network also confirms 'vertias' cancellation
C'est Sullivan qui va être déçu
"To The Miracles Fans,
There’s a quote my aunt passed on to me when I started writing in 1983. The furthest back I’ve been able to trace it is some old A.A. literature, but I’m sure some version of it has existed since Biblical times or before:
“It would be too bad to give up five minutes before the miracle.”
You guys never did. Those of you in the various chats rooms-and most especially on the ABC message board-are who we think of as the “ideal viewer”. You select and care about what you watch. For you, TV isn’t background noise while you do the dishes or vacuum the carpet. You turn out the lights, take the phone off the hook and actually participate in the drama.
You are the reason we made the show. You are the people we wanted to please. And you are the people we were bone-scared to disappoint.
You guys are like us. Something about Paul and Keel hooked you, made you think and feel and wonder. Thank God for you. Five minutes more… and who knows how many others we could have hooked?
You guys “got” the show. You didn’t need a cop or a lawyer or a doctor to explain it to you. While I’m sure many were alienated, you people were drawn in by two haunted, vaguely depressed, lonely guys-like Charlie Brown and Linus all grown up-who couldn’t stop thinking about what goes on beneath the surface of everyday life. (I guess within that analogy, Evelyn is Lucy. I’m not sure…)
When things got dark (and every day since we premiered has been a little darker than the last) the message board cheered us up. I checked in every day. We all did. Your posts were the fuel that kept us going. Your passion and excitement told us we weren’t crazy, we were really onto something, and if we could just spread the word fast enough new viewers would come aboard to keep us alive. Somehow, we all believed that if the show worked for you, it would work for even more people. Maybe not enough people to make us a top ten show, but enough to stay on the air.
We never thought of ourselves as the new “X-Files” in terms of global popularity. There was a “coolness” to that show that we never attempted to imitate. David Greenwalt and I knew in our hearts that “cool” was not the strength of our show. Our strength was heart. We loved a neat plot twist, but would throw it over in a second for a scene that made you cry. Sometimes, like at the end of “Friendly Skies”, we managed to do both. (For you trivia collectors: the idea about sneaking the videotape out of the airport and giving it to the crippled woman’s husband came from none other than David Greenwalt’s wife.)
To us, the concept was a no-brainer: paranormal tales that break your heart. Stand alone stories with enough mythology to keep you involved with the characters lives. Thrills and chills-and then maybe some tears.
Five more minutes…
My only regret is that I won’t be able to enjoy your reactions to the remaining seven un-aired episodes. Some of our best work never saw the light of day. “Mother’s Daughter”-the story of a young Amish woman who slowly begins to turn into someone else… “The Letter”-a story about Paul’s friend Georgia who begins receiving letters from her dead father… “The Battle At Shadow Ridge”-where Paul and Keel become involved in a rare “time-slip” and try desperately to inform a civil soldier about the fate of his wife and child… And of course, our final episode, entitled “Paul Is Dead”. Somehow, I’m sure you guys will manage to track these down in the dark back-alleys of eBay and other such Internet sites. I was stunned that “Hand of God” made it out into the world weeks before it was ever on the air. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and in this day and age it wouldn’t surprise me at all if people who wanted to see these episodes bad enough were able to do so. Best of luck to you all…
Ultimately, the cancellation did not come as a surprise to us. We all feel as if we’ve been attending a dying relative since January 27. When ABC’s new “Super Monday” premiered in fourth place, we knew it would take a miracle to save us. You guys are the closest thing we got to that miracle. Maybe the show wasn’t saved, but we got the chance to see that our efforts mattered, and that when we hit the ball, someone out there in the dark hit it back.
You guys made a huge difference. I can’t thank you enough for the time you spent caring about our show. Letters, napkins, e-mails; these things did not go unnoticed by Touchstone and ABC. I’m sure nothing would have made them happier than a huge, fat hit. But for that we needed time. And time (even five minutes) is something the networks feel they can no longer afford.
Creating, producing and writing “Miracles” was the best professional experience of my life. I only hope I get to work on something so meaningful again. Be well, and thanks again.
And please feel free to drop me a line at richardhatem@NOSPAMhotmail.com. I’ll do my best to get back to you."
Sullivan a écrit :I was stunned that “Hand of God” made it out into the world weeks before it was ever on the air. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and in this day and age it wouldn’t surprise me at all if people who wanted to see these episodes bad enough were able to do so. Best of luck to you all…