Fandom School (5th period): Cancellation

Everybody dreads hiatus. It's hard enough to wait a week; waiting months (or even years!) is almost impossible. But that's not the worst that can happen to a fandom.

You know how it goes. You get really into a show, watching every episode, until suddenly there are no more. And there will be no more. The show has been cancelled. It's devastating.

So why does it happen? Here are a few possible causes:

• The storyline is finished
• The show's ratings aren't high enough
• Something happened to one of the actors/creators of the show
• It's not making enough money (i.e., it costs more to produce the show than is being earned by people viewing the show)
• It's being removed to make room for another show

There are lots more, of course, but those are the main ones.

What do you do when your favorite show gets cancelled?

• Get together with other fans and petition for it to be renewed
• Write lots of fanfiction (and create other fanworks) to tie up the loose ends
• Try to find a new fandom to join
• Speculate with other fans about what happens (would have happened?) post-canon
• Rewatch every single episode, looking for all the things you missed the first time
• Hope that a spin-off will be created

This, by the way, is why I write so many Merlin fanfics. The show was cancelled after 5 seasons (well, cancelled isn't really the right word because they were always planning to have it last for only 5 seasons), and I'm still upset about it. The most important thing to remember about cancellation is that even though the show may be done, the fandom still lives. And who knows, maybe the cancelled show will come back in one way or another. You never know.

I leave you with this video about cancellation.

Fandom School (5th period): Why Is My Show On Hiatus?!

I'f you've read How To Survive Hiatus and this post showcasing hiatus-induced madness (or if you're in, say, the Sherlock fandom), you know that hiatus is awful. It drives people insane, makes them lose interest in the show, and generally causes chaos. So why do it?

Here are a few reasons why producers choose to put a show on hiatus:

• Natural between-seasons break: name one show that films continuously and never takes a break. Did you come up with any? I thought not. (If you did, let me know in the comments; I'm curious.) All shows take a break in between seasons. This break can last from weeks to months- any longer than a few months, and it's a proper hiatus.
• Demand for actors/actresses: take Benedict Cumberbatch. Everyone wants him. And I'm not just talking about the Cumbercollective; he's being cast in all sorts of amazing movies and TV shows. He can't film two things at once, so he has to take a break for other things.
• Time required to write: episodes can take a long time to write, especially in the case of Sherlock. 90-minute episodes require a lot of thought, effort, and time. After all, you wouldn't want them to hurry and give you a bad product, would you?
• Time required to film: a typical episode takes longer than a week to write, so you can't air a new episode every week with no breaks. That's simple math.
• Complications: take Doctor Who for example. Every time an old Doctor leaves, a new actor has to be found to be the next Doctor. There was a break between the end of series 4 and series 5 (with a few specials, but not a regular stream of episodes), and I suspect it was because BBC was looking for someone to be the Eleventh Doctor. (I don't know if that's the reason. Does anyone know?)
• Lack of interest: if a show becomes unpopular, it may go on hiatus or even be cancelled.

That's all I got. What do you think? Did I miss anything? Justified or not, hiatus still stinks. It'll be worth the wait, though.

Fandom School (5th period): Hello, Hiatus

Welcome back to Fandom School! If you haven't already, I recommend you read my earlier post, How To Survive Hiatus. Today, I'd like to show you some humorous examples of the insanity that occurs as a result of hiatus.