An Open Letter to Shonda Rhimes
I don't know if I'll send this, but I've been wanting to be more proactive about it.
Dear Ms. Rhimes
I am a big fan of Grey's Anatomy. I have watched all episodes since Season 1. My favorite episode is from Season 2, "Deterioration of the Fight or Flight Response." Excellent cliffhanger and suspense into the Season 2 finale.
I'm writing to you on behalf of all the fans of Emily Owens MD, a former show on the CW. This show is narrated by the main character, Emily Owens, who is a surgical intern at Denver Memorial. She's still figuring out how the world works and growing as a doctor.
Emily Owens MD was prematurely canceled on November 2012 only having aired 3 episodes (Imagine Grey's Anatomy being cancelled after "Winning the Battle, Losing the War"). That was hardly enough time to develop a fan base. As of now, there is a steady fan base currently growing throughout the world who want the show revived. This is after the "series finale" aired in February. It has 72,000+ likes on Facebook. It also has a 7/10 rating from 3,656 users on IMDB. Two petitions already have 50,000+ signatures for a season 2. The CW has not budged.
Here are the ratings for each episode that aired (From Wikipedia).
#
Title
Original air date
Rating/Share (18-49)
Viewers (millions)
1
"Pilot"
October 16, 2012
0.5/1
1.67[9]
2
"Emily and... the Alan Zolman Incident"
October 23, 2012
0.3/1
1.11[10]
3
"Emily and... the Outbreak"
October 30, 2012
0.3/1
1.03[11]
4
"Emily and... the Predator"
November 13, 2012
0.4/1
1.38[12]
5
"Emily and... the Tell-Tale Heart"
November 20, 2012
0.4/1
1.29[13]
6
"Emily and... the Question of Faith"
November 27, 2012
0.3/1
1.05[14]
7
"Emily and... the Good and the Bad"
December 4, 2012
0.4/1
1.41[15]
8
"Emily and... the Car and the Cards"
January 1, 2013
0.4/1
1.30[16]
9
"Emily and... the Love of Larping"
January 8, 2013
0.3/1
1.09[17]
10
"Emily and... the Social Experiment"
January 15, 2013
0.3/1
1.02[18]
11
"Emily and... the Teapot"
January 22, 2013
0.4/1
1.36[19]
12
"Emily and... the Perfect Storm"
January 29, 2013
0.4/1
1.33[20]
13
"Emily and... the Leap"
February 5, 2013
0.4/1
1.50[21]
The ratings aren't anything impressive like the ones for Grey's Anatomy, but this is a CW show. The premiere did better than Hart of Dixie that evening (1.40 mill). All things considering, these are pretty good ratings for the network if they're willing to keep the Carrie Diaries and Nikita, which didn't have a steady viewership as Emily Owens. We, the fans, believe that Emily Owens was cancelled, because it skewed to an older audience and didn't fit the CW's occult/teen genre. Not because of ratings. It's clear that the CW didn't know what to do with it.
It wasn't given a chance to thrive. After the finale aired, Jennie Snyder Urman, the show's creator/writer/ producer, revealed what would've happened if they were given a full season order. It is clear that the cast and crew saw the potential in the show to have it planned/written out to episode 22. The network must've seen the potential if they ordered 13 episodes!
This is a one of a kind show in a TV land dominated by unscripted reality TV. The story lines are simple, yet smart. It's about the dialogue and the character development and the chemistry between each of the characters, which is what people liked about the show. Even my husband enjoyed it! I don't want to reveal too much about the plot, but there is a lot of great coupling and tension going on. Emily Owens MD has the potential to be big. Unfortunately, the CW doesn't see that. It's obvious the show needs a better home.
We're looking to you for help. You have experience producing medical dramas. You made big hits with Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. You could provide Emily Owens MD with the marketing that it deserves by including it in ShondaLand. And maybe even help give it a new home at ABC.
You're probably asking, "How will this benefit me?" You could make headlines about how you brought a show back from the ashes. That you took in a show that another network saw as weak/failing, and you made it into a hit. You could be part of the revolution that keeps quality TV that fans love on the air. Not only that, but think about the DVD sales.
We have written to the CW about how outrageous the decision was. Sent in tongue depressors and band-aids. We've written to WEtv and Lifetime, but there hasn't been a response. We've made fan videos like the ones fans did for Drop Dead Diva with the hopes that CW would reconsider. We've been tweeting every Tuesday during its former time slot with the tags #EmilyOwensMDseason2 and #TeamBallvery.
Ms. Rhimes, you are our last hope in bringing Emily Owens back to life. Please, watch all 13 episodes of Season 1. The Pilot starts off slow, but as the show progresses, it gets better. You will understand how unsatisfying of a conclusion Season 1, Episode 13 "Emily and... the Leap" is. It's like if Elizabeth Bennet chose Mr. Wickham. We're not asking for much, but a better conclusion. If the network wants more episodes, then great. If not, that's fine as long as there is a clear ending fans will be content.
We understand that this is how the business works. Shows get to series and then they get an order of episodes and then a decision is made. It doesn't have to be always this way...
Help us fight the good fight. We are hoping that you will consider helping us bring Emily Owens MD back on the air.
Thank you for your time.
#emilyowensmd needs season2. I know how Abed felt when Cougarton Abbey ended #community #SixSeasonsAndAMovie pic.twitter.com/XsjQ4zy3S4
- Christine (@christinelee685) August 1, 2013
Maybe they all should've drank hemlock in the finale. That would've been more of an ending... Maybe Team Ballvery should contact Dan Harmon too... get some internet/social muscle. If he can bring Community back, he could use the same army to bring Emily Owens... sigh...
Yes, I now have a Twitter account. If my dad can use it, maybe so can I? Still not used to the 142 character limit...
Dear Ms. Rhimes
I am a big fan of Grey's Anatomy. I have watched all episodes since Season 1. My favorite episode is from Season 2, "Deterioration of the Fight or Flight Response." Excellent cliffhanger and suspense into the Season 2 finale.
I'm writing to you on behalf of all the fans of Emily Owens MD, a former show on the CW. This show is narrated by the main character, Emily Owens, who is a surgical intern at Denver Memorial. She's still figuring out how the world works and growing as a doctor.
Emily Owens MD was prematurely canceled on November 2012 only having aired 3 episodes (Imagine Grey's Anatomy being cancelled after "Winning the Battle, Losing the War"). That was hardly enough time to develop a fan base. As of now, there is a steady fan base currently growing throughout the world who want the show revived. This is after the "series finale" aired in February. It has 72,000+ likes on Facebook. It also has a 7/10 rating from 3,656 users on IMDB. Two petitions already have 50,000+ signatures for a season 2. The CW has not budged.
Here are the ratings for each episode that aired (From Wikipedia).
#
Title
Original air date
Rating/Share (18-49)
Viewers (millions)
1
"Pilot"
October 16, 2012
0.5/1
1.67[9]
2
"Emily and... the Alan Zolman Incident"
October 23, 2012
0.3/1
1.11[10]
3
"Emily and... the Outbreak"
October 30, 2012
0.3/1
1.03[11]
4
"Emily and... the Predator"
November 13, 2012
0.4/1
1.38[12]
5
"Emily and... the Tell-Tale Heart"
November 20, 2012
0.4/1
1.29[13]
6
"Emily and... the Question of Faith"
November 27, 2012
0.3/1
1.05[14]
7
"Emily and... the Good and the Bad"
December 4, 2012
0.4/1
1.41[15]
8
"Emily and... the Car and the Cards"
January 1, 2013
0.4/1
1.30[16]
9
"Emily and... the Love of Larping"
January 8, 2013
0.3/1
1.09[17]
10
"Emily and... the Social Experiment"
January 15, 2013
0.3/1
1.02[18]
11
"Emily and... the Teapot"
January 22, 2013
0.4/1
1.36[19]
12
"Emily and... the Perfect Storm"
January 29, 2013
0.4/1
1.33[20]
13
"Emily and... the Leap"
February 5, 2013
0.4/1
1.50[21]
The ratings aren't anything impressive like the ones for Grey's Anatomy, but this is a CW show. The premiere did better than Hart of Dixie that evening (1.40 mill). All things considering, these are pretty good ratings for the network if they're willing to keep the Carrie Diaries and Nikita, which didn't have a steady viewership as Emily Owens. We, the fans, believe that Emily Owens was cancelled, because it skewed to an older audience and didn't fit the CW's occult/teen genre. Not because of ratings. It's clear that the CW didn't know what to do with it.
It wasn't given a chance to thrive. After the finale aired, Jennie Snyder Urman, the show's creator/writer/ producer, revealed what would've happened if they were given a full season order. It is clear that the cast and crew saw the potential in the show to have it planned/written out to episode 22. The network must've seen the potential if they ordered 13 episodes!
This is a one of a kind show in a TV land dominated by unscripted reality TV. The story lines are simple, yet smart. It's about the dialogue and the character development and the chemistry between each of the characters, which is what people liked about the show. Even my husband enjoyed it! I don't want to reveal too much about the plot, but there is a lot of great coupling and tension going on. Emily Owens MD has the potential to be big. Unfortunately, the CW doesn't see that. It's obvious the show needs a better home.
We're looking to you for help. You have experience producing medical dramas. You made big hits with Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. You could provide Emily Owens MD with the marketing that it deserves by including it in ShondaLand. And maybe even help give it a new home at ABC.
You're probably asking, "How will this benefit me?" You could make headlines about how you brought a show back from the ashes. That you took in a show that another network saw as weak/failing, and you made it into a hit. You could be part of the revolution that keeps quality TV that fans love on the air. Not only that, but think about the DVD sales.
We have written to the CW about how outrageous the decision was. Sent in tongue depressors and band-aids. We've written to WEtv and Lifetime, but there hasn't been a response. We've made fan videos like the ones fans did for Drop Dead Diva with the hopes that CW would reconsider. We've been tweeting every Tuesday during its former time slot with the tags #EmilyOwensMDseason2 and #TeamBallvery.
Ms. Rhimes, you are our last hope in bringing Emily Owens back to life. Please, watch all 13 episodes of Season 1. The Pilot starts off slow, but as the show progresses, it gets better. You will understand how unsatisfying of a conclusion Season 1, Episode 13 "Emily and... the Leap" is. It's like if Elizabeth Bennet chose Mr. Wickham. We're not asking for much, but a better conclusion. If the network wants more episodes, then great. If not, that's fine as long as there is a clear ending fans will be content.
We understand that this is how the business works. Shows get to series and then they get an order of episodes and then a decision is made. It doesn't have to be always this way...
Help us fight the good fight. We are hoping that you will consider helping us bring Emily Owens MD back on the air.
Thank you for your time.
#emilyowensmd needs season2. I know how Abed felt when Cougarton Abbey ended #community #SixSeasonsAndAMovie pic.twitter.com/XsjQ4zy3S4
- Christine (@christinelee685) August 1, 2013
Maybe they all should've drank hemlock in the finale. That would've been more of an ending... Maybe Team Ballvery should contact Dan Harmon too... get some internet/social muscle. If he can bring Community back, he could use the same army to bring Emily Owens... sigh...
Yes, I now have a Twitter account. If my dad can use it, maybe so can I? Still not used to the 142 character limit...