Even though I almost never watch a show as it airs (I think I'm two weeks behind on everything at the moment) I'm more interested in moving toward more "bucket" threads than individual shows. I agree with Jessica that these are better for the community.
Which is also why I'm in favor of broadening Premium, even if the details of how we do it will be tricky to hash out. Right now there are only 5 or 6 regular posters in there.
Agreed. And I didn't realize that Premium was so limited. I think David was on to something with his "decendants of Homicide" post and I'd really like to hash that out some more.
As far as not keeping up so as not to get spoiled - eh. I don't know. I subscribe and unsubscribe from Boxed Set as I keep up/get behind with the various shows. It works well enough. If you go into the thread around the air time of the show you
are
watching, that's generally what you'll find being discussed.
So no, if I'm behind on BSG I don't go in the thread on Sunday evenings. A certain amount of consideration for the Tivo/time zone/continent delayed is a good thing. But I don't find it an especially compelling argumet nt against building a thread that might foster better discussion than Natter while still drawing a bigger audience and sparking the cross-pollination and more wide-ranging conversation than a narrowly construed thread would.
I really like the bucket threads, for the reasons that Jessica and others have stated -- it fosters more of a sense of community and helps spread the fannish love of certain shows to people who haven't given them a chance yet. I'm also in favor of the occasional single-show thread for a show with a demonstrably large following and a large volume of discussion, but I think for the shows that generate less discussion, having a few bucket threads would work really well for me.
bon bon, your proposal was for the drama/comedy/reality threads, right? I'd be in favor of something like that, though with slightly more narrowly-defined genres -- more like the "gritty anti-hero dramas with cussing and fucking and Shakespearian overtones" definition that we're slowly cobbling together -- that would still be clear enough for non-readers of that particular thread to still have a good idea of which shows get discussed there. The great difficulty there, of course, is coming up with those clear & useful definitions (I think listing show titles in the slugs or thread headers would definitely help) -- that's going to take both creativity and consensing.
I'm not sure that comedy or reality are threads that anyone is calling for, are they? I mean, I get why bon suggested them along with the other, structurally, but I don't think we actually need them. For me, anyway, the reality in Natter works fine. I don't watch many comedies - is there a need that I'm just not aware of? I know people talk about The Office and HIMYM sometimes, any others? Is Natter working for them?
And I do agree with narrowing drama some. Would it be useful to try to tot up what dramas people are watching and discussing, where we're doing it, and which ones seem to need something different? Bones and House pop up in Natter. Once in a while CSI. Grey's Anatomy. I don't
think
Natter has been bad for any of those, but maybe others see it differently.
bon bon, I like your idea. If we were to undertake something like that, I think I would want to see us keep Boxed Set, and change Premium Cable to "Premium Blend" (and let the expansion the current premium denizens are requesting happen). Then we could create a standard drama thread (for the rest of the dramas).
What were the other threads you mentioned -- non-scripted and comedy? Odds are that Veronica Mars is canceled. If it's not, it seems unlikely the new format will generate as many posts as the old, so it would be easy to fold into a drama thread, if necessary. Lost will continue, but it doesn't rack up that many posts these days, so it could be folded into Boxed Set, if need be.
I think, with big bucket threads like this, some shows will hardly ever be discussed. I mean, I know the threads sound like they'll be huge, but we don't all watch everything, and not everything we do watch inspires all that much posting. Some shows will rise to the top in each thread. If a show rises so far to the top that it threatens to take over a thread, then we can consider a show thread, and we won't have to be faced with the choice to open a show thread, only to have it generate a few dozen posts per week. We'll already know what kind of traffic it generates.
Sean, just so you know
Dr. Who, Torchwood, BSG,
and
Supernatural
seem to me to be the big shows in Boxed Set, now.
Heroes
was, but it's got it's own thread, which should pick up once this long hiatus is over.
Eureka
will likely continue to inspire postiness, when it starts its second season.
The Dresden Files
inspires a few posts each week.
bon bon, your proposal was for the drama/comedy/reality threads, right? I'd be in favor of something like that, though with slightly more narrowly-defined genres -- more like the "gritty anti-hero dramas with cussing and fucking and Shakespearian overtones" definition that we're slowly cobbling together -- that would still be clear enough for non-readers of that particular thread to still have a good idea of which shows get discussed there. The great difficulty there, of course, is coming up with those clear & useful definitions (I think listing show titles in the slugs or thread headers would definitely help) -- that's going to take both creativity and consensing.
I just don't think we can do it, and even if we do, we're back here in six months with an expansion of what seemed like a perfect description at the time. I like having a very broad description because (1) it provides finality to the TV debates and (2) prevents confusion over what shows go where.
I'm not sure that comedy or reality are threads that anyone is calling for, are they? I mean, I get why bon suggested them along with the other, structurally, but I don't think we actually need them. For me, anyway, the reality in Natter works fine. I don't watch many comedies - is there a need that I'm just not aware of? I know people talk about The Office and HIMYM sometimes, any others? Is Natter working for them?
Maybe it's just me; I watch a lot more comedy and reality/nonscripted than drama (I'm a philistine). Comedy would cover current discussions like Venture Brothers and other Adult Swim shows; HIMYM; Earl; Ugly Betty would probably fit.
I would agree with keeping Boxed Set and folding Lost and Veronica Mars into bucket threads.
What are you thinking about as far as font goes for bucket threads?
What are you thinking about as far as font goes for bucket threads?
Helvetica. Or maybe a nice Gill Sans.
t /typesetting dork
I don't have much to add to this except to throw my voice in with the folks who can't follow the bucket threads. I feel like I don't have a horse in this race because I don't post in the threads being discussed but I don't post in them because they don't work for me. I probably would post in things like a BSG thread or a Stargate thread.
