I thought the sci-fi dino's had a chance, but I guess I was wrong. Fox has announced that Terra Nova will not be coming back.
The network made it official yesterday afternoon citing middling ratings for the drama's first season. The show had big name executive producers Steven Spielberg and Peter Chernin who were expected to bring in viewers with their names along. According to Variety, the cost of visual effects were also noted. Fox chose to go straight from script to a 13-episode order because it was cheaper that way instead of spending a great deal on just one pilot.
The show starts many years in the future when Earth is practically falling apart. The air is mostly toxic, the majority of the world is in poverty, but there is hope. A portal to the past was found and a select few go back to prehistoric times to create a settlement and live among the dinosaurs and strange old vegetation.
The show was first put into development in 2010 by Aaron Kaplan, the executive producer based on a concept from writers Kelly Marcel and Craig Silverstein. The cast was a large enesemble that was toplined by Jason O'Mara and Stephen Lang.
When the show premiered it already had challenges and was delayed from premiering midseason in 2010-11 to getting pushed to last fall. Last week Ed Bernero was added on as an executive producer in an attempt to add something new and fresh to the creative side of the show. Unfortunately Fox entertainment head Kevin Reilly still decided to pass on giving the costly show a second season.
The show isn't completely dead though as 20th Century Fox said that it would be shopping the series around to other networks. The money saved from the making of Terra Nova will likely go to a renewal of one of the other new dramas Alcatraz or The Finder, or possibly both.
