Item 1: Should we establish the four temporary, experimental threads through June 1, 2007?

I think it might be better to have a yes/no on each thread than asking people to approve all 4 or none at all.

Oh, wait. I forgot something, didn't I. Don't we put in a no preference thingie, too?

And yes, amych, you can still vote on all the rest - I believe we spent several lifetimesdays on that question back when we hashed this stuff out originally.

I think I must've blocked out those lifetimes, but now that you mention it, I remember it. Thanks for the clarifying.

Don't we put in a no preference thingie, too?

Your call. We usually do, since they count toward the quorum, but I don't think it's strictly required. Unless I'm blocking out more lifetimes. And why can't I use all that incredibly potent denial on blocking out slow Friday afternoons at work, anyway?

brenda, thank you. I'll make that change. That makes the most sense.

I think it might be better to have a yes/no on each thread than asking people to approve all 4 or none at all.

Jess, I've been dithering on that all morning. My way of looking at it is that this is just an experiment. They're not pilot threads. For example, having a non-fictional or a comedy thread experimental thread doesn't mean we're going to start having dedicated or bucket threads for shows of either type. The only point of this is to see what TV people will actually talk about, if they have somewhere slightly more focused than Natter.

Would you explain your position to me a little more, please?

Your call. We usually do, since they count toward the quorum, but I don't think it's strictly required. Unless I'm blocking out more lifetimes. And why can't I use all that incredibly potent denial on blocking out slow Friday afternoons at work, anyway?

Thank you, amy. And I know what you mean. I can't believe how well I have blocked out so much of this stuff.

Okay, I'm going to make some changes and post draft two in a minute.

Would you explain your position to me a little more, please?

I think it would give us better information -- asking people to vote on individual threads will tell us how many people are initially interested in each broad topic. I also think it will have a better chance of passing.

Why vote on the whitefont for each thread? Is there a significant problem with having a single unified policy for the experimental threads?

Also, I agree that network and cable is an artificial distinction, and I don't think there's going to be a problem with the number of shows discussed. Some shows will rise to the top, some won't.

Also, I agree that network and cable is an artificial distinction

Contentwise, I agree, but I do think that network shows are more likely to be watched in realtime and cable shows more likely to be ahemed or watched on DVD, so the conversations may have very different rhythms.

Well, I could see where I would care about whitefont for, say, Numb3rs but not Meerkat Manor. Or alternately, for Project Runway but not How I Met Your Mother.

I do think that network shows are more likely to be watched in realtime and cable shows more likely to be ahemed or watched on DVD, so the conversations may have very different rhythms.

In that case, though, the problem isn't a genre bucket at all, but a live-vs.-boxed set (but not Boxed Set) problem.

I don't know that we know people's viewing patterns in all that much detail, actually -- it's easy to predict that the people watching the new season of Dr. Who are ahemming, since it isn't even showing here and they'd probably have said something if they had a private plane on call; and with Premium, it's been part of the thread assumptions since before there even was a thread that a lot of people don't have the channels but watch the shows on DVD. But those are the exceptions, and for the great majority of things I have very little sense of who's watching on TiVo vs catching up in the summer, and whether that breaks down by network vs. broadcast at all. Or whether people even notice or care what network a show is on.

ETA: the last bit is the basis of my objection to the network/cable split, and so to the proposal as it stands. I do agree with bon's point that there likely won't be that many shows talked about that it'll be an issue in the pilot.

I think voting on all the threads at once is a better idea - it's really voting for or against the experiment. As to whitefont, I have no idea if all at once or separately is better, but my inclination would be to leave that separate.

The needs are kind of different, for one thing. I suspect drama is the place where it's really going to matter to people. Comedy - I don't know that I see a need at all. Reality-wise, the only thing I think would need whitefont at all would be who's off, for shows that operate like that.

How we structure that into a vote, I again have no idea.