While preparing this year’s bubble shows that should be saved post, I read an article about New Amsterdam’s cancellation by FOX.
As I sometimes do, I started reading the comments left on the article.
A couple of comments down an Autumn Dreamer posted:
I wanted to watch this. Then I came to my senses and remembered it was on FOX. I figured it’d be better in the end if I didn’t. How sad that I was spot on.
And then three later an amateursleuth posted:
Autumn Dreamer, that makes two of us.
I’ve had enough of FOX screwing the viewers over. I won’t be watching any of their new shows unless they’re solid hits and have already been picked up for a second season. If I miss out on the beginning of something good, so be it. I can always catch up.
Holy self-fulfilling prophesy, Batman!
If you don’t watch, then the likelihood of it becoming a hit, so you can catch up, becomes much lower. Especially, as the number of disenchanted TV viewers like this grows.
The problem goes something like this:
- TV fan starts watching a show.
- TV show pulls in low ratings.
- TV network pulls show after only a few episodes, or less.
- TV fan is disappointed and becomes wary of the next offering by that network.
- Thus, when that network puts out another show, even less people watch, so it gets pulled early.
- But, yet another TV fan is disappointed and becomes wary of the next offering by that network, and so on, and so forth.
- Until you get lots and lots of people like the ones who left the comments mentioned above.
However, if you are a TV fan and you see something that looks good, don’t sit back and wait. Tune in. Get your friends to tune in. Or, at least fire up the TiVo. Otherwise, you are just contributing to the problem. Also, in the case of New Amsterdam, you missed eight pretty good episodes that put an interesting spin on the oft-used immortal storyline.
Don’t get me wrong; the networks need to give their shows more time to find an audience. Not to mention, marketing them better in the first place.
But, not watching because it might get pulled, would be like:
- Declining a date with an attractive suitor because they might break things off, just as you are beginning to like them.
- Or, not studying for a test because you are just going to fail anyway.
Please don’t buy into self-fulfilling prophesies like these, because you might just end up a failure, sitting home alone, with nothing to watch.
