# Open Letter to TV Executives...



## dwndrgn (Mar 24, 2004)

If you had a direct line of communication with the head TV executives in your part of the world (or from wherever you get your TV signals, if any), what would you tell them?  Are there series you'd have brought back?  Are there certain types of shows you are sick of?  Want more of?

Here's what I would say:

Bring back some series that weren't given enough chance to 'bloom' like Firefly, and Bird of Prey and The Adventures of Jules Verne.

Re-create some that didn't stay on long enough like Voyager, Highlander, Bosom Buddies.

Have only one 'relationship' reality show at a time for pity's sake (The Batchelor, Average Joe, etc.).

Have only one other reality show at the same time (survivor, fear factor, amazing race).

Get rid of a few of the daytime talk shows, specifically Jerry Springer  

Pick a night for a show and LEAVE IT THERE.  In today's world if you can't see a show on a specific night, there is sure to be a way for you to see it later.

Make advertisements more intelligent.  I'm so sick of terrible ads that just make me shake my head.

Re-run the most favorite shows on the weekend, ie, if the biggest hit for the week is Survivor, play it again on Saturday night or Sunday night.

I think that's all for now.  I'm sure I'll think of more!


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## Foxbat (Mar 24, 2004)

A series about Jules Verne? I like that idea. Don't think it's been over here yet.

As for my letter - that would be simple: Destroy all Reality TV!!! This stuff is the pits. In the UK they've just had one called The Salon - about Hairdressers! 

Douglas Adams had the right idea. People like these should be put on a spaceship and told they're going to a better place - but what they don't know is that the 'better place' is as far away from the rest of us as possible.

Rant over.


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## Brian G Turner (Mar 24, 2004)

Think about maybe patronising some silly little creative project every now and then, for creative sake, rather than short term financial gain. Plenty of cult (think: long-term investment) shows developed in that way.


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## dwndrgn (Mar 24, 2004)

Foxbat said:
			
		

> A series about Jules Verne? I like that idea. Don't think it's been over here yet.


As far as I know it didn't even last a season.  I believe it was a British production, the main character was played by Michael Praed.



			
				I said:
			
		

> Think about maybe patronising some silly little creative project every now and then, for creative sake, rather than short term financial gain. Plenty of cult (think: long-term investment) shows developed in that way.


Yeah!  What he said!!


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## Jayaprakash Satyamurthy (Mar 25, 2004)

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE no more than 5 minutes of advertising for every 30 minutes of programing. Ad breaks are the reason my tv is permanently switched off.  Especially those dumb cellphone ads.


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## An8el (Apr 3, 2004)

Farscape! Bring back Farscape. Whole seasons of Farscape: 22 episodes... after the mini-series, which they are working now on the special effects, having done all the filming. I can't wait to see it.

I love it when they take Sci-fi author classics and reduce them into mini-series TV. Dune and Children of Dune were great.

I stopped watching TV after Farscape went off the air. They promised the fans a fifth season, and then cancelled at the end of season 4. I lost my patience with the whole "Watch TV" thing and cut back to watching TV only in the company of other people as a pastime of connecting. While I was doing this, I came to really abhor other people's choice of watching "Reality TV" - that was the clincher for me not watching any TV, under any circumstances. I decided what I needed a little more real reality and a whole lot less TV watching - ever.
So now I rely on my friends (and here) to tell me when "something good" is going to be on.


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## mac1 (Apr 3, 2004)

Firstly the complete abolition of reality TV.
(To Fox) Stop cancelling shows that have huge followings. The DVD sales of Futurama show it was intensely popular, and that only giving it airtime at 1am in the morning was the real reason for poor ratings.
Bring back more documentaries. I remember when you could sit down every night and watch something facinating!??
Stop increasing the regularity of the soaps, they used to be on twice and week, now we get them every day and sometimes twice a day.
Don't be afraid to air viewpoints that are not 100% scientifically supported. There was a time where programs like Strange but True and Fortean TV graced our screens.
(To Cartoon Network) Well done for renewing Family Guy for a forth series after Fox had seemingly put it to death!
(To BBC) You have just had a huge overhaul and a new chairman put in place, and only yesterday claimed that you were going to review the nature of your license-funded nature. DON'T! Go back to your roots and give us the BBC we remember. Bring back Red Dwarf, fund David Attenborough to go off and make more series and stop relying on Eastenders to draw the crowds and make your profits.
More shows like ITV's mixmasters, there are more people who enjoy experimental video art than the 30 minutes a week we get suggest.
If you 100% insist on having reality TV why not make it interesting. Think more along the lines of the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, or the 1961-62 Milgram Obedience Experiment, rather than the 2002 "watch a f*cking moron stand on a log for a day!"
Be Bold!
(To BBC again) Dont let the aftermath of Hutton scare you into submission. Please don't be afraid to air honest views, after all the entire of the British public realise that the Hutton Enquiry was a farse but you as the media are now too scared to proclaim things like that. It was a prime example of a Totalitarian government taking over the media in a democrat... (sorry wrong meeting, thats the meeting at the docks tommorow ...).
Last of all, as a film-maker, as a viewer and as a person, please, somebody, inspire me!!!


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## Brian G Turner (Apr 3, 2004)

Bigmacscanlan said:
			
		

> inspire me


The heart of the argument in two words.


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## Foxbat (Apr 3, 2004)

> (To Fox) Stop cancelling shows that have huge followings. The DVD sales of Futurama show it was intensely popular, and that only giving it airtime at 1am in the morning was the real reason for poor ratings


Right On!

I've got seasons 1 to 4 on DVD and they are superb!  Cancelling this show was a travesty.


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## littlemissattitude (Apr 3, 2004)

Bigmacscanlan said:
			
		

> Bring back more documentaries. I remember when you could sit down every night and watch something facinating!??
> Don't be afraid to air viewpoints that are not 100% scientifically supported. There was a time where programs like Strange but True and Fortean TV graced our screens.


Amen to both of these.  Although here in the States, PBS does air some interesting documentaries, there just aren't enough.  And, show the old documentaries.  Some of them are still fascinating.  About the only place to see them now is on Turner Classic Movies, and they generally only show them late at night.

Fortean TV?  Man, that would be cool.  Must have been an exclusively British thing.  We have a few things like that over here, but they are usually on cable or are syndicated and only appear on local channels that don't come in well and are usually shown at odd hours.  We used to have "In Search Of..." every week on network TV, and I really miss it.


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## mac1 (Apr 3, 2004)

littlemissattitude said:
			
		

> Amen to both of these. Although here in the States, PBS does air some interesting documentaries, there just aren't enough. And, show the old documentaries. Some of them are still fascinating. About the only place to see them now is on Turner Classic Movies, and they generally only show them late at night.
> 
> Fortean TV? Man, that would be cool. Must have been an exclusively British thing. We have a few things like that over here, but they are usually on cable or are syndicated and only appear on local channels that don't come in well and are usually shown at odd hours. We used to have "In Search Of..." every week on network TV, and I really miss it.


Yeah I quite agree, PBS is cool. I adored the PBS Nova Elegant Universe series, some really wacky string theory documentaries on that, but unfortunately stuff like that is few and far between.

Fortean TV was cool, hosted my a Reverent! Rev Lionel Fanthorpe! It only ran for a couple of seasons, and was basically a show made up of strange happenings in the UK.


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## mac1 (Apr 3, 2004)

Foxbat said:
			
		

> Right On!
> 
> I've got seasons 1 to 4 on DVD and they are superb! Cancelling this show was a travesty.


Same here, Fox really dont know a good thing when they see it, between Futurama and Family Guy, what the hell is wrong with them!?!?


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## littlemissattitude (Apr 4, 2004)

Mac...PBS has a series currently showing called "Independent Lens" that has some interesting documentaries from time to time.  "Frontline" also has some good stuff, but it tends a little to much to the political for my taste much of the time.  Also, "The American Experience" is good sometimes.


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## mac1 (Apr 4, 2004)

littlemissattitude said:
			
		

> Mac...PBS has a series currently showing called "Independent Lens" that has some interesting documentaries from time to time. "Frontline" also has some good stuff, but it tends a little to much to the political for my taste much of the time. Also, "The American Experience" is good sometimes.


I get all my American shows on download, I will look out for those on Bit Torrent and have a search on Kazaa.


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## Niolani (Mar 16, 2006)

I'd like Dark Realm back on, another chance for Joss Whedon to continue Angel, more Miracles, Blind Justice and all the other good shows that they've kicked off after putting them in crummy timeslots just so the 4th time re-run of CSI can be in primetime.


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## Niolani (Mar 16, 2006)

Another one, Haunted. I thought this was really good but it was put on late at night in Australia and then yanked after 5 or so episodes.


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## nixie (Mar 16, 2006)

There was a really good series on Sky a few years back called Jerimah..I thought it was brilliant but what to we get, one series finished on a cliff hangar and that was it


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## chrispenycate (Mar 27, 2006)

When I talk to top local TV executives, it's normally to say "why have you taken this work away from us, and I know in advance what the answers are going to be.

1: The automatic veiwing detector says that the program is becoming less popular (you dropped three points during the football mondials). Never mind if it's still the most popular thing at that time, the trend is down.

2: We have to keep trying new things (ie. copying the competition) otherwise we'll drop behind.

3: We've got all these people on fixed salaries, we have to find some work for them or it's money thrown out of the window (never mind that two thirds of those people, and the most expensive two thirds, are administrators who have nothing to do with the actual production of progroms)

4: The performing rights associations expect us to pay rights again after the third replay (a trick to persuade them to make new programs rather than eternally  reusing the old ones) so it's cheaper to dub Brazilian, where such considerations can be ignored.

and, when all else fails, 5: We've received hundreds of letters from people saying how much they disliked yor program/loved the alternative that we want to use. (They get tens of thousands of letters, and employ people to sort them into similar messages; I suspect for exactly this use)

When they started the satelite chains, dozens of different program styles available, the argument was that there'd be something for each of us (as opposed to "something for everyone") I get the impression here, that this has not come about, that what Im getting is the choice of fifty versions of the same thing (in numerous languages, admittedly) Perhaps in more populous regions this is not the case?


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## hermi-nomi (Mar 27, 2006)

I agree with the majority of what dwndrgn and bigmacscanlan wrote.

Fewer, or at least shorter advertisements would be a relief.
Less reality TV shows. Some of them _are_ good and the voting aspect draws in the crowds ... but please give us a break.
It would also be nice to see soaps  _less_ often ... and Eastenders ~ please stop bringing back old characters every five seconds in an attempt to increase ratings! Did you ever consider that the reason why Eastenders was good was because it dealt with reallife dramas and issues ~ not 'cos it made each situations unbelievably dramatic to booat ratings!
More documentaries would also be appreciated by those of us with more than 3 braincells: my preference would be for more historical recreations, exavations and documentories. If a few of these could be slipped in during the day, before the kids come home and commander the TV, I'm sure you'd gain legions of dedicants 
Less bloody repeats of the old shows such as Last of the Summer Wine and Only Fools and Horses. I know that they are popular ... but we've bloody well seen them _all_ before! Give us a break ~ even a year, and by the time you start showing them again there will be people who haven't seen them before   It was such a relief to watch Doctor Who at Christmas (especially as none of us had recieved new dvds to save us from the soperific horror of Last of the Summer Wine!
But on that point ... given how much we've been reminiscing about old shows and childrens cartoons, I would love to see a day, pehaps, dedicated to old shows. Viewers could call in to vote (whoops) on which show should be shown ...


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## jackokent (Mar 27, 2006)

I'd like to see less programs about lists.  The 100 best this and that.  A) they are not the best, in my opinion, and B) you never actually see much of them anyway, just a load of D list actors talking about why they think they are great.


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## Niolani (Mar 29, 2006)

jackokent said:
			
		

> I'd like to see less programs about lists. The 100 best this and that. A) they are not the best, in my opinion, and B) you never actually see much of them anyway, just a load of D list actors talking about why they think they are great.


 
Yes, here in Australia we get the same but it was worse in 1999 when we were bombarded with lists of everything imaginable from that century, songs, inventions, people etc. The latest list shows we've got here just have b grade celebrities who aren't even connected to the content, they just happened to be employed by that particular station.


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## Curt Chiarelli (Mar 29, 2006)

dwndrgn said:
			
		

> If you had a direct line of communication with the head TV executives in your part of the world (or from wherever you get your TV signals, if any), what would you tell them?



Give me your job and the keys to your office.


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## Quokka (Mar 29, 2006)

There was recently an interview with one of the writers of _Lost_ basically saying that the writers have lost all control over the storyline arc of a show.

Take _Lost_ the original idea may have been told with all its twists and turns in 3 series but if a show gains success then the producers, executives etc insist that its written to continue for as long as the ratings hold out, if you can't or won't write to fit their demands your fired and there are thousands of people out there willing to take your place and write exactly what the executives want.

How many shows can you name that started out so good but after a few seasons you ended up thinking it just got silly or lost interest all together...

So for me more shows that run for the length of the storyline/arc, end and let the talented writers move on to new ideas. 

After more than 30 years _Faulty Towers_ still gets alot of credit as one of the better TV comedy's of all time..... there were 12 episodes.


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## Carolyn Hill (Apr 8, 2006)

1.  Bring back _Firefly_--or, frankly, schedule any new series Joss Whedon wants to gift us with.

2. Bring back _Crusade_, that fascinating _Babylon 5_ spin-off.


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## hermi-nomi (Apr 8, 2006)

Quokka wrote; 





> How many shows can you name that started out so good but after a few seasons you ended up thinking it just got silly or lost interest all together...


I'm sure the most well known example would be The X-files. I would say, and I'm being kind here, that X-files was getting silly by the 8th series. Now don't get me wrong ~ I was a complete fanatic regarding the show during it's heyday. But the deeper conspiracies regarding e.g the black oil became a farce because no-one actually knew what the deeper conspiracy _was_. And then there was all the fuss that Mulder and Scully should get it together and live happily ever after. _What? _No, for all the faults of the later series, the ending for those two was the better ending. So that's one show that started out really, really good and ended up, well, merely good.
Lost is a really good show, but I doubt anyone can stretch it out for nine seasons without dampening it's impact.


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## Jason_Taverner (Apr 9, 2006)

Bigmacscanlan said:
			
		

> Firstly the complete abolition of reality TV.
> (To Fox) Stop cancelling shows that have huge followings. The DVD sales of Futurama show it was intensely popular, and that only giving it airtime at 1am in the morning was the real reason for poor ratings.
> Bring back more documentaries. I remember when you could sit down every night and watch something facinating!??
> Stop increasing the regularity of the soaps, they used to be on twice and week, now we get them every day and sometimes twice a day.
> ...


 
brilliant


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