I'm not saying she'll definitely slip into another leading lady role but that doesn't mean that her career will be going backwards. Looking at the scripted dramas for this year, very few have one main lead, the biggest successes in recent years for FOX have been 24 and OC and while the first does centre on Kiefer more often that not, they really are shows that could go on without Jack or Ryan respectively. I mean technically, Misha Barton isn't the lead for OC but you'd never know it by the press she gets, if Eliza could ever find herself in a similar situation, I'm sure no one would see it as a step backwards from Tru.

That's even if she does TV again though, if she goes back to movies then the Tru comparison won't even be there. A good role in a movie can often overshadow a great role on TV.

[Charlie5x5]

So right now we need to concentrate on making noise right? We have to do as much as possible as soon as possible. I know its unlikely that FOX will read every email, but if they see that people are actually bothering to send them, then they might sit up and take notice. Postcards are a good idea too and not expensive at all, I'll try to make a TC one people can print off when I get home tonight, as long as they can see that the fans are bothered it stands a better chance then if no effort is made at all - what do we have to lose?

This is the best place for addresses etc (Thanks Faith_Fan) Campaign Updates

[ September 16, 2004, 09:46 AM: Message edited by: Chosen4Eliza ]

Let's all remember that if Tru Calling goes down the crapper it opens all kinds of movie possibilitys for Eliza.. She should definately stay away from tv shows for a while now..

[Faith_Fan]

The good news today is that the new Fox drama Athens (from the creators of The OC) is being delayed from a January launch to a spring launch since they want to concentrate on The OC.

That's one less show Fox has for January/February.

I'm writing to tell off fox right now! With Angel gone last year, I hoped Tru and Dark Shadows on the WB could replace it. The networks have screwed me again. [img]graemlins/steaming.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/flame.gif[/img]
[img]graemlins/evil.gif[/img] Maybe we can get revenge by not watching network television anymore! I have Buffy 1-6 and Angel 1-4, Tru season 1 Buffy 7 and Angel 5 will be mine by winter's end. Who needs the networks.

[Faith_Fan]

It's cancelled.

Parry Shen (who plays one of the new characters) posted on the Delphi TC board that TC has been cancelled. The table read for the last episode, 'Twas The Night Before Christmas Again, was yesterday. They started filming it today.

On Hollywood North Report, Extrainvancity, who's provided reports about TC location shoots and is a regular extra on the show posted:

Phttp://www.hollywoodnorthreport.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1490

AS OF YESTERDAY TRU CALLING IS OFFICIALLY CANCELLED, IT WAS DROPPED FOR A REALITY TV SHOW , THE LAST EPISODE FILMS THIS WEEK AND THATS IT !!! THATS ALL I HAVE FOR NOW

Filmsetguy, another BC film industry insider who frequently posts the location of TC location shoots in advance posted:

I found out last night that the BC Film Commission had been at the table to the LAST 3 WEEKS trying to work out deals and as of September 13, 2004 at 1:31PM, deals fell apart.

Who to blame? Not Fox. Not the producers. But the poll people. That right right. This decision was done, cause the "polls" showed a drop in viewing.