It's probably happened to most of us: We get addicted to a TV show and tune in every week, but for some reason no one else seems to watch. Or maybe you hear that one of your favorite programs is up for cancellation, and you can't figure out why. There are all sorts of reasons that networks decide to cancel shows. The show could be getting low ratings, or maybe it contains controversial material that advertisers don't want to sponsor. It could be too expensive to produce, or maybe the networks just want to mix up the programming schedule. No matter what the reason, it's never fun to discover that a show you look forward to each week is about to get canceled. So what if your favorite show is on the chopping block? While cancellation might seem imminent, viewers have more power than you might think. Since the '60s, viewer campaigns to save TV shows have helped buy programs more time on the air.
From e-mail and letter-writing campaigns to more gimmicky stunts, viewers have shown networks their loyalty in order to save their favorite shows from cancellation. TV program saved by fans. NBC was planning to cancel the science-fiction series after two seasons, but a letter-writing campaign by fans kept the show on the air for an additional season. In 1968, sci-fi lovers Bjo and John Trimble organized a letter-writing blitz when they heard that one of their favorite shows was facing cancellation, and Amazon Deals Fashion many fans credit Bjo with saving "Star Trek." She and her husband mailed letters to fellow Trekkies telling them how to write in to NBC to ask them to save the show. An additional season wasn't the only win for Trekkies. Fans organized a letter-writing campaign in 1976 that convinced NASA to name its first space shuttle orbiter after the federation flagship from the TV series: Enterprise. Unlike many other shows that fans saved from cancellation, "Family Guy" was the result of indirect action, rather than an organized campaign to save the show. This h as been generated by GSA Content Genera tor DEMO .
Fox cancelled "Family Guy" in 2002 after just three seasons and released the first 28 episodes on DVD the following year. That release sold 400,000 copies in the first month alone, and when Cartoon Network's Adult Swim picked it up in syndication, their ratings went up 239 percent. In an unprecedented move, Fox renewed the series in 2005 based on those DVD sales and syndication ratings, placing it in prime programming real estate -- right after "The Simpsons" during its "Animation Domination" block. Fox also released a direct-to-DVD movie, "Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story" in 2005. Illustrator S.L. Following in the footsteps of "Family Guy," "Futurama" fans brought the show back from cancellation simply by being fans. DVD sales and high ratings for syndicated episodes, along with some good old determination from producer David X. Cohen, convinced executives to revive the series. Fox canceled "Futurama" in 2003 after a four-year run, and the series remained off the air for years until Adult Swim picked up it up in syndication. This c ontent was gen erated by GSA Co ntent Generator DE MO !
Those old episodes got great ratings, and Cohen took a hint from "Family Guy" and pushed Fox to produce a direct-to-DVD movie. Based on DVD sales, Comedy Central picked up the series, feelingcutelol.com where it's been renewed for another 26 episodes. That means "Futurama" will be on the air through at least the summer of 2013, much to its fans' delight. After viewership dropped for the post-apocalyptic series following an 11-week hiatus, CBS decided to cancel "Jericho" after the first season. Roswell" on the air during the first two seasons was "Roswell is Hot! Designing Women" started out with good ratings, but when CBS moved it from its Monday night time slot to Thursdays, viewership plummeted. In the days before DVRs, there was no way this fledgling comedy could compete with the popular series "Night Court," which aired at the same time on NBC. Fans pulled together with an advocacy group to organize a letter-writing campaign, inspired by the one that saved "Cagney & Lacey" a few years earlier. Around 50,000 fans sent letters to CBS demanding that they resurrect the show, and they also petitioned advertisers to support "Designing Women.
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Fans and producers worked hard to save the sci-fi series "Quantum Leap" from the notoriously bad 8 p.m. Friday time slot. The show originally aired on Wednesdays at 10 p.m., Amazon Fashion and it enjoyed high ratings until NBC moved it to Friday evenings, a virtual death sentence for most TV shows. Network executives claimed that they moved "Quantum Leap" to the Friday night slot to try to improve that time period's dismal ratings, but the producer and fans were not on board. When "Quantum Leap" producer Donald P. Bellisario heard about the schedule change, he was furious and used the show's newsletter to rally a fan letter-writing campaign. With efforts from fans and advocacy groups, more than 50,000 letters supporting the show arrived for NBC president Warren Littlefield. The "Keep the Leap" campaign was a success, and NBC moved "Quantum Leap" back to its original time slot less than a year later.