53 replies to this topic

[amyberg]

The following is a message from Ira that he's asked me to post. Mr. Behr is my boss, my mentor, my friend... and, as you'll see, he's also quite the poet.


"it's a drag, isn't it"
paul mccartney's response to
john lennon's murder.

what an a$$hole
i remember thinking
when i first saw
the newsclip
of mccartney's
casual reaction
to such an overwhelming
tragedy

but i was
wrong

lennon's death
it's stunning
gut wrenching
impact
was so immediate
so fraught
so
painful
that no adequate response
was possible
no response
was even
necessary
the event
spoke
for itself.

so

what does the death
of a musical/cultural icon
have to do
with the
cancellation
of a tv series?

fair question

i'll try to explain

what i'll
miss most
about the 4400
aren't the actors
though
i have only
warm feelings
toward them all
or even
my co-writers
including
my partner
in crime
craig sweeny
because
the way
the business works
we can always
find ourselves
toiling away
together
on some other
show

no

what i'm going
to miss most
about the 4400
are the characters
because
the characters
have ceased to exist
their stories
are over
they're
done
finished
gone

which is why

to me
it feels like

tom baldwin
is dead
diana skouris
is dead
jordan collier
is dead
shawn farrell
is dead
kyle baldwin
is dead
marco
dead
burkhoff
dead
tess
dead
even garrity
dead
and on
and on
and on

it's a drag
isn't it?

ira steven behr
showrunner

Edited by amyberg, 21 December 2007 - 02:15 PM.

[Honey]

*clutches heart* This kills me. What a loss, such a great show.

[RachVG]

marco
dead

Noooo!

*cowers in the corner with fic*

[SWJaggy]

*wipes away a tear*

That's so sad. On a brighter note, it's nice to see that those from the show are grieving along with us. We're in this grief over the 4400 together and we are not alone. No show has touched me more so than the 4400 and tears are starting to form in my eyes as I type this.

The show will truly be missed.

[wicartic]

Like in another forum here, That ask for closure. Will we at least have closure with the 4th season DVD. All questioned answered truthfuly???????

Edited by wicartic, 20 December 2007 - 04:17 PM.

[Pablo]

I agree the characters are the real thing that make us fans of The 4400 !!!

I can't believe everything is over... No one can make John lennon back to life, but USA Network could easily bring The 4400 back to screens...

USA Network have the opportunity to give death or... life, to just be common or to be extraordinary !

I need to believe that miracles can still happen...

Edited by Pablo, 20 December 2007 - 04:18 PM.

[Animefan]

Ira, you created a wonderful world for us to catch a glimpse and peer into the mirror at our real world issues. We are all mourning the loss of these great characters and their stories. Thank you for keeping in touch with us fans and I hope your future creative endeavors are as meaningful and even more successful.

[Bubba_Bridges]

Hi Bubba here, thanks for everything Ira.

[Megan3375]

It's horrible to see the creators are hurting so bad... as much as us fans are sad I couldn't even imagine being there for something's conception and watching it grow just to watch it "die". Words can not express how much empathy I feel for the cast and crew!!!

Edited by Megan3375, 20 December 2007 - 07:13 PM.

[BradNeso]

NBC is canceling both the 4400 and Journeyman - my two favorite shows, which were both excellently written and made you think. Instead, I expect NBC will have more reality and Law & Order type fare. Well, I have learned my lesson. I will not be watching any other new series on network TV. If a show makes it, I may watch it on DVD (through Netflix), but f*#k NBC - I will not support it any more.

Hopefully, FOX or another network with a lick of sense will pick up both series and win the appreciation of these shows' loyal fans.

To the 4400's creators and actors - Thank you for an awesome show. It is too bad NBC stole your original concept for Heroes and then abandoned you like the red headed step child.

[WeyounBurkhoff]

burkhoff
dead

it's a drag
isn't it?

NOOOO!!!!!! IT CAN"T BE!!!

Let's all hope that it gets picked up by some other network, this is too far an intelligent show to let slide by into the darkness. I'd say I'll have to rush out to buy the DVD's in order to support Ira and Scott and Co., but then I wouldn't want any of my money going to NBC.

(Well, I have another RANT against NBC/Universal regarding the DVD's for BSG Season 3, but that's for another board.)

[mrb]

The 4400 was my favorite summer show. I will miss all characters especially chad faust. Thanks for 4 season of the 4400. I guess I be watch old season.

[zippylittlerat]

*Whimpers*

Thank you Amy, for posting, and thank you Ira, for letting her. And thank you, to all the cast and crew, for the show that captured me from day one and held me until that final episode.

[aresnz]

Ira, thank you for allowing Amy to post your thoughts for us here at the board and for creating a wonderful show in THE 4400. You're right that we will all miss the characters and all the stories they still needed to share with us. My Sunday evenings won't be the same. I wish you the very, very best in all your future endeavors. Again, thank you for all you did with THE 4400.

[Kizzy]

I want to thank Ira and the guys for producing the best tv show since Babylon 5. What babylon 5 did was create a world where political and social and religious issues were played out in an arc. The characters were what kept the universe alive. It was real, engaging and allowed the viewers to connect and live out the stories with the characters. Who has not grieved in reality that andreas Katsulas (G'Kar) died in real life taking G'Kar "beyond the Rim"? But Babylon 5 keeps resurrecting its heaad due to its fans. The fans who 10 years after it ended brought back a sequel to DVD. You see, things don't need to die if we keep fighting for it. We just need to keep faith.

I love the 4400 because what j Michael Stratczinski did for Babylon 5 is what Ira and the others have done for the 4400: shown in graphical detail what everyone is scared to discuss and think about. It is proviocative, engaging and real. It happens in the here and now and is something that we all fear, hope for, long for? Anyone with real religious conviction believes that we are in or nearing the apocalypse and apocalytic realisation is something that grips us. As someone who studied religious studies at university we did the sociology and psychology of religion. I wish the 4400 had been on when i studied as this programme really explores this, especially in seasons 3 and 4. It was very accurate and insightful.

I do not buy many dvds as I do not have much money, but the 4400 is a priority in my household and I have them all. We must remember that often people in large corporations are scared of the truth and the 4400 gets so close to revealing truths they do not want us to understand and this is why they are pulling the plug. they know there is a fanbase worldwide and the 4400 was the most anticipated series of the year. I know Prison break and Lost were touted, but the 4400 was on constant repeat on all 3 sky channels in the run up to and even after the end of the run of the 4th season. In the UK it was one of the most popular programmes.

The interactive websites were popular worldwide and the network knew it was popular. Perhaps by cancelling the show now, they hope to rile up the public, so that if a 5th season is commissioned due to demand it will get the ratings when aired. It could well be a publiity stunt as already mentioned elsewhere on the boards.

Take heart in what has happened with Babylon 5 .... Ira as long as we fight to keep them alive, Marco, Tom, kyle and Shawn will never die. I think that perhaps some decent merchandise and books would be a great way of keeping them alive. You'd need to make them available worldwide and to continue with stories. You could make a book called Promise City Stories which would continue the story of the 4400. reading is a great occupation and the books were one of the things that allowed Warner Brothers to realise that Babylon 5 was a real franchise. I would also tout sci-fi conventions and even see whether or not another network like Sci-fi or WB would be interested. Just a thought. Or perhaps get sky to find another partner to make it with. After all Sky are business people and they like profit as well.

Diatribe over.

[alex20020712]

That's so sad. On a brighter note, it's nice to see that those from the show are grieving along with us.

I think it is the other way around. All we can do is enjoy the show, but the writers and actors are the ones who give life to those characters and stories.

Take heart in what has happened with Babylon 5

B5 is an exercise in impossibility. It was impossible for that show to make it year to year, much less to the full 5-year run. Yet, it made it. We had a few movies, too. Even after the monumental loss of Andreas Katsulas and Richard Biggs, we had a new DVD. That was impossible. But it happened.

How? The B5 DVDs sold like the world was going to end. That is how. Which is exactly what worked for Firefly/Serenity, too.

And plenty of hard work and dedication, obviously.

You want The 4400 back? Show the studios there is money in it.

Edited by alex20020712, 22 December 2007 - 12:04 PM.

[artchick530]

Wow. I feel a little bit of sadness. I feel a little bit of shock. Say it isn't so!! However, as much as I LOVE The 4400, and will immensely MISS the series, I do take comfort in knowing it went out ON TOP! We all know what happens to series that just. hang. on. for a season (or more) too long. Yes, it would have been nice to have had a few loose ends tied up, or some questions answered, or answered more definitively. Despite everything, to me, The 4400 will always be, the most intelligent, well-written televison series EVER. I'd like to say THANK YOU to everyone who played a part in making this happen, even if it was only for 4 seasons.

[Lenin]

@ Ira Steven Behr,

this was a very good series !!!! Im not happy from the news to end this show :-(
I have hope for the 5 Season that you a gay Character created...

Give a 4400 Movie ?

Greetings

Lenin

[Muldfeld]

Ira, I've already expressed how much you and your work mean to me in the past. This is not over -- while, at the same time, we must acknowledge it's a real possibility. Thank you for sharing your pain with us. I'm not done grieving and can't bring myself to watch the taped finale and last 7 minutes of "Tiny Machines" because I'll start crying if I do.

Thank you so much for everything, especially the political stuff because I eat that up.

Love
Muldfeld

NOOOO!!!!!! IT CAN"T BE!!!

Let's all hope that it gets picked up by some other network, this is too far an intelligent show to let slide by into the darkness. I'd say I'll have to rush out to buy the DVD's in order to support Ira and Scott and Co., but then I wouldn't want any of my money going to NBC.

(Well, I have another RANT against NBC/Universal regarding the DVD's for BSG Season 3, but that's for another board.)

Love your name, but buying the DVDs is the best thing you can do to help the show because that way Paramount might put up funding for a direct to DVD 4400 story or something. BSG's Razor only came about because BSG DVDs have sold so well that they were willing to fund that movie. Besides, BSG's 3rd season is only coming out right before Season 4 airs but will include a 70 minute version of "Unfinished Business" and a 40 minute version of the webisode. The 4400 Season 3 DVD is pretty spectacular, especially because Ira did 4 commentaries. If anything, buy the 4400 DVDs because those residuals also go to Ira and the gang!

[ferretmom247]

Why doesn't the writers, producers, actors, and everyone else involved in the making of the episodes try to get the backing to make a straight to DVD Season 5 of "The 4400" that at least gives us some sort of closure instead of leaving us hanging, like so many other series that we followed then suddenly fell of the face of the earth.

Just a suggestion, because reading all the posts on this forum it seems like it would be a very profittable, and also well received venture.

Thank about it.

DEBI