Farscape Forum

Re: Farscape on Australian TV

Jim Henson's Farscape

: : : Chanel Nine has Axed Farscape::::

: : Ya know, I don't know how things work in Aussie land, but here in the US, if they ax a show and get enough gritching about it (as in write-ins and phone calls) from the viewing public, they will rethink and even sometimes resume showing of a canceled show. But, as someone from the UK pointed out, those danged *ads* are the culprit/savior in American TV. As pesky as they can be (and thank God we have VCRs that cut out commercial interuptions) public demand is the name of the game in the free enterprise system. In other words "You put my show back on, you sniveling merchants, or I'm going to stop using your @&%$# toilet paper!!" : : lovetoadee

: Good idea me and my friends are gona start sending mail and calling every other day

Okay, James, Eryn, Caz. If you are serious, here is how you put pressure on a network (and I know a bit of what I speak). I'm hoping there are enough of you in Australia to get some action. Find out who watched this show (friends, family, people who didn't but who you can pay to write a letter). Second, find out *who* were the sponsors--commericials,ads,whatever (please tell me you have commercials). The reason for this is that companies *choose* what shows they attach their commercials to, this is not a chance thing. Note: the fight for Super Bowl time in America. These commercials are some of the most expensive, millions of dollars to hock chips during half-time. One company (a deadbolt company) uses *all* their yearly budget on that *one* spot. Okay, now when you know this information -- and hopefully someone taped the show to find out the sponsors, or you can call the station and ask (but don't bitch at that time, please)-- when you know this, you have a two-tiered attack. One ***hand-written*** letter (as adult as possible, no swearing, business-like, etc.) goes to the station program manager, and one goes to the advertising exectutive at the sponsor company. Basically saying, "I LOVED this show, and it made me and my friends want to buy your product/watch you channel. I'm very unhappy that you have canceled it, yadah,yadah." Point out to the station that it has a huge following, and that it is a *hometown boy*, in other words, an international show that is filmed in Australia and stars mainly AUSTRALIAN ACTORS. This does make a difference. Also, phone calls would be good as a follow-up, but not the main line of defense, since the program manager can only then say to the station manager "I have so-many calls", but they can ***SHOW** him/her a piece of paper from a former viewer. This is also important. Emails? Okay, but as a last line. Do all three. All of this is chain of command stuff, and to get a show back on you will have to give good reasons, show how it is enjoyed by viewers, even a copy of an article from a national or local magazine talking about the show can only help.

But be CAREFUL. Be business-like, be cognizant, be calm. These are people who get listened to, not shuffted-off as loonies and malcontents.

As an example, my friends and I were big fans of the HIGHLANDER tv show before it went off the air, which was on a cable channel at 9:00 pm. They moved it to 1:30 am, thinking (I guess) no one would care. They found out wrong (see instructions above) and we got it moved back to a *reasonable* time.

These station people sometimes don't know what is being watched or not if they don't hear from you, the viewing public. Hope this works (I know I would be very angry if this happened to me). But FARSCAPE is doing great here. I even saw a very splashy video commercial ad at the movie theater before the feature presentation. ABOUT A TELEVISION SHOW? New one.

Sorry for taking up so much time, but thought it may be pertinent to anyone else with a similar problem.

lovetoadee