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Thursday, March 27, 2008

Las Vegas fans still mounting baby bootie campaign to save the show

by Jennifer Squires Biller

If you’re looking for a pair of baby booties these days, good luck.

So far, fans of the recently canceled NBC show Las Vegas have sent more than 10,000 pairs of booties to the network to protest the cancellation. (It’s a nod to finish the cliffhanger storyline in the final episode that involved one of the show’s main characters going into labor.)

The fan campaign seems to be having some effect. According to a story yesterday at TV Guide online, NBC and Vegas producers have been in discussions to try and give fans an ending they deserve, after five years of loyal viewing. The show’s final episode didn’t tie up loose storylines and ended with a “to be continued” tag, much to the fans’ outrage. (And mine!)

I applaud the efforts of those people who feel so passionate about a television show that they’ll donate cash and take the time to let a network know their displeasure at its decision to end an ongoing-story arc so abruptly. I’ve seen many fan campaigns come and go, from Veronica Mars to Jericho, and sometimes they end by satisfying fans and sometimes they don’t. I hope this time NBC will offer some kind of rewarding conclusion.

I can tell you from the hordes of e-mails and comments I’ve received here at Tube Talk since Las Vegas was canned, fans are angry. And even worse than that, they’re declaring their hesitancy to ever commit to NBC scripted shows again. And who can blame them? No one wants to spend hours and years of their lives investing in shows and characters that can be yanked off the air mid-story with no resolution.

This possible trend of viewers declaring never to watch NBC’s scripted shows again worries me, since I fear that if new scripted shows get low ratings, the network will continue to turn more and more toward ridiculous reality shows that fail to entertain.

So, it seems to me, this is an easy fix. (Of course, no one is asking my opinion or help to broker a deal, but I’m in if they want me!) Plain and simple, NBC needs to give fans a two-hour episode to wrap up the series. That way, fans are at least content. (I won’t say happy, considering they’re going to miss the show next year.)

If the fans get closure with a two-hour episode, that goes a long way in improving public relations and getting TV fans to continue committing to new scripted NBC shows. That’s a win-win, I’d say, and a move I don’t think NBC can risk not doing, for the sake of its future shows.

For more on the fan campaign, click here.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Preach it, Tube Talk Girl. I'm one of those "fans" who is questioning whether to ever invest in ANY scripted shows again.

The past couple years have been BRUTAL for TV fans who like arc-story type shows. I started watching many of those shows, based on your recommendations because you always seem to pick such entertaining, high quality shows, but I've seen many of my favorite canceled - Invasion, Veronica Mars, Everwood, Jack and Bobby. I feel like maybe the best thing to do in the future is to just wait for shows to come out on DVD. That or give up on TV alltogether.

Anonymous said...

I don't remember shows ever doing this in the past. It seems like a new trend. When shows were canceled in the '80s or '90s the networks were decent enough to offer proper endings. It's like lately they just don't care. Well, I think they should get ready for us not to care back because that's where this is headed.

Anonymous said...

NBC fails at life.

Come on Ben Silverman, give fans a proper ending! It's the least you can do!

Anonymous said...

The behavior of the NBC is ridicule. They cancel a show that it had a good share and without giving fans to a true end. I wonder as these persons can expect from we, to watch their programs, when we know that, in this case the NBC cancels their programs continuously.

Anonymous said...

I am still pretty darn mad at the way NBC has treated Las Vegas. Not only was it a great show which survived many a timeslot change, but us fans were left with a big cliffhanger with a promise of "To be Continued". However NBC decided not to give us that continuation. A show of this calibre and enormous popularity deserves a proper ending. I vow never to watch NBC again.

Anonymous said...

Well put!! We deserve this ending! It is not right for them to yank it the way it is. I am proud of all the fans that have responded to NBC through letters or baby booty. I only hope it is enough to get us, and the cast, the ending a great series deserves!! Viva Las Vegas!!

Anonymous said...

Preach it sister! And thanks for the shout-out. The more publicity this campaign gets, the better!

Anonymous said...

Where's the pulpit. I want to join in? :)

Great article and thank you for getting to the crux of the issue. We feel cheated. We gave them five years and it's not fair it ends like this. Would they have done this to Friends or Seinfeld? No, I don't think so.

I agree with everyone else here that why should we watch anything else they put out. If networks can't decide ahead of time how to properly end a show, it shouldn't hurt the fans.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your article! NBC should not have cancelled Las Vegas. Certainly, it is not fair to fans to end the show with a cliffhanger that is supposed to be continued but will not be, leaving many key storylines unresolved. Las Vegas should definitely be continued. If NBC does not intend to give fans the ending that this great show and its fans deserve, at least in a movie if not with a sixth season, the network should allow another network to continue Las Vegas. Television shows that are fun to watch are extremely rare these days, and the whole cast and the mix of comedy and drama make Las Vegas a series that needs to be saved. Fans should go to
http://lasvegas-theseries.com/
and help with the Save Las Vegas campaign!

Anonymous said...

That was a nice article.how can any one will watch a nbc show if nbc treat a five year show like this.nbc cant get away with this so easily.we will fight till we get our ending.with the kind of publicity our campaign is getting,nbc definitely have to listen us.
please fans go to
lasvegas-theseries.com
and join the campaign to get vegas back

Anonymous said...

Thanks a lot for this pretty nice article! Any press this campaign can get is more than welcome and very helpfull!
I'm one of this fans who sent letters and donations for the booties.
Please all remember: Even if you're not a fan of this show... NBC can do this with every show! Maybe your favourite will be next. So please help with this campaign and NBC will think about it twice nect time!!!
Thanks again for this shout out!!!
***SAVE LAS VEGAS***

Anonymous said...

This is such a fun, sexy show. The perfect show for Friday nights! I can’t believe NBC is cancelling it with that huge cliffhanger! What are they going to put in place of it, another reality show? Another hour of Deal or No Deal? No thank you! This was a fun year. Tom Selleck was great as Cooper..sexy and charasmatic to watch. And the baby! What about the baby! NBC needs to do the right thing and give us another season, or the a happy ending!!

Anonymous said...

I had no idea when I was watching the season finale that it was actually the series finale..and with a "to be continued"!!! That is just not right! How can NBC leave the loyal fans of this show cliff-hanging forever?

I will no longer be watching NBC shows. The only other NBC shows I watched were 30 Rock, and The Office. Notice I said "WATCHED". I am tuning NBC out totally.

Anonymous said...

I have noticed that forever more shows they come cancels, do I ask me, but TV is appropriate to us to be observed? or to eliminate at least these channels TV with the majority shows from cancelled (NBC for first, is that with more cancel shows)

Anonymous said...

I was so terrified for a minute that this was going to be about baby booty, not babies' booties. Hallelujah....

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Oakling, for catching my typo! Hanging head in shame! LOL I'm off to fix it now.

Anonymous said...

Bravo, Tube Talk Girl. I heard you talking about the cancellation and your hope to bring it back on the Shaun Daily Blog Talk Radio show. Thank you for taking a stand and defending our show and for raging against the machine of network decision makers that consistently seems to screw the fans. You've earned a loyal reader from here on out.

Jason in Nevada

Anonymous said...

We can't let them end the show this way. Folks, this isn't right, and you all know it. How about some damn loyalty.

Anonymous said...

I applaud the effort of LV fans, but we tried this with Invasion and got nowhere. It's like the networks don't care that we watch their shows week after week. I hope it turns out better for LV fans than it did us.

Anonymous said...

Worst decision ever, NBC, period. (Except for bringing back Bionic Woman.)

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