Quixotic Bravado

The Closure Clause

So while talking about the network rerun strategy, the topic also came up about shows who get the axe and the die hard fans who send food products to the network in an attempt to put them back on the air. I can see the argument from both sides: The fans have an emotional investment in the story and feel the networks are screwing them; The networks look at the ratings and want to maximize profit for the time slot.

As a side note, I find these campaigns to send rice, nuts, whatever a little misguided and annoying. If you have all that food laying around, send it to a food shelter. Help someone out how doesn’t even have a television. The only productive thing you’re doing by sending that stuff is aggravating the mail room staff at the network and giving an extra paragraph or blog post of material to the entertainment pundits about the show being canned. You can be vocal and effective without being at-this-point cliche and sending food. No network executive is going to be like “Oh my, look at all these jelly beans — 13 new episodes immediately!”

Since these shows will be canned anyway, I propose something else: The Closure Clause. I think the contract with the network and studio, producers, actors, whomever should state that in the event of a cancellation they will still be able to write and shoot an episode from scratch to bring closure to the story line for the fans. I listen to the Lost podcast and have heard their producers state a number of times that they have a fast-track plan if the show were ever to get canceled to tie up the loose ends of that universe.

With the power that fans now have via the Internet, networks will continue to have to pay more attention to the sense of entitlement that viewers feel they have toward a particular program. Being proactive will help with viewer relations and will make sure that the mail room staff is taking home less leftovers.