Thin Skin
Well guess what? I've called Mr. Mallozzi on his constant bashing of fans-who-don't-see-the-brilliance-of-SGU. And pointed out the problem with his excuses for poor SGU ratings.
This is what he had to say:
Nani writes: “…why do you keep insisting that that the fans who don’t appreciate and watch SGU are an insignificant, ignorant, dumb, juvenile fringe minority???”
Answer: Please do us all a big favor and actually read the Q&A you’re referring to before posting a comment like this. You come across as ignorant at best; transparently manipulative at worst. I was asked about the members of a specific forum. I was not referring to fans in general.
My response, which will not be posted in his comments section, because why bother, is this:
Whether he was addressing people that belong to SGU.Sucks Forums or SGA fans at large, it doesn't make any difference to me. Most SGA fans I know (and let me tell you, there are quite a few) don't belong to that forum, yet feel about SGU as I do. They don't like it, they don't watch it. They think it sucks. I wasn't trying to be manipulative, I'm just calling him on his fan bashing.
Nani also writes: “Also, I don’t understand your blaming low SGU ratings on DVRs and downloads - other shows, such as Chuck, Castle, House M.D. (all in seasons 3 or beyond) have very high and respectable ratings without having to compensate for these new technologies “diminishing” numbers of their live viewers.”
Answer: Actually, the House recently suffered a 20% tumble in its ratings. Not familiar with Castle. Chuck, on the other hand, is a genre show that has sometimes struggled in the ratings. Its young, tech-savvy audience is the type of audience most likely to download. Coincidence? I don’t think so either.
As to ratings, when those flauctuate for House M.D. or Chuck - because these shows are pulling very respectable ratings week after week - a few point drop is not that significant. Last Monday, House pulled in 10. 5 million viewers (BTW, Mallozzi is implying that House audience is a bunch of old farts who don't know how to use a computer or a DVR); Chuck 5.4 million; Castle 11.9 million. A million more or less will not have a huge impact on the ratings for these shows, which are very successful. A million more or less for SGU will mean life or death of the show. House rerun pulled in 2.3 million on FOX at 8 p.m. last Friday.
Following his reasoning, it must be the tech-savy young core audience of SGU, which instead of watching it live is downloading & PVR'ing it, therefore unwittingly sabotaging the ratings and the future of the show. Therefore, perhaps TPTB picked the "wrong" audience to appeal to with their new branch of Stargate franchise, seeing as to live TV ratings decide the success of the show? Was there any market reasearch involved before the decision regarding the "direction" of SGU was made?
It seems I get under his skin. I should stop...