“The 4400” on the USA Network is one of the best and most convoluted sci-fi programs ever produced.
In the upcoming season finale (oh how I miss the old days of 26 episode seasons) entitled “Mommy’s Bosses,” executive producer Ira Steven Behr (Star Trek: Deep Space 9) promises, “We’re going out with a bang.” Continuing, he says, “….We end this season with five different moments, that each alone would be enough to have people go, ‘What the hell does that mean?’ It’s almost too much. We had to end it in act three of the second hour, because we needed the rest of the time to do ‘Holy mother…’ kind of thing.”
Taking a cue from his “Star Trek: DS9” writing and producing days Behr concludes that like the former space opera [which many critics hail as the best scripted Trek ever], “there’s a lot going on. There’s lots of characters. It’s very complicated, probably more complicated than any network or studio would want it to be.”
As a personal aside, I prefer my science fiction to be complicated and involved because it forces me to think and pay attention to even the smallest detail in the story.
On another note: A 13 week season is just far too short and I have noticed that more and more networks are relying on this kind of programing strategy. With a shorter season that have tons of commercials interspersed throughout, the stories only get shorter and have a cramped feel. Comon’ studio guys and gals, enough is enough. We’re liking your shows, just extend the season back to 26 episodes…. you can even keep in the ads.
Source: Zap2it
Best scripted Trek ever…as opposed to what–those seasons of Voyager where they just made it up as they went along? (Which, honestly, might have been better, now that I think about it).
And as for the short seasons, I will take 13 good episodes of something rather than 26 eps with 13 good eps and 13 bad ones….
Well 13 Ep of a new show, is better than what we’ve got at the moment on TV, which is F’all SciFi. Only re-re-runs