Thoughts on TV in light of the Criminal Minds uproar...

[ariestess]

So apparently, there's been a bit of a hullabaloo in fandom recently. Maybe you've heard about it. Criminal Minds is firing AJ Cook and drastically reducing the status of Paget Brewster, yet Kirsten Vangsness is being kept as the token fulltime female character because she's popular with the fans. [Two more looks at this debacle are on Jezebel

Comments

[emploding]

I hate that CM are doing what they are doing, but I don't think their new show will last. Maybe at least if that fails, they will bring Paget back to full time.

In a way, cutting JJ isn't a huge thing for me. I mean, yes I love her, but more than that I love the Emily/JJ dynamics. Replacing her just wouldn't work. And taking Paget out as well ... that's just dumb. Cut out Morgan and his over-inflated ego, he could easily go without much fuss (imo).

But hmm. I'm just not impressed with any networks right now. All the season finals were just ... argh. That's all, just argh :P

[ariestess]

See, what I've watched of CM, I've never had much of an opinion of JJ. She never really seemed to be a primary character. But I can also completely admit that I haven't seen every single episode since the pilot. For whatever reason, Prentiss really intrigues me. But the fact of the matter is, this is a completely out of the blue decision by CBS and it's utter horseshit.

[miintikwa]

Nooooooooo! Not Wendy, damn! *swears lots* I loved her. Fuck. The storyline with her and the geeky guy was so fun.

Wow, CBS is TRYING to shoot itself in the foot, isn't it?

[ariestess]

I know, right?

I mean, I haven't watched CSI since Sofia left. Technically, I forced myself to stick around until Sara's departure, so I could see how badly they bungled it, and have only caught 2 eps since then [when Grissom joined her in South America and the sci-fi ep with the BSG gang]. I don't miss it. But I loved Wendy, and having this same thing happen to her that's happened to Cook and Brewster is just awful...

[miintikwa]

I completely agree. They had, this past season, a very cute sub-plot with Wendy and David Hodges, which I utterly adored. I am SO BUMMED that they're dropping that sub-plot, because I was rooting for them to get together. Nevermind the feminist angle, which I do care about, but the WRITING matters, too. The *story* is richer when they have the long-term minor characters that they can develop and you can actually start to care about!

In CSI: Miami, Boti Blass has been around forEVER, and I love seeing her in the lab even though I don't know diddly about her because she's a staple of the show. Are they going to get rid of her, too?

Feh.

[ariestess]

I didn't like the Wendy/Hodges thing, primarily because I really can't stand Hodges...

I haven't heard of any issues re: Boti at all.

[ariestess]

Yeah, but with Kate, that was apparently a given as Sasha Alexander wanted off the show. I'm wondering if the same wasn't true for Lauren Holly, tho' I haven't heard anything to that effect. Killing the character because the actor doesn't want to continue on the show is completely different from what they're doing to Cook, Brewster, and Vassey.

Honestly, there was a point when we thought Ziva was going to be gone from NCIS 2 seasons ago, and I'd flat out said to shatterpath that while I love me some Abby Sciuto, she wouldn't be enough to keep me watching without Ziva.

[ariestess]

Yeah, it's a total clusterfuck, and I don't even watch the show regularly.

[trancer21]

It should be noted that funding for the CM spinoff has nothing to do with the budget for Criminal Minds.

This decision makes it sound like CM is some ratings challenged show struggling to stay on the air. Except, it's not. CM finished 15th overall for the 09/10 season. So why does a top 20 show need to make 'financial decisions' to save money? Oh yeah, so Les Moonves can earn every penny of his $30 million a year salary.

Which all just proves, for me, how the model for the distribution of television content is broken. How *way* too many people, who have nothing to do with the actual product, are dependent upon the product to make money. Unfortunately, the model might be broken but, right now, it's still the only one that's working. And no one's figured out the magic formula to make internet content profitable.

[ariestess]

That's true. And I know that, too. I think I was responding to a lot of the comments on the links.

But yeah, Les Moonves has been on my shit list for years now, so I shouldn't be surprised...