Media for Debris: All Broken Up About It

[tv echo]

Sad to read this interview now...

'Debris' Creator J.H. Wyman Explains That Wild Season Finale: "It’s Very Crucial to Season 2"
BY CHRISTINA RADISH    MAY 24, 2021  
https://collider.com/debris-finale-explained-jh-wyman-interview-nbc-season-2/ 

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Can you talk a bit about the final moment of the season and what exactly is happening in that cave? What can you tease about what all of that means?
WYMAN: We find Finola, or a version of Finola, in suspensia. What you should know about that is, number one, Brill is much, much, much more knowledgeable about things than obviously we first thought. He may play a little bit of a bigger part, in his knowledge of what’s happening. For some reason, he has access to this version of Finola in suspensia. It’s no mistake that Brill’s last line is, “Okay, let’s begin.” Now, the doors will be blown off the series and now everything is going to expand. You’ll go back and recontextualize everything you’ve seen before it. I think it’s a healthy question to leave people with, as far as how is that possible that she’s in two places at the same time? What does that mean? Does that mean she’s a clone? Does that mean she’s from another reality? Whatever it is, I want people to keep guessing and anticipate coming back for those answers. It’s very crucial to Season 2, that discovery and that revelation.
*  *  *
What was your process for deciding where to end the season, how much to reveal, how much not to reveal, and what new questions you wanted to ask?
WYMAN: I’m telling the story that I want to tell. I knew and I know where the story’s going, and I felt that this was the proper way to dole out the information. At the end of the season, I knew what was going to happen and I chose to tell it in this way because this will give you the foot in, to come into Season 2 and realize that things are maybe a lot different than they seem. It’s no mistake that George Jones said to Finola, “There are things about this debris, you have no idea, and there are things you need to know. It’s really, really important that you come with me.” That’s not said lightly. There are still a lot of things to learn. I think I even said to you that the first season, for me, was always considered an origin story where people would be like, “Okay, I’m going to get my arms around this.” These pieces of debris are really messing with our physics and there’s this great drama that’s going on underneath it. But then, once the mythology kicks in and you start to realize, “Wait, there’s a lot more going on here then I first anticipated,” the show becomes a little bit more rewarding. This is the end of the first chapter only. We introduced certain characters, we understand people’s positions, we understand the world that they live in, we understand their trials and tribulations, and off we go. I really knew that, when Brill said, “Let’s begin,” that was the point of it all.
*  *  *
Like I said, the first season was just an origin story, so I didn’t have a lot of time to meander. I had very specific things I needed to talk about and put in, so that in Season 2, people will be like, “Oh, man!” If you go back in the show, we mentioned the ball of light in Episode 2 and we also mentioned in it Episode 8. Like on Fringe, we were putting the amber on the bus and, all of a sudden, the amber became a really important thing to the whole mythology. Those are the types of long haul things I’m really interested in. It could be that in Season 2, there’s a revelation where you go back to another episode. Even to understand what suspensia is, we needed to have an episode that was about suspensia.
*  *  *
How and what Otto knows about this event, why it’s important to him, and why it’s even noteworthy, are all things that we’re hopefully going to learn in Season 2. The concept of what happened to Bryan is extremely important and I hope it’s laid bare. He’s taking shots and nothing has really happened, but it saved his life. Something that’s in him, something that’s around him, something that has affected his biology, has allowed him to come out of that situation unscathed. That’s what alerted Otto to realize, “I know what’s going on here. There’s only one way that can happen, and now I know who he is.” What that revelation means is, to me, a massive part of Season 2 as well. We’ll learn much more about Chinese Agent Ming, we’ll learn more about Garcia, and we’re going to learn more about Bryan and what happened that day and what those early responders encountered.
*  *  *
So, if this show doesn’t get renewed, which would be tragic and sad, and this is where you leave things, how would you feel about that?
WYMAN: That’s a good question. It’s weird because I know that I put in 110 percent, every day. The people that I work with and my crew do the same. There are just certain things you can’t control, but what I can control is my work. I would be upset because I feel like there’s so much story left to tell and it’s a really cool idea. I’m hoping that there’s some room for elevated television on network, in a way that was missing, but I could be wrong. You just have to do your work as well as you can and step back, and whatever happens, is completely out of my hands.

I pitched them the entire second season. They knew some of it when they bought it, and they were an excellent creative team. It was a fantastic experience, working with NBC. They got it. There are a lot of fans of the show inside the building and a lot of people that believe in it, one hundred percent. There’s nothing to blame. Either it works or it doesn’t. A lot of times, people say, “Oh, I never really got to do what I wanted to do.” I got to do what I wanted to do. This is it. I love the show. I think it’s super cool. We all believe in it. We’re in a very difficult time and it managed to keep some people working and paying their mortgages, which I was really happy about. We managed to get it on the air. Fans probably want answers and I know that’s very frustrating. I might try to see if there’s another outfit that would potentially air it, but that would also be a tragedy because you have to grow things.

Fringe took 22 episodes in the first season to get an audience and the first reviews were dismal. It was really hard. And then, what happened was that people got it and went, “Oh, okay, I see what they’re doing.” To give something 13 episodes, where it’s building this cool mythology, it’s holding its numbers. The people who love this kind of work, love this kind of work. I would be very sad because it feels like there’s a lot of story to tell. The only way that I can go to sleep at night is knowing that I did it 110 percent.

And here's one person's  opinion as to why Debris was cancelled....

Why NBC Canceled Debris After Just One Season (What Went Wrong)
BY ALISHA GRAUSO     MAY 28, 2021
https://screenrant.com/debris-nbc-canceled-one-season-after-why/ 

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Unfortunately, the series never truly got off the ground and the announcement came this week that the network would not be moving forward with a Debris season 2. On the surface, the reason for the cancelation was the reason for all cancelations: the numbers just weren't there. After such promise, the show never really found its footing and failed to hit big numbers, only reaching a 0.7 average rating in the all-important 18-49 demographic and under five million viewers per episode. And numbers kept dropping. Its latest ratings were a dismal 0.38 rating and 2.8 million viewers, awful numbers for a network series.
*  *  *
Low ratings, however, don't come out of nowhere. If audiences aren't watching a show, there's a reason for it. Debris failed to connect with viewers, and that was because it lacked the one thing all TV shows need to succeed: a story engine. A story engine is a concept that is a little hard to define, but in essence, it's exactly that: the thing that powers a show. It's the reason the characters do what they do, rooted in who they are and what they want. No matter how exciting an initial pilot or premise is, eventually, a TV series needs something that keeps audiences coming back week after week. It needs to give them a reason to care about the characters and what's happening to them. Without it, audiences just lose interest and drift away.
*  *  *
Debris isn't alone in this, however. TV is littered with shows that could charitably be described as all head, no heart, high-concept series that seem great on paper but lack an emotional hook to keep people watching. Debris is just another example of a show that is structured as a procedural relying on the "mystery box" conceit; the concepts do not work in conjunction with one another. Investigative procedurals are a simple structure and concept: A person or people are presented with a crime or mystery and walk through the steps until it's solved. A larger, overarching mystery can be laid on top of a procedural's story-of-the-week format, but by the end of the episode, the central story for the week better be resolved and by the end of the season, most of the main questions should be answered.

"Mystery boxing," however, is fundamentally the opposite of a procedural by its nature. While the concept (or "puzzle box") has been around a while, the modern mystery box was popularized by J.J. Abrams. If an audience has watched Abrams' Lost, then they've familiar with a mystery box show. The meta nature of a mystery box show isn't bad on its own, the problem is when the show becomes a Jenga tower of mysteries added to mysteries just for the sake of it; eventually, the audience needs answers. They need payoff after the time they've invested. When nothing is ever resolved, it's impossible for viewers to get a firm grasp on what a show is or where it's going.

After 13 episodes, Debris still didn't know where it was going. The greater problem is that it didn't offer a compelling reason for why audiences should have stuck with it until the show figured it out. Unfortunately, without a story engine, the characters didn't resonate with viewers enough to make up for the lack of direction. Despite the valiant efforts of Steele and Tucker, Debris's Finola and Bryan only ever remained sketches rather than fully-formed people because there was no engine powering what they wanted. Without it, audiences failed to care.

 

Edited May 31, 2021 by tv echo

[alvajon]

But what about the us, the "minority” who actually liked the show--we got shafted--no answers.  No more investing in a new network series for me.  

[Melina22]

On 5/31/2021 at 7:07 PM, tv echo said:

And here's one person's  opinion as to why Debris was cancelled....

Excellent article. I totally agree with what's said here. 

[akr]

I didn't care about them being gloomy (it didn't even particularly jump out to me). But there was no coherence - it was just random mystery of the week, one and done, with no hint of anything really tying it together until perhaps the two-parter with Shelby & his twin sister. The only three episodes that grabbed me enough to make me care whether or not there was a second season were those two and the finale. I had no idea whether there was any sort of theory behind it, or if the debris was just an excuse for a set of barely connected plots in which weird things happen because [look over there! something from space! because people watch sci fi shows even if they don't make any sense!]. 

[UnknownK]

Science fiction shows like this take a while to become popular.

X-Files was ranked 105 out of 128 shows its first season and didn't peak until season 5 on its first run. There are just too many shows on network TV these days fighting for less and less live viewers who have other things to do. I kind of wonder when the whole thing will collapse because the numbers won't justify the cost of making new shows anymore.

Anyway I think the show would have been more interesting showing the beginning of the alien artifacts crashing down and how all the groups came into being and their motivation. We basically got dumped into the middle of things with little explanation and the characters were just not that interesting. 

I liked the show but I would suspect season 2 would have been worse not better the way they were going.

[Melina22]

On 6/4/2021 at 12:17 AM, UnknownK said:

Anyway I think the show would have been more interesting showing the beginning of the alien artifacts crashing down and how all the groups came into being and their motivation. We basically got dumped into the middle of things with little explanation and the characters were just not that interesting. 

Excellent point. It sounds like the show runner planned to start giving us answers in season 2 - finally giving us a glimpse of the big picture - which I think was a big miscalculation. He needed to start that partway through season 1 to give us a reason to keep watching. 

[alvajon]

All water under the bridge now, as they say. 

[tv echo]

In case you missed the notice, First Round voting for the 2021 Primetimer Awards opened on June 14 (and will end on June 18) - Debris has nominees in the following categories...

Worst Drama
https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119722-worst-drama

Whaaaat! Are You Effing Kidding Me?: Biggest Plot Point Letdown
https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119690-whaaaat-are-you-effing-kidding-me-biggest-plot-point-letdown

Life On The Edge: Biggest Cliffhanger
https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119688-life-on-the-edge-biggest-cliffhanger

Weird Science: Most "Ummm, What Now?" Side-Eye Explanation Of Tech/Science
https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119684-weird-science-most-ummm-what-now-side-eye-explanation-of-techscience

Ow, That Hurt: Most Painful Cancellation
https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119652-ow-that-hurt-most-painful-cancellation

That Anticlimax Tho: Anticipated New Show That Failed Miserably
https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119635-that-anticlimax-tho-anticipated-new-show-that-failed-miserably

Worst Writing
https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119618-worst-writing

Best Genre Show
https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119512-best-genre-show

The Big Chill: Favorite Binge-Watch
https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119490-the-big-chill-favorite-binge-watch

Edited June 16, 2021 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Debris nominees survived to Second/Final Round voting for the 2021 Primetimer Awards in the following categories (voting opened today and ends Jun 29)...
https://forums.primetimer.com/forum/3310-annual-awards-show-the-primetimers/

Weird Science: Most "Ummm, What Now?" Side-Eye Explanation Of Tech/Science
https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/120088-weird-science-most-ummm-what-now-side-eye-explanation-of-techscience

That Anticlimax Tho: Anticipated New Show That Failed Miserably
https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/119935-that-anticlimax-tho-anticipated-new-show-that-failed-miserably/

[tv echo]

2021 Primetimer Awards results - Debris "won" the following award...

Weird Science: Most "Ummm, What Now?" Side-Eye Explanation Of Tech/Science
Winner: Debris - A piece of debris causes people to be instantly replicated as clones, only some are very messed up and one has two heads. The clones are... never mentioned again
https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/120393-primetimer-award-winners-non-traditional-the-bad/

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, tv echo said:

2021 Primetimer Awards results - Debris "won" the following award...

Weird Science: Most "Ummm, What Now?" Side-Eye Explanation Of Tech/Science
Winner: Debris - A piece of debris causes people to be instantly replicated as clones, only some are very messed up and one has two heads. The clones are... never mentioned again
https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/120393-primetimer-award-winners-non-traditional-the-bad/

Although Debris was one of the 2 shows I watched in that category, I did NOT vote for it on principle, because clones were mentioned again in the series. 

[ROEHUNTER]

So they cancelled Debris and we get this?

 

https://www.nbc.com/la-brea

Edited July 25, 2021 by ROEHUNTER

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, ROEHUNTER said:

So they cancelled Debris and we get this?  
https://www.nbc.com/la-brea

Simpler concept. 😕

[alvajon]

2 hours ago, ROEHUNTER said:

 

So they cancelled Debris and we get this?

 

https://www.nbc.com/la-brea

 

I was thinking the exact same thing :(

[Jenniferbug]

Seeing all the ads for La Brea make me wonder if they would have pushed Debris in ad spots, had the Olympics happened in 2020 as scheduled. 

I probably won't watch La Brea since NBC has a bad track record with these types of shows and the premise doesn't interest me as much as Debris or even Manifest did. 

[ROEHUNTER]

On 7/25/2021 at 10:24 PM, Jenniferbug said:

Seeing all the ads for La Brea make me wonder if they would have pushed Debris in ad spots, had the Olympics happened in 2020 as scheduled. 

I probably won't watch La Brea since NBC has a bad track record with these types of shows and the premise doesn't interest me as much as Debris or even Manifest did. 

Good point on the ads, and I'm with you on the premise. 

[tv echo]

Cancelled TV Shows: What Would’ve Happened Next on So Help Me Todd, Castle, Magnum P.I. and 65 Others
BY TEAM TVLINE   JUNE 30, 2024
https://tvline.com/lists/cancelled-tv-shows-what-happened-next-spoilers/ 

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DEBRIS (NBC)
...
Ended: May 24, 2021 (after one season)

What Would Have Happened in Season 2: Intel on Season 2 is as cryptic as the sci-fi series itself, but creator J.H. Wyman did give TVLine a few hints. For one, in the wake of Fringe alum John Noble’s top secret, season- series-ending debut as the ruthless Otto, Wyman said that “where he goes and how he expands is really complex…. He’s very, very, very, very, very knowledgeable in those things that nobody else is, and there are reasons for that that we’re going to get into.” Secondly, the fact that the telesphere of light upon being released made a beeline for the Indigenous Dahkeya suggests that Jonathan Tucker’s Bryan is not the first person debris has sought out. “That’s a nudge to like, ‘Oh, maybe there’s a whole other chapter to this I haven’t seen yet,’ which is exactly the case,” Wyman said. The EP also said that a la Bryan being “the third man” (as Otto put it), and having already been introduced to Garcia (with the pin-pricked face), we would meet Ming, a Chinese agent. Last but not least, the “other” Finola (Riann Steele) revealed at the end of the finale would be “large part of Season 2,” Wyman assured.  “Is she a clone? Is she from another reality? Is she something else altogether? And why does Brill (Sebastian Roche) have her? It will be illuminated in Season 2, 100 percent.”  (Read full story.)

Edited July 1, 2024 by tv echo