Fox will not be renewing its dinosaur adventure show, Terra Nova. Yes, we’ve known for some time the popular series was on the list of possible shows to get chopped.
There simply wasn’t enough room on the network schedule for Fox to keep all of its genre shows, and something was going to have to go, even after the decision was made to cut House M.D.
Terra Nova, Fringe, and Alcatraz were the ones most likely up for the axe. So yes, it looks like the decision has been made, and despite having the highest ratings of the three genre shows, Terra Nova is cut.
Why didn’t the ratings save the show? Essentially, Terra Nova was too expensive to produce. Fox was already forced to shorten the season due to production costs, which also meant less advertising dollars.
As such, it would have taken some really amazing ratings to make the production worthwhile to the network, and despite showing a lot of promise in the last few episodes of the first season – mid-season was a bit dull – the numbers just didn’t cut it.
Yes, this is indeed bad news for dinosaur enthusiasts, but may very well be good tidings for fans of Fringe and Alcatraz, as this leaves room for the network to keep both shows, despite each of them slipping in ratings for the last few episodes. Unless Fox picks up another genre series in the interim, they are both relatively safe.
Of course, there is still the remote possibility that Terra Nova could resurrect itself, with Fox currently shopping the show arround to the cable networks. Unfortunately, while Syfy would undoubtedly love to screen the show, it will likely prove too expensive to continue – unless the series is produced in a very different way, something which would likely alter it beyond recognition.
If you want to check out the first season of Terra Nova, you can watch it here on Amazon.
