looming for

Robocop series

Robocop may not be renewed for a second season.

If Skyvision Entertainment’s $36.5 million television series does, in fact, get cancelled, virtually all levels of the Toronto production community will be affected.

Sets are being removed at the series’ Cinevillage studio home to make room for f/x, Skyvision’s second syndicated program, even though its u.s. distributor, Rysher Entertainment, emphatically denies that the series has been canceled.

Rysher executive vice-president Ira Bernstein says he is in discussions with broadcasters and will make a decision on the Robocop series no sooner than Oct. 1 and no later than Nov. 15.

‘There’s nobody with a gun to our head saying we have to decide right nowÉ(we) could probably spin it out until November. I don’t know that we will, but it’s physically possible.’

Kevin Gillis, vice-president of Skyvision, says the Robocop delay will not affect the anticipated start-up on production for f/x this February or March. Says Gillis, the expected budget for f/x of $1.5 million per episode remains intact.

During production, Robocop had an average weekly payroll of $800,000, employed about 300 people weekly and sustained an in-house special effects department which is now dark.

The last two episodes of Robocop are in final stages of post-production and shooting has been on hiatus since mid-July.

The plan was to resume shooting season two in early October. ‘We have to see what happens with the November (ratings) books and we hope that the ratings will convince the broadcasters,’ says Gillis. Skyvision will approach Baton Broadcasting for renewal once production on season two is in progress.

Problems with the show stemmed from too little action. According to Gillis: ‘Our feeling is that more action is required and we have been trying to find ways to bring more action to the show.’

‘New episodes are still being tooled that have yet to air in November which have more action than we’ve seen before and we’re hoping that turns stuff around a little bit,’ says Bernstein.

Robocop is measuring about 4.2 in the national ratings, says Bernstein, who adds the series was expected to make 5.0.

‘Is it doing as great as we would have hoped? No. Is it doing terrible? No. It’s a question mark. We’re hopeful that the creative tweaks and the increase in action we’re going to see in the remaining episodes will help increase the numbers and create a positive resolution to this whole thing,’ he says.