Hmmm, so they outbid Showtime for the rights, which cost them $3M per episode. This implies that this was a $3M vig on top of which Netflix then had to lay out production costs. So the costs per epi would be pretty high.
But...back in 2006 there was no Netflix to bid against Showtime. I've never been able to discover what Showtime was offering other than that Hurwitz seemed a bit insulted by the offer ("half the money for twice the work" is the quote that stands out in my mind, but I can't find a citation). If there'd been other competition for the show from a Kickstarterish platform perhaps the Showtime offer would have been more reasonable. Maybe. Who the hell knows. :)
David Cross was a super early investor in Kickstarter. I think they actually pitched him to do Arrested Development via Kickstarter. It didn't work out but he invested in the company. Don't quote me on the backstory, but I know for sure he's openly said he invested in the company.
I wonder what would happen to a show like Firefly[1] or Jericho[2] Caprica[3]if they were suspended after the first season, and the studio put up a kickstarter saying "We'll cancel unless we get $2m from fans of the show".
At least those shows do stand a chance with fan-backing. Something like 'Rubicon' would, I think, totally fail at kickstarter even though it was good.
[1] A great show. I'm not sure how well it would have lasted with the traditional US "spin out a series for as long as possible" format. But, with careful plotting, it would have been an amazing 3 season (12 episodes per season) show.
[2] I really wanted to like this. I did like the first series. I really wanted an OQO (the tiny handheld computer that one of the characters has). But the second series was daft. This could have been a pretty good show and it's a shame it's gone.
[3] Caprica was good, I thought. Had some interesting concepts.
>A great show. I'm not sure how well it would have lasted with the traditional US "spin out a series for as long as possible" format.
I think Joss Whedon has shown himself to be capable of maintaining quality in long running shows with Buffy and Angel. There are a few dips in both, but on the whole they pretty much just get better and better.
