We don't know what we want, or need, at this point. And honing in on that may well take more discussion than an up-down vote on a particular idea will allow.

Personally, I think the appropriate place for this discussion is here. It needs to be a more focused discussion than Natter would allow. If there is a strong preference for keeping this thread clear, would it be possible to open Light Bulbs without a proposal on the table, perhaps for a set period of time, so that the discussion is on one place but still not tied to a particular end result?

Yes. This.

I'd much rather see some discussion go on well prior to anything being proposed. Because once a proposal is on the table, it sets the terms of the debate that takes place.

Exactly. Let's get an idea of what the board wants (especially since we're in a "what now?" period) before making too many formal proposals.

One thing about Lightbulb, the proposal used to open it need not be the proposal that is put to vote.

Once again, discussions about where the board is going (FTR, I think it just goes, god knows it has changed plenty even while ME shows were airing. It doesn't seem broken to me.) don't bug me or seem out of place here, but questions like, "I think we should close all threads except Natter since everything falls under Natter anyway, would people support that?" really do.

Also pointing out that soon we won't need the Previously thread any more.

One thing about Lightbulb, the proposal used to open it need not be the proposal that is put to vote.

My problem with going into lightbulb is that once we do that, the clock is ticking. We might need more than three days to figure out what exactly needs to be proposed. If we could specially open Lightbulb for, say, 10 days to hash this out, I would be fine with moving the discussion.

I still think that a poll to figure out what shows people are watching/want to talk about would be a good first step; NovaChild's list could work. The amount of discussion a show currently generates is only a rough indicator of people's interest. I know I've taken my discussion of shows without their own threads to other forums, and I don't think I'm the only one. (Maybe I am, but that would make me sad.)

And seconding Fred Pete's point about Previously.

I still think that a poll to figure out what shows people are watching/want to talk about would be a good first step;

I think that's a good idea - I'd avoid questions like "which shows would you want a thread for" or anything too specific personally, but it'd be interesting to have a gauge of what things are grabbing our interest. Maybe a double checklist to differentiate between "watching" and "want to discuss."

I don't know if I can articulate why the idea of a "what are we watching?" poll bugs me, but it does.

Primarily, I feel like such a poll assumes that we will be creating non-ME individual show threads at some point, and I feel like we haven't finished having that discussion yet. I feel very strongly about splintering the community as little as possible.

semi-related question:

Is it safe to assume that any new ME TV show would get it's own thread?

Woo hoo! Are we finally having the "Who Are We, And Where Are We Going?" discussion? I'd much rather have that than a "what tv shows do we like?" discussion.

That said, I don't really have anything to say, oddly. I don't think we have an urgent need to be opening new threads, just because the ME shows are over. People still talk about Buffy, don't they?

(I think that thread proliferation fractures the community too, but that's just subjective).

I think the community is already fractured, and that's OK. Every time I go into a thread I don't usually go into, I see names I don't recognize. There are too many of us already to be all one big mass. I see the fractures as neutral.

Yeah, I'm sort of with Jesse. We have a natural tendency to want to be all things to all people, but even with those of us I'd term "regular" posters, there seems to be a big divide in the way we use the board. Some people are largely in the community threads like Natter and Bitches. Some people only hang out in spoilers. The comics people are in Other Media. The fic people are in Fic and Buffista Fic. Even Minearverse has its own subculture now.