Boycott Fox? You've got to be kidding.
POSTED BY: Thrawn
UPDATED: Friday, April 9, 2004 13:37
VIEWED: 16792
PAGE 6 of 8
Hey FOX,
Take all your reality crap and shove it. You've waisted enough of my time. If Wonderfalls wasn't good enough for you, then you're not good enough for me.
Mike Ruggiero
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What exactly is Wonderfalls?
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Thrawn, (good day in class?)
You wrote:
Quote:
But I can give you reasons why stealing is wrong that make sense, outside of just "I think it's morally right". I feel like any system of morals has to be logically/pragmatically based at some level.
Ahhh, but can you pinpoint the "logical/pragmatic" basis of our (Western culture's) moral system?
I can; but I'll not pester further with 'philosophical ramblings'.
Seems to me someone in this thread pled for mutual respect for differing viewpoints...
Well, I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree.
Respectfully,
zoid
_________________________________________________
"River didn't fix faith. Faith fixed River."
- Senator Richard 'Book' Wilkins, Independent Congress
author of A Child Shall Lead Them: A History of the Second War of Independence
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Quote:
Originally posted by Thrawn:
So, especially after Wonderfalls, there seems to be a HUGE number of people with the general thought "That's it. I'm done. I'm never watching a single Fox show ever, period."
I ask you - what are you hoping to accomplish? You think you're going to drive Fox out of business? You have no chance. No CHANCE. If everyone that ever watched Firefly or Wonderfalls never watched another Fox show again, we'd still barely make a dent. Fox's general audience is so completely different from those shows that us boycotting them isn't going to accomplish anything useful.
It will, however, accomplish one thing very well - the NEXT time Fox buys a Firefly, or a Wonderfalls, the audience that would watch it, the audience that would keep it on air, will be boycotting the network, so it will fail AGAIN. And the exact same thing will happen. All you're going to accomplish by refusing to watch anything Fox ever produces is help prevent Fox from ever producing anything interesting. Which, it seems to me, is exactly the opposite of what you'd want.
There is no conspiracy here. The only reason Fox cancels shows is because they tank. If you look at the Wonderfalls ratings, they fell sharply, from an already fairly bad first number. Granted, Fox is worse than most at promoting these shows and placing them in positions where they will be watched, and it's likely that they made a mistake by cancelling it early, but it's not because they're evil malicious conservatives or because they have a death feud against Tim Minear. It's because they don't understand how it takes a long time for cult followings to develop, and aren't willing to grant the time it takes for that to happen.
If we're ever going to get a show like this to stick around, we're going to have to show them that it's profitable for that to happen. Which means, first and foremost, that we have to actually watch it. Fox may be an unusually pathetic and incompetent network, but that's two good shows in a row they've been interested in and bought, and that failed because not enough people watched them. It's mostly their fault, but it's partially ours, too.
Don't boycott Fox, and don't assume that we'll never get one of these to work. All you're doing is causing more harm than good, and reducing the possibilities for more creative shows in the future. By all means, don't watch the bad ones - avoid any and all reality TV like the plague - but if you see one that looks interesting, watch it. And if you like it, get other people to watch it.
You never know what we can do when we try hard enough.
As a matter of fact--as a broadcasting and broadcast marketing major in college--it damn well WILL make a difference. If thousands of people go to the time, effort, and financial expense of sending in reams of handwriteen postcards, demonstrating their displeasure, the execs will have no choise but to scratch their heads and wonder what they did wrong, which will force them to look at their broadcast practices. And, the rule is, for every person who gets off his or her ass and actually writes their displeasure, there's 25 others who feel the same but don't get around to the writing about it part.
It won't necessarily make a huge change, but then again, a little bit is a start.
If we announce our intention to boycott FOX, other networks will see the reason why, and have an indication of the demographic's wants. Then, other, better, NON-FOX networks will be inclined to produce a Firefly or Wonderfalls.
See how it works?
***************************
"I like smackin 'em"--Jayne
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Totally off-topic, but...
Is it "Badger Shat" (which means one thing) or "Badger's Hat" (which would be something totally different)?
Or, is the juxtaposition -- like "Shat in Badger's Hat" -- the point?
Just wondering... ;)
Respectfully (Truly),
zoid
P.S.
Mine means nothing. I've just been using it for 9 years.
_________________________________________________
"River didn't fix faith. Faith fixed River."
- Senator Richard 'Book' Wilkins, Independent Congress
author of A Child Shall Lead Them: A History of the Second War of Independence
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Quote:
More places for good shows to go. If that can't happen, then Fox not buying them in the first place might be an alternative, but when Fox buys a good show I still think it's worth at least trying to support it rather than dismissing it out of hand because it happens to be on Fox, don't you?
The trouble with that is it is not just one show we are dicussing here, it is a long list of shows cancelled dispite having a following. Many of us feel like we wasted our time watching a show, enjoying it and having it canceled over and over again.
While I agree a boycott would not have an effect apon the management of this company, it is a display of the honest disgust we feel towards their programing choices.
In a perfect world, one would be able to choose the channels in their cable packages and rating as well as advertising fees could be based on this. In this case I would simply cancell FOX with my provider and if two or three thousand went with me an effect would be felt. From this perhaps stockholders may make personnel choices differently and we will have change.
To me reality TV is a worse choice than no TV at all. the way things are going soon I will only watch NHL hockey and simply try to work my way though the local library for amusment.
BTW What is your major?? You picking this fight for a paper or something
" Thats not fair !!!!
I didn't even have a soul when I did that!"
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Quote:
Originally posted by infra172:
People abandoned network news for CNN and Fox News. News coverage on television is better than ever.
In a recent study http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Iraq/Media_10_02_03_Report.pdf (See an excellent CSM http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1009/dailyUpdate.html summary), PIPA looked at where people got their incorrect info from:
80% of Fox News viewers were likely to hold one of the three incorrect beliefs.
71% of those who relied on CBS for news.
61% ABC.
55% NBC
55% CNN.
47% of Americans who rely on the print media as their primary source of information.
23% of the NPR/PBS audience.
"Interestingly, the study found that these misperceptions are not the result of a lack of attention to current events. The more people watched commercial TV, the more likely they were to hold a misperceptions (only CNN reversed this trend)."
45% percent of Fox viewers believed all three misperceptions
12%-16%: other commercial networks
9% of print readers.
4% NPR/PBS.
20% of Fox viewers had none of the 3.
30% CBS
39% ABC
45% CNN
45% NBC
53% print media
77% NPR/PBS
“No people can be both ignorant and free.” - Thomas Jefferson
“One of the intentions of corporate-controlled media is to instill in people a sense of disempowerment, of immobilization and paralysis. Its outcome is to turn you into good consumers. It is to keep people isolated, to feel that there is no possibility for social change.” - David Barsamian
“When nations grow old, the arts grow cold and commerce settles on every tree.” - William Blake
--
I am Jack's username
FTL in Firefly? < http://jack.p5.org.uk/ftl-firefly.en.html>
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As usual, I enter a thread after it's already developed a lot. I mostly agree with Thrawn here, but it's not a very important topic for me. The way I see it, if you like a show, watch it, if you don't, don't. That way you support the networks with the good shows and shun networks with shows you don't like. It's pretty damn simple.
I was, of course, saddened by Firefly's cancelation. I felt a lot like Mal when he loses the war. But I'm not that mad at Fox. Fox may have mishandled Firefly in every way, not given it enough of a chance, and replaced it with evil reality crap. But they probably weren't being actively malicious, or part of a vast conspiricy.
They started Firefly not to spread good stories or quality entertainment, but to make money. They mishandled Firefly due to incompetence and apathy. They had crappy adds due to idiocy and ignorance of what the show's about. They skipped the pilot so they could play the John Doe pilot, not realizing how important it was. And while Firefly could have been their next big income generator, it had been getting bad ratings and baseball was a certain source of good ratings. It seems to me that Fox's only crimes are incompetence, greed, and reckless disregard to quality entertainment greatness. And misleading news coverage, but that's a different story.
Here's how it could have happened:
Fox exec #1: We're gonna have to cancel Firefly. It doesn't have high enough ratings.
Fox exec #2: But I like Firefly!
Fox exec #3: Yeah, but it just didn't catch on for enough people. We have to do this for our stockholders.
I'm really much angrier at the American TV-watching public, who for the most part love reality TV. Fox isn't playing these reality shows for fun, they're doing it because that's what most Americans want, and because they're cheap. Still, Fox is one of the most evil TV corporations.
Edit: I'll still watch all or their 1/2 hour Sunday shows, from M*A*S*H to Arrested Development, simply because I find them to be the funniest things on network TV at that time. Of course, usually I spare my brain and turn off the TV.
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Zoid--
I was drinking a Dunkin Donuts Vanilla Bean Coolata as I read your post, and laughed so hard I literally threw up 
on my monitor. After carefully wiping the last traces of vanilla-flavored slush away, I was able to reply.
It's Badger's Hat, but you can't type that as a name.
***************************
"I like smackin 'em"--Jayne
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Why do far-left types skew questions and rig results to their own polls? Brother.
And I'll trump your quote:
“When nations grow old, the arts grow cold and commerce settles on every tree.” - William Blake
...With one of my own:
"William Blake? William... Blake... William Blake?!?" - Kevin Costner, Bull Durham
BTW, Crash's belief system and mine are pretty much the same, except I've always hated 'charlie', hanging or otherwise...
Respectfully,
zoid (middle of the road, like C. Hynde said it)
_________________________________________________
"River didn't fix faith. Faith fixed River."
- Senator Richard 'Book' Wilkins, Independent Congress
author of A Child Shall Lead Them: A History of the Second War of Independence
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME