Why were these television shows cancelled?

Since the very beginning of television the fans out there in T.V. land had very little say in what they could watch or for how long they could watch it for, as that role was dictated by the television network executives. It was these network executives that decided what would air on television and for how long it would air.

By the fifties the AC Nielsen Ratings had become the standard for television networks on measuring the success of the programs they aired. There was just one little flaw with Nielsen Ratings and that is if you weren’t part of the Nielsen family your opinion didn’t count for nothing. The only opinions that mattered to the networks were the opinions of the television viewers who were part of the AC Nielsen family. Today not much has changed, if your not part of the AC Nielsen family it doesn’t even matter if your watching television or not, cause your opinion means absolutely nothing when it comes to your favorite show. You could be watching your favorite show on a regular basis every week and be completely devoted to it, not miss a single episode and it can still be cancelled just like that, simply because those who are part of the AC Nielsen family aren’t watching your favorite show and only their opinions matter, not yours.

The AC Nielsen ratings dominate what you will watch and for how long you will watch it, as studio and network executives completely rely on the ratings and the ratings are calculated by none other then the AC Nielsen. Prime example of how important ratings are to network executives can be related back to the Democratic and Republican conventions. The buzz was all around even on CNN on which primary was most watched by American viewers and those ratings were calculated by AC Nielsen. I mean I tuned in to watch the Democratic convention and I watched as Barack Obama became the official Democratic candidate. But I’m sure my opinion wasn’t counted at all because I’m not part of the AC Nielsen family, just like I didn’t count when I tuned in to watch John McCain become the official Republican candidate. Yes I watched both conventions but do you think I counted as part of the ratings? If you answer NO, then your absolutely right, now if you answered YES then you must be part of the AC Nielsen family and think that we’re all part of the AC Nielsen family when in fact we’re not. Only a selected group of families in America and in Canada are chosen as part of the AC Nielsen family and I however am not one of those who have been chosen, cause then shows such as Disney’s Kim Possible and Disney’s American Dragon, Jericho, Moonlight, and Danny Phantom wouldn’t have been cancelled like they have been by Disney Channel, CBS, and
Nickelodeon.

Now why were shows like Disney’s Kim Possible, American Dragon, Jake Long, Jericho, Moonlight, Danny Phantom, Firefly, the 4400, and Point Pleasant cancelled? Lot of you might not remember Point Pleasant but it was a show that had lots of promise to it and a diehard loyal fan base. Point Pleasant aired on Fox in January 2005 and was cancelled with only 13 episodes do to poor ratings. Now was it really poor ratings? I mean it probably was seeing the AC Nielsen family viewers didn’t watch it, so you’re right it was poor ratings. But don’t be telling the Point Pleasant fans out there that it was poor ratings, because they were tuning in just because AC Nielsen viewers weren’t.

The same can be said for Jericho fans who fought long and hard to convince CBS that Jericho deserved a second season. Yes CBS did a remarkable thing they actually listened to the Jericho fans and renewed the show for a second season, only to cancel it right afterwards blaming it on low ratings and crushing the hearts and souls of Jericho fans everywhere who truly believed that CBS would renew Jericho for a third season. Of course CBS couldn’t careless, the ratings weren’t there because AC Nielsen viewers weren’t tuning in to watch Jericho, meanwhile loyal diehard Jericho fans all across North America including myself were tuning in every week to watch Jericho, but yet the ratings according to CBS, were poor and why is that? I mean a handful of viewers chosen by the AC Nielsen Company decided the fate of Jericho, they didn’t watch, so CBS cancelled Jericho and that should have been the end of it. Another great show which had so much potential got the axe because of condescending network executives who solely relied on the ratings given to them by the AC Nielsen Company and its Nielsen family viewership.

What CBS did with Jericho fans is pretty much the same thing they did with Moonlight fans and the funniest thing about it, is they could get away with it. Yes the Jericho fans and Moonlight fans launched a major campaign to win back both their shows; they even united their cause together to win back both shows. But did CBS executives care or lose any sleep over it? Not at all, cause just like Disney executives, CBS executives feel the same way that there high and mighty and don’t need to listen to the fans of their shows at all. There thinking is simply, fans will generally give up and just fall into line like they always do, so let them be outraged for a while, then like the good little puppets they’re, they’ll fall back into line and watch whatever CBS or the Disney Channel decides to put on, this has been a constant practice for decades and studio and network executives have the game down to an art.

It’s because of this art that Kim Possible fans and American Dragon, Jake Long fans have to be fighting Disney to give Kim Possible fans a Season Five and American Dragon fans a Season Three. The Fight For Five for Kim Possible has made waves, but sadly the media coverage has started to die down and that’s because the media writes about what matters to them and not what really matters to the people out there, especially the fans of Kim Possible, American Dragon, Jericho, Moonlight, Danny Phantom, the list goes on and on and on, so many fans out there are tired of being neglected by network executives and studios and tired of their voices not being heard and their favorite shows being cancelled.

Yet what can be done? Well it starts with not letting the networks and studios win. If you’ve ever bought anything, and I’m sure you have then you know how it works in retail and the hospitality industry, that the customer is always right. Well that same thing goes when it comes to television programming. If the consumers being us want a show back and there’s enough of a demand out there for it to come back, then network and studio executive should listen to us the fans and not just treat us like puppets or children.

None of this will ever change until we make it change. If we let the network and studio executives get away with this, then we let them dominate and control what you watch and that’s wrong. The most recent show to be cancelled that so deserved to continue on is Pushing Daisies and ABC should be ashamed of themselves for cancelling one of the most creative shows they've ever aired. Pushing Daisies fans deserve to have their show renewed and ABC really needs to rethink that they made a huge mistake in cancelling Pushing Daisies. ABC executives need to consider bringing back Pushing Daisies even as made for television movies if they don't want to bring back the series on a regular basis. As for Chuck, it barely escaped being cancelled, but who knows what the new season awaits for Chuck and how long it will last.

Futurama is back thank God and that's do to all the Futurama fans out there never giving up on their favorite show, as well as good DVD sales. Fox made a smart move in bringing back Futurama. Now we just need Disney, ABC, and CBS to listen to the fans cries to bring back their favorite shows.

Now what can I do you say? Well you can make a difference by checking out these websites below and especially if your a fan of any of these shows you can support them by fighting to bring them back. And by all means comment here and add whatever show you feel deserves to be brought back from that television graveyard, as we the fans can make a difference as long as we all stand united for a common cause.

Save Our Shows. (The forum designed to save numerous television shows)

http://www.saveourshows.org/

Kim Possible fans:   

http://markandbobsforum.proboards83.com/index.cgi 

http://www.fightforkp.com/

http://savekp.proboards.com/index.cgi?

http://www.firewebs.com/kimpossiblefightforfive/index.htm  

Ron Stoppable’s Real Neat Page or RS.net for short and the link is below:

http://ronstoppable.proboards89.com/index.cgi

Pushing Daisies

http://pushingdaisies-tv.com/forums/index.php?

http://www.petitiononline.com/daisies/petition.html

American Dragon fans:

http://www.savetheshows.com/ (you will find the American Dragon podcast here)

http://www.tv.com/american-dragon-jake-long/show/26513/summary.html

http://fightforadjl.com/v2/

Moonlight Fan:

http://moonlightdreams.freeforums.org/index.php

The 4400 fans:  

http://www.savethe4400.com  

The Firefly fans:  

http://fireflymovie.com/wp/?p=184

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?firefly4&1

 The Danny Phantom fans:  

http://hometown.aol.com/zcat6/SAVEDANNYPHANTOM.html

http://x-entertainment.com/updates/2006/07/24/save-danny-phantom/

The Point Pleasant fans:  

http://www.savepointpleasantchristinasrevenge.com  

The Jericho fans:  

http://www.jericholives.com/

http://www.savejericho.info/