written letter

I'm curious. How many people here have written a polite, well composed letter and mailed it to the Fox execs?

I bet most people, like me, have good intentions but haven't gotten around to it yet....

On Tue, 19 Feb 2002, Matthew Miller stated this considered view. Waking from my doze, I hastily scrawled -

There'll be an extremely long list of suspects if an anthrax letter turns up at Fox!

I completely understand your thoughts and I'd like to think I'm being realistic about this "save Futurama campaign." That's why I asked the question in the first place, because I had a feeling that 2% of Futurama fans probably took the time to send a letter. For me, writing one was a good way to put the whole issue behind me. Call me a pessimist, but IMO no matter what dedicated fans do, the show isn't going to be saved. Fox doesn't get Futurama. They never did. They don't want to. I knew the moment I heard Farnsworth say "No fair, you changed the outcome by measuring it!" that the show wasn't going to make it. I'll bet there isn't a single executive at Fox that understands why that line is so funny.

Futurama jokes are simply too smart for Fox, especially when you compare them against the types of shows Fox want to be known for: America's Wildest Police Chases, Glutton Bowl, Guinness Book of Records, Temptation Island, The Chamber, Greg the Bunny, etc. Just look at the way Fox is advertising the Greg the Bunny. "This is a puppet show. This is a puppet show on Fox." They're practically admitting that they broadcast shit and make their money off of low brow, lowest common denominator jokes!

So yeah, I'm not holding my breath over this one. I've written my letter, will write more if I need to, and am willing to contribute to some other actions if they seem worthy. However, ff the series is canned and production isn't resumed within a reasonable time frame, I hope the Region 1 encoded DVD sets aren't far behind. That way I can watch the DVDs and stare at my Rocket USA tin toys and wonder (I have to quote DXC on this) "how did a thing this weird and smart get on TV in the first place"?

If it's 2%, we're totally in good shape. I don't know the statistics, but were I a television network, I'd only expect to get letters from 1 in 10,000 viwers, if that.

Matthew Miller wrote:

<snip>

Me neither. I was just trying to pick a small number and now that you pointed it out, the percentage I chose is probably too large. Let's say 0.2% write a letter. Or 0.02%. Whatever the real figure works out to be, I think it'll be too small to make a difference.

But if there really are lots of actual futurama fans (and I think there obviously are), Fox will factor that in. Now, whether having lots of fans is enough for Fox, with their apparent anti-futurama agenda....

On 20 Feb 2002 00:34:00 GMT, [email] (Matthew Miller) wrote:

Which is exactly why writing is so important. They assume that for every letter, there are 10,000 people who feel the same way but are too lazy to write.

My letter is mostly composed and I just fixed my printer. As soon as my exam is over (tomorrow) I'll print it and send it off.

--Larry

Right, my point exactly. If 2% write, and they figure that as 0.01%, they'll think there's 200x the number of futurama fans that actually exist.

Or something like that.

I figure that writing a letter to FOX is like voting; even if it doesn't make any difference, it gives me the right to complain.

If Futurama dies, at least I can say that I did my part to keep it alive. That's more than the poor souls who will sit around and whine when it's gone, but never did anything to save it when they had the chance. It's a worthy cause, and if we lose, so be it. Life goes on. It won't be the first fight I've lost, and it probably won't be the last.

Of course, I do work in Richmond, Virginia, where folks know about lost causes.

P.S. Save your Confederate money, boys, the South will rise again!

Don't know about SAB, they had a good thing, keeping the aliens a secret, having humans never see their enemy, good concept, but when the toy makers demanded a toy to sell, they then have the alien shown and from there the show just went down hill.

Like they built everything up towards showing the alien and when it was shown, everyone was disappointed.

I loved the Tanks and would have liked to see more of them and their history, or even a split in the series to go backwards and then forwards towards the present...

Ahhh memories, thank goodness for DVD's... :)

I have one written, sitting in an envelope. Sadly, I'm out of stamps, so it's going ot wait til I make my next trip to the post office this week.

"Tom Georgoulias" wrote in message news:[email]...

Well composed? Always. Polite? Not a fucking chance in GD hell!!!! I am furious, but not at all surprised, this show is being pushed into oblivion - but in return, they've given us Super Troopers.

Fuck off and die Fox!!! When Futurama dies I will never watch you again!

Brad

"Doug Tabacco" wrote in message news:dNkc8.238$[email]...

Yes you will. There will be another show, Simpson, Malcolm or something to pass Sunday night along, or if your into Football, they'll have the Superbowl.

In the grand scheme, one TV is nothing.

Today I opened my box and found my letter to Fox--returned without being read. This despite my having sent it to the RIGHT address on W. Pico Blvd. unlike the last time I tried to send. I want to writ them...but what good is it if they always send them back?

--David Johnson

Hmm... none of mine have come back.

"David Johnson" wrote in message news:[email]...

in article xWye8.43200$[email], Doug Tabacco at [email] wrote on 2/25/02 2:30 PM:

Did you use a stamp??

Scan in the envelope and post it somewhere - maybe one of us can figure out what went wrong.

None of mine have been returned (2 in January, 2 more last week).

"David Johnson" wrote in message news:[email]...

David Johnson wrote:

you could mark it "New idea for sleazy immoral tv shows" then it would be sure to get read.

Well...mailed mine today.

"Doug Tabacco" wrote in message news:dNkc8.238$[email]...

"Tom Georgoulias" wrote:

We wanted the first letters to arrive there to be unique so they don't ditch them right away. If anyone can send me a somewhat well composed, polite letter we will add it to CGEF on Friday or so. If I get no proposals by then, I'll do it myself, but I'm German myself, so, could be better if someone else does it.

Maybe use this thread to work out a letter?

mArc

I've got three letters going in the mail today (yesterday being a federal holiday). One to Gail Berman, one to Sandy Grushow, and one to David Nevins.

[-mArc-] wrote:

This is the text of the letter I wrote. Copies of the letter were mailed on Saturday to Gail Berman, Sandy Grushow, and David Nevins. A modified version, focusing on preemption and time slot woes, was emailed to my local Fox affiliate and a written copy might be mailed in the near future.

While I'd rather have people write up their own individual letters than to send exact copies of mine with their name at the bottom, I'm offering it up as a starting framework. (Yes, I am aware that posting the letter will ensure others have the opportunity to copy it and call it their own. It's a calculated risk. ;) Here goes: ==== I am writing to you to express my deep displeasure upon learning that Fox has decided not to order new episodes of Futurama. (Reuters: "Futurama Is Waiting To See If It Has One"). I believe this is a huge mistake on the part of Fox. Futurama is one of the most innovative, intelligent comedies currently shown on TV. Apparently, I'm not the only one that feels this way. As the news article pointed out, "Despite virtually no promotion and frequent preemptions, Futurama has still managed to win its 7PM Sunday slot in teens, adults 18-14 and adults 18-49." Walking away from a show that produces ratings like this seems illogical. Imagine what could be accomplished if Futurama were consistently promoted and moved to a time slot where it was not preempted two or three times a month? I believe these actions would boost the show with stronger ratings and an even more dedicated fan base than already exists.

Putting Futurama into a hiatus status would only hinder the quality of future unproduced episodes, should Fox decide to order more at a later time. The current team of writers, voice actors and animators may not be available in the future nor would they be in the same frame of mind. As a result, the content of show would likely suffer as the new staff came up to speed. Ordering more episodes now would ensure the consistency in character development, story lines, and humor that I and so many other fans enjoy.

Not only do I feel that Fox should continue to order Futurama episodes, but I think it would be wise for Fox to broadcast new Futurama episodes more often; put the show into a timeslot less vulnerable to preemptions; and show re-runs when new episodes are not available. Each week I look forward to watching the show, but I am often disappointed because it is preempted for extended sports broadcasts or other Fox show re-runs. This year the season premiere of Futurama was not shown until December, and as of today, only five new episodes of the show have been broadcast! This is hardly the right way to treat a show which seems so successful, regardless of the odds Fox has stacked against it. Please reconsider your decisions about this brilliantly funny, unique, and creative show. ====

Me!

"Tom Georgoulias" wrote in message news:[email]...

Tom Georgoulias schrieb:

I've written to Gail and Sandy, now I've finally got the time to write to David as well.

On Mon, 18 Feb 2002 22:59:32 -0500, Tom Georgoulias wrote:

Hi folks, I sent mine off today (after reading this thread, I was starting to feel guilty for not doing it yet).

I'm a semi-newbie here, and I love the show.

Maybe we could also send letters to entertainment news outlets like Entertainment Tonight, Parade, etc. etc. telling them of the save Futurama campaign itself?

Or maybe even OTHER stations. Ask them to renew the show if fox wont. Stations like (Sci-Fi, TBS, TNT, UPN, WB)

Chubbs Peterson wrote in message ...

On Tue, 26 Feb 2002 16:55:42 -0500, Andrew wrote:

I think a broadcast station would be the first choice, with cable after that, but a great idea nonetheless. I thought I read or heard that they were already shopping for another network?