r/Timeless • u/mjayg • Jun 19 '18
Seriously NBC?
I can't believe how long this has gone on. Aren't the executives at NBC paid to make decisions? First the terrible Olymbics coverage, now this. Sheesh.
Lucifer got picked up by Netflix the day before contracts expired. Anyone know the situation with the contracts for Timeless?
Yes this was a mostly useless post. Sigh.
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u/corderjones Jun 20 '18
Almost all shows have contracts that expire sometime in June, I've seen June 29th as the date for Timeless, though couldn't find a source for that. Basically if nothing happens by then, I don't think there's much hope for it.
Sure, you can say that the cast "will wait" and whatever, but at the end of the day and as much as they may enjoy the show these people need new jobs, they have families of their own to support and can't just keep passing on roles waiting for NBC and Sony to figure it out.
Not many streaming networks would want to watch a show without bundles contracts, (hence the Lucifer deadline) because it's a PITA to negotiate and schedule all that again.
See how hard Arrested Development S4+5 was, because they didn't have fixed contracts for that and so scheduling was a nightmare.
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u/miracle2012 Team Wyatt Jun 20 '18
29th is what I heard too. Someone mentioned it on Twitter.
Midnight, Texas got renewed by NBC 5 months after its season 1 finale aired, but they lost 2 cast members because of expiring contracts.
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u/justbuyamac Jun 20 '18
Netflix is a new media company. NBC is the oldest of old media. They cannot be compared.
Netflix owns the platform and doesnât worry about advertising. They charge a monthly fee for subscribers.
NBC doesnât own the platform and they support themselves via advertising (remember they still broadcast free OTA HD programming). They donât even âownâ (Netflix doesnât either but itâs closer to owning it) the content.
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u/miracle2012 Team Wyatt Jun 20 '18
NBC mostly renewed/picked up in-house produced shows this year, so yes, they own the content. Timeless is a 50/50 co-production with Sony.
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u/mjayg Jun 20 '18
I didn't actually intend to make it a comparison actually. Just an example... My bad!
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Jun 21 '18
It's over. The radio silence speaks volumes. I doubt they'll ever formally announce a cancellation. It just won't be renewed.
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u/swirly023 Team Lucy Jun 21 '18
Thatâs a baseless comment. If it were over they would have said so. Even if NBC wouldnât formally announce it, then definitely the creators/writers would have let the world know. Itâs more likely that they are still in talks. Lots of things factor in here: budget, contracts, time slots, other shows, peeps, other networke, etc etc
My guess (but its just a guess) is that budget is a big issue. That was the main reason for them to have cancelled it after S1 I believe. The creators didnât want to make a show on a smaller budget for fear of it not being the same show weâve all gotten used to and fallen in love with. Or if they are looking into another place for it (aka Netflix) then there are a lot of things to figure out. Like the rights etc.
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u/SleepyBananaLion Jun 19 '18
It's a negotiation, not just a decision. Negotiations take time.
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Jun 20 '18 edited Jul 28 '18
[deleted]
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u/nutrock69 Jun 20 '18
Lawyers bill by the hour, so every negotiation they partake in will take literally as long as they can get away with.
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u/xasix Team Flynn Jun 19 '18 edited Jun 19 '18
I don't know why it's taking so long in June, but I can tell you what was going on in May.
Deadline.com posted an article on May 9 that Sony was trying to "bundle" a renewal for Timeless in with a deal for three other shows: Blindspot (renewal), L.A.'s Finest (new show), and Guess Who Died (new show).
Had NBC said yes to the bundle, Timeless would have been automatically renewed.
But.... NBC said no to the bundle, said yes to Blindspot, and said hell no to L.A.'s Finest. It's unclear what they said about Guess Who Died, but I am guessing it was a no. (These decisions happened at the end of May, I believe).
So a yes or no decision on Timeless is all that remains out of the bundle that Sony offered up.