Every now and then, you can tell that certain movies or television shows are just not going to turn out well, purely from how troubled their creation processes become. Joss Whedon’s ill-fated Dollhouse was one, and now it’s beginning to look like Steven Spielberg’s Terra Nova will become another. A month after Fox pushed the premiere of the series back to fall 2011, co-executive producer David Fury has quit because of “creative differences” and will not be replaced; instead, his responsibilities will be taken up by now-sole writing EP Brannon Braga.
This may feel like deja vu to Braga, who had to take over in a similar manner on his last series, FlashForward, which lost two showrunners (Marc Guggenheim and co-creator David Goyer) during its sole season. The loss of Fury – who’d worked in similar capacities on fan-favorite shows like Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel, Lost and 24 – is sure to cause concern amongst those looking forward to the show, not least of all because of the track record of the man he leaves in charge; both of the shows Braga has helped create in the past (FlashForward and Threshold) were canceled after one season of low ratings and uneven storytelling, and his producing credits beyond that include final years of successful series or franchises (Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise and the final two years of 24). Will the presence of Spielberg be enough to break this losing streak, or should we start being worried whether Terra Nova will feel the cold cancellation hand of the Fox Curse already?
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