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Monday 24 November 2014

Renew Dallas Now

                                                     
How can something as dull as Falling Skies be renewed and Transporter with 0.22% too, it didn't even get half the ratings of Dallas at 0.47% . There's more going on here than just ratings and demographics, seems the sci-fi element is more of a turn on for execs rather than having a channel devoted to a mix of programmes catering for everyone's needs.

The system of determining renewals or cancellations is archaic too, it shouldn't be about demos anymore.  The survival of a show shouldn't just depend on ratings when in the twenty first century, there is much more to how well a show does or doesn't do.  Tired of seeing that 18-49 demo, yes I fall within it, as do the majority of my US friends and family, but how many 18 year olds are in a position to spend so much on buying products advertized.  Not everyone's made of money and not at that age.
The cancellation of Dallas unfortunately was expected and I have to say I did see it coming.  It's not as if they were given full-on 22 eps per season, so it shouldn't even come to spending too much & getting back very little returns.  TV executives don't know a good thing when they see it these days and quite frankly, a small cable channel was not the right home for such a show.  Agree or disagree it's true.  Such channels do not know how to publicize a show, back it completely, promote it and stick with it for as long as it has fans.  That's why they can't justify renewing something as mundane as Falling Skies (been done before - maybe it's cos of Steven Spielberg) or Transporter when that got renewed with so little ratings. Showing a season in two halves doesn't really help either.  It's not very commonly done in the UK, although we have to wait a while for the season, it is always shown in one go, unless it's aired the same time as the US, which rarely happens.

The executives seem to be adept in ignoring an already established audience, thinking that something new with less quality will attract more viewers to the channel, it may work with that endless reality stream of shows, but drama is completely different.  Firstly you need some intelligence to watch and secondly to keep it going, you need to understand the fans and their needs too.   It's the fans who can make or break a TV show and as a result a TV network too.  We live in a time where fans are very vocal and we have all sorts of social media to help us publicize our cause too.

Old or new, this show has a legacy and can't be so easily and readily forgotten by cancellation!  We at least need a conclusion to the S3 finale.  It appears those Arctic leases left the cold hearts of these TV executives on display, being oblivious to the popularity of the show, which only dwindled due to the network's own mishandling of it.

We need to continue on with the fight for the renewal and #SaveDallas wagon until we get what we want.  I took the following from the piece I wrote for Longmire, but it's equally applicable here!

We want our Dallas back: the cast and crew we all love and have gotten to know as family over the three years. We want to be able to say, 'look, we fans changed the face of TV history - again' by wanting this back.   Just as in the past letter writing campaigns worked for shows like Cagney and Lacey, social media has to work for us. It's not just about one generation or two, this show spans decades and transcends age groups.  How many shows can boast this and how many would want to?  We demand to continue seeing the rolling hills and skies, the characters, the backstabbing, twists and turns through the good times and the bad...

We demand our show back!  #SaveDallas

Our cast: Patrick Duffy, Linda Gray, Josh Henderson, Jesse Metcalfe,  Juan Pablo Di Pace, Jordana Brewster, Julie Gonzalo, Brenda Strong, Mitch Pileggi, Emma Bell and Judith Light.  
Plus I liked how most of the cast had first names beginning with 'J'!  Cool.

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