Why was Black Sails canceled? - Black Sails (2014) Discussion

[–] danloki 8 years ago

It was not cancelled. The showrunners decided 4 seasons was enough to tell their story.

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[–] MisandryMermaid 8 years ago

I wonder if the prop ship burning had anything to do with it?

ew 😛

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[–] RightfulFireLordIroh 8 years ago

They say that but we won't know until it's over.
Penny Dreadful tried to pull that same thing but it was clearly canceled. Rushed to hell, yet multiple Season 4 plotlines set up.
Though Black Sails announced it's ending before the trailer, not during the Season finale credits. So I'm more inclined to believe it this time.

I see another joker on the news telling me to play the fool.

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[–] sparker21 8 years ago

Well, Black Sails always had an end point that it was progressing to, when Long John Silver becomes the character we meet in Treasure Island. Things are rapidly reaching that point.

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[–] RomaVictorrrr 8 years ago

"Black Sails" is set 20 years before Treasure Island. I don't think we're rapidly reaching THAT point.

Maybe the historical end of Golden Age piracy and the end of the pirate republic? We could be approaching that but I'm no expert.

Either way, they COULD have kept the series going if they wanted to.

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[–] danloki 8 years ago

I think the suits at STARZ might have had something to say if the showrunners were pulling a swifty. Seems about right to me because as the other poster said, it was drawing too close to Treasure Island. Might also have something to do with the set burning down. So sad. I dont know if they had enough time to get the builders back to remake it.

Anyway, if the show maintains the fun and entertainment I will say I had a good four seasons out of it.

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[–] RomaVictorrrr 8 years ago

How is it drawing too close to Treasure Island?

If "Black Sails" is set 20 years before the book, they could've gone on for more seasons if they wanted to. I actually would not have minded a few more seasons.

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[–] danloki 8 years ago

Ask the showrunners. They're the people who decided it was wrapping up for that reason.

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[–] RightfulFireLordIroh 8 years ago

Yeah that sounds like BS.

I see another joker on the news telling me to play the fool.

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[–] danloki 8 years ago

Oh well it must be a conspiracy theory then

“It’s a rare privilege in television to be given the kind of creative freedom we’ve enjoyed on this show over the last four years,” series co-creator Jonathan E. Steinberg said in a statement. “While it was a difficult decision for us to make this season our last, we simply couldn’t imagine anything beyond it that would make for a better ending to the story nor a more natural handoff to [the story of] Treasure Island.”

Said Starz managing director Carmi Zlotnik: “Jon Steinberg and Robert Levine, along with their crew and the phenomenal cast, have delivered a spectacular take on the most legendary pirate story in literature, and this final season will bring us to the shores of Treasure Island as was always intended…. We could not be more proud of this very special series.”

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[–] RightfulFireLordIroh 8 years ago

It's not a conspiracy. It's a very common excuse writers and producers give.

I see another joker on the news telling me to play the fool.

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[–] BrunoAntony 8 years ago

Definitely the high budget and set burning down. Obviously the ratings weren't high enough to offset it.

It's a huge shame. Black Sails is my favourite show on TV at the moment.

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[–] danloki 8 years ago

The writers pulled the plug. They said so themselves because they felt they were running out of material.

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[–] BrunoAntony 8 years ago

Yeah, just like Penny Dreadful, Banshee, Boardwalk Empire, etc...

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[–] danloki 8 years ago

And? I havent got a clue about the shows you mentioned because I dont watch them. Keep up to speed.

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[–] BrunoAntony 8 years ago

Educate yourself then, you ignorant swine.

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[–] danloki 8 years ago

That's fascinating. Maybe you should try reading interviews with Robert Levine and Jonathan E. Steinberg. Reading...you know...that subject taught in primary school.

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[–] BrunoAntony 8 years ago

Maybe you should read the similar interviews given by other creators whose shows were OBVIOUSLY wrapped up prematurely.

But ... no ... further reading and some deductive logic would probably make your tiny brain hurt...

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[–] danloki 8 years ago

WTF do other showrunners speaking about their shows have to do with these two? You make no sense whatsoever. I happen to know people who worked on Black Sails and they said back in the first season it wasn't going to be a lengthy show.

Why are you so angry with the world? Surely it has more to do with your favourite show wrapping up in the 4th season? Jesus wept. Talk about first world problems. I love this show but the showrunners made a decision to wrap it. Don't like that? It's really too bad, then. Maybe one day you'll be able to find another show to cuddle in your dreams.

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[–] igetitfaster 8 years ago

the scenic route through "i dont know"

thread should have ended long ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmK8-13LTqI
I Excel and Prevail

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[–] tenlegdragon 8 years ago

Every single one of those series had horrible final seasons and should have been ended before as the writers very obviously didn't have much narrative gold to work with.

I get your point, but the examples undermine the arguement completely.

Clever people will recognize and tolerate nothing but cleverness.

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[–] BrunoAntony 8 years ago

They had horrible final seasons because the shows were forced into a premature conclusion, idiot...

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[–] danloki 8 years ago

idiot...

your tiny brain

you ignorant swine.

Did you fall out of the grapefruit tree and smack every branch on your way down?

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[–] P-K-One 8 years ago

Better to have 4 good seasons than to see it go to hell.

There are few shows I can think of that did not pass their prime and overstay their welcome. How many shows do you know where the later seasons were so bad that they effectively destroyed the enjoyment of the good first seasons?

The way I see it, "Black sails" is the story of Flint. How he was a pirate who wanted to make peace, lost that hope and went to war. His war ends with the resolution of the conflict with Rogers and Elenaor. That means it should end in one season or two anyway.

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[–] RomaVictorrrr 8 years ago

I don't know why I just find it hard to buy that.

While a show is on and if it's successful, who exec would think, "Hey, let's quit while we're ahead! Show's good. We've got an audience. But let's just stop here."? Better to keep it going and milk it for all it's worth, isn't it? Don't most successful TV shows do that?

And perhaps someone can explain to me how the story has "caught up to Treasure Island". If it's set a good 20 years before TI, isn't there a ton of story left to tell? These are pirates. Even without the Pirate Republic storyline, there's plenty to tell. Plenty of REAL LIFE PIRATE STORIES to draw from, too.

AV Club, which ignored Seasons 2 and 3, says the show never "made a cultural splash." Not many critics reviewed it. Ratings weren't spectacular. Not many awards...except from GLAAD...

I think they were about to get cancelled and they decided to end it on their terms with a 4th season that will tie everything up nicely.

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[–] P-K-One 8 years ago

You may be right (Although I will NEVER understand why this show wasn't more popular. I found it way more enjoyable than GoT or WD).

But I choose to look at it from the bright side. As I said, better to end than to overstay their welcome. And there have been shows that actually did that. Breaking Bad and the Shield for example.

And, as I said, to me this is not so much the story of how they got to treasure island as rather the story of Captain Flint (he is the main character after all). And that story draws to a close. Sure, they could show him raiding ships for the next 5 years but that would really be a step back after what is going on now, wouldn't it?

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[–] RomaVictorrrr 8 years ago

Well, I was just speculating anyway. I'm not as big a fan as you, I don't think (better than GoT?!), but looking on the bright side is good enough.

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[–] P-K-One 8 years ago

"Better than GoT" is a term I would not have used. I generally do not use the term "better" for art (TV, movies, music, books,...). Because who is to say what is better? Is vanilla ice cream better than chocolate? Who knows? But I like it more.

To me the problem with GoT is that it suffers from

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DarknessInducedAudienceApathy

In short, if a world is so dark that nothing good ever happens, most of the main characters are terrible people and the few people you like constantly suffer, you eventually emotionally shut of and stop caring. With GoT I realized at some point that I did not care for 90% of the characters and that the endless procession of violence and horror really did not entertain me.
It hit the final straw after the fight between the mountain and the viper. I came on IMDb afterwards and it was filled with threads about how "awesome" that scene was where the mountain crushes the viper's sull. I just thought to myself "What are doing? You are watching a show you do not enjoy about people you do not care about with people like this?" and that was the end of that for me.

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[–] peter-501 8 years ago

Really, how long could this go on? One of the biggest problems with Black Sails is that it wrote itself into a corner by being a prequel to Treasure Island.

Captain Flynt's story has a clear ending so how many seasons can you drag it out?

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[–] the1armedman 8 years ago

I don't think they planned for the show to actually go for all that long anyway - remember, when this show premiered 3 years ago that Starz had only one show go on for more than 2 seasons (Spartacus), so they probably figured from the start that at best they'd get 3 seasons. And as others have said, the show always had some kind of end point - not necessarily to move directly into Treasure Island, but to set up the circumstances that lead to the beginning of Treasure Island. I mean the main ideas of who these characters were previously and where exactly the gold came from was set up in season 1.

But I also think that the show was quite expensive to produce and while it got pretty good ratings, it wasn't quite as popular as Starz's other hit shows like Outlander and Power. So yeah, I think it was a combination of the creative team burning through so much plot the first 2 seasons especially because they didn't know how long it would go, and Starz figuring they had invested enough money and 4 seasons was enough and to keep going would see diminishing returns.

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[–] danloki 8 years ago

I'm sad it's wrapping because 1. I've been thoroughly entertained and 2. because f the amount of man hours to build the sets and make the costumes, but I'm OK with it finishing at the end of this season as long as they go out with a bang. I much prefer a short, quality run than a show that outstays it's welcome. One thing the show did was increase sound stages in Capetown. That's a good thing.

All in all, it's been a fun ride.

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[–] wolflair-1 8 years ago

A few of the characters are real - Anne Bonny, Celico Jack Rankam and Charles Vane for instance. Both Rankam and Vane were hanged at Port Royal. Rankam before Vane. And the pirate domination ended in the early 1720s. At least they will go out while still be entertaining than dying a slow death as so many other shows.

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