I'm definitely seeing a pattern here of people who want to be able to discuss shows without having to wade through Natter (and possibly also whitefont) vs. people who want Natter to encompass everything including TV discussions.

Is the dreaded general TV thread, only non-NAFDA (that is, with Natter white font rules), a possible compromise. It obviously won't work for the white font haters, but I don't think there's ever going to be a solution that satisfies everyone, but maybe we have start comptemplating something or this discussion is just going to keep burbling up every few months.

I keep up in Natter just barely, and to the point where I feel like that all I do is keep up, and, more often than not, the TV discussions I'd be part of have gone way by and anything I'd add would probably get lost in the white noise.

It's not, which is why it's being brought up here instead of simply in-thread.

Sorry, I was responding to this:

I think this minor adjustment to a thread's slug doesn't warrant a full-on lightbulb consensus. Or rather, I don't want to make this a discussion about our big Plans and Goals for the board. I just want to talk about shows that are thematically similar in the same place, and there are grounds enough to do so based on the agreement of the people who frequent the thread, the same genre constraints we place on Boxed Set, and the fact that this won't negatively impact the rest of the board discussion.

I don't think simple agreement within the thread should be sufficient, and I don't understand how the genre constraints would apply. So I disagree that there are sufficient grounds to make the change via consensus. (I can't really speak to the negative impact part, since now I share Jon's confusion.)

And I don't think a thread purpose should be based on "Well, these are the same people I discuss some TV with, why not other TV that I think is similar."

I think a thread's purpose is to foster lively discussion. So...I value that over bright lines. I'm not sure what the bright lines are really doing. Except I guess the bright line that lumps things together more or less by who can watch what when and where. So Premium Cable does have an element of "you're in or you're out or you're watching it on DVD."

I'm to the point where I'd rather we rethink how we handle the TV threads. We've seen them long enough to know a few things by now in the post Buffy/Angel era. We know that when you have 3-5 shows in one thread that it tends to have a useful cross fertilizing effect (unless the shows are scheduled right on top of each other and are widely popular - then you get too much noise and too little signal. Which, it must be noted, can't be stopped.) We also know that casual discussion of shows can occur in Natter, but it's difficult to maintain an in depth discussion there.

For me, show threads are a strong necessary stimulant to the whole community. I'm willing to bend a lot of ways to foster discussion.

But at this point I'd like to see some different approaches instead of rehashing the same arguments. Though maybe the old arguments are just a necessary brake on thread proliferation. Sort of a formality that keeps us from running buck wild with threads which whither on the vine.

But how damaging is that anyway? What's the cost when we create threads that don't take off?

I'd like to see some different approaches instead of rehashing the same arguments

Does anyone have a different approach they've been keeping mum about?

Well, our options are what?

• One TV thread, blackfont
• One TV thread, whitefont
• One TV thread, some combination of blackfont and whitefont (like Movies)
• Multiple TV threads grouped by genre
• Multiple TV threads grouped by some other logical organizing principle
• Multiple TV threads grouped by...day of the week
• Individual threads for more shows

I don't have premium tv and I don't watch the shows on FX that are being discussed there. And yet I still have comments, go figure.

I read the whitefont in Natter for shows I don't watch. The discussion has convinced me to give new shows a try. The shows that have their own threads still have some discussion in Natter and that adds to the richness of Natter. 24 is mentioned in Boxed Set. Heroes is discussed in Lost. Our lines have some bendiness.

Adding non premium shows to the premium thread seems more than bendy to me, but since I have never been in the thread it may be logic making.

In summary, whatever works for y'all.

Does anyone have a different approach they've been keeping mum about?

One thing I was thinking about was a cultural shift for B.org.

One reason to be slow about adopting new threads is that we've also been reluctant to eliminate threads even when they generate small traffic. Just general respect for the three people that were still interested in Smallville (or whatever) after it lost its flavor.

But I loved the Smallville thread in its first year, and I think that if we were more flexible about threads we could just let the hot shows generate their discussion and then prune them if they cool off.

So maybe lower the standard to create threads, but then have clear bright lines about killing them if they don't take off or sustain interest.

For example, if ten people said they'd actively participate in a thread of FX shows then that would be enough. Not just ten people voting yes, but ten people who say "Yes, I'm watching The Shield and Rescue Me and I promise I'll be in there after every episode chatting my ass off."

And if it takes off then it's good. But if the commitment falters and certain thresholds aren't met, then the thread just gets pruned. It was given its shot and it didn't sustain interest. You could peg that threshold to the traffic on the current lowest thread. It has to beat that over three months or its out.

I don't know if that would work, and it is a significant cultural shift for us. However, it would allow things like the Smallville thread in its first year. Passing enthusiasms would be allowed but they wouldn't become permanent fixtures.

Multiple TV threads grouped by some other logical organizing principle

I possibility for this might be a basic cable thread separate from the premium thread for F/X, USA, and TNT original programming.

I could get behind that.

That would work better for me than the repurposing of the existing thread. I'm only an occasional poster in Premium, but I'd like it to stay clearly defined as the high-profile pay cable shows, whereas I'd happily participate in discussion of Nip/Tuck, Psyche, and similar shows whether that discussion takes place in Natter or a hypothetical new thread.