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Sunday, March 9, 2008

Saving Jericho: Season 3



I posted an interview with Bjo Trimble last month. Bjo and her husband are the folks who initiated the Save Star Trek campaign and it worked. I asked Bjo,"If you had a show you wanted to save from cancellation today how would you employ the internet?"

"First,says Bjo," petitions on the Internet are totally useless. Nobody in charge of anything will pay any attention to them. They are too easy to set up and be run by one person. Anybody could be writing names on a list, not necessarily all those names you see on the petition. So forget Internet petitions."

Michael Hinman of SyFy Portal agrees and says,"Don't do online petitions. They mean absolutely nothing, and are just a waste of time."


"Second,says Bjo, "The Powers That Be will never see your email letter unless you are very, very good at letter-writing, Bjo says. "TPTB pay people a lot of money to avoid hearing directly from you. They love getting threatening letters because they can show the news media what kind of NUTS enjoy the show they are planning to cancel. They won’t believe you if you say you’ll buy their product all your life. They won’t believe you if you say you’ll never buy their product as long as you live. Mainly, they just don’t care because there are millions of people Out There who will buy their product whether or not they maintain or cancel any given TV show.

The main thing to do in a letter campaign is to not stop with the studio and network executives. Make a list of local and nationwide sponsors while you watch the show. Ask your Library Information Service where to find the corporate addresses for those sponsors. Many sponsors are paying for a time slot and often have no idea what they are sponsoring. They will be shocked and upset to get a complaint letter that a favorite show is being canceled. Sponsors hate to have unhappy potential customers! They will do much of your job for you by directly phoning the network TPTB and finding out why a show with this many fans is being canceled.

The network, and subsequently the studio, will now be faced by an irate sponsor rather than a bunch of anxious fans. This is a far stronger appeal! Hit ‘em in the pocketbook, and people pay attention.

The thing to do is to send an appealing email that is so interesting or so cute (don’t go overboard on this!) that it gets passed around the office. Maybe TPTB will never see it, but – and here’s the strength of email – a whole lot of other people in that company will see it. And some of them will think, “Gee, I have a friend who is a fan of this show and I bet he/she would enjoy this letter.” So since it’s not strictly a business letter, they send it out of the company, and it gets picked up and sent to a whole lot of other fans. Those fans pick it up and send it on to other fans…. And so on and so on and so on. Why would this work? Because the letter is reaching a whole lot of people who will be inspired to write their own letter, and the circle continues.

The lovely thing about the Internet is that all this can be done in an afternoon by each individual instead of raising a major in-home letter campaign that will take weeks and weeks to get off the ground. So fans of a show have no excuse whatsoever for just bitching about cancellation when they can actually do something about it!"


In addition, Michael says, "DO use e-mail to contact newspapers, TV Guide, news sites, and the like. Get them to notice that there is a groundswell of support again, and ask them to start covering this campaign now, because a decision is imminent."

"Find bullet points on what to talk about, and incorporate those bullet points IN YOUR OWN WORDS. Don't do form letters. This has to be a letter from the heart. Don't attack CBS, but at the same time, make sure you say more than "If you cancel this, I won' watch CBS ever again," because those letters will accomplish nothing. Talk about how "Big Brother" is the worst possible lead-in for "Jericho," and how its scheduling overall may have hurt the show, adds Michael.

12 comments:

maybei said...

Awesome article and awesome advice on saving a show!

Thanks for the recap!!

Unknown said...

Thanks for the advice! Now i'll be going to send a whole lotta letters!! lol

Milesius said...

Why don't we send a BIG YELLOW FLAG to CBS that says " Don't Tread on me"?

Corey Young said...

Why doesn't sci-fi try to buy the show out from cbs? They've already optioned the series' reruns. If people at cbs had any business sense they would at least shop the show around. Maybe they might save some viewers in the process. Personally I don't understand why they want to keep replacing good shows with an overabundace of cheesy crime dramas.

Unknown said...

i live in england and have just finished watching jericho season 2. its possibly the best show i have seen, to say i am upset that no season 3 will appear is an understatement.it is criminal to cancel such an explosive show.

Unknown said...

I leave in denmark and got the first season from amazon, now after holidays in the US also got the second season... and it's amazing!! Never though a tv show was able to keep me as glued an addicted as I got to 24, but this one does! really hope they go ahead with season 3 ;)

khushi said...

ts possibly the best show i have seen, to say i am upset that no season 3 will appear is an understatement.it is criminal to cancel such an explosive show.Jericho is an American serial drama that centers on the residents of Jericho, Kansas in the aftermath of nuclear attacks on 23 major cities in the contiguous United States.

revelsfishery said...

Im in the Uk and season 1 captured my interest 100% and i got so into the show that when this ended and was told we had to wait nearly a year for season 2 i spent hours finding youtube bits to watch to satisfy my hunger for more. I nearly missed season 2 as ITV4 hardly pushed it at all unlike season 1 but luckily saw an advert day before it began and again nothing was lost in the show as i was now so involved in it but this time so quick but excellent ending but im so so thirsty for it to continue. Why did so many people (my wife included) dislike it so much the story plot was so so good. Nothing like the LOST rubbish which lost me after episode 4. Please someone somewhere salvage this. Makes me wonder how viewings would have been different if it was aired on one of the main 4 channels!!!

cmac said...

I'm writing this after watching the last episode from season 2. Like so many others before me, I too watched from the internet. I have been glued to the computer for a week, anticipating every episode I could get my hands on. I find myself wanting more and not being able to get it. Perhaps I have overdosed on Jericho. Nothing a little time want take care off. Never before has a TV show captured my attention and emotions to the point I felt I wanted more. If anyone with any decision making authority really reads this stuff, come "Hell or high-water", you will find a way to bring this show back . The dollars / profitability are there and its your job to find out how to make it work. Meanwhile, your audience eagerly awaits. I personally will take Jericho any way you serve it up as long as the show's integrity and quality are maintained.

cmac said...

I'm writing this after watching the last episode from season 2. Like so many others before me, I too watched from the internet. I have been glued to the computer for a week, anticipating every episode I could get my hands on. I find myself wanting more and not being able to get it. Perhaps I have overdosed on Jericho. Nothing a little time want take care off. Never before has a TV show captured my attention and emotions to the point I felt I wanted more. If anyone with any decision making authority really reads this stuff, come Hell or high water, you will find a way to bring this show back . The dollars / profitability are there and its your job to find out how to make it work. Meanwhile, your audience eagerly awaits. I personally will take Jericho any way you serve it up as long as the show's integrity and quality are maintained.

cmac said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I see a similarity between the original Star Trek cancellation and this show. It has tremendous appeal and is finding its audience. I believe it has tremendous staying power as a TV series and could even be made into films. The cast is just FANTASTIC. Pleae bring back more.