Shortly after the Academy Awards this year, I pulled together some thoughts on the idea of the Twitter community expanding the size of a couch. Well, I'm actually really kind of excited to watch now that the community is focusing its energy on a pop culture cause: saving a bubble show from potential cancellation.
For those who aren't familiar with NBC's Chuck, it's kind of a geek's wildest dream type show. Guy (Zachary Levi's Chuck - no relation) gets the entire secrets of the CIA downloaded into his head and has to balance his day job as a Nerd Herder (a TV-fied version of Best Buy's Geek Squad) with being a super agent. Doesn't hurt that his "handlers" include the smokin' Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) and witty, business-as-usual, tough guy John Casey (Adam Baldwin).
No wonder Twitterers and Bloggers love the show: it's the perfect type of show for the Geekdom. Scattered throughout the series are references to Tron, cheap shots at the Zune, and an episode this season in which Rush's "Tom Sawyer" was proven to be the music of the universe as Chuck saves the world - again (check the recap of that episode below). It's definitely perfect for the inside-the-series-of-tubes crowd.
So, when rumors started circulating that NBC has yet to pick up Chuck for a third season, the groundswell started. TV blog Give Me My Remote shifted it's focus to "Give Me My Chuck" with a week of posts and an entire kit for you to dedicate your online presence to the show, and make sure NBC notices it. GMMR was joined by TV Squad and a bunch of separate Twitterers to drive traffic and exposure of the movement by healthy doses of the #savechuck hashtag and some key follows to drive more awareness.
Well, NBC probably isn't going to renew a show because of hashtags alone (although, I would have to chalk that up to Twitter winning the Internet if that happened). Someone over at star Zachary Levi's fan site had an idea for an easy offline display: and the solution involves a jingle that will not leave your head once you read this.
The $5 Footlong Campaign.
Well, it's getting noticed. Coverage of the movement in the LA Times TV blog and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, encouragement from some of the show's actors and, then my favorite moment of the day, Zachary Levi at a Subway in Birmingham, UK, filling in as a Sandwich Artist (which, naturally, was Twitpic'd and is creeping up there in views).
Why I care? One, the show is one of my current favorites. It'd be a shame to lose one of the few shows that isn't about hospitals or cops and if it gets replaced with more reality TV, I'll cry. But, why I'm taking up space here is because I think this is a nifty case study on pop cultures new found place within Twitter. Think about the Subway idea - that would not have ever been possible back a few years ago. Not necessarily to ask people to do it, but the actual proof that it was done. Just check this Twitter search of "Subway Chuck" to see the archive of involvement.
Of course, this is noteworthy because it isn't astroturfed by Subway or NBC (at least, it doesn't appear that way). Imagine the storm that would happen if it was - and I'm not willing to bet the farm that someone tries this later as a copy cat campaign. Subway is the beneficiary, everyone has to eat lunch anyway, why *not* make an ironic decision to actually tweet about what you are eating - and why?
Could it be that if we had Twitter, maybe Arrested Development would still be around? NBC will announce its lineup for the 2009 fall on May 5. Please NBC: don't cancel Chuck.
April 26, 2009
Crowdsourcing to Save Chuck
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13 comments:
congrats on being mentioned in the Express!--but more so thanks for your efforts to save Chuck!
My main question is how much the threat level will rise if Chuck does indeed get canned.
SAVE CHUCK!
SAVE CHUCK!
Fuck Chuck.
I'm sorry but please do not put "Chuck" and "Arrested Development" in any sentence that even remotely hints at a suggestion of comparative awesomeness. Chuck is an enjoyable Saturday afternoon syndication show at best. It's Pam Anderson's "VIP" with less boobs and slightly better writers.
I've watched Chuck, I get Chuck, I even like Chuck. But it's not great television. It's cute, mindless entertainment that I could take or leave so if it gets canceled, I won't miss it and that chick who plays his sister will just bounce to another show that will get canceled after a couple of seasons.
My husband and I "LOVE" watching Chuck. We love the humor, the interaction of the characters and the 'Nerd Herd'. I am a 65 year old 'Boardwiring, COBOL Nerd'. Once a nerd always a nerd. Keep Chuck coming.
@gatafria48 - this is less about the content of the shows, more about the means to create the groundswell. I think it is generally the same crowd, though, who watched AD - or at least a similar one who would have turned to Twitter to connect, build the community, and fight Fox.
Don't get me wrong, my interest in this campaign is also because I'm a massive fan of the show. But the tools that the "Don't Cancel [x show]" army has at its disposal these days, as compared to 2006, are alarmingly different.
@ Dave: No, totally get that. However the nature of these types of "Save This Show that No One Watches" campaigns is that it's essentially a handful of diehard fans preaching to the choir.
The people who are fighting for the show will be the same people watching the show, which doesn't really help them as they need MORE people to watch the show and watch it on TV at the appropriate time. Not 2 days later online and I'm not sure if going after the Twitter community will help.
I don't think a similar type campaign, if the resources/tools were available at the time would have saved AD. A, it was on Fox so the fact that it was on for more than one season is a bloody miracle. B, I find that people often don't like being told they're not watching the best show on television (even if it's true). While you'll get a few curious cats who might tune in to see what all the fuss is about (and with all these Save Our Show campaigns become more commonplace, it's not really a novelty that will inspire much curiosity), people tend to get annoyed when diehard fans try to hammer home the point that they NEED TO WATCH CHUCK/ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT/ VERONICA MARS/ MOONLIGHT whatever the cult fave show is of the minute. There was a lot of anti-AD backlash when it was on the verge of cancellation because of the online presence of fans trying to save it and well, the general snootiness of many AD fans (and I put myself in that category).
But this is just my personal opinion/bored workday ramblings. I've never gotten the feeling that the network didn't like Chuck, just that not enough people out there do and in that case, maybe you should be handing out free Subway footlongs to people on the street and not petitioning Ben Silverman. They're really the ones killing the show.
I love the show Chuck, and with the new twist to the intersect they just can't cancel it now!!!!
Kill this damn show..! Worthless, brain-dead escapism like every damn thing else on NBC with possibly the exception of Southland at this point in the 2009 spring TV season... kill it, kill it, kill it. For... good... please for all our sakes.
McG actually produces this junk, and good for him, for it can't cost all that much to produce (cheesy fight-scenes); take what money you made from this chop-socky-fest and buy a christelball to prevent you from embarking on yet another Charlie's Angels rip-off (not something you want to mimic).
Whooo... a little harsh there, aren't we John? It's a much better show than you're making it out to be, IMHO. Not God's gift to TV, but pretty solid. And there's not really anything in your post to suggest you've actually seen it or can give any criticism beyond your obvious distaste for McG (which, granted, I understand).
I don't love "Chuck," but I do think it's pretty entertaining. Yvonne Stra--whatever-the-hell is crazy hot, Adam Baldwin is the man, and Zach Levi is very likeable.
It's certainly better than a lot more worthy than a lot of shows the three "used-to-be-majors" have right now. How many frakkin' CSIs and Law and Orders do we need, anyway?
And I'd much rather watch "Chuck" than Jay Leno in prime time. No offense to Leno--I know he's been ill lately--but I just don't think anybody would have been too devastated if he would have just outright retired. His "Tonight Show" was always just-OK, never the must-see-TV of the Carson years.
@gatafria48
The problem isn't that "nobody is watching" these "cult shows" so much as it is that the Nielsen ratings system is out dated and broken. There has never been a ratings box in my home or in the home of anyone I know. Is it any coincidence that the shows I and my friends like to watch keep getting canceled? The "cross section" of society who's television viewing is supposedly being monitored by Nielsen doesn't seem to represent anyone with good taste. If it did, there would be a lot less reality tv and a lot more seasons of Deadwood and Firefly.
Here's an idea for NBC. Why don't they give Chuck the renewal that they shouldn't be giving Heroes. Because Heroes hasn't been good since season one, and after Monday night it doesn't deserve another chance.
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