[Larry G]

I was just wondering how we can encourage people to watch. I'm really enjoying it, and fearing it's gonna get the axe if the ratings continue to dip. At this point, I'm pointing out to my younger friends the eye candy that is Alessandra Torresani and Magda Aponowicz, and this is encouraging, but the feedback I'm getting is though they certainly enjoy the hotness on the screen, are finding the plot cheesy at best. I hear two reasons: Either BECAUSE it's Galactica and they have a bias against it, OR because it's depressing/dead end, we know eventually basically everybody dies in the end, lol.

What are you doing to get your friends to watch? What can we do? I'm really wanting to see the story unfold, and watch the war take place and such (though that may have to wait for a sequel), and am trying not to become too attached to the show because I'm fearing it will be a one-season wonder. I think it's so amazingly awesome, though it's gonna be hard to find its audience because basically the show is very much reminiscent of the 80s "salad days" of nighttime soaps. In some ways it has a Dallas or Knots Landing vibe if any of you fellow "oldsters" remembers those. But yet is a sci-fi series. No one's really ever done this before at least overtly, though you can't deny that a series like the Trek franchise had elements of serialization.

So do you think Sci-Fi will give it a chance if the ratings continue to dive? What has Ron Moore said if anything on the subject?

Larry

[dsgtdave]

There is a thread that links an article about how syfy is standing behind the show in the Caprica news section. Whether or not that means season 2 and beyond is speculative but encouraging. According to the exec the live+7 (DVR & Internet streaming of episodes) pushed the first Episode into the top 10 of shows on cable for that night.

There are a lot of people that seem to give negative feedback in certain places on the net. But that can be said about nearly every show/movie out there and I would most certainly bet there are just as many people out there that love the show.

As for what I am doing, I'm just offering up the show as a well written dramatic sci-fi show by word of mouth to friends. I have a couple friends watching it so far. They DVR I'm pretty sure.

[obsolete toaster]

My friends all seem to have a definite 'lack of enthusiasm' to Caprica as well; we used to discuss the latest BSG for hours it seemed. They hardly watch Caprica; or they say they recorded it but haven't watched it yet.

I don't get this reaction either; granted, it's not BSG, but it's a damn compelling show in it's own right. I think some of my friends may miss the space opera element of BSG, or the gritty, heavy action/struggle-to-survive intensity of the parent show.
To those who like those qualities of BSG the most, Caprica IS a hard sell, you have to admit...


Caprica really is (as RDM and the above posts pointed point) kind of a weird, sci-fi hybrid of Godfather, Dallas/Knot's Landing and Gattaca. Not an easy to define niche at all.

[Cylon-Knight]

Hummm... OT, you need new friends - some with enthusiasm this time - HA.

My wife is watching Caprica with me. She has seen each one - guess how many (ZERO) Battlestars she's ever watched - new or old? ..... anyone? anyone?

She's digging it. She even pointed out one day driving to eat out that the girl driving the truck next to us looked like Zoe.
HA!
ROCK ON
(And she DID look like Zoe - FREAKY )

[obsolete toaster]

Cylon-Knight, on 25 February 2010 - 11:14 PM, said:

Hummm... OT, you need new friends - some with enthusiasm this time - HA.

My wife is watching Caprica with me. She has seen each one - guess how many (ZERO) Battlestars she's ever watched - new or old? ..... anyone? anyone?

She's digging it. She even pointed out one day driving to eat out that the girl driving the truck next to us looked like Zoe.
HA!
ROCK ON
(And she DID look like Zoe - FREAKY )

My wife loves it too.

But I have a few old friends of mine who loved BSG, and are just luke-warm to the new show (again, I don't know why; I find both shows compelling in very different, but equally involving ways).

Go figure! **harumph!**

[Cylon-Knight]

Give them some punch... punch ...punch... punch ...punch... punch ...punch... punch

[obsolete toaster]

Cylon-Knight, on 25 February 2010 - 11:19 PM, said:

Give them some punch... punch ...punch... punch ...punch... punch ...punch... punch

Maybe add some "Ovion grog" to it too! Oh wait, that'll only make them like TOS!

For some reason, getting (new) people to watch Caprica seems to be a real uphill climb!

[dsgtdave]

You guys are lucky. My wife could never understand my fascination with BSG and I made her watch the pilot of Caps in the summer. She said it was better than she thought it would be but still didn't enjoy it that much. She has since said she will catch up with the series one weekend and give it a shot.

Still waiting......

[Nanouk]

Im one of those infidels who's not watching yet....
I swear its just because Im bussy! ... Ill get started soon and be back to discuss:)

[obsolete toaster]

Nanouk, on 27 February 2010 - 03:52 PM, said:

Im one of those infidels who's not watching yet....
I swear its just because Im bussy! ... Ill get started soon and be back to discuss:)

"GET HER!! THE INFIDEL WENT AROUND THAT CORNER!!!"


Just kidding....

[Karajorma]

Let's face it, there are a lot of BSG fans we could do without. I remember having to deal with complaints from fans that the show wasn't good any more cause they'd had 2-3 episodes without any space battles. I remember once having an argument with someone who claimed the show had jumped the shark after Epiphanies and Black Market. So a grand total of two episodes they didn't like and the show's permanently turned to rubbish? Either that or they didn't like Resurrection Ship (in which case they're on ignore as criminally tasteless anyway. ).

To be honest I don't care if Caprica does win over fans of BSG. The show is entertaining in its own right. As long as it pulls in a large enough audience of its own I don't care if there isn't a huge overlap with the BSG audience.

[Proxím]

I can't honestly understand people who watch Battlestar Galactica because of the space battles :-/ . To me it was always about the character development, political intrigues, plotting, corruption and just about everything but the actual battles. The whole tension between Cylons and humans, and their correlation to eachother was intriguing as well but while I did enjoy the battles, they weren't something I looked forward to.

In that sense, Caprica feels like a perfect prequel to me as it focuses on those exact same things, but takes away a lot of the action unless it's called for and feels genuine in a human kind of way. The way every theoretical kill feels tense and gives time to think about your relation to each character and their relations with eachother makes every character that dies matter in a whole different way. I can't say that this in particular is much different from Battlestar Galactica though as every battle felt like the world was experiencing an earthquake of magnitude 10 while your friend was on vacation.

I guess my conclusion is that the series remind me a lot of the original series, but gives more time to character depth. While the battles in BSG were tense, they took a lot of time and didn't give much more depth to the characters or the series as a whole.

Caprica, the planet I was born on, will always be my first crush and my final defeat.

[Cylon-Knight]

Karajorma, on 28 February 2010 - 02:47 AM, said:

Let's face it, there are a lot of BSG fans we could do without. I remember having to deal with complaints from fans that the show wasn't good any more cause they'd had 2-3 episodes without any space battles. I remember once having an argument with someone who claimed the show had jumped the shark after Epiphanies and Black Market. So a grand total of two episodes they didn't like and the show's permanently turned to rubbish? Either that or they didn't like Resurrection Ship (in which case they're on ignore as criminally tasteless anyway. ).

To be honest I don't care if Caprica does win over fans of BSG. The show is entertaining in its own right. As long as it pulls in a large enough audience of its own I don't care if there isn't a huge overlap with the BSG audience.

I agree wtih Proxim... a "no space battles" knock would be like not watching Dallas because there was no Steve Urkel... one show type does not fit with the other.

Caprica is not a ship based SciFi show so why expect ships fighting? Non of the main characters are in the military, none of the plot involves travel of any consequence across the stars, etc. I do think there will be some travel to Tauron or Vergon (spellings?) and maybe some ship drama getting there... but it will be a little ship blip in a larger people only story.

[obsolete toaster]

Anyone who watched BSG only for the space battles would've died of starvation in season three anyway, so Darwinism would've eliminated them from the BSG fan gene pool!

To make this clear, I like Caprica very much. Yet, I do agree that it is not without flaws (nothing is perfect), but it is thoroughly engaging nevertheless. However, playing Devil's Advocate (and not my personal opinion, mind you) I can understand how someone who liked the urgency, post-apocalyptic fatalism, the action (not just space battles), and the gritty, cinema verite-style of BSG might not like the new show. While it explores many of the same themes as BSG (artificial intelligence, corruption, a society turning on itself, etc), the tone is so very different that I can understand (though not necessarily agree with) how someone might be turned off by the new show's more "soap opera than space opera" approach.

Ron Moore himself called it as "Dallas In Space" and to a degree, he is spot-on right; it is a tale of families, corporate corruption, revenge, loss and as a side attraction, we have the development of the first true AI that will ultimately destroy this decadent society! That's a heady concept, and one has to accept that not everyone will take to it (I'm still a bit surprised that a few of my old BSG watching friends have dropped off on this one!).

[Cylon-Knight]

It will probably wonder all over like "Cat's Eye" and then - at the end - "oh!"

[dsgtdave]

It is also important to note that there is plenty of Sci-Fi in Caprica. I don't mind that it is not space based at all. For now I am holding to the syfy exec who noted that it would take "time" to develop a fan base and that they are willing to wait. Call me naive or wishful.

[Proxím]

I really hope that turns out to be true. Regardless though, maybe we should start setting up posters during nighttime around town? It would definitely get the attention of someone, no doubt the ratings would increase a little.

[Captain Taurus]

Larry G, on 25 February 2010 - 03:25 PM, said:

I was just wondering how we can encourage people to watch. I'm really enjoying it, and fearing it's gonna get the axe if the ratings continue to dip. At this point, I'm pointing out to my younger friends the eye candy that is Alessandra Torresani and Magda Aponowicz, and this is encouraging, but the feedback I'm getting is though they certainly enjoy the hotness on the screen, are finding the plot cheesy at best. I hear two reasons: Either BECAUSE it's Galactica and they have a bias against it, OR because it's depressing/dead end, we know eventually basically everybody dies in the end, lol.

What are you doing to get your friends to watch? What can we do? I'm really wanting to see the story unfold, and watch the war take place and such (though that may have to wait for a sequel), and am trying not to become too attached to the show because I'm fearing it will be a one-season wonder. I think it's so amazingly awesome, though it's gonna be hard to find its audience because basically the show is very much reminiscent of the 80s "salad days" of nighttime soaps. In some ways it has a Dallas or Knots Landing vibe if any of you fellow "oldsters" remembers those. But yet is a sci-fi series. No one's really ever done this before at least overtly, though you can't deny that a series like the Trek franchise had elements of serialization.

So do you think Sci-Fi will give it a chance if the ratings continue to dive? What has Ron Moore said if anything on the subject?

Larry

I think it is going to be based on quality of the show, effective marketing of Caprica and word-of-mouth. Without this, Caprica is as good as the new Knight Rider - DEAD! I think doing what you are doing. Getting people talking about the show, new topics, things of interest such as Comic Cons and new web sites dedicated to the show. All these things will encompass the greater good and will eventually make the show a success. It needs numbers and fans to support it. Think about the carry-over from BSG alone is enough to make the show a success. Plus new fans coming on board, it should succeed. That is just my opinion.

Capt. T.

[obsolete toaster]

Frankly, appealing to people at places like sci fi cons is preaching to the converted; they really need to advertise the show to those who DON'T know of it. In mainstream press and such. When TIME magazine named BSG it's best show of the year two years in a row, it gave the show a much-needed 'mainstream' boost (although, sadly, it was short-lived).


I think that CAPRICA's name has to be plastered onto magazines like Entertainment Weekly and such (not merely mentioned in a sound bite or a column bit somewhere, either); a big, FAT cover story would be nice!

[Captain Taurus]

obsolete toaster, on 05 March 2010 - 09:05 AM, said:

Frankly, appealing to people at places like sci fi cons is preaching to the converted; they really need to advertise the show to those who DON'T know of it. In mainstream press and such. When TIME magazine named BSG it's best show of the year two years in a row, it gave the show a much-needed 'mainstream' boost (although, sadly, it was short-lived).


I think that CAPRICA's name has to be plastered onto magazines like Entertainment Weekly and such (not merely mentioned in a sound bite or a column bit somewhere, either); a big, FAT cover story would be nice!

Ahem! Apparently not everyone who attends these comic cons watch the same shows. More than likely they have heard of it but have not watched it. I am still a fan to preach to the choir because some people are newbies. It is the most logical place to promote the show. You are absolutely correct in saying that they need to advertise to those who don't know it. The more newbies the better. Word of mouth will also promote that. You do need to win over the vets first then the newbies will fall in line. I have only managed to take in one episode so far, but I will make the effort to get caught up. From what little I have seen, I am happy to promote the show. There is lots of substance and potential for greatness.