Weren’t they going to do 5 seasons when the show first started? Why did they end the show after 4 seasons? Did it get canceled?
Welcome to the forum. Alas, you picked one heckuva can of worms to open up with your first post. I’ll try to give you the best answer I can.
The basic gist is that five seasons were indeed the plan. RDM took the decision to end it after four as he wanted to have some control over the ending. He wanted BSG to go out on its own terms unlike how Firefly went out.
This effectively became the fifth season due to the split for frakking tax and accounting reasons. This should have been part of the season that aired in 2008.
Ok, I don’t want to start a war. It was just something I was thinking about. Been listening to the show on and off for the last year or so.
First, welcome aboard.
Second, Yeah, that’s essentially it. They got the green light for the fourth season, with the understanding that it would be the last. So, the fifth season was compressed into the fourth.
Not so horrible, in the long run. Star Trek: The Original Series managed fine with only three seasons in syndication.
One could argue TOS should have wrapped after season 2. Just one man’s view.
Good Lord, man. Would you deprive us all of Spock’s Brain-snark?
Actully, I think the real answer is slightly more complicated. After season 3, The SciFi Channel wanted to do 2 more seasons, but they would have been shorter (either 13 or 16 episodes). Ron Moore and Co. said they would rather do one more season, but make it a full season of 22 episodes, including Razor. This way they could be sure that The SciFi Channel would not pull the plug on the final season.