From TVGasm:
What the hell was that? Seriously. Aren’t we in some sort of social
contract with television writers? We watch their shows and make them
rich. In return, they promise to work hard and prevent that show from
sucking. Yes, eventually all shows wear out their welcome and plod
along with uninteresting storylines. I understand that sometimes things
are going to seem repetitive and even overly staged. But that shit
isn’t supposed to happen until at least the third season. I’d rather be
performing on stage at a Tijuana donkey show than watch another
episode of…
I don’t really care what show he’s talking about… I just liked his bit about the social contract we writers have with our audience. I think he’s right.
But wait — I thought our social contract with the viewer required us to write whatever storylines the “real” fans demand… to slavishly adhere to the “rules” they set down in their fanzines… and to realize that their fanfic is infinitely better than our produced work, because we’re just doing it for money and they’re doing it for love.
How many damn social contracts do we have with our fans?
And while I’m on a rampage, why won’t your stupid comments page remember my personal info no matter how many times I check the “remember personal info” box?
“Aren’t we in some sort of social contract with television writers?”
To answer his question, no. There is no social contract. Don’t like the show? Change the f***ing channel, stupid. That’s the social contract.
As an ex-Trekkie, I can say that it’s usually a loud but miniscule minority of fans that make the most noise. You know the ones. The “purity of his/her soul” crowd? Yeah. Them. Were it a majority of fans of a given show, you wouldn’t see ads in VARIETY or have letter writing campaigns (which haven’t worked, methinks, since 1969). You’d have low ratings.
That still doesn’t get Dick Wolfe off the hook with me for letting Jill Hennessey go. Something tells me Dick’s not losing a lot of sleep over it. Neither am I.
Now wait. You can get *rich* writing for, say, UPN? I’m in he wrong line of work.