December 20, 2002

Okay ---- I lurked and saw this post from my friend JewelTones on SoapZone, regarding the Liason Ad (see photo), and I couldn't resist. I HAD to post it here. This is the ORIGINAL LINK TO THE POST. I'm not going to publish the post that finally burned Jewels' ass (LOL!), but JewelTones used direct quotes (in a different color and italicized) from that post that I will include. Jewels... I love you. You absolutely KILL ME! Bwahahahaha! You GO, Girl! WHOOO HOOOOO!

Normally I don't respond to this kind of junk...

But, guess what? I am. Do you (being universal here) have any idea how frigging sick and tired I am of reading how big, bad, and evil Elizabeth and Jason fans are for doing exactly the same damn thing a lot of other fanbases have done in the past? Here is a MAJOR clue: Fan Reaction is NOT new! Gasp! I know! Shocking isn't it?! Liason fans did not invent it. They didn't start it. And shockers of shockers... they won't be the last.

Contrary to belief, this is NOT the first time a fan base has taken out a page of support for a television show. Guess what? Witchblade fans did it first. $3,550 dollars. Variety magazine. Saved their show. Got it picked up by another network.

Push, Nevada fans had a similar outcry when that show was canned.

The New Yorker magazine ran a indepth article (Oct. 20, 2002) called the Remote Controllers that said television is now an interactive event. The networks do their show. The fans react. And if a show and a network want to survive? They listen to fan response.

Lets be honest here, Critspy. Your problem isn't that the fans got together and actually GOT a response... your problem is that its not the response YOU wanted and I'm going to step right up and call you on it.

You have had a problem with this fanbase from day one. I normally don't even bother wasting my time or breath arguing with you but this one was just over line. To pinpoint an entire fanbase and blast them because you don't agree is waaaaaaaaay out of bounds. The Soap Zone has always been a place where people with different opinions can come and talk about the SHOW. Fiction. Characters. Hack and slash away at that with my blessings. But when a fan is attacked -- any fan -- that's when I have a problem. Do it to the people I consider my family and we have a MAJOR issue.

I have been pretty silent for the last few months as the attacks and flames and blatant slams are throw against the Liason fanbase. Words like "stalkers" and "Freaks" and "delusional psychotics" are bandied about. Basically I ignored it because I could give a fig's twig less about what other people think. But lately....? Lately the hate on this board and the hate spread by people like you has turned this board into a nightmare of lies and manipulation and I've had enough.

That a group of persistant elite fans bought their asses a damn story that the writers had no intention of telling in the first place?

Is that supposed to be some kind of insult? Persistent elite fans? Hate to break it to you, but most shows? They want loyal fans. You know, the kind that tune in every week (or day) to watch the show rain or shine. It's called a viewing audience. It's what keeps shows on the air for ten years. It's what puts a paycheck in a writers pocket and builds a loyal following like Trekkers, Whovians, and X-Files fans.

And "bought" a story. I LOVE this. You and I both know that the only thing "bought" with this page of support was a page. Nothing more. Nothing less. If it caught the eye of other people in the industry, good! If it told other Elizabeth and Jason fans out there that they weren't alone? Even better! If it got one more person out there to switch the channel and tune IN to General Hospital to see what the fuss is about? WONDERFUL!

But if Journey flops and sinks it's gonna be because it was taking on water faster than the Titanic. The week of 12/2 -- the comment line had less than 200 calls in support of Journey and you and I both know it. Shall we compare THOSE numbers to just ONE day of Liason? Hmmm. Lets. Lets pick the Vista Point Kiss (and just a kiss, mind you). I believe the comment line cranked upwards of 4000 calls. Just a wee bit of difference there, huh? And you're going to blame the failure that is Journey on Liason fans? Yeah, lump crop circles and cattle mutilations in there while you're at it.

That this group of fans manipulated Becky into believing that pratically her entire fanbase supported Liz/Jason and nothing else, because that's ALL they wrote to her about for months on in?

Helllllo? Manipulated? What? I didn't realize we spoke for the entire population of Elizabeth fans. No. Liason fans wrote Becky to do the same thing hundreds of other fans have done for THEIR favorite actress and actor. They wrote in to say -- I like this character. I like this story. I like this couple. So freaking FLOG me, Critspy, for liking something and responding to it BEFORE checking with you.

The ONLY manipulation I see around here is YOU attacking other fanbases and continuing to spread your bs across the boards about what the Liason fans have been doing and saying and writing.

Liason fans wouldn't waste the spit it takes to lick an envelope to campaign AGAINST something. See, because that's called hate. And Liason fans? We don't DO hate. We support our couple. We support our characters no matter what and THAT is what you have a problem with. Well TFB, honey.

That this group of fans pretty much threatened ABC and their advertisers (again, not completely sold on that theory) by taking a $3,000 ad to send a message that we won't watch unless we get this story, when you know damn well that you'll continue to watch regardless.

Threatened? Ooookay, did we SEE the same ad? I didn't see a call to boycott. I didn't see a message that said: Deliver this couple or else! I saw a group of fans put a creative message of support and love in a magazine. THAT'S what I saw. You saw something else? You interpreted it some other way? That's YOUR problem. Maybe threats are the way other people would approach this situation if they were in our shoes, but we haven't and we never will.

That this group of fans has now caused other fanbases to campaign because they feel threatened that the story that they were starting to like may be ending?

Oh PUHLEAZE! That's right. No other fanbase has ever campaigned in the HISTORY of television. Sonny/Carly fans? They don't campaign. Sexis fans... nah, they don't campaign. CourAJ fans? Nope. Luke and Laura? Nia? LL2? Naaaaaaah, they've never written a letter or called the comment line in their lives. No siree bob. Just the evil, evil liason fans. We control the airwaves. We control the oceans and the tides and the moons because we DARED pick up a pen and paper and write a letter. Stone us in the street.

Do you know how messed up that is?

Actually, I know how messed up THIS is. That you sit here and continually attack ONE fanbase for doing the SAME exact thing a thousand other fans of thousands of other shows do EVERY DAY. THAT is messed up, hypocritical, and down right WRONG.

I was talking to Kristina Gallaghar yesterday and we were saying how completely out of hand all of this has gotten. How fan dictated stories are what's ruining the shows

Ookay, am I supposed to know who Kristina Gallaghar is? Shrug. Sooooooooo... Sexis and S/Cers are wrong to have campaigned to keep their couples together, keep the baby alive when it was allegedly scripted to be killed off? Because they "dictated" how a story should go? Or any fans are wrong when they ask for a character to come back to a show or be brought back from the dead? Because that happens ALL the time! It's a reality, especially in soaps.

It is NOT up to fans to write stories!!!
It's just not.
You don't have that power
and if a story fails, let it fail on its own merit, not because of a stupid ass campaign which forced the writers to end it.

Liason didn't fail because of lack of fan response and you and I both know it. The ONLY story failing is Journey. It has NOT produced. THAT is what opened the door for Liason fans to walk through and say, Look, we like this couple. We've supported them through thick and thin and we haven't gone away. If the writers and producers decide to revisit that, great. But to accuse the fans of this pair of being manipulative and "hateful" or evil or whatever other adjective you want to toss in here because YOU'RE having a spazz attack because you don't like them is YOUR problem. Not ours. No show is ever going to please everybody.

The reality of television is that ratings rule the roost. If Journey or any other story is delivering AND getting the ratings AND getting good fan response then it's going to keep going no matter WHAT Liason fans say or do. THAT is the reality and Liason fans know it. We knew we might not get our story and we were totally prepared for that. But a combination of factors came into play here that made the Elizabeth and Jason pairing attractive to the executives.

Sure the soap is telling a story. But they want to tell stories that pull people in, not tune them out. Have I liked all the stories? No. But I sure as HELL didn't post a blatant, flaming attack on their fanbase because of it. THAT is sour grapes and, imo? Pretty damn petty.

Despite what people may think I know that Liz/Jason was was NOT what the writers wanted to do.

Blah blah blah. Yeah and flip the magic 8-ball honey. What's the weather going to be like tomorrow. It doesn't matter what anybody "says" they know. All that matters is what happens on the screen because in the land of show business... Things Change.

I know that this was never the direction they intended to go in. They've been trying to end it now for months. It should have been over after Liz walked out on Jason, it should have been over when Liz went away with Lucky, it should have been over when Jason married Brenda, it should be over NOW! But because fans pushed and pushed and pushed, they are being FORCED to tell it.

Awwwwwwwwww. Poor multi-billion dollar network. Sniffle. Pushed around by a group of fans who write letters and pick up the phone to call the comment line. Yeah, next thing you know, Liason fans will get Jason Morgan on the ballot for president. GIVE ME A BREAK! See, this is where I have to raise a brow and say this:

Liason fans have been doing NOTHING different in the last three years than they have in the last three weeks. Our methods haven't changed. Our support hasn't wavered. And in all that time, other posters (you included) told us to give up because no matter WHAT we did, TPTB were NEVER going to listen. Fan reaction, they said, doesn't dictate bubkiss. If the ratings aren't there, if the interest isn't there... you can write letters and call all you want and it won't change a thing. Deal with it.

Wellllll guess what? Looks like the calls and the letters and ratings AREN'T there. THAT is the real reason why Liason might get the green light.

So HELL YES I blame the fans. I blame all of them. It was lowdown and dirty what you all did to get this story told.

Lowdown and dirty? For writing letters and calling just like dozens of other fanbases for dozens of other shows? For taking out a page of support for our couple saying, Jason and Elizabeth: Rebuild the love one link at a time. Ooooh yeah, that's just evil and low down and dirty and rotten.

Liason fans are NOT the ones going around threatening to boycott if they don't get their way. Liason fans don't go around starting vicious evil posts like this one full of spewing vindictiveness and petty jealousy. We're not the ones that have started hate clubs or go around posting that other fanbases are as bad as "terrorists" comparing them to 9-11.

Liason fans have always done one thing: Spread love and support and appreciation of the show and for the actors and for this couple. And THAT is what YOU don't know how to deal with because Liason fans BUILD and support while other people can't seem to stop trying to destroy.

It completely underminded the actors, the writers, and other fans who just loyally sat back and watched for stories to be told, without the help of campaigning.

Give me a BREAK. Underminds the actors? HOW? By telling them, hey this story touched me? I like your character and really hope that there is a future for this couple? Ohhhh yeah. We're really evil for wanting Elizabeth to have more airtime than just her wiping down a table or serving a slice of pie.

Yeah. And I'm sure that in the future, I'm sure all the fans of all the shows in daytime won't pick up a pen to write and say -- hey, put my couple back together! And alllll the soap opera magazine speak out columns will be empty because no one in the universe will write in to support their couples.

See, you can sit here on the hobby horse and point fingers at the Liason fanbase, but you're also going to have to point fingers at the fans of Days of our Lives, Guiding Light, Young and Restless, and any other fan and/or base that has ever written a letter or picked up the phone.

Either you are against campaigning on priciple no matter WHAT or HOW they do it... or you think it's okay. But this post is a slap in the face to just about every fan that has ever voiced their support for anything -- not just Liason fans -- because you are porporting that the act of expressing your wishes and desires of how a show might go is evil and wrong. That all viewers should just sit back and watch in some belief that the network will mystically know what fans want and deliver.

The reality of it is that television is an interactive forum now. Virtually every network has message board communities that their executive producers check for immediate reaction after a show and I think everybody here needs to realize that THAT reaction DOES affect their show.

What nobody likes is that Liason fans have managed to do what few ever have. Not only have we pulled together is support of someting... not only have we NOT given up... not only have we NOT gone away... we are speaking... and people are listening.

JewelTones

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