On fans and entitlement.
A ramble in response to this thread (posted here because of the TL;DR factor.)
I remember the things people have said in response to the uproar of complaints in the wake of CoE, about fans and entitlement -- basically we're wrong to think that we, as fans are owed any consideration in the process of planning and writing the show. I've been trying to wrap my head around that ever since, because it sounds absolutely logical and reasonable, but my gut feelings have always had a problem with it.
It seems to me that fan activities--buying merchandise, attending conventions, etc, encouraging other people to watch, continuing to watch despite the odd bad episode (in other words, being loyal fans) must be beneficial to the success of the show, even if not enough to keep a show in production.
I think fans deserve some loyalty in return for all this. I don't agree that the show creator has to disregard the fans in order to have complete freedom to create exactly what they want. Consideration for the fanbase could be as simple as remembering we're there when promoting the show. They could have said, "the show is moving in a new direction, and we hope the fans will come around to in time" or even, "Things will get worse before they get better." They could have been honest about the seperateness of CoE from the previous continuity, instead they told us it was the same Torchwood as ever, and bigger and better, to boot.
Fandom is practically a cultural tradition by this point. It's natural for people to become fans of TV shows they like, and it's insensitive of people producing TV to ignore this consequence of their work just because it's convenient. Some fandoms have even existed so long that they've become entrenched in the public conciousness and are virtually socially acceptable, e. g. Star Trek, Star Wars.
I wonder whose side the general public's sympathies would have lain if either of those franchises did something like Torchwood did with Children of Earth.