Tag Archives: Television

October 10, 2007 · 12:26 pm

Sound Off! Week – Hey! Nielsen – The Spamming Question

With a confusing system and a new form of social networking, the right way to go about getting used to Hey! Nielsen is taking one’s time. You step back, view the situation, and based on that engage the new medium with a fresh eye.

But fan movements aren’t about taking their time: for better or for worse, they are about mass movement and mass impact, something rarely associated with stopping to smell the roses. The result was a huge swarm of Jericho and Supernatural fans as they rose to the top of the charts, which is seemingly “good” based on the site’s attempt at measuring fandom. However, it was clear that in the hustle and bustle there had arisen some hard feelings. Jericho and Supernatural fans were labeled “spammers,” flooding the site with too many opinions and only focusing on a single series.

While here at Cultural Learnings we provided a certain level of warning to fans about this, we did make note that those who attacked fans for this were missing the point. This was echoed by fans who responded, upset at the lack of patience on the other side of the fence.

“To generalize our fandom like that makes me a little upset,” Supernatural fan Brooklyn writes, “because some of us know how to conduct ourselves accordingly. I also want to say that I think one reason we were so zealous is because we saw this as an opportunity to really get the word out on our notoriously over looked show.”

Similarly, Jericho fan Starfire felt “people should use the Grandmother principle: as in “What would your Grandmother think of your actions – if she would give you a pinch – don’t do it.” However, all sides agreed that a certain level of negativity is to be expected; unfortunately, however, negativity is something that can go too far.

These two fan groups, with so much in common, found themselves not only pitted against overzealous users from other areas but also against one another. A lot of this can be linked to the competitive element of the website: fans from one side trying to regain the top spot placing negative views on the other show in question.

One Supernatural fan notes that they “don’t like Jericho, but I’m not over in the sandbox mucking up thier threads. It’s silly and childish.” And many others agreed: the competitive element of the site brought out some unfortunate behaviour that is not likely to be indicative of normal internet etiquette. It became a race to become #1 as opposed to promoting their show through non-numerical, non-quantitative ways.

And I don’t understand this, I’ll be honest: Jericho and Supernatural fans have a lot in common, and attacking one another was in the best interest of no one. I understand that being #1 became important, but was not also the public perception of one’s fandom through comments/reactions part of that concern. These are two fan groups that should be working together, not at each other’s throats.

There were also other individuals who began attacking this rising fandom by placing negative reactions on all things Jericho, Supernatural, Stargate: Atlantis, Dresden Files and everything else. I think this is the exact opposite approach one should take. These fan groups were overeager, maybe, but is eagerness really such a sin?

However, these fans are not dwelling on the negativity. As Jericho fan foxgray1 notes, “I feel it is the nature of humanity for some people to be heavily defen[sive] in their own thought systems[;]…also, some people will fight just for the sake of fighting.” This attitude promotes the message I received from most fans: they accept the negative comments, feel they’re slightly out of taste, but have not been distracted from the thing that brought them there in the first place: promoting the show(s) they love.

Which is why this isn’t a problem that Hey! Nielsen can really fix. The competitive nature of the site will always bring out the worst in everyone, and it’s up to fans to keep it from surfacing and to not let it distract from the real purpose. This is a solution that is about fans, users and Hey! Nielsen being more understanding of the fandom out there, and I don’t think there’s a “plan of action” that could solve these concerns. However, really, this is more for the fans to decide. I’ll post more of their comments below, and then hopefully more might offer their own solutions to this concern.

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October 10, 2007 · 12:02 am

House – “97 Seconds”

“97 Seconds”

October 9th, 2007

This will be fairly short as I was admittedly not entirely paying attention to tonight’s episode of House. However, there are a few observations I wanted to make about it. Because the episode tried to do a lot of things, and I wasn’t entirely buying it.

House with a death wish was just bizarre, and I still don’t entirely “get” the situation with the car accident victim. I know there’s the obvious connection to House’s own past, but it felt too arbitrary and pulled House out of the episode’s reality. The storyline had no connection to the rest of the episode, and its purpose was not clear by episode’s end.

As for Foreman’s attempt at pulling a House, I think that is actually serves to point out one of the show’s glaring flaws: no one would ever let House do what he does. While this is supposed to drive Foreman back to House, all it did for me was confirm that Cuddy would never have kept her job this long without firing him, results or no results. House’s apparent immunity to what Foreman experienced is a flaw the show has never really addressed in a real fashion.

And while it was actually a strong episode for the potential cottages, I find that the suspense is gone when I know who they cast (I won’t spoil it here). It is interesting to see how they try to mess with our heads, and one of them was pretty well decided within this episode (I’ll let you assume who you wish to assume), and their case drama certainly made for some interesting elements.

But in the end, it didn’t feel like a cohesive episode of House: I would have almost rather they left out House’s storyline altogether and simply let him terrorize the fellows with more great Survivor-style tribal councils. Going for the death wish just felt…false.

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October 9, 2007 · 8:37 pm

The Sophomore Test: Pushing Daisies – “Dummy”

The Sophomore Test: Pushing Daisies

“Dummy”

While breaking into the headquarters of the Dandelion Car Company, Ned the Pie Maker experiences a mixture of happiness and trepidation, and poses a rather telling question:

“Why does it always have to be a mixture?”

I concur, Ned, I concur: watching tonight’s sophomore episode of Pushing Daisies, my reactions formed a dangerous mixture of optimism and pessimism. With each passing scene, the pilot’s potential flashed in front of my eyes before disappearing shortly after. It was an emotional rollercoaster, but I am now back on solid ground and capable of breaking this mixture down to its key ingredients.

While it’s too early for the verdict, Pushing Daisies’ second stanza featured a comparable level of wit, an adequate level of characterization, a mildly disappointing dialogue devolution, a massively predictable procedural story, a case of overnarrativitis, and one overly long musical number. What does this all mean?

Pushing Daisies is still the best new show of the season…but they’ve got some work to do.

[There are light spoilers below, but this is really designed as more of a preview than a recap. So, if you want to know what to expect, keep reading.]

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October 9, 2007 · 11:40 am

Sound Off! Week – Hey! Nielsen – A Land of Confusion

Sound Off! on Hey! Nielsen

A Land of Confusion

Yesterday, in discussing the problem of points of origin, it was inevitable that we’d leak into today’s issue. The established knowledge of other sites is a barrier of entry, but it is only one cause of the confusion that many fans delved further into within the comments section yesterday. Hey! Nielsen’s general design is, in itself, confusing even without any pre-existing views on what social networking represents.

WelcometoCO, a Jericho fan, found that “the Comment, Reaction, and Opinion options sound and seem like one and the same to me, and it took a long while before I could find any explanation that attempted to differentiate them. For that reason, I had already “klutzed” my way through the site and probably violated the intent for each of the options offered — becoming one of those dreaded Jericho ‘spammers’ who were so roundly criticized.”

What I want to do, based on this comment, is actually look at the intention behind the Opinion, Reaction and Comment options to attempt to figure out why they’re there, what they should be used for, and how they are confusing even once you’re used to the system (I’ll be getting to the spamming tomorrow).

Opinions

Opinions are something I equate to a message board post, but they’re also an unfortunately blank template. The purpose of an opinion is simple: expressing one’s opinion. And while I know that it is taboo to tell people what to say, I am personally open to a bit more guidance as to what makes a good or bad opinion.

Opinions have ranged from detailed analyses of new series or premiere episodes to simple statements of like or dislike without any further analysis. Are these examples of good or bad opinions? We don’t really know.

“The main detractor, as many have already said, is a lack of topic direction,” fan BlackLid noted in yesterday’s comments section. “Regardless of the site, what all social networking areas have in common is a category and then a subject to which other users can respond. There are clearly acceptable categories and clearly unacceptable ones.”

This seems like a great way to further provide a framework to opinions: opinions about the cast could be separated from general opinions, for example. It doesn’t fix every problem, but it might provide more thought being put into each individual opinion: as BlackLid pointed out, a series of dropboxes would help in streamlining this process.

Reactions

Reactions, meanwhile, are somewhat easier to understand: you agree or disagree with an opinion. However, the problem with Reactions is that I often don’t quite know what I’m reacting to. If someone posts a negative opinion of a series, and I disagree with it, is that registered as a negative reaction to the show or to that opinion? I’m still not entirely sure, but I think it is relevant information that would (for me) clarify the situation.

Comments

I think that, in comments, there lies a great deal of the site’s content potential. In commenting, people are able to enter into a discourse, and there is a sense that each opinion is in fact a discussion, which elevates that discourse to a more interactive level.

But no one is using them: an opinion might have sixty reactions, but only 5 comments. For me, comments are an integral part of people understanding this process: you could make a great opinion, but commenting on others is just as important to the discourse that will follow. If you want to create a social networking community, comments are essential. I think that a larger focus on the importance of this element, even though it is more difficult and time-consuming than a two-click reaction, would help avoid the spamming issue as well (Which, as noted, we’ll get into with greater detail tomorrow).

Conclusion

This is not to say that it is impossible to figure the system out. There exists a certain level of quality in the organization, and it’s certainly possible to have a decent discussion. But, in the interest of more people being involved, it would be great if these three new forms of communication could be both better explained and streamlined to be as representative as possible of their true purpose. There is, in other words, light at the end of the tunnel.

“I was [confused], briefly,” says Supernatural fan Shoi. “I can see where it’s a little difficult to tell how to leave feedback, but I figured out it by going slowly and taking my time. ”

Shoi set a good example, as did several of the other fans who contacted me. However, in a world where many people don’t take their time, I believe we have plenty of suggestions on what Hey! Nielsen could do to improve. For more, continue reading below.

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October 8, 2007 · 10:08 pm

Heroes – “Kindred”

“Kindred”

October 8th, 2007

Heroes gets off the ground with two story threads that were left hanging for its opening two episodes: Niki and Micah Sanders, the fate of their patriarch up in the air, and Sylar, dragged into the sewers after last year’s finale. Before the first scenes come to a close we get our answers: D.L. is dead, and Sylar lives. Neither of these are surprising, but the latter in particular is quite frustrating.

My view on Sylar’s resurrection can be found here, remaining unchanged since that post was written, but this episode could have made up for that. It could have used his return to chart a new path for his character, and a new path for the series. Instead, we get a complete ripoff of every superhero origin story inhistory (And Three Men and a Baby) which Sylar makes a single appearance in the opening half hour. And that? Results in yet another extremely frustrating episode of Heroes.

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October 8, 2007 · 9:51 am

Sound Off! Week – Hey! Nielsen – The Problem of Points of Origin

Sound Off! on Hey! Nielsen

The Problem of Points of Origin

One of the problems that Hey! Nielsen faces is that the fans who reach the site are almost all primarily arriving via other forms of social networking: Message Boards, MySpace, LiveJournal, etc. The problem is that many of these people, then, are used to the systems already in place, and a whole new interface (And a confusing one: opinions, ratings, comments are all unique measurements to the site, as we’ll get to tomorrow) is nearly impossible to understand immediately.

The Problem 

Supernatural fan Franzi, a Livejournal user, notes that “the way livejournal works, it would never occur to one that a new opinion is like an entire livejournal post; at best, we’d think it was the start of a new comment thread and at worst, a single comment. Quite simply: we do not use social networking sites or message boards to any significant degree.” This problem is not new: a great deal of television fans are not tech savvy twenty-somethings who can easily adapt to a new social networking system.

Jericho fans, meanwhile, heard about it through their most universal form of communication: the CBS Message Boards where much of the Nuts for Jericho campaign originated (Although it has grown into a large and great series of other sites).

“I first heard about Hey!Nielsen on the CBS/Jericho Message Board,” says Jericho fan WelcometoCO. “Somebody’s posting listed a link in which you could express your interest in Hey!Nielsen.”

While Jericho fans come primarily from a message board environment, they still faced the same problem: spurred on by calls to action, they jumped into Hey! Nielsen and saw it as an avenue for their fandom. This is fandom that has been well-developed within a certain environment, but when unleashed on something different in even a direct fashion it will (inevitably) run into a few hiccups.

The Root of the Problem 

Therefore, when it comes to the problems that Hey! Nielsen needs to address, the root of their confusion issue (Which will be discussed in further detail tomorrow) is that their learning has often been limited to certain systems. The large glut of social networking sites have not forced everyone into conformity, but rather created a dozen different skillsets that are not always transferrable.

In developing the site, then, this really needed to be considered. There is nothing that really explains what Hey! Nielsen is: it’s really an amalgam of Digg, with a little bit of Facebook/MySpace thrown in for good measure, but taking two popular mediums and combining them does not mean people will understand. Fans are a diverse group of people, and any new social networking site needs to reflect this within its design and mission statement.

The Solution

A relative tutorial that explains what each of the site’s options is compared to other social networking forms. When I first equated “Opinions” to message board posts, fans were shocked that this was the case: if that had been done in the first place, I don’t think that there would have been the same level of problems. Creating an entire new lexicon of terms might sound like a good idea, but all it creates is confusion. Understanding those differences and adapting the system to reflect that is a great way to solve the problem fans have put forward.

For all of the Jericho and Supernatural fan responses regarding how they came to Hey! Nielsen, keep reading after the jump.

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October 7, 2007 · 8:08 pm

Brothers & Sisters – “An American Family”

“An American Family”

October 7th, 2007

You may have noticed that, until today, Sunday was recap free here at Cultural Learnings. However, based on stats and my own general interest in the shows the night has to offer, Brothers & Sisters has earned a coveted spot in the lineup. Of course, I use a very relative form of “coveted.”

And as far as family activities go, there is nothing more American than a road trip. Considering that the last road trip the Walker family took resulted in the discovery of an incredibly valuable plot of land and roadside bar antics, in spite of Tommy being present. With Justin being transfered to San Diego after his accident in Iraq, the Walker family (A more desirably group including Kevin, Kitty and Nora) descends onto the city in their minivan. And yes: Nora Walker is a total backseat driver. And it is lovely.

But what this episode really represents is a return to the show’s successful formula: faced with a crisis, the Walker family devolves into a mess of neuroses which sends them into a tail spin. It’s a formula that could be hopelessly grating, but the stellar cast always manages to elevate the material. In this case, the road trip ran into a political land mine, Tommy ran into a young and blonde land mine at Ojai, and Sarah ran into an ex-wife/Rebecca related land mine while meeting with Joe.

And do you know what? When a show does these things with this much grace, I can’t possibly complain.

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October 7, 2007 · 10:54 am

Sound Off! Week: Jericho and Supernatural Fans on ‘Hey! Nielsen’

On a personal level, I think that Hey! Nielsen is an intriguing social networking experiment that, unfortunately, doesn’t fit the type of television discourse I prefer. It is a system based on popularity and volume, whereas I tend to search for more analysis-based discussion. Some users are of the same mind, but it seems like the mass hysteria keeps those elements from resonating.

But this is reasonable, because the site really isn’t designed for me. Rather, it is designed for fans who want a new way for their fandom to be measured. So, when it came time to analyze Hey! Nielsen’s performance over its first two weeks, I decided to go right to the source: the fans of Jericho, oft-covered on this blog for their passion and determination in reengaging their show, and the fans of Supernatural, who fear that their show could end up in Jericho’s boat eventually.

But the site has not met their needs, which is a consensus amongst all of those who responded to a call for feedback posted to various social networking forums. The earliest of the heavy users, these two groups have a lot to say although the main message is clear: fans want a clearer format, a better sense of direction, and to receive something out of the system. Whether or not these problems are solved may well dictate whether Hey! Nielsen can gain any level of relevance within a crowded social networking market.

Over the next week, I am going to highlight five different problems that face the site for new users, and will be posting the feedback I received from a range of Jericho and Supernatural fans. So, come back each day for another glimpse into a fan’s experience of a new social networking forum, and perhaps offer your own views if you’re a user yourself. The more opinions we get, the better Hey! Nielsen can implement these changes. This is a public beta, after all: the whole point is that feedback can and should change the existing model.

And I want to make sure that this happens.

Cultural Learnings’ Sound Off! Week

Jericho and Supernatural Fans on Hey! Nielsen

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

  • The Spamming Question

Thursday

  • Does Hey! Nielsen impact television REALLY?

Friday

  • Suggestions on Improving Hey! Nielsen

So stay tuned to Cultural Learnings for all the feedback over the next week, and be sure to have your voice heard in the comments section! We want to make sure that the voices of these fans are heard loud and clear, so that Hey! Nielsen can live up to its full potential in the months to come.

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October 5, 2007 · 10:10 pm

Season Premiere: Friday Night Lights – “Last Days of Summer”

“Last Days of Summer”

October 5th, 2007

The world of Dillon, Texas is askew as Friday Night Lights starts its second season…well, actually, no its not. Dillon is taking a backseat, more or less removed from the series’ credits in favour of shiny pictures of its actors. The show operates as if its finale had established a laundry list of character problems, but the only real drama was for the Taylor Family and Panther Football.

And yet, Jason Katims has chosen to add drama for every single other character: Matt and Julie are drifting apart thanks to a Swede, Landry is trying to impress his father by trying out for football, Street feels left out by the new coach, Tyra is being stalked by last season’s attacker, Buddy is stalking his future ex-wife, Riggins has become a drunken lout (again), and only Lyla has found solace (Although not much) in Jesus.

I know that there needed to be an obvious problem to solve when Coach Taylor returned, but the show has been thrown into too much turmoil too quickly. This used to be a series about a town that, while football crazed, was at its heart full of decent people. Instead, it’s about scandalous teenagers and people in over their heads. My faith in the series can’t help but wane in this moment: have they forgotten what made the show what it was?

Well, the answer is no…they’re just taking a little while to get back to it. And, well, I’m okay with that. I think. Until the murder.

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October 5, 2007 · 9:57 am

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose: The Return of Friday Night Lights

A year ago, I would have never thought I would be writing this blog post. Having seen the pilot for NBC’s Friday Night Lights, I felt like I had seen everything I needed to of the Dillon Panthers: I thought it was just a football version of The O.C. and nothing more. I am more than willing to admit that I was horribly wrong.

Today, mere hours from the show’s much-anticipated second season premiere, I want to make something clear: Friday Night Lights is the drama in which I have the greatest amount of faith at this present moment. Jason Katims took a premise and sent it in directions that could have been disastrous. However, what was made clear as I rewatched the first season on the (Amazingly priced, Money Back Guaranteed) DVD is that it never let me down.

I remember every single time when I groaned or rolled my eyes when the show began to address issues that I worried they were not capable of. When the show approached the issue of racism, and where it delved into Smash’s use of steroids, red flags went up: these were incredibly sensitive subjects, something that doesn’t quite mesh with high school football. What Katims and Co. proved, however, is that nothing could distract them from the purpose at hand. They followed the motto of the Panthers:

“Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose”

Believing in their devotion to the show’s continued quality, I head into its second season fully believing that no matter what storylines they may encounter, the people of Dillon, Texas will continue to present the most realistic drama on television.

Thus, as the show starts its second season, I have faith that things will stay on track. The show is about family, love, devotion, community, change, rebirth, race, abuse, and a certain game played with a pigskin. I’ll still likely flinch when I see things like the NBC commercials which promote “Murder” as one of the show’s newest developments, but I won’t doubt that they’ll get the job done.

I could write about what makes the show so very fantastic, but Cynthia Littleton at Variety’s On the Air blog has already done it in intricate detail. If you haven’t seen the show yet, I’d almost suggest you skip Cynthia’s great article and pick up the ludicrously cheap DVD set or watch the episodes on NBC.com in streaming video. This is a series worth money, time and energy, but catching up requires very little of all of them.

C’mon: Show us some Panther pride, America. I’ll have a full recap/reaction tonight, as well as a ratings report tomorrow.

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