1. That to reduce server load, Angel Spoilers, Previously, and Angel Quotables be closed and archived as soon as is feasible;

Sure, once deathmatches are done.

2. That the Buffistas hold a poll to see which, if any, TV shows have sufficient poster interest to deserve a thread. The format of the poll and number/percentage of votes needed to determine "sufficent interest" will be decided through discussion, as will the upper limit on the number of threads we can create.

I agree with Jon that 3 and 4 should be put off until we see what the results of this are.

A somewhat related thought... if people are wanting to discuss Lost and Alias would it be unreasonable to put them in a shared thread? They are both J.J. Abrams shows, right? (And I am someone who watches one but not the other.)

I think that's a logical grouping (as long as Syd doesn't end up on any deserted islands and confuses the issue).

Do we want to look at grouping any shows (in groups of 2 or 3), or does that confuse the issue?

I thought about it (couldn't sleep), and I think I have a way to word the ballot that will allow us to express interest in both the concept of atarting new threads and the specific threads before we're committed to starting anything, thus (it would seem) eliminating the need for the poll. The ballot could be worded like so: (And yes, it resembles Cindy's. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and all.)

___________________

1. Would you support adding a TV show thread or threads to b.org?
a. Yes
b. No

2. If #1 passes, which (one? two? three?) of the following shows would you be most interested in a thread on? Threads may be started for any shows that get more than ?XX (or, XX percent of the)? votes, following the tally of the vote and a discussion. If it seems necessary, we may have a second vote to approve the results before any threads are started.
a. Alias
b. Lost
c. Veronica Mars
d. Jack and Bobby
i. Whatever else people suggest
j. No preference

3. One option to prevent thread sprawl would be closing any threads created by this measure automatically if the series is cancelled, unless there's a truly exceptional circumstance. Would you support that?
a. Yes
b. No

___________________________________________

Things to decide; a. How many shows people should be able to vote for. Two seems right to me, but I could be swayed down to one, or up to three.

b. What "XX percent" will be. We could either go by percentage, in which case I'd say 1/3 or 1/2, depending on how many options are on the ballot, or by number, in which case I'd say 25-40.

c. Whether we need to vote before closing and archiving Angel Spoilers and Previously (and Quotables post-Deathmatch.) I feel like we've already agreed to that, but if not, it would be item 4. We could also make agreeing to that and the automatic closure part of the vote on #1.

d. Whether we can combine shows on the ballot. I could see pairing Alias and Lost, or all reality shows, but it might be asking for whitefont/spoilage headaches. Opinions?

Alias and Lost are supposed to be running back to back like the Showtime Sunday night shows, with Alias starting in January, so combining them seems reasonable to me.

Yeah, I think the great blessing of not pairing shows is that we could drop the *mutter hiss grumble* whitefont.

My personal preference for the ideal Laura board experience would lean toward a more general television thread than the specific. It is unlikely that I will be watching many of the discussed shows, but I enjoy reading the discussion and always enjoy the morning after banter in Natter for shows whether I follow them or not. There are a number of shows I never watched until after I had read discussion and knew the character names from Natter.

This is a restructuring of the board. One thread for these 4 shows because of the guilty pleasure, one thread for these 2 shows because they have well constructed characters, another thread for 3 shows that are arc driven. It would be most enjoyable for me to have either individual threads for shows or a general thread much like the literary or music threads. Strongly leaning toward the general.

I have no preference on the whitefont. It amuses me.

Lyra Jane, I like your ballot. I would go with "vote for 2 shows", and I don't know what percentage of the vote would be best. 1/3 seems too low, 1/2 seems too high. 40%? Something like that?

I'm not thrilled with the idea of combining show threads, but I don't feel too strongly about it.

40%? Something like that?

40% feels about right to me, too, though I do have a concern (possibly a paranoid one) that, if we put, say, six thread concepts on the ballot, each of them would get 16.66 percent of the vote, keeping us from starting any threads. If that happens but #1 passes, I would like to be able to hold a second vote as a run-off, after some discussion.

It would be most enjoyable for me to have either individual threads for shows or a general thread much like the literary or music threads. Strongly leaning toward the general.

Laura, I understand that, but it seems to me like we started this discussion because many people disliked the idea of a general TV thread because of whitefont/spoiler issues. I'm hoping we'll be able to have either completely individual threads, or combinations only of shows with no spoiler overlap. (Showtime Sundays, Alias/Lost).

I'm hoping we'll be able to have either completely individual threads, or combinations only of shows with no spoiler overlap. (Showtime Sundays, Alias/Lost).

This is sort of a lumpy and illogical way of dealing with the TV thread issue, and yet it's the most consistent with board culture. I do think inevitably we'll want some show threads to play with that are not white-font deserts. One way to avoid a General TV thread is to do this kind of lumping. We already have a sorta Sci-Fi channel thread with Box set. Having a JJ Abrams catchall thread would also probably work.

I do think it would be healthy for the board culture to have a focus for our interest and speculation, and I'd like to try something like this. It's limited and we could see how we like it. Also, see how well it sustains discussion. It would be a good experiment to see where we might go and how we might get there. And unlike a general TV thread it wouldn't open the floodgates wide to redefining the board.

I'm a little concerned about adding threads for shows that don't have a full order yet. I mean, Jack & Bobby has been picked up for a full 22 but, last I checked, Veronica Mars and Lost were both still waiting for a pickup on the back nine. And I don't think either is really a lock at this point.

As for lumping Lost and Alias together in a JJ thread, I don't think it's necessarily a bad idea. My concern, again, is what happens if Lost doesn't get picked up? Then we have a thread just for Alias and I've never felt like there was a huge amount of Alias dicussion, aside from the Watch and Eyeroll Posts.