Gunn: We open a can of Machiavelli on his ass. Harmony: It's Matchabelli, Einstein, and it doesn't come in a can.

'Soul Purpose'


Bureaucracy 3: Oh, so now you want to be part of the SOLUTION?  

A thread to discuss naming threads, board policy, new thread suggestions, and anything else that has to do with board administration and maintenance. Guaranteed to include lively debate and polls. Natter discouraged, but not deleted.

Current Stompy Feet: ita, Jon B, DXMachina, P.M. Marcontell, Liese S., amych


esse - Jun 02, 2007 3:02:55 am PDT #9516 of 10001
S to the A -- using they/them pronouns!

"I may one day buy it on DVD" is not the most compelling argument, I have to say

not to mention you could argue it in the face of any show we talk about. I don't see why premium shows should get special treatment.

There is no whitefront policy for Premium. To tell the truth, it hasn't been much of an issue--discussion doesn't always take place the day of, or during a show. It tends to creep in during the week, more of a meander than a focused flurry. So, in my opinion, whitefront hasn't been necessary.

That can probably be shifted if Cable is folded in, but I kind of want to know what the Cable folks think about the whitefront they used before changing the Premium settings.


sj - Jun 02, 2007 4:11:52 am PDT #9517 of 10001
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."

"I may one day buy it on DVD" is not the most compelling argument, I have to say

not to mention you could argue it in the face of any show we talk about. I don't see why premium shows should get special treatment.

Some of us don't get the premium stations, and, therefore, don't get the choice of watching it the first time around.


Jessica - Jun 02, 2007 4:28:30 am PDT #9518 of 10001
If I want to become a cloud of bats, does each bat need a separate vaccination?

I'd definitely be in favor of expanding Premium to include all cable -- in terms of the experiment, Cable Drama did not, IMO, generate enough traffic on its own to justify a new thread.


Topic!Cindy - Jun 02, 2007 5:33:58 am PDT #9519 of 10001
What is even happening?

There's a few things I'm thinking and/or wondering about as I read this discussion. I'm just going to make note of them in no particular order.

  • As several people have noted, we don't have to provide for every show we want to discuss in one big proposal.

  • Are there any shows that seem to generate enough discussion for a single-show thread, and which would probably work best in a single-show thread?

  • Were there any shows that seemed like a natural pairing (or triple, quad, etc)?

  • Where did the divisions fail? For example, SA mentioned she thought TDS and TCR would have worked better in Comedy than in Non-Fiction. Did anyone want to mention parts that didn't work for them?

My druther: If we create any new threads and any of them end up being NAFDA bucket threads, I would like to see us clearly note which shows are being discussed, so people don't spoil themselves by accident, but I'd also like to provide room for test driving new shows. In other words, if some new show pleasantly surprised us, we could discuss it in white font (with clear labels) in that bucket thread where it seemed to fit, before coming over to here/Lightbulbs and changing the world. That way we could see if there are clear, bright lines, before we start having the argument about whether or not the lines are clear and bright.

edited

My second druther: I hope we don't thread nanny people's TV discussions out of Natter. I hate that people were left feeling like they couldn't discuss TV in Natter during the experiment.


Kat - Jun 02, 2007 6:24:33 am PDT #9520 of 10001
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo

I hope we don't thread nanny people's TV discussions out of Natter. I hate that people were left feeling like they couldn't discuss TV in Natter during the experiment.

And this is me. I mean, this is how I feel. Because of this, the feel of natter has shifted for me. But I've mentioned it before and, while others feel similarly that it has changed natter, it doesn't seem to phase most of the community and many seem to not to take it into consideration at all.

That being said, my objections don't particulalry matter given the juggernaut of support. But I am posting them because inexplicably it seems important to me to note that not everyone thought the experiment went so well.


brenda m - Jun 02, 2007 6:37:13 am PDT #9521 of 10001
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there

For example, SA mentioned she thought TDS and TCR would have worked better in Comedy than in Non-Fiction.

Would have? I know this came up, and I thought it was pretty clear that that was the consensus anyway. But I am finding my perceptions on a number of things in this discussion aren't universal. Who knew?

In other words, if some new show pleasantly surprised us, we could discuss it in white font (with clear labels) in that bucket thread where it seemed to fit, before coming over to here/Lightbulbs and changing the world.

Not in Natter? I don't think different whitefont rules within a thread for different shows is really workable. Hmmm. If we ended up with, say, Network Drama as is (meaning no more specific than that), I'd expect there to be discussion in the thread of whatever new show was coming up with whatever the wf standard for that thread is. I'd also expect to see it in whitefont in Natter. I personally don't have a problem with that, but I speak only for me.

If we do end up discussing things in more than one place, then I would want an absolute max of 24 hours whitefont in the dedicated thread, if we decide we want it at all.

Actually, to continue on with the whitefont question. Part of the reason I like the 24 hours rule is that if you are time-shifted, and like a lot of us Tivoers, aren't even terribly clear on how much, the 24 hours can give you a heads-up before you get spoiled.

Any longer than that seems to me like it would a) hamper discussion some and b) not actually be helpful to longer-range timeshifters anyway. The discussion part I think would be minor, so I don't think it's a major issue on its own. But if it's not going to even solve anyone's thread issues, that's a bigger issue to me.


brenda m - Jun 02, 2007 6:45:12 am PDT #9522 of 10001
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there

I'd like to try to get down to some of the nitty-gritty and pull out whatever data we did manage to build, along side the broader questions. Initial thoughts:

Non-fic seemed to work very well. Discussion was enhanced, and no white-font seemed to work out. That's what I'm mostly hearing anyway - dissenters? Please speak up.

Network Drama shows that seemed to come up (and provoke sustained discussion most: Bones, House, GA, CSI to a lesser extent. GA seemed to manage dual-thread discussion pretty well, from my perspective. What else? Talk about things I don't watch didn't stick with me so much, so I know I'm missing some. Are there examples of specific ND shows that didn't work so well?


Vortex - Jun 02, 2007 6:47:41 am PDT #9523 of 10001
"Cry havoc and let slip the boobs of war!" -- Miracleman

not to mention you could argue it in the face of any show we talk about. I don't see why premium shows should get special treatment.

I think that basic (or basic extended, depending on your location) is the norm, whereas most people don't have pay channels, and Netflix. I am quite possibly wrong about this. I have this perception that everyone is as cheap as I am :)


brenda m - Jun 02, 2007 6:55:27 am PDT #9524 of 10001
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there

That's a stronger argument, to be sure. (Which isn't to say that the "someday" argument hasn't been made about shows not part of Premium. ) But it's tough to know where to go with that - it seems to either require tons of whitefont or shunt discussion off into a corner.

I feel like I'm being a bitch here - I'm a spoilerphobe from way back, and I still am with some things. But I do feel like we can't have the same level of insulation on everything that's out there, and my instinct is leaning more and more toward the free-for-all end.

(FTR, my own "someday" shows include SPN, the Wire, the Shield, Life on Mars, and a handful of others.)


Jessica - Jun 02, 2007 7:49:02 am PDT #9525 of 10001
If I want to become a cloud of bats, does each bat need a separate vaccination?

Because of this, the feel of natter has shifted for me.

I agree with this. I was fine discussing TV in the TV threads while the experiment lasted, but I wasn't a fan of how they affected Natter.

I've said before that even sans thread-nannying, I don't think it's practical to expect multiple threads to support real discussions of the same shows. It doesn't matter how nice we all are to each other about it -- intentionally or not, creating topical threads effectively takes those topics out of Natter.