TV shows come and go all the time. That’s the nature of the biz. Sometimes, though, it just doesn’t make sense. Why should The Kardashians be heading into a sixth season when Arrested Development barely lasted three? These are questions that will mystify social scientists well into the next century.
Case in point: Endgame, an entertaining Vancouver-based drama airing on Showcase. Barring a beyond last minute miracle, it airs its final episode Monday at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The series stars Shawn Doyle as Arkady Balagan, a Russian chess grandmaster who is so traumatized when his fiancee is killed just steps outside their luxury hotel he cannot leave the place. In order to pay his bills, he begins to take on crime solving, using the same five-moves-ahead logic that makes him such a chess brainiac.
The series got the full PR push when it launched last March and opened to 232,000 viewers. Maybe it was Doyle’s admitted “Alberto V05” accent, but something turned off viewers after that. The series had sunk below 100,000 within a month.
Shaw left the series off its renewal list at their upfront to advertisers earlier this month. Now a group of fans–with the help of Doyle and co-star Patrick Gallagher, who are both twittering up a storm–are trying to bring it back. The last-minute push may be working; the final episode in May was again back up over the 200,000 viewer mark.
If you’re an Endgame fan, you can sign a petition that is being forwarded to Showcase; you’ll find the petition here. There’s also a “Save Endgame” Facebook page, jump to it here and “like” away.
It may be a lost cause (Shaw officials say the series is done and they’ve even taken down the link to it on their media site), but, as Mr. Smith said in Washington, sometimes lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for. Read more about Endgame and how other shows, like Family Guy and Jericho, were rescued by fan efforts here at this story I wrote this week for The Canadian Press. And if you know a member of a “BBM Family,” encourage them to tune in to the series/season finale Monday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Showcase.
8 Comments
Bill,
We truly appreciate this thorough and EXCELLENT article about our campaign! Thank you so much for your contribution and your support!
Sincerely, Tina Libhart
Waco, TX USA
Thank you, Bill!
(We hear the sets remain up, and so do our spirits regarding this cause.)
Thanks for all of your support, Bill!
It doesn’t make sense that horrid shows go on forever and really good ones are killed quickly due to low ratings. There is something very wrong with the ratings system. I loved Endgame from the beginning. I want more!!!
As an Aussie fan of “Endgame” I want to say thank you for your article.Appreciate all the help to SAVE ENDGAME
You are fabulous!
I’m still hoping Showcase will reconsider. We’re fighting hard for it!
http://www.saveendgame.com
Bill,
Great article. Really like your comments about some of the shows that we have lost that were fabulous. Hopefully, Showcase will change their minds about “Endgame.”
Bill, thank you so much for paying close attention to this.
It would certainly be nice if Showcase would make an effort to keep the demographic that values a series like this enough to fight for it. It would be smart, too, if Showcase would take a closer look and recognize that this demographic is worth keeping and keeping happy. From a good business-sense perspective, that is.
I mean, if that kind of thing counts for anything.