shavedape
Well Known GateFan
If that is their policy per se it makes Caprica harder to understand, as it got whacked during its first season (specifically shortly after they started showing the second half of season one) and they then just burned off the remaining episodes in a middle of the night marathon.
It seems to be a tacit policy that isn't set in stone. Different productions get different treatment. SGU got two seasons right out of the gate based upon the reputation of the preceding SG shows. DEFECATION got a green light for multiple seasons because the producers came to the table with hundreds of millions in financing already in the bag.
With Caprica though I think that SyFy figured it was better to cut their losses instead of agreeing to a second season for a high-budget show that clearly wasn't earning its keep from the start. (And Caprica was high budget in that it had a large cast, extensive sets plus remote location shoots and also copious CGI. Chances are SyFy agreed to this show with the expectation that it would get nuBSG's audience, which it failed to do. They got stung. Lesson learned.)
So maybe it's a matter of budget when it comes to getting a guarantee of multiple seasons? SyFy is probably more willing to give show-runners a two-season guarantee for new shows if the budgets they submit for perusal are economical and parsimonious. That way there won't be any Caprica type surprises that put them in the red right out of the gate.
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