OK, it's a slow Thursday afternoon and I'm in the mood for some fun. I want to create a "fan excuse" bingo card (hat tip to commenter Holly for the final push to motivate me) for posting on the site, but I want to get folks suggestions.
Here are some initial suggestions just to prime the pump, but let me hear yours. Depending on how many good ones there are I may make a series of cards.
Sample excuses for failed shows:
It wasn't promoted enough.
It was on the wrong day / time.
Network XYZ is run by morons.
It did better than [the show that previously failed] in that timeslot.
It has good reviews.
It needs time to grow.
It's a niche show.
It has great average viewership.
It beat Leno.
My favorite:
It’s too intellegent for most people/people are too stupid to get it
nielsen is an antiquated system
it gets a lot of dvr viewers
it’s number one on iTunes
people are too stupid to get it
i could go on, but I don’t want to be a hog…
How about “It ran opposite [insert name of ratings juggernaut]“? Like American Idol and so forth. Sort of a yin to “It beat Leno”‘s yang.
my dog ate the remote…
No one watches on TV anymore, they all watch online!
Everyone I know watches it! Nielsen’s must be wrong!
It’s really popular in other countries
Wait till Summer Glau guest stars
it has great bluray/dvd sales.
It built on its lead-in!
Friday night is bad for TV shows.
It has great retention from its lead-in
Network executive XYZ hates fans and canceled the show to spite us!
But it promotes awareness of a great cause!
Did you get “Such-and-such movie opened against it?” If so, I think you pretty much got all the big ones covered. (Though do make sure to check Whedonesque regularly, as you’ll never know what those tin-foil-hatistas will blame next for why nobody will watch the godlike creations created by their god.)
But just to be on the safe side, let’s not complete the list B-4 “C***k” is canned. After “C***k” is canned, I’m sure you’ll be seeing around 20 to 30 new ones created. Just for the occasion.
KHAAAAAAAANNNNNNNN!
It was moved to a bad time slot (Samantha Who?)
The fans will boycott the network.
Producers won’t want to pitch their show to the network because they cancel *everything*.
It was #1 in the (insert ridiculous/small demo) demographic
1) It would do better if [insert name of show] before didn’t bring it down;
2) If it was on [insert day] instead of [insert day] it would do a lot better
3) Nielsen families aren’t really representative of true fans of the show
Okay…maybe I should heed Rob and not be a hog.
It aired on a holiday! No one watches TV on [Halloween, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Flag Day]!
they ran the episodes out of order
An Obama address knocked it off the schedule and killed momentum (used for Better Off Ted, too!)
too long of a hiatus between episodes