Antiquated Nielsen

"Of course, earlier I touched on the dangers that television programs face in the relevance of the soon to be antiquated Nielsen system as more and more shows are DVR’d and downloaded from iTunes, as Jericho showed. After Jericho got trashed in the ratings for it’s beleaguered 2nd season, it was the most downloaded show on iTunes. The math (logic) just doesn’t add up, but the advertising dollars do, as far as network execs are concerned, and their fat paychecks are dependent on!

Despite the disparities that we, the viewers are suffering when quality content gets dumped, they say that studios are trying to get ahead of this technological deficit. (Great, then bring back Jericho and Journeyman!)

Despite putting shows online with limited advertising, the revenue from those efforts is only a small fraction of what they make. They say it’s due to the smaller internet audience, and that might be true."

Happy July 4th

Lotta Nuts

"The Hollywood Reporter received a whole lotta nuts on Monday.

About 1,050 pounds of nuts flooded the THR mailroom, causing rampant chaos -- if "rampant chaos" can be defined as annoyed mailroom employees having to maneuver around 42 boxes of shelled nuts.

"Jericho" fans famously bombarded CBS last year with about 50,000 pounds of nuts to help persuade the network to pick up the show for a second season. CBS executives -- displaying a mix of pride and annoyance -- donated the nuts to charitable causes.

THR, however, is not a fancy broadcast network with a private commissary and neighboring Grove, but an oft-frantic Mid-Wilshire newsroom. When you're on a daily deadline and have skipped lunch because Tim Russert died, you need a desk drawer stocked with protein. Deliveries of free snacks, in other words, tend to be attacked like a UNICEF airdrop. So one of the 25-pound boxes of nuts that was brought to the newsroom was well-received, and by Tuesday several other boxes had vanished from the mailroom."

City of Oldsmar: Nielsen

"Nielsen doesn't deserve support

Once again the City Council of Oldsmar has given in to big business rather than support its citizens who elected them.

Of course, the Chamber of Commerce/Horrors has entered the fray and you know who they would support. Sure wouldn't be labor. They're one of the reasons Florida has such a low wage structure in the first place.

Now as to Nielsen being the largest employer in the city, how can that be when they're firing their longtime employees? Having Tata Consultancy Services supply employees from India does not make Nielsen an employer, only a renter of bodies.

How can anyone in their right mind justify giving such backing to such a bad citizen as Nielsen?"

Supernatural: Sera Gamble

"US paranormal drama series Supernatural has become a cult hit since it first hit TV screens in 2005.

Sera Gamble is the supervising producer and writer on the show.

She discussed what it is like working to a TV budget, the impact of the writers' strike - and why writing horror is so much fun.

Warning: This story contains plot spoilers."



"The drama around the possible defection from Paramount of the cinematic powerhouses behind DreamWorks is headline-grabbing - but it's only a distraction from what must really be driving Sumner Redstone crazy: In tough times for media giants, Viacom and CBS are doing even worse than their peers.

And yet, even if you conceded that Redstone was right strategically, you'd have cause to wonder if he got the timing or execution wrong. (As Redstone knows better than most, the market can't only be right when you are winning.) You'd also wonder how much of a cloud episodes like the intense scrutiny of Dreamworks' future cast over Redstone's empire, perhaps overshadowing other bright spots such as the improved year Paramount is having overall."

Blackjack Fairgrounds: Jericho Blog Carnival

The Monster is proud to present this carnival and many thanks go to Amy Vernon and Gwen for allowing it to continue. Thank you to all those who have participated. Let's go!



Phil from New Film Dimension gave permission to post about his blog entry:
Jericho: Still Strong and Supporting It.

This was a nice message of support and a wonderful collage of Jericho photographs.



The Jericho Online Crew gave permission to post about the Jericho Online game.
There is a description of the game on the home page. I played this game in the last round and it's a lot of fun. The next round starts on August 18th. The game staff are very responsive to questions and suggestions. Improvements to the game are made between the rounds. They recently added a forum, so you can talk to fellow players.



Wes at the Wycliffe Papers gave permission to post about his new story.
Wes e-mailed this about his story:
"Jericho -- The Third Event aims to provide, in narrative form, a pseudo-third season for the beloved television series. Characters from the first season will make surprise appearances, obscure and mysterious players from the second season will come into play, and new personae will also be thrown into the fray. The Third Event involves the course of the Second War Between the States, or The Second American Civil War, and consists of the military campaign between the ASA and the USA as well as political intrigue on the national and international level. The adventures involving characters from Jake Green to President Snowden and Valente to President Tomarchio promise to bring a justified extension to the story of Jericho."



Gwen is submitting these three links:
There have been two wonderful articles on Lennie James
Lennie James's Open Letter

Fallout: Damilola was just the beginning but I also stumbled upon this rare treat a video of Lennie James performing a speech by Brutus in Julus Caesar.



Gwen is submitting an article from Naples Daily News on American values in TV shows
AMERICAN VALUES.


Gwen is submitting an article from Helium
Jericho: Fiction or our possible future?


Jane and Beth of Margie and Edna's Basement present:
Exclusive: Jennie Sword Visits The Basement.



Amy of Remote Access submitted:
Jericho keeps making the news.


Terocious from Jericho Junction submits:
Jericho: Small Town on the Big Screen?

Debby submitted this entry from Jericho Junction:

The Great Jericho Rewatch

The next edition of Blackjack Fairgrounds will be published on July 30th, with a submission deadline of July 25th. Submissions can be e-mailed to blackjack@jerichojki.com

The Blackjack Fairgrounds thanks you for your patronage.

The Boys and The Demon

"The Winchester boys over on the CW's Supernatural sure have some good taste in demon hunters, as our pics of today's Babe of the Day can attest.

Katie Cassidy is one of the prettiest faces on television, and even though she will no longer be cross-bowing hell demons alongside Sam and Dean anymore, we're sure we haven't seen the last of this prime-time starlet."



"If you're unfamiliar with SUPERNATURAL, the fan adored CW show which ?revolves around two brothers, Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki), who are nomadic demon hunters that ride from town to town in order to investigate and vanquish supernatural evil? then I suggest you catch up by either renting Season 1 and 2 right now, or checking out this article I wrote a while back for theTVaddict.com. This article will be here when you get back. I?ll wait.

Those who are familiar with SUPERNATURAL may think it a bit strangely cyclical to want a movie of a TV show that initially advertised itself as a weekly horror movie. Because the show has maintained and perfected that high concept, cycling through many of the urban myths that have been already covered in movies, it might even seem a redundant suggestion to ask for yet another derivative horror/supernatural movie to subject ourselves to on the big screen."

Nielsen Employees: Oldsmar

"Nielsen Media Research warned its Oldsmar employees Tuesday that more layoffs are coming as the company continues to shift technical work to contract companies abroad.

Through 2009, the TV ratings giant will shed 170 technical support and software jobs in Oldsmar, moving the work to TATA Consultancy Services, an Indian-owned global services company that has taken over local positions at Nielsen.

"What we're trying to do is enlarge our capacity and strengthen our cost effectiveness," said spokesman Gary Holmes.

The cuts come on the heels of Nielsen and the City of Oldsmar last week ending an economic development deal that gave Nielsen incentives for adding jobs in the region — a deal that helped secure Nielsen's operations in the area.

When that phase of job cuts is complete, the company's local employment will drop to 1,300, from about 1,500 this spring. There are about 235 contract employees on the site as well."

Jennie Sword In The Basement

The lovely and talented Jennie Sword visited Margie and Edna's Basement and a great time was had by all. It's not the usual kind of interview so please check it out.



"Marketers are already scrambling to figure out how best to adjust their 30-second TV spots for viewing via the web and on iPod screens. But as the nation prepares for the big shift from analog to digital TV on Feb. 17 next year, what could be a major conundrum has opened up for advertisers who love to make use of the wider high-definition screen.

While "standard definition" -- read "old-fashioned" -- TV sets have for decades featured a 4:3 screen-size proportion, high-definition sets and the programming created for them have a much more rectangular 16:9 scope. Thus, ads crafted for high-definition broadcasts that show up on standard-definition sets could have their right and left sides digitally sliced off."

Supernatural: Kripe and Padalecki

"Supernatural executive producer Eric Kripke has scored an overall deal at Warner Bros. TV.

According to Variety, in the two-year exclusive pact, Kripke will continue to exec produce and showrun CW's Thursday staple Supernatural, which enters its fourth season this fall.

Kripke also will start to develop new projects under the deal. There's no word if one of the new titles might be a Supernatural spinoff; Kripke has said in the past that he's interested in doing a prequel of sorts that takes place in the Old West and centered on the show's mythology."



"SUPERNATURAL star Jared Padalecki is feeling a little snug in the pants. His bags were misplaced en route to Australia and he arrived without even his undies.

As a result his first stop when he arrived in Sydney was to pick up some new underpants, but for a guy who spends most of his time battling the paranormal on the Network Ten hit show Supernatural as Sam Winchester, buying grundies proved quite a challenge.

"I had to go buy clean underwear with the crazy Australian sizes that I didn't understand," he said in Sydney today."



"Episode five already? Wow, time is flying toward September, er October, er we really don’t know. Just to keep everyone in the loop about the latest controversy, we don’t know exactly what date Supernatural will be back in the fall. Initial reports had it the same week as when all the other CW shows premiere, the first week of September. Then, TV Guide reported last week the date for Smallville and Supernatural was actually TBA. Now Spoilerfix and The Futon Critic have it listed tentatively as October 2nd."

Supernatural: The Ride of Your Life

What a wild ride it has been watching my Supernatural DVD's. I usually hate starting a show then trying to catch up but I didn't mind doing that here. I watched the last few episodes of Season 3 on TV and knew I had to buy the DVD's. (Thank you, LisiBee)!

If you aren't watching this show then you are missing the best series on TV today. The writing is the best and there are no characters elsewhere like the Winchester boys. Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki are excellent actors and they make Dean and Sam come to life. Well, I'd better not talk about them or this post won't be about the show.

What I do want to mention is that everyone who has a role on this show does an amazing job. Look at Samantha Ferris who plays Ellen. Ellen is a strong woman who isn't afraid to say exactly what she thinks. There's no nonsense about her. You may remember Samantha from the 4400. The only problem here is that Ellen is not in Season 3 and we never know what happened to her.


Ellen has a daughter named Jo who is played by Alona Tal. I admit I wasn't too impressed with Jo in the beginning. Maybe it was because of her interest in my Dean? I did come to like Jo and I think Alona was perfect for that part. Once again, though, there's that nasty disappearing act where Jo just isn't seen again and we arent't told what happened to her. Kripke, that's a bad habit. Could we get some closure here?


You just have to love Ash. Chad Lindberg does such an outstanding job. You'll have to watch him to believe how he pulls off Ash to perfection. He's just brilliant!


What can I say about Jim Beaver who plays Bobby Singer? Another fine actor. Not only is Jim loved for Supernatural but he's a man of many talents. Read more about him here.


Last but not least is the yellow-eyed demon. Well, his real name is Fredric Lehne and I enjoyed his role a lot. Fredric has appeared in over 200 films, mini-series, and television shows plus many stage productions.



This is truly a great show and I can't wait for Season 4. Give it a shot and I think it will surprise you. It has definitely surprised me. I love this show.

Who could possibly not fall in love with Jensen and Jared?

P.S. Mr. Kripke, may we please have the Roadhouse back? And Ellen, Jo, Ash, Bela, and Meg?

Actors Strike

"Reuters reports as Hollywood recovers from a tumultuous writers walkout that ended in February, U.S. TV networks are bracing for a possible actors strike that could delay the upcoming fall TV season. Jitters over renewed labor unrest have mounted in recent days as contract talks between the Screen Actors Guild and the major film and TV studios have grown increasingly rancorous with little or no sign that a settlement is near.The three-year labor pact covering film and prime-time TV work for 120,000 SAG members is due to expire in two weeks. "

Look Out Nielsen

"The Microsoft-Google war has moved from the web to the TV. Microsoft today announced it will buy Navic Networks, an addressable advertising technology provider that enables marketers to dynamically target and measure audiences based on patented technology available in 35 million set-top boxes nationwide.

Scott Ferris, general manager of Microsoft's advertiser and publisher solutions group, told Ad Age the Waltham, Mass.-based Navic allows the company to "take advantage of new-media formats through interactive TV and the measurement of TV viewing for the purpose of having a more efficient marketplace for buyers and sellers." Neither company could disclose specific financial terms of the acquisition.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer believes that all media will be digital within the next 10 years -- and that means TV content will be delivered over IP networks.

"Within 10 years, no consumption of anything we think of as media today -- print, TV -- will in fact be delivered over internet technology. It will all be digital," said Mr. Ballmer at the Association of National Advertisers' annual conference in October."

Hulu

"IN A very short time, Hulu has rocketed from nothing to being one of the top video destinations on the Internet. We've all heard the years of trade-show claptrap about television-Web "convergence," but Hulu has come as close as possible to turning your computer into a TV without actually sending a tech to monkey around with the hardware and wiring.

Maybe more important, it's also shaping up as a key proving ground in the ongoing philosophical debate about what people want from Web-based entertainment.

How do you Hulu? You don't have to pay anything, download a special player or even register your name or e-mail address. The site, which went up in mid-March, is free; in exchange for watching relatively brief ads, you get access to complete high-resolution episodes of top TV series such as "24" and "30 Rock," as well as impressively cataloged clips from "Saturday Night Live" and other shows. (The movie roster is somewhat less formidable, unless you consider "The Payaso Comedy Slam" or "Snake Eater" the apex of cinematic art.)"

Nielsen: Reading Online

"Print is having some issues at the moment, which may be like saying New Orleans took on some water. Insults fly, playground-style, about how long one published entity or another will be alive. Microsoft's CEO says no ink-on-paper newspapers or magazines by 2018; someone else says there'll be no Microsoft by then either. Newsweek will be gone in five years, predicts a columnist willing to bet dinner on it; I prefer steak, the magazine's editor shoots back.

A study released last week by the Internet research firm Nielsen Online revealed a part of the problem: People in the computer age are probably reading more than they ever have, so it's difficult to convince them to do more of it. It's the same 24-hour day that's always existed, recalling Mark Twain's quote about the wisdom of investing in land because they're not making any more of it.

People on average spend two hours a day, or more in many cases, reading online at work or home, according to the latest Nielsen study involving about 30,000 users.

Little wonder that they have less inclination, or time, to read apart from that. If my job required me to go to the gym for two hours a day, I'd probably have less need, and even less desire, to go before or after work."

Blackjack Fairgrounds Blog Carnival Returns

"Blackjack Fairgrounds, the Jericho Blog Carnival started by Amy Vernon at Remote Access, is back open for business. Amy has agreed to let JKI take over the operation of Blackjack Fairgrounds.

For those of you who have not heard of a Blog Carnival, it is a collection of links about a particular subject. Blackjack Fairgrounds is looking for submissions that are of interest to Jericho fans. These submissions can be announcements, articles, blog entries, discussions, fan fiction, humor or anything else that might interest a Jericho fan. As long as you can provide a link you can submit it! The submission deadline is June 25th, and the current edition of Blackjack Fairgrounds will open on June 30th. Submissions can be made here or you can e-mail blackjack@jerichojki.com.

Blackjack Fairgrounds is also looking for hosts. If you want Blackjack Fairgrounds to come to your corner of the Jericho fandom, then offer to host one of the road show editions. Our host for the June road show edition is The Monster."

Supernatural Fun

Thanks Taylor.

"I have been chatting with a couple of people lately, Jessica and LisiBee and how I haven’t been able to watch the season finale of Supernatural yet. Well I finally did! And thank goodness I know Jensen Ackles‘ character comes back…poor Dean hanging on those hooks all summer!!


On another note…I have to tell you all I won a Supernatural comic book/graphix (that’s the right term for it right?) book…it’s signed by Eric Kripke. And the person who created the book. I will give you more details when I get it in the mail!

So because I love Jensen so much here are some awesome screen caps I found from the shows in the past."



What does the future hold for you and Jensen or you and Jared? Here's a way to find out.

Mash Game: Predict Your Future at eSPIN-the-Bottle



"SUPERNATURAL fans have been going crazy since the season finale of the show this past May.

Since the cliffhanger of SUPERNATURAL Season 3 ending with Dean (Jensen Ackles) being sent to Hell, fans of the CW series have many questions on their minds. Questions like - how long Dean will be in Hell, what will he be like when he comes back, will he come back, and how will his time away affect his relationship with Sam (Jared Padalecki)?

On the set of Friday the 13th this past weekend, Jared Padalecki spoke about the upcoming season to the IESB."

BSG and Jericho

"Welcome to the weekly So Say We All: The Battlestar Galactica Blog Carnival.

An excellent penultimate episode of the first half of the last season. Wow. That was a mouthful.

Yes, I am extremely sad to say, this Friday’s episode, Revelations, is the mid-season finale. No word yet on when the second half will be aired, but conventional wisdom has it at next spring. I might have an aneurysm before then."



"Series: Jericho: The Complete Second Season comes out on DVD next Tuesday, the show itself having survived numerous corporate assaults, a premature cancellation and then a second cancellation after CBS gave fans seven episodes to tie up most of the loose plot threads. I was a late bloomer to the series but having watched it last year in the form of the boxed set I reviewed (Jericho Season One), I found it much more appealing than the intermittent schedule it was placed on by the network. Before I go into detail about this upcoming set where the entire season was compressed into a mere seven episodes on two discs, here's a recap of my comments from before to set the stage for newcomers (because if you're a fan of the show, you'll already have several copies pre-ordered to send out to your closest friends)."

The Upfront Market

"When it comes to the $9 billion-plus upfront market, it's easy for marketers to get distracted by the horse race of TV networks trying to outdo each other in terms of price increases or volume. Do that this year, and you'll lose sight of the dangers that may lie ahead when it comes to getting your ads on TV.

"Lost in all the numbers, however, is a serious consideration of the ramifications advertisers are bound to face come fall. With more viewers getting entertainment and information from the web and other emerging venues, the networks' supply of ratings is dwindling -- and so is a marketer's ability to get ads on TV without advance planning.

"The question that really remains is: What will be left later on in scatter?" asked Gary Carr, senior VP-director of national broadcast at independent media buyer TargetCast TCM, referring to ad time that is purchased closer to a show's air date. "Are [the networks] going to higher sellout levels, and only a little bit will be left later on?"

Hallmark and CBS

"Jed Clampett of the Beverly Hillbillies could be a Hallmark ornament hanging on Christmas trees this year.

Hallmark will get access to CBS Consumer Products' entire television library thanks to a licensing deal that will be announced this week.

The new agreement not only opens the doors to more than 150 properties including Beverly Hills 90210, Happy Days and Rawhide for greeting cards, but also for party goods, collectibles and other gift categories.

The deal could be lucrative for venerable CBS as it will receive a portion of online sales and purchases in more than 43,000 retail outlets, including Hallmark Gold Crown stores.

"There is an emotional connection with these shows, and there's nothing more emotional than having your brand used as a social expression," said Liz Kalodner, evp/gm of CBS Consumer Products, New York.

CBS' TV icons have been grouped under an umbrella dubbed Television City. A Television City logo will be included on Hallmark products and in upcoming marketing outreaches.

Television City shows are in the process of being licensed for use in other categories and already have been tapped by University Games for board games and Steve & Barry's and NTD Apparel for T-shirts and other clothing.

CBS and Hallmark, meanwhile, are preparing anniversary promotions this year for The Twilight Zone (50th), Rawhide (50th), The Brady Bunch (40th) and Happy Days (35th)."

The Jericho Store

Have you been to the Jericho Store?

New E-Bay Jericho Items Auction

MaryP and AlasJericho are at it again. This time they are trying to raise a few bucks to create a press kit and a secure a substantial quantity of nuts to try and bring some attention to our fantastic billboard! More details on this initiative will be posted soon, but have a look at our e-Bay auctions and consider bidding early and often to help us raise the money for this phase of the Sell Jericho initiative!



Jericho Online: The Game

"You are the mayor of a town that survived the attacks. It's your job to keep your people safe. Provide them with all they need to survive but beware, there are other towns who survived, and some of those towns out there will do anything to get your supplies. Make sure you provide your people with their needs and build up defences so you can fight any other towns who wants to steal from you. Whatever you do, keep your town on the map."

More Ladies Of Supernatural

One of my favorite ladies from Supernatural is Loretta Devine who portrayed Missouri Moseley in the episode of "Home". I'd enjoy seeing her again.






"Welcome to A Great Thief, a fanlisting for the character Bela Talbot from the series Supernatural. A fanlisting is exactly what it sounds like: a place to list bring together as many fans as possible for the subject. If you want more information, see the site section, otherwise, please join!"



"Fanlisting for Supernatural's Ruby. A fanlisting is a list of a particular subject's fans and the countries they come from. It's a neat way to see the general geographic distribution of fans worldwide, and a nice way to show your love/support for the subject of the fanlisting. If you're a fan of Ruby, why not JOIN and show the world!"

Nielsen: Still Struggling

"NBC Universal and Nielsen have decided to collaborate on new sales measures using data from TV ratings, online video streaming and consumer activity based on specific industry categories. It's just the latest step by a TV network to cobble together information for advertisers that goes beyond the typical reach-and-frequency ratings that have been the benchmark of the business for decades.

"The pact comes as more advertisers are demanding measurements which take into account the new ways consumers are getting their entertainment and information. As more homes secure broadband connections, consumers' ability to watch TV programs and other forms of video entertainment online is increasing. So media outlets are looking for ways to measure viewing across different media venues, not just that taking place in front of the big screen in the living room. Marketers, meanwhile, are eager to discover just which ads lead consumers to purchase their products."

More Anger At Nielsen

"New York's television stations are mad as hell at Nielsen Media Research. And after years of complaints about the monopoly that provides ratings data, local TV executives say they aren't going to take it anymore.

Blaming a ratings slide on the company's measurement system, the stations have begun talking to potential competitors about services that could supplement or eventually replace Nielsen's local people meters, which made their controversial debut in 2004.

But now, stations say they have no choice but to find other measurement sources. They insist that the company simply doesn't sample enough homes to provide accurate ratings for a market as big as New York.

Nielsen's critics argue that in a multichannel universe, the people meters' sample panel of 800 households is insufficient to measure a marketplace of 7.4 million television households. Those figures add up to a ratio of one sample for every 9,000 households.

“The sample size for the local people meters is too small, and it is destroying the market,” gripes a station executive. “Everybody is looking at alternatives.”

All of the executives interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity because of agreements with Nielsen not to criticize it in the press."

Disconnecting Nielsen

"Today is the day. The nice folks from the Nielsen company are coming out to disconnect all their equipment. Now that our commitment is over I can tell you that we have been a Nielsen family for the last two years. This is the second time we have been a part of the Nielsen Ratings system and it’s kind of a hoot knowing that what you watch on tv influences the ratings at least somewhat. One of our technicians told us we represented 60,000 households. Wow, that’s alot of folks channel surfing.

"Even though we represented 60,000 households of viewers, Jericho was still canceled. Moonlight was still canceled. I’m not convinced my Nielsen vote helped at all there. But I watched faithfully and always made sure Devoted Spouse and I were both logged in on the remote."



"Nielsen, the fumbling audience measurement company notorious for snapping up the competition instead of building a better product for market, is doing the print industry a favor and promising not to get involved in measuring its audience. Even though its new “anywhere/anytime” initiative promised to be able to measure all media consumption, David Calhoun’s band of incompetents won’t be treading on FAS-FAX territory.

Not only that: Nielsen is looking to get out of print entirely."

Goodbye Harvey Korman

"Harvey Korman, an Emmy-winning comedic actor best known for playing the self-described "luminous second banana" for a decade on television's "The Carol Burnett Show" and for starring in such Mel Brooks films as "Blazing Saddles," has died. He was 81."

Fans Say: Bring Back Bela

The Bela Talbot Movement

Please sign the petition to bring her back to Supernatural.

"he CW is a network that has some of the best television shows on today. One of their standout shows is Supernatural. Supernatural is about two brothers, Sam & Dean, who hunt demons, ghosts, vampires, etc.. Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles are of course the two main stars, but the show also has an awesome cast of recurring characters, some who have made a bigger impact then others. One of the characters that has made the most impact on the show is Bela Talbot (played by Lauren Cohan), who is a beautiful but menacing thief that always manages to screw over the two brothers for money or priceless artifacts. Just recently her character was killed off, but the show is called Supernatural so it is possible for her to be brought back. She needs to come back for another season because she has provided us with some of the most memorable moments on the show and she also has excellent on-screen chemistry with the boys (especially Jensen). The Bela Talbot Movement has begun. "BBB"

The Women of Supernatural- Part II

"Which is ironic because I ignored Supernatural for ages for the sole reason that I'd read discussions of its problematic treatment of women, framed to suggest a conscious backlash against BtVS (Now BtVS, at its most basic level, was of course about subverting the horror movie cliché of the blonde girl victim, and sure enough Supernatural - in its very first episode - has not one but two blonde women meeting horrible ends in order to further the plot and motivate our two (male) protagonists). And - given that - it's doubly ironic my fannishness has reached critical mass now, when SPN fandom is currently exploding over the subject of misogyny in the series."



What do other fans think? Here's a comment from Kricka:

"I have just recently read some stuff that blames Kripke and the fans of being misogynisitic, and I think that is bunk! There are women on the show that are weak, ones that are bad, and ones that are very capable. Just like in real life. I take offense in the notion that all women must be portrayed as strong, brilliant and feisty, and only that. Because as humans, we come in all forms.

"There happens to be a lot of demons in the show who are women, but I think that is just because the main characters are men, and it works storywise to have a beautiful, alluring woman to try and trap a man. There are female characters who regularly take charge, and don't let those boys push them around.

"I suppose my only complaint would be the plethora of blondes (really, there are a ton of them), and that Ellen's character was supposedly dumped because the actress was too old. She was awesome! It would be nice to have more older characters on TV in general, but this is a negative that happens in ALL television, not just Supernatural."



Finally, a comment from TRoss:

"At first glance it might seem easy to pigeon-hole the ladies of Supernatural as either damsels in distress (how many grateful kisses have been bestowed upon those boys?) or whorish demons (ever notice how many of the actual demons are women?). But the truth is, Supernatch has done a bang up job of representing both genders equally. As it stands, there have been about 20 malicious male beings, and approximately 20 phantom femme fatales (yeah, I actually counted). And when it comes to representing the fairer sex, the ratio of damsels in distress versus smart & sassy ladies is just as equally represented. For every preacher's daughter or helpless mom, we've also seen a feisty art dealer, or an even more feisty barmaid. Or a Bela and a Ruby.

"But the real problem lies not in how female characters are represented on the show, but rather, why they don't stick around. Even their mother finds little screen time on the show. Show creator Kripke often speaks about how attuned he is to the opinions of the fans, and takes a lot of pride in listening to them. While that's really flattering for fans, that's the WORST thing you could do for your story. Negative fan reactions are responsible for the departure of at least two of the show's few recurring female characters - Jo (Dean's feisty love interest), and now Bela. Kripke's getting paid to create the story, not the fans, and this is not American Idol - fan input is NOT required. It's Kripke's damn story, and if he thought Bela's storyline had promise, he should have had the balls to see it through. A very wise, and very successful writer-producer by the name of Joss Whedon (anyone ever hear of a small little show called "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"?) had this to say when it came to fan opinions: "Don't give people what they WANT, give them what they NEED."

"Bela may not have been well-liked to begin with (god knows I didn't like her), but turning fan opinion around through a great reveal would have been highly rewarding for the audience. A prime example - Sawyer on Lost. He started out at the bottom of the opinion polls, but after a well-crafted reveal, he's become one of the most popular and beloved characters on the show. I'm not saying Bela would have reached that stature, but she had promise - a lot of promise based on the short reveal we were given before she was given the ax - and the actress who played her, Lauren Cohan, her was phenomenal.

"And then there's Jo - what a wasted opportunity that was. From the beginning we've been led to believe what Dean's character wants most in life, and believes he can never have, is a family and someone to love. Well there was Jo - Dean's equal in both feistiness and heart. How rewarding would it have been for the audience to witness Dean find his way to happiness with someone who was his equal, and brought out the best in him? Now that would have been character representing the women positively on the show - something besides the damsel or the whore. And a great character to fill the female void on the show, as well as in the boys' lives.

"As for Ruby, she seems to be as equally hated by fans as Bela was, and therefore probably not long for this world. But come on, Supernatural fans, we need some other characters with which the boys can interact - someone their characters can grow from through their interaction - because really, how many times can they kill off Dean?"

Thank you LisiBee, Kricka, and TRoss for your thoughts and insights. How do you feel, readers?

The Women of Supernatural- Part I

I didn't become a fan of Supernatural until I'd watched an episode of Season 3. I actually watched two episodes then the finale. I was so hooked (thanks to LisiBee) that I bought the Season 1 and 2 DVD's. I began to notice something as I watched. If an episode had a female character I liked, she might never appear in another episode.

What most upset me was when Bela (Lauren Cohan) left the show. She and Jensen Ackles had such chemistry. Oh I know a lot of fans hated her but I thought she was a wonderful actress with lots of room to develop her character.


"I love Supernatural. I do. This is no secret. It's kind of dumb sometimes, but at least it's really, really fun dumb. Also really hot dumb, but never mind that.
These last two episodes have done things that strayed well out of "fun dumb" territory and into the land of just plain "dumb," and even as much as I love this show, I just kind of have to shake my head and ask... well, this slightly doctored picture of Bela pretty much covers it for me."

The blogger discusses the death of Bela, what happened to Ruby, and the cliffhanger.


I decided to ask three fans, who have been watching longer than I have, for their opinions.

"For whatever reason, I don't think they handle the female characters on SPN as well as the male characters", says LisiBee. "They either kill them off or they inexplicably phase them out. Some of them I have really enjoyed: Ellen and Jo were my favorites, and I liked Ava a lot. I didn't even dislike Bela and Ruby as much as most of the fans seemed to. I realize that the primary focus of the show is on the Winchester brothers, as it should be. But by continually introducing these female characters, then writing them out, you run the risk of communicating to your female viewers that women are just not important in the "Supernatural" universe. And that's a real shame, considering the following this show maintains among women.

"As for Bela and Ruby, I didn't hate them. I enjoyed Bela more than Ruby, mostly because she seemed like a good intellectual sparring partner for the boys. I don't like how her death was handled on the show; IMO, they waited far too long to make her sympathetic to the viewers. Had the reveal about the childhood molestation been made sooner, I think fan response to Bela would have been much more sympathetic. As for Ruby, I do hope she's not dead, since I would have liked to hear more about her backstory. But I've been a viewer of this show for three seasons, and I know by now not to get too attached to any female character--that way leads to frustration and disappointment."

Part II tomorrow.

Monster Interview: Lady Edna

(Edna specifically asked me to use this picture of her in her younger days.)


TheMonster is proud to present Miss Edna of the blogging team Margie and Edna. The ladies are sisters and the oldest residents of Jericho, Kansas but they have much more to talk about than Jericho these days.

Margie and Edna are now bloggers. Be sure to drop by their basement for a visit.



Welcome to TheMonster, Miss Edna. This is quite an honor. May I say your sister, Margie, declined to join us. She mentioned cleaning her basement.

My first question is about your blog, Margie and Edna's Basement. What is the purpose of your blog?


Edna: First off, let me just say that I’m not surprised that Margie didn’t want to be interviewed with me. She never was any good at sharing the spotlight.

Now, on to your question. The purpose of our blog is to share our wit, wisdom, and insight with everyone on the Interwebs. I swan, I never saw so many people in need of guidance in all my born days. I think if more people read our blog, the world would be a much better place.


I understand that you and Margie are quite interesting sisters. For example, I've heard that Margie locks men in her basement and that her next conquest is going to be Jensen Ackles of Supernatural. How do you feel about that, Miss Edna?


Edna: Well, I’m an interesting person, I don’t know if you can say the same about my sister. She tells some interesting stories, I suppose. As for that poor Jensen Ackles, all I can say is that someone had better warn his Mama to keep an eye on him. When my sister sets her sights on some poor man, the best he can do is run and hide.


You sisters invented Special Tea. I hear that's powerful stuff. Do you and your sister imbibe?


Edna: Margie is the one who came up with that recipe, I have to give her some credit. However, we do not “imbibe,” as you put it. We do, however, take spirits for medicinal purposes. And some days need more medicine than others, that’s all I’m going to say.

I don't mean to put you on the spot, Miss Edna, but is it true you have a gentleman friend named Sawyer? Is he in the basement too?


Edna: My lands, I would never keep any of my gentlemen friends in the basement like my deranged sister does! As for Sawyer, well…right now he’s on an island in the Pacific. That’s the only place he’s safe from my sister—he’s better off tangling with polar bears and smoke monsters than he is trying to deal with her.

Just a moment. I was just handed a note from your sister. It says,"Edna is a lying liar. She's a dimwit who shouldn't be allowed out in public. Nobody will read your old blog if you interview her.

My goodness, Miss Edna, may I have a closing comment from you about this?

Edna: She’s just jealous because no matter what she does or says, I will always be younger than she is. It’s hard to get over that kind of defeat.
Let me just say that it has been a thrill to be interviewed for your blog. I wish you well in your blogging dear, you have done quite a good job so far. Keep up the good work!

Many thanks to the delightful Miss Edna for being our guest. I'm sure Margie will have plenty to say about it.

Nielsen Nonsense

"The burning question left hanging in the air after the cancellation of Jericho is the following: how does a show that can attract an estimated six million viewers to sit down in front of their TV sets, top the numbers on iTunes, and launch a number of unbelievably disciplined and organized fan campaigns, not get picked up for a third season.

Nielsen ratings.

Edward James Olmos summed it up nicely last year at a Battlestar Galactica convention. “Nielsen needs a hole in the head,” he said, explaining that the current ratings system excludes too many viewers to be reliable. In light of the current global business trends, that really would be the no-nonsense way of putting it.

TV networks and advertisers, however, are not quite there yet.

The main one? Networks don’t have a clue to whom they are delivering their programming anymore.

As the Accenture consumer study shows, consumers take in 70.6 hours of media per week. The catch? A traditional TV device is involved only 23 percent of the time.

Another thing that should come as no surprise is that 64 percent of viewers named commercials as their pet peeve when it comes to watching ‘live’ television."

Witchblade: The DVD

One of the best shows ever to hit TV yet it lasted only 2 seasons. No, it isn't Jericho. I've been waiting 6 years for this DVD.


Witchblade- The Complete Series- coming to DVD.

Will be released on July 29, 2008.

"Witchblade: The Complete Series stars Yancy Butler (As the World Turns), John Hensley (Nip/Tuck), and David Chokachi (Baywatch) and features guest star Roger Daltrey (The Who). This seven-disc collector's set includes all 23 episodes from seasons 1 and 2, the original made-for-TV movie and never-before-seen bonus features."



MARC SILVESTRI TALKS 'WITCHBLADE' MOVIE



Yancy Butler


Message board

Insight Into Nielsen

Many thanks to Rich at Copywrite Ink for his insight into Nielsen ratings.



"It’s not a great year to be Nielsen. Every time the company attempts to move forward with Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement — A2/M2 — someone is ready to stop them: clients, competition, consumers.

For Project Apollo, a three-year joint project with Arbitron to monitor buying and radio-television habits of 5,000 households, it was clients. They did not want to pay for the results. Consumers weren’t thrilled with the number of tasks they were asked to perform either. It’s not as cool to be a Nielsen family anymore.

Diane Mermigas, editor-at-large at MediaPost, recently called Nielsen the “about as inane an advertising value as can ever be justified” in her article about other initiatives to find effective measures. She’s not alone.

The differences between Nielsen ratings and other measures continue to grow, more and more shows are seeing 20 percent to 25 percent ratings gains when DVR viewing is calculated and some other are shows doubling their viewership online. It’s easier to get the numbers from TiVo or local cable companies that can count everyone.

Anyone who has a show facing cancellation (most recently, the show Moonlight) is continuing to send Nielsen a message — Nielsen might be confident in the rating system, but they are not. It’s a mounting public relations problem that Nielsen has yet to successfully address. For many consumers, Nielsen’s truncated research, not actual viewers, is the only reason their show was cancelled."

Nielsen and PR

"Nielsen Co. executives are starting a public lobbying campaign to argue that the ratings giant is fulfilling job creation goals, despite recent layoffs, while also offering an apology for mishandling recent cuts.

The public relations effort comes amid a high-stakes project at Nielsen to balance investments in its Oldsmar technical and research center while cutting costs through layoffs and by hiring outside contractors for some positions.

Nielsen is trying to navigate upheaval in its core business of measuring TV ratings, an industry where Nielsen has more competitors than any time in its past. Cable companies, for instance, now can offer direct ratings data from television set-top boxes, and the advent of digital video recorders is putting pressure on Nielsen to better track whether people skip commercials.

At the same time, Nielsen clients such as NBC or Procter & Gamble increasingly want the company to measure audiences who watch media online, on cell phones, in video games and elsewhere - leading Nielsen to invest heavily in new technology to track that viewing."

They're Back

"Okay folks, here’s your chance to get some advice from Jericho’s #1 gossip mavens. Do you have a question for Margie and Edna? Submit your questions, and Margie and Edna will tackle your toughest problems and concerns.

Send your questions to sweat1951@rock.com. Put “Ask Margie and Edna” in the subject line. We reserve the right to edit questions for length, spelling, etc. Please bear in mind, it’s possible that not all questions will be selected to be answered. Keep watching this space, maybe Margie and Edna will answer your question next!

Disclaimer: This is for entertainment purposes only. "Margie" and "Edna" are not real people, so please don't send us questions about serious issues. And please don't send us questions that you'd be better off asking a professional, as we are not qualified to answer such questions"

^^^^ The questions do not have to be about Jericho only.^^^^

ClueLes Moonves and Nielsen Ratings

Can you say ClueLes? This man is the head of CBS? Quincy Smith sees more people switching to the Internet yet CBS cancels Jericho which had so many people watching online? I think ClueLes Moonves let his wounded ego get in the way of Jericho making him tons of money online.


"CBS's CEO Leslie Moonves told reporters on a conference call that acquiring access to CNet's large online audience in order to distribute media content from CBS was "a large part" of CBS' motivation in going after the San Francisco-based online company.

"Our idea is to have our content wherever, whenever you can get it, and adding CNet just makes that happen faster," Moonves said.

Moonves said he saw opportunities for distributing CBS news, music and other content on CNet's online outlets, and also for tapping CNet's significant online advertising sales operation to boost over ad growth for the media company.

CBS's chief of interactive business Quincy Smith has been moving aggressively to find new online outlets for its entertainment programming as more people shift their media consumption from traditional outlets like TV and radio to the Internet."



"Practically everyone has heard the terms 'TV ratings' or 'Nielsen ratings', but very few people, even in the entertainment industry really understand how these ratings work.

Many people think of Nielsen as a public service, but this is far from the truth. Nielsen provides data only to those who pay for it. Nielsen's clients are, for the most part, television networks and the companies who advertise on those networks.

Nielsen has been under fire recently, being blamed for the cancellation of some television shows that have very faithful, if not huge audiences. Most notable are is the recently canceled CBS show Jericho. This show was canceled after its first season, but a well-organized effort, which saw tens of thousands of pounds of peanuts sent to the network execs at CBS resulted in the show being picked up for a second season, only to be canceled yet again due to Nielsen numbers which would look great to the vast majority of networks, but which CBS felt simply weren't good enough."

Nielsen: The Monopoly

Here is a most interesting article that I had not seen before yesterday. It's testimony from Pat Mullen of Tribune Broadcasting to Congress in 2005. The bill, the Fair Ratings Act, shows the need to change the way Nielsen operates. The bill is described as "A bill to provide for the accuracy of television ratings services, and for other purposes."


"My name is Pat Mullen. Our company, Tribune Broadcasting, operates 26 major market television stations located in 15 states from coast to coast, including stations in 8 of the 10 largest markets.

Mr. Chairman, I regret to say that the measurement system we have today in the largest television markets is not worthy of public trust. It does not have the trust of our company or that of more than a dozen other responsible broadcasters.

The problem, Mr. Chairman, is that the keys to our success -- our ratings -- are held by a monopoly. When Nielsen had a competitor, its service and its response to client concerns were substantially better than they are today. In the absence of competition, we are left to plead for fair treatment and reliable results. Time and time again, Nielsen has turned us away.

We have no choice but to do business with Nielsen. Ratings are the currency on which the advertising business operates. And despite recent challenges, our company has always had a good relationship with Nielsen. So we are here today reluctantly, but with a sense of urgency.

Sampling issues abound, including problems with response rates, in-tab representation and fault rates. For example:

* New York's LPM response rate averaged 25.3 percent for the week ending July 3, 2005. This means that three out of every four households initially designated as sample households refused installation of a people meter in their home or accepted a meter but did not contribute any viewing data.
* Young men ages 18-34 have been persistently under-represented in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco. Fault rates for men 18-34 generally are twice as high as those for men ages 55+ in LPM samples.
* Fault rates remain unacceptably high for important audience segments such as African Americans and Hispanics despite new coaching initiatives. On the average day in New York for the week ending July 10, the viewing choices of nearly one-third of the black and Hispanic men ages 18-34 in the LPM sample were not reflected in the ratings.
* Chicago sample data for the week ending July 10th show that almost one-third of the 443 African Americans installed in the sample were not in tab — meaning their television viewing was not counted in the ratings.
* Households of five persons or more have been persistently under-represented in the total samples in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston. In New York, for the week ending July 10, the viewing choices of more than one in four of the black and Hispanic households of 5 or more persons in the LPM sample were not reflected in the ratings.
* Fault rates for households of five or more are generally two to three times as high as in one-person households."


What happened to this bill? Read here.

Nielsen Kills Moonlight Too

"Dear The Powers That Be at CBS:

Once again, you got me sucked into a drama and reward me by YANKING it off the air! Gee, didn’t you try the same approach with “Jericho”? I thought I learned my lesson after that stunt, but I guess I’m a slow learner. Forget it! You can put the best drama on next season, with the best actors and actresses, and I am NOT going to watch it. Because I know that as soon as I get involved, work my schedule around watching it, find the episodes engaging – then – it’ll get the axe."



“In the weeks leading up to this prelude to the upfront advertising marketplace, the Media Rating Council quietly met, reviewed a crucial audit of Nielsen’s so-called C3 ratings system, and opted to withhold accreditation for what will be the currency for billions of dollars in TV advertising buys.”

Confused? Allow us to explain. You know those upfront presentations all the networks are hosting to solicit ad buys for the upcoming television season? Those billion dollar deals are based on Nielsen data that hasn’t passed muster for the second year in a row.

And then it gets worse."

I am so tired of people not understanding that Jericho fans, as well as fans of many cancelled shows, do and did show up to watch on TV but it's Nielsen Ratings that refuse to count us. The networks allow this to happen and they have to know not all of us are being counted. We will lose many more great shows until Nielsen is removed from their death grip on the networks.

"CBS execs aren't using those words, of course: They love their online fans! But they're done listening to them.

This spring CBS paid attention to a noisy group of Webheads who demanded the return of "Jericho", a show that real world viewers didn't care for but which supposedly had a huge online fan base. The problem -- after CBS revived the show, the online fans didn't show up to watch the show on TV."

Nuts To Nielsen Video

Thanks to NorsU and all those who made it happen.

Supernatural Addiction

I badly want an interview with Lauren Cohan so I hope somebody reads this that can help me get one. This interview from Ducky Does TV will have to suffice for now. Where are you Lauren???
Contact me here.



"Support Supernatural this week kicked off a petition drive designed to bring in new viewers for this often under-the-radar show. How is this different from the numerous other fan campaigns that have happened in the last year? Instead of targeting The CW, the petition is asking Warner Brothers Television Group to make season one of Supernatural available for online streaming.

An interesting issue was raised in an analysis over the ratings declines. Are people still watching these shows, but they’re not watching live? Supernatural is a decent case study on how declining ratings on a struggling network don't necessarily mean that fewer people are watching the show. Look at the history of their Nielsen ratings in the first three seasons. Back in season one, with heavy promotion and buzz, Supernatural started off on The WB with 5.6 million viewers. The top-rated episode of the season was 5.8 million viewers, but somewhere in the middle of season one the show was moved to the impossible timeslot of Thursdays at 9pm from Tuesdays, and ratings at the end of that season sank to 4 million."



"On another note, I want to send out Kudos and thanks to Lauren Cohan for her work on Supernatural season 3. No matter how it turned out the lady gave it her best shot and I firmly believe that she did a very credible job in her work as Bela. To me it always appeared as if the writers were struggling to 'find Bela's voice' and to figure out what they really wanted to do with her and for that the character suffered and not because of the work that Lauren Cohan did. She took what was there and she made something of it, enough to show us something of Bela worth watching.

So thank you Lauren Cohan for the work you did, for being a part of the world of Supernatural and for taking it all in grace and style."

Nielsen, Nuts, and Moonlight

"TV ratings giant Nielsen Media Research on Tuesday hosted perhaps the strangest protest in the company's history — in fact, the first protest of any sort that company officials can recall happening.

Just more than 1,000 pounds of fresh, salted, still-in-the-shell peanuts were delivered to the loading dock of Nielsen's Oldsmar campus as part of a protest by determined fans of the now-canceled TV show "Jericho."

That's 21 50-pound canvas sacks of peanuts — $1,212 worth — all bought and paid for by "Jericho" fans who want to bring the show back to television and blame Nielsen for issuing the low ratings that CBS cited in canceling the show."


Florida Nielsen workers are furious.

*****************
Just read that Moonlight has been cancelled.




"CBS' vampire drama "Moonlight" will not rise again.

Sources confirm the fan favorite will not be renewed by the network for a second season.

CBS declined to pickup the series because it was failing to hold its "Ghost Whisperer" lead-in and declined in the ratings post-strike. Last Friday's episode garnered a 2.0 rating among adults 18 to 49.

The news will doubtlessly devastate "Moonlight" fans, which have been very passionate for the show by any standard. Recently fans organized a nationwide blood drive to rally viewer support for a renewal.

Nuts Day In Oldsmar

Update: Many thanks to ChiGal76

"Mission accomplished, Nors! Micky's truck showed up at 12:03 PM by my car's clock. There were a group of people standing outside in the loading bay looking nervous for about 20 minutes beforehand. Noon was a great time, because people were out on their lunch breaks. I parked near the loading bay. I missed the arrival of the Micky's truck because I didn't record it properly. THere were 2 HUGE bags of nuts on the back of this white panel truck with signs that said "NUTS TO NIELSEN: SAVE JERICHO" on it. If you ever want to see what 4000 lbs of peanuts look like...it's a lot, trust me. The word must have spread quickly because there were a BUNCH of Nielsen employees peeking through the sun screens to look out over the loading bay. I have videos of that and the America's Second Harvest truck arriving. I didn't see any tv cameras, but I did see newspaper photographers, but then, I escaped before the security people came out to the parking lot, lol."


Get your nuts here. There's still time.
The Nuts are coming to Oldsmar.



"On Eve Of TV Upfront, Nielsen Ratings Remain Unaccredited"

"That for the second year in a row, those billions of dollars in upfront advertising buys will be negotiated, bought and sold on the basis of somewhat shaky, and still unaccredited Nielsen TV ratings.

In the weeks leading up to this prelude to the upfront advertising marketplace, the Media Rating Council quietly met, reviewed a crucial audit of Nielsen's so-called C3 ratings system, and opted to withhold accreditation for what will be the currency for billions of dollars in TV advertising buys."


"When asked about why his network is doing so poorly in the ratings, president and chief executive officer of NBC Universal, Jeff Zucker told Television Week, "It's not just about the ratings anymore."

Just to be fair, Zucker explains that the ratings don't matter because the network is fulfilling the expectations of the advertisers. "We're in an era where - we've made a commitment to our advertisers to a schedule. Advertisers have an expectation. It's not just about the ratings anymore. It's about our relationship with our advertisers and what their expectations are."

TV Tidbits

"The CW Network has just provided us with two brand new TV spots for the upcoming season finales of Smallville and Supernatural. Both episodes will air on Thursday, May 15, with Smallville airing at 8 PM ET and Supernatural following at 9 PM ET."



Heather Salerno of Remote Access Lost Recap:

"Born premature to a teen-age mother. Dumped into an unloving foster family. Picked on in high school.

Conned into giving up a kidney to his (supposed) birth father, who tried to kill him by tossing him out an eight-story window. Stuck in a wheelchair.

Survived a plane crash. Gut shot and left for dead in a grave full of rotting corpses.

And now he’s ghost whispering in a creepy jungle cabin."


"Some simply perfect news this week: Esai Morales has been cast in the Caprica pilot/telemovie as Joseph Adama, father of William Adama (now played by Edward James Olmos).

Morales most recently played, of course, our heroic Maj. Beck on Jericho. Given the different schedule of cable and network shows, one would hope that when (not if, when) Jericho gets a Season 3, he’d be able to work out both?"

Nuts, Nuts, and More Nuts

Special Note:

JerichoMonster will now be known as TheMonster. It no longer seems appropriate to use Jericho in the title as this blog is no longer only Jericho posts. Many people were confused by the old title and assumed only Jericho is covered here and TheMonster will cover a wide range of TV topics which include Jericho. The header will change tomorrow.


"Jericho’s Nutty Fans Protest Nielsen’s Ratings System"

Fantastic article with lots of links and lots about Nielsen flaws.


Hats off to NorsU.

Get your nuts here.

"For most people, it's just a bummer when a TV company cancels their favorite show. But fans of the now defunct CBS show "Jericho" are taking the loss of their show a bit harder.

They're fighting back, and the fight is coming to, of all unlikely places, Oldsmar.

"Jericho" devotees plan to picket the local office of TV ratings company Nielsen at noon Tuesday, and dump 4,000 pounds of peanuts on the company's property. Why Nielsen? "Jericho" fans say Nielsen uses faulty methods to measure TV ratings, and those ratings numbers doomed their beloved show.

"It's an antiquated rating system that does not count 99.999 percent of actual TV viewers," said Jonathan Whitesell, a "Jericho" fan and organizer of the protest, referring to the sampling method Nielsen uses to calculate total viewing of a show."

Supernatural: Losing Bela

Just my luck with a TV show. Jericho got canceled and I read today where Lauren Cohan (Bela) is being let go from Supernatural.

"It's been announced that due to both budget restrictions and negative fan reaction, the character of Bela (Lauren Cohan) will not be returning in season 4. Series creator Eric Kripke told TV Guide, "I'm sad to see Lauren go. I think she's going to have a huge career, but it became increasingly obvious to the writers that the character as we conceived it simply wasn't working."

Thanks a lot. Maybe I'm in the minority but I love Lauren Cohan and she does an amazing job as Bela. I'm with Eric in believing Lauren is going to have a huge career but I wish she could have had it on Supernatural. I don't understand why the character was written so sympathetically in this last episode. Why not leave her the antagonistic person she was before if you're going to dump her?? What a huge loss.

Maybe she could come back?


I also agree with TVSquad:

"Bela did finally redeem herself somewhat, giving up Lilith as the holder of the contract. I don't know that it makes up for stealing the Colt for Lilith, or trying to kill them, but it's something. There is still some story that could be explored with Bela, perhaps returning as a demon at some point. Alas, given the fact that it's already been announced that Lauren Cohan won't be back for season four, this was probably the last we'll see of "that skinny, stuck up, English girl."

Supernatural Fans: Margie and Edna

Margie and Edna are great fans of Supernatural. Unfortunately, they both like Jensen Ackles which leads to some dynamic conversations. Frankly, they fight over him.

Therefore, it is my pleasure to host this video to avoid them coming to blows. They can both just watch here. Enjoy it ladies.


This is a wonderful fan made video. Many thanks to FeliciaGee.

Supernatural: Love Alert

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The Supernatural Newsletter
Lots of good stuff here.




You asked for Sam so check this out here.

Here's another one you'll love.

Here's one more to keep you occupied.



"Metallicar is the nickname given to the 1967 Chevy Impala by the fans of the TV show Supernatural.

Driven by Dean and Sam Winchester in the hit series created by Eric Kripke, the car has become as much of a main character in the show as the Winchester brothers themselves, whom the series is based upon.

Specs: Engine: Chevy 427 CID Big Block V8 Carburetor: Holley 4 Barrel"