Whatever we end up having on a ballot, should we also have a question about whether or not to continue Firefly beyond the current thread.

Did Heros spin off (as a thread) from Boxed Set?

If so, I like that as a model, and I think it's what Cindy is talking about promoting in the future.

I get it, a lot, but I think I'm posting in freaking whitefont this week.

Hee. I feel you, my alabaster sister.

OKAY. I see brenda and sj are already on board, but I see there's still some concerns and some confusion, so I'm going to try putting it all another way.

PROPOSAL put forth for General Consensus:

I propose we study our TV habits to see what else we like to post about, besides the stuff we already post about. To that end, I propose we open either one temporary TV thread, or three temporary TV threads, without a vote and agree ahead of time to shut them after May is done.

I want to do this by general consensus though, and not a vote, because it's a short-term, temporary experiment.

I prefer one thread with no categories, but if most Buffistas who chime in think three threads sounds like a better way to do discovery than one thread, then I propose we follow bon bon's general idea from a couple of days ago and make the following temporary threads:

1. Drama: All Dramas that don't currently have a thread home on b.org

2. Comedy

3. Unscripted: shows like Survivor, TAR, AI, cooking shows, home make over shows, people make over shows, Dancing With Some Semi-Famous Shows, etc.

Please don't think of these threads as trials-of-themselves, so much as a chance for discovery. We may close them down and never open them again. We may decide we don't want to change anything. We may decide we want to change everything. We'll just use them with an open mind through the end of May, and see where we end up.

The only real purpose is to see which shows (if any) generate discussion and which shows (if any) go together in any kind of clear-bright-line way, and which shows (if any) seem like dedicated thread material, and which shows aren't worth talking about, and what kind of categories we need in practice (rather than theory).

Out of consideration for those who are behind on their TV viewing, discussion of new episodes during the discovery period would be in white font for one week after the U.S. airing. Show titles should be provided at the top of a post, in black font.

The threads would open today, and close on June 1, 2007.

In June, we'll talk about what worked, what didn't, where the clear bright lines are, what's the best way to handle the I'm-behind-and-don't-want-to-be-spoiled issues, which shows actually generate worthwhile discussion and how to handle all this without stressing out the board, fracturing the community, or harming our culture (not all change is harmful. They say.).

And maybe a proposal/proposals will grow out of that. Maybe not. It's just an experiment.

I am very much against opening ANY threads, temporary or not, by "consensus". There's a reason we devoted much blood, sweat and tears into setting up our current voting system. Consensuses (consensi?) here are by their nature "bullshit".

And now I have to leave work, so I won't be able to check in for an hour or so.

I also think it should be voted on. And I have a problem with this:

discussion of new episodes during the discovery period would be in white fonted for one week after the U.S. airing.

Because I think it's unreasonable to wait a week for blackfont. When it airs, or what's the point?

Please, can we vote? It seems obvious at this point that we have a lot to discuss about these potential threads and doing the Llightbulb dance of limited time discussion followed by voting seems like a good idea to me. I know that I, for one, am completely confused by the discussion thus far.

I think I would tend to agree with you SA, if these were not temporary threads, if they were dedicated to one particular show, and if they were for any purpose other than discovery. But they're not.

The object of the discovery period is to get as many of us participating as possible, to see what works for most of us. More than a few Buffistas are both spoiler averse and don't get to watch shows as they air. I want don't want bon bon to be afraid to come in to talk about this week's episode of Drama Y, just because she hasn't yet watched Drama X.

If we can't compromise on stuff while we're trying to figure out what works, nothing is ever going to work.

I'd like to vote on Cindy's proposal, with the whitefont, one v. three, and any details on the specific content of the thread(s) hammered out in Lightbulbs.

I appreciate the urge to just do something, and I do chafe at our system a bit sometimes, but I really don't think we can do that.

I just think it's silly to vote on something that is pre-proposal and pre-vote research. That said, I don't care about voting. I just think it's dumb.

I like discovery threads that are clearly marked as temporary.

If we can't compromise on stuff while we're trying to figure out what works, nothing is ever going to work.

I guess my thing is that I don't see it working. But I'm game to give it a try. It's been thirded, yes? So on to Lightbulbs?