Gus, the other day, people were talking about songs they hated. Katerina Bee said: Katerina Bee "Spike's Bitches 19: Back from the dead and ready to party" Oct 14, 2004 12:20:13 pm PDT

Then Betsy said: Betsy HP "Spike's Bitches 19: Back from the dead and ready to party" Oct 14, 2004 12:24:03 pm PDT. It went on from there.

Thanks, Lee. I pulled up the second link and skimmed down to where it said "730 remaining" and quailed. Bitches are more prolific than I can read, much less post with.

Gus, 500 of that 730 is probably silly (and fairly bad) muskrat filk. It was very funny at the time, but I don't know how it would do on replay, anyhow. We were just silly.

Unlike Kat, I do believe it's a show capable of generating lots of intelligent discussion.

Again, I've been misread, P-C.

I think Lost is capable of generating lots of discussion right now. And I think it's probable that it will continue to generate it. But I'm also not sure because we've had other shows who come out great at the gate and then fizzle (smallville for example).

The O.C. has not yet generated lots of discussion that is beyond the types of posts I mentioened in my previous post.

Ignoring the sarcasm, because I really don't know you well enough to know how to read it, what threads would you like to create?

Not being sarcastic in the least, Lyra Jane. I do think people vote for a lot of threads because they are excited about not having to read about X or not having to read Y person anymore in a thread they are in. I think it's a great thing as we don't have a user filter and I honestly believe siphoning people off into another thread has been one of my greatest pleasures in the creation of threads that I want never to read. And I do believe I am not alone.

Moreover, you are asking me to defend a statement when you expressly conducted a poll to ostensibly collect our opinions. My reading is that you are poking not because it will change the ballot in anyway, but because you want me to prove what threads I do want, to prove that I do want new threads.

I'll answer your question even if my sense is you are asking because you think I can't come up with an answer.

1. I would close Boxed Set and then disaggregate that thread into a Stargate thread, a Farscape thread and possibly a Smallville thread. I say possibly Smallville because I miss Smallville snarking, even if it is about 4 posts a week due to lack of show quality.

2. I would open either a generic reality TV thread, or a TAR thread since as a community we've talked about those shows for a while and people do ask for updates pretty regularly.

3. I would open an Alias thread, though after Season 3, I'm not sure people are still willing to watch it or dissect the show. Again for reason 2.

4. I would open a cat thread (or a pet's thread). This seems to come up a lot.

5. I would open a diet thread and body issue thread (again comes up more than your average topic).

6. A Comings and Goings so that when people leave or come back from having left, the community would have a place to record that info as opposed to people saying "Have you seen Z around?" But I guess that's also how Beep Me is used.

7. I would revisit Lost around mid-season to see if it has legs, as Kristen has said (not related: Happy Birthday, Kristen!!). By then we might have a clearer vision of how it will go.

8. At this point I'd have a politics thread, even though it was voted down, because frankly I'm trying to maintain my politics-free bubble. Though I might call it something like Current Events instead.

But I'm, thankfully, not queen of the board (just a pathetic little fangirl, or at least a friend of the PLF) and I realize the idiosyncratic nature of how we each use the board. I'm not particularly invested one way or the other, knowing we will be staying on a dedicated server longer.

Again, I've been misread, P-C.

Ah, okay. Sorry.

But I'm also not sure because we've had other shows who come out great at the gate and then fizzle (smallville for example).

I think someone above mentioned Lovesick as an example. It hasn't even made it to a thousand posts. How do people feel about having created the thread? Was it worth it? Yes, a Lost thread may be a gamble, but I've got faith in the show's legs and our fingers.

But I'm also not sure because we've had other shows who come out great at the gate and then fizzle (smallville for example).

I guess I just don't see the harm in creating the thread anyway. I loved the Smallville thread when it was first created, and I was quite happy there. I didn't stick with it after the first season (for a variety of reasons), but plenty of people did, and continued to enjoy the discussions in the thread. Now it's been folded in with a couple of other shows, and I almost never read Boxed Set because I don't really watch any of those shows. But I don't regret the fact that we created a thread for Smallville in the first place.

And I think Lost has more depth to it, more to talk about, than Smallville ever did. Of course it's possible that discussion would fizzle out after a while. So then we would either 1) keep it hanging around a while longer, generating a post or two every few weeks, or 2) close and archive it. Either way, doesn't seem like a big deal to me.

My reading is that you are poking not because it will change the ballot in anyway, but because you want me to prove what threads I do want, to prove that I do want new threads.

No, I was honestly curious, and I appreciate your answer. To be blunt, I read your post last night as being extremely sarcastic; my assumption from your tone was that you were basically saying that everyone has some posts they'd rather not read, and we all just needed to suck it up. Also, I've always been told that if you're going to tear down one idea, you need to offer something else in its place. You weren't. Now you have. And for the record, I like a lot of your ideas.

Will I add them to the proposal? I don't know. The most likely addition would be the general reality thread, because I agree with the reasons you outlined, and because reality shows, as a genre, drew about as much support as The O.C. in the poll.

I think the poll showed a lack of current interest in a dedicated Alias thread, and I feel we could revisit either adding that or folding the discussion into the Lost thread later in the season. I agree Boxed Set should be disaggregated if the board resources to do so are there, but I'm not sure if I'm the one to propose it, since I don't post there and don't really have a strong sense of how the thread is functioning.

The others would be repurposing the board a lot more than the proposal I envisioned would -- adding new TV threads is less of a change than adding pet or body image threads. I feel they should be a separate proposal, and discussed separately.

I think someone above mentioned Lovesick as an example. It hasn't even made it to a thousand posts. How do people feel about having created the thread?

Sometimes a thread needs to exist because there's simply nowhere else to put the posts. That's not what's being proposed here -- LJ wants a better way to talk about those TV shows than how's being done now.

Wonderfalls spoilers were either going nowhere, or going in Lovesick. As such, it fulfilled its purpose exactly.

How do people feel about having created the thread? Was it worth it?

I guess I'd have to say no. I dunno if I had been the one who proposed it or Allyson had. But no, we didn't have a place to talk about spoilers. Far fewer people are spoiled than I thought would be. It might be worth it once the Canadians see it before the US (if that still happens that Canadians will get it earlier). It fulfilled its purpose, but wasn't necessary.

The others would be repurposing the board a lot more than the proposal I envisioned would -- adding new TV threads is less of a change than adding pet or body image threads.

I don't expect you to add them to the proposal at all. you asked me what I'd do and I told you. If I wanted to make any of the changes, I'd propose and do the rest. I just don't care enough to bother.

But it's, in my opinion, inaccurate to say that having a body image thread would repurpose the board a lot more than TV threads. We've never been a general TV board before either and your proposal certainly moves us in that direction. I don't see why we should have TV over any other general purpose thread at all, especially when the topics that generate the most posts are not TV related.

I don't see why we should have TV over any other general purpose thread at all, especially when the topics that generate the most posts are not TV related.

I think it's because we originally bonded over a TV show. Also, unlike a movie thread, or even a book club type thread, it gives a weekly focal point for discussion.

I really don't understand the resistance and the argument that this is changing the direction of the board. We've always talked about TV. We've talked about a number of shows besides Buffy and Angel. It's very close to the core of our culture.

I'm also for a general spoilers thread, no white font, readers beware warnings, sluts galore. We're very tolerant about spoilerphobes throughout the community - it's lovely having a place to let it all hang out.