The fan campaign to save "The Borgias" has gone to the extreme.
Fans have been trying to convince Showtime to reverse its decision in June to cancel the show after three seasons and revive the period drama starring Jeremy Irons set in the 1490s. The "Borgias" die-hards flew an airplane over the Beverly Hills Hilton where the 2013 TCAs are taking place with a banner attached that read: "D Nevins: Sho fans you care -- save The Borgias." Plus, a protestor was outside the venue dressed in robes.
"We looked hard at doing a two-hour finale," Showtime's David Nevins said at TCA. "The economics of it just didn't make sense so we didn't move forward. I think it got to a good stopping place at the end of Season 3."
As for the protestors, Nevins said, "We all got buzzed by the plane at lunch -- I feel bad about the money being spent. When I came in, there was one protestor out there and I asked what he thought of the finale. He said he hadn't seen it -- he was a paid protestor."
Fans also delivered sardines to Showtime's office and chronicled it on YouTube. But it wasn't just intended to be a smelly gift. "We were told we would have four seasons originally, but 'The Borgias' was cancelled with just two episodes left of the third season," Barbara Christel, organizer of the Bring Back The Borgias Facebook group told The Telegraph. "In one episode, Pope Alexander told his Cardinals: 'We shall dine on sardines’ during Lent. We decided to send cans of sardines to Showtime on June 28th as a sign that we, the fans, feel deprived." (For more information about the ongoing campaign, click over to the Save the Borgias page.)
The aerial efforts aren't completely new tactic. When UPN and The WB merged to make The CW, fans of "Veronica Mars" paid for a plane to fly over The CW's offices to make sure the series made the transition. When the show was canceled after Season 3, fans sent in Mars Bars, but it didn't work. However, five years later, fans of "Veronica Mars" are getting a continuation of the series in the form of a crowd-funded movie. Creator Rob Thomas turned to Kickstarter to raise money to reunite the "Veronica Mars" cast for a film.
Nevins told THR that's the way to go. "Kickstarter seems to be the financing mode de jour," he said. Start saving your money, "Borgias" fans!
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