He-man is also a difficult sell today. Science-fantasy is a strange concept for a lot of people who did not have the privilege of watching a lot of 1970s animation
But the 2002 reboot was such a good show, I'm sure many people would have gotten into it had CN execs not meddled with it. Really good TV shows only ever get lousy ratings when TV execs meddle with their scheduling.
He-Man's times and dates kept changing so that the people who did like the show could never find it twice.
Firefly's dates and times kept changing so that people who liked the show could never find it. Plus they also showed the episodes out of sequence, making it difficult to follow.
Blade: The Series was shown so many times throughout the week that the people who liked the show didn't need to watch it on the actual night of the regular broadcast (which is the night that TV execs look at when determining a show's ratings).
Breakout Kings was also shown almost nightly, making waiting to see it on it's regular night unnecessary (thus costing it ratings and causing it to be cancelled).
Wrestling Reality was shown multiple times a day every weekday, rather than just on Tuesdays as it was originally advertised. And there were only about 13 episodes, so they blew through their entire season in just under 3 weeks. So naturally after the first month or two the ratings tanked.
So here's a message to all the TV execs out there who might be reading this. YOUR job is to try and make the TV shows you broadcast successful. When your network's TV shows are successful . . . YOU MAKE MORE MONEY!!! Here is how you make a TV show a success.
A) If the show has an overall story arc, you show the episodes in the proper sequencial order (ie: the premier episode should be Episode #1, not Episode #4 . . . *cough* FOX *cough*).
B) Maintain the same broadcasting schedule (ie: if the show is scheduled to be on at 8:00 pm every Friday, then you maintain the 8:00 pm schedule every gorram Friday until the season finale. NOT change it to Thursday at 7 one week, then Saturday at 9 the next, or show a new episode every day of the week until you've used up your entire season in under a month).
C) If you want to change the date and time? WAIT UNTIL NEXT DAMN SEASON!
D) Absolutely, positively, under no circumstances what so ever, do you EVER over saturate the network with reruns of the show. ESPECIALLY when it's only the first season. If you MUST show reruns of that season's episodes on different days of the week, don't start until you're at least 2 weeks into the show (ie: if the show airs every Friday at 8:00 pm, and you want to show reruns of that episode on Monday at 7:00 pm, you should only show the episodes from about 2 weeks ago on Monday, thus ensuring that people don't skip the Friday show and watch it the following Monday).
That's pretty much it I think. You TV execs out there, please take notes on this. It's odd how I've never worked in TV, yet I actually know more about what goes into making a successful TV show than you people who went to school and actually STUDIED BROADCASTING!
Hoollly crap! That's the one.
