“It begs to ask what part television has in our lives. We have to wonder what drives a group of seemingly normal people to homicide over a television program. When did their reality cross the line into fantasy? The truth is, it happens all the time - on a much smaller scale; the actor who convincingly portrays the cheating scoundrel on a daytime drama is accosted in a restaurant by an indignant old lady slinging her purse at him, or the actor who plays the dreamy doctor on the prime time medical hit is asked to diagnose a troublesome ache by the person sitting next to him on a plane. There was even the actor whose portrayal of a whimsical, curly-haired elf in a popular Christmas movie years ago was so believable that he still has trouble shopping at the malls during the holidays for the scores of children wanting him to deliver their Christmas lists to Santa Claus personally.
“We are all guilty of it to some degree. We invite our favorite characters into our homes, and for an hour we buy into the fantasy that they are real; real doctors, real lawyers, real heroes - the good guys - and by extension, those who threaten the show with cancellation are the bad guys. But, when that hour is over, it should be over. In what world does it become alright to threaten the network with violence and death if your favorite show is taken off the air? Wake up, people! It's business, plain and simple. The networks weren't happy with the ratings and ratings equal revenue. The reality is the actors, if they are lucky, move on to other roles, other programs, and hopefully to other fans. The characters are relegated to syndicated reruns or a place in TV Land's television graveyard.
“Having said that, do I believe that sometimes the networks sacrifice solid programming for profit? Yes!
Do I believe that the networks favor some programs while others receive little or no promotion or advertising, and are scheduled with no regard for time slot or evenings of less viewership? Yes!
Do I believe the networks have a tendency to “dumb down” American television by canceling intelligent, well-produced programs in favor of culturally popular ones? Two words, people - reality shows.
This??
Bravo.
My first TV/internet fandom was Buffy. I was a member of The Bronze and when The WB made the decision to close the posting board when they sold the show to UPN, there were certain members of the board and the fandom that came perilously close to acting in the manner of your fictional characters. When Joss wrote Seeing Red and Tara was shot and killed, certain members of the fandom (who shall remain nameless) actually made death threats against him and the writers. It is crazy how invested people get in their fandoms.
Personally I find that my enjoyment of a TV show is enhanced by fan fiction and if the TV show is canceled, I can continue to enjoy it in the wonderful world of fan fiction. and in the case of books-more particularly Janet Evanovich-I can actually enjoy the fictional world the author originally created more in fan fiction since the author has gotten lazy and her writing has gotten formulaic
Thank you so much for your review. I know I might have stepped on a few toes with this story, and, as I said in the author's notes, the views are not necessarily mine, but I do feel strongly that CBS mis-handled the situation. I agree, wholeheartedly, that fanfiction can sustain us - giving us our Numb3rs fix - and I, for one, pledge to continue reading and writing. Thanks again for the comment.
“We are all guilty of it to some degree. We invite our favorite characters into our homes, and for an hour we buy into the fantasy that they are real; real doctors, real lawyers, real heroes - the good guys - and by extension, those who threaten the show with cancellation are the bad guys. But, when that hour is over, it should be over. In what world does it become alright to threaten the network with violence and death if your favorite show is taken off the air? Wake up, people! It's business, plain and simple. The networks weren't happy with the ratings and ratings equal revenue. The reality is the actors, if they are lucky, move on to other roles, other programs, and hopefully to other fans. The characters are relegated to syndicated reruns or a place in TV Land's television graveyard.
“Having said that, do I believe that sometimes the networks sacrifice solid programming for profit? Yes!
Do I believe that the networks favor some programs while others receive little or no promotion or advertising, and are scheduled with no regard for time slot or evenings of less viewership? Yes!
Do I believe the networks have a tendency to “dumb down” American television by canceling intelligent, well-produced programs in favor of culturally popular ones? Two words, people - reality shows.
This??
Bravo.
My first TV/internet fandom was Buffy. I was a member of The Bronze and when The WB made the decision to close the posting board when they sold the show to UPN, there were certain members of the board and the fandom that came perilously close to acting in the manner of your fictional characters. When Joss wrote Seeing Red and Tara was shot and killed, certain members of the fandom (who shall remain nameless) actually made death threats against him and the writers. It is crazy how invested people get in their fandoms.
Personally I find that my enjoyment of a TV show is enhanced by fan fiction and if the TV show is canceled, I can continue to enjoy it in the wonderful world of fan fiction. and in the case of books-more particularly Janet Evanovich-I can actually enjoy the fictional world the author originally created more in fan fiction since the author has gotten lazy and her writing has gotten formulaic
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