There goes the Fred Flintstone cameo

I mentioned it in passing in the last post, but Fox officially cancelled Terra Nova yesterday, and for the claims it's being shopped around it's probably not coming back. This doesn't bother me terribly, as I'd given up on the show a while ago (though I've seen in more than one place that it was improving with the last few episodes).

What I did find interesting was this piece (which made me change the original title of this post) talking about longer-range effects of the cancellation. I have mixed feelings about each point.

Harder to get sci-fi on prime time network TV - this is probably true, though it was hard enough to get sci-fi on beforehand that it may not matter much. Fox does seem the most disposed to bring sci-fi shows to air, and I expect they'll lick their wounds and try again. That or they'll get on the Once Upon a Time/Grimm fantasy train - is HBO still trying to get American Gods on the air?

Tighter budgets - I suppose the cancellation could exacerbate this, but isn't this where network TV was heading given smaller audiences?

Less ambitious programming - not sure I buy this, the networks have every incentive to continue being ambitious in the face of competition from basic cable, the Internet, etc. They need to manage how that ambition is used, something that I think comes through with shows like Awake, whose double-track story is ambitious in a way that networks can handle in the current financial climate.

I suppose we will see fewer shows set 85 million years in the past, though.

It was a true family-friendly show - well, sort of - I don't know if some of the dino violence was really good for all ages - but it was a more family friendly than, say, The River. I don't expect this cancellation will put the kibosh on networks trying to find shows that appeal to the kids and their parents, but I do wonder if that's even worth it anymore. Aren't the kids off in their room streaming Disney Channel shows or something while the folks are in the living room watching Dancing With the Biggest Loser Network Fashion Stars?