Can we talk about the dumb show I like?

January 23, 2015 10:46 AM

I am interested in writing about a show on FanFare. Now what?

I tried to see if someone had explained this so I'm sorry if I just missed it. I checked and no one has yet started a discussion of a dumb show I enjoy. Is the purpose of FanFare so fans of a show can talk about a show they enjoy? That probably sounds like a dumb question but it's definitely possible that there are no fans of this show on MeFi since no one has written about it yet. Where do you get your short summary of that episode - do you write it yourself? Is it poor form to write about the show after starting the thread if there are no other comments? If it's intended as a discussion space, it's probably not productive for me to talk about the show by myself, and I'm not trying to sell anyone on the show. But if someone happens to read that I thought the acting was good, for example, maybe they'll be interested in checking it out and like it.

Apologies if I missed an explainer somewhere, I'm just trying not to be a jerk. Thanks!

posted by kat518 to Etiquette/Policy at 10:46 AM (30 comments total)

You post to FanFare Talk to gauge interest.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:48 AM on January 23, 2015

Wow there probably needs to be a bit more of a FAQ on how to post to FanFare.

Here's how I do it (usually): post to FanFare Talk asking if there is interest in a show (or whatever you're proposing to do). Wait a week (or two) for comments to dribble in. Traffic is much much lighter on FanFare so you have to allow for that when looking for feedback.

If you get 2 or 3 positive responses, go ahead and try posting on the show. See what happens. A lot of this is trial and errror.

I do think it would help to have some guidance people you could memail for help with FanFare stuff - I've found filthy light thief to be very helpful and patient in the past but he might be v. busy nowadays, I don't know...
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 10:50 AM on January 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

I checked and no one has yet started a discussion of a dumb show I enjoy.

You can totally submit that show and start a thread if you want to!

Is the purpose of FanFare so fans of a show can talk about a show they enjoy?

Pretty much. To some of the other stuff you're saying here, I think fans plural is the main idea; if you literally just want to sort of blog about the show and don't expect anyone else to show up, that's not really the core idea, but if you want to see if other people are interested in talking about it then it's fine to put up a thread about an episode and commence seein' if people are interested.

Probably the easiest way to test the waters before actually posting anything is to go to the FanFare Talk section and make a post there explicitly checking if anyone is interested; that might give you the yea/nay feeling you need, and has the advantage of making anyone who might be interested aware that you're planning to do so.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:50 AM on January 23, 2015

Usually the best approach is post to FanFare Talk to see if there's any uptake or interest, then suggest it on the Suggest a Show page (that one is for TV).

You get to the Suggest a Show page by going to make a new post, then click the option to suggest a show not listed.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:50 AM on January 23, 2015

(You're not being a jerk! You can memail me if you need to but I've basically told you what I know...)
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 10:51 AM on January 23, 2015

Where do you get your short summary of that episode - do you write it yourself?

You can write it yourself, or you can just copy and paste the "official" blurb that shows up everywhere. Most of the ones I've done are ones I've written myself, just because I take some pleasure in coming up with my own brief episode summaries, but a few times I've copied the official one, e.g., if I was tired or lazy or short on time when I posted. Other people consistently use the "official" blurb, and that's fine too.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 11:08 AM on January 23, 2015

Peaky Blinders is not a dumb show!
posted by cjorgensen at 11:17 AM on January 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

To be honest, I'd consider the "post to FanFare Talk first" step as optional. FanFare Talk is pretty lightly read; plenty of people post new shows (and podcasts) to FanFare without any prior "feeling out the interest" Talk post.

The short summary of the episode: all that matters is that it's spoiler-free (of events in the episode you're posting, and of events in future episodes). Typically people use the summary blurb from the TV network's site, or from Wikipedia, or from IMDB, all of which tend to be suitably vague and non-spoilery. (For Breaking Bad posts, I've been using the summary blurbs from AMC's site.)

The more-inside section: entirely optional, entirely up to you. Some people leave it blank and that's OK; some people pack it with related links and information and that's OK too. But ultimately yes, a FanFare post is for sparking a discussion.

Go for it! FanFare posts are easy, and FanFare's a friendly place.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 11:40 AM on January 23, 2015 [4 favorites]

Oooh, I'm nearly done with the first season of Peaky Blinders and it is some fun, I tells you. FanFare that shizzle.
posted by Kitteh at 11:54 AM on January 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

Where do you get your short summary of that episode - do you write it yourself?

Usually, yes. Sometimes I'll check the official description on the DVR just to remind me of subplots, but mostly, it's just a quick sentence or two on what happened.

Is it poor form to write about the show after starting the thread if there are no other comments?

Not at all, because the short summary has become the norm. So the poster starts the thread with "Stu fights the dragon while Karen and Randall try to set up their new television" and then cuts loose about why Stu is such a fucking idiot for not using the C4 in the first comment.
posted by Etrigan at 12:03 PM on January 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

Feel free to add me to the list of people to MeFi Mail with any questions.

It's totally cool to comment in the thread of the post, just avoid editorializing in the actual post as much as possible (my preference).

So for example, Exhibit A - How not to Do it:

"Here's the newest Parks and Rec episode, it was totally boring and why did they go cheap with a dumb bottle episode?!"

Exhibit B - A better way to do it:

"Leslie and Ron are locked in the Parks and Rec department by their friends, determined to make the two find reconciliation. Tempers flare, congratulatory land mines explode, and Ron whittles a key, as the nature of their feud is revealed."

So preferably, after Exhibit B goes up, then add a comment inside the post with whatever the darn heck you want to say about the show.
posted by Atreides at 12:43 PM on January 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

I haven't seen Peaky Blinders - I was thinking of writing about MILF Island. #teamdeborah
posted by kat518 at 12:45 PM on January 23, 2015 [4 favorites]

"Stu fights the dragon while Karen and Randall try to set up their new television" and then cuts loose about why Stu is such a fucking idiot for not using the C4 in the first comment.

This is a hypothetical show summary, yes?
posted by dogwalker at 12:56 PM on January 23, 2015

"Stu fights the dragon while Karen and Randall try to set up their new television" and then cuts loose about why Stu is such a fucking idiot for not using the C4 in the first comment.

This is a hypothetical show summary, yes?

You're not watching Sir Stu? Where the fuck have you been?
posted by Etrigan at 1:02 PM on January 23, 2015 [4 favorites]

"To be honest, I'd consider the 'post to FanFare Talk first' step as optional. FanFare Talk is pretty lightly read; plenty of people post new shows (and podcasts) to FanFare without any prior 'feeling out the interest' Talk post."

I consistently sort of forget about the existence of FanFare Talk.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 1:14 PM on January 23, 2015 [6 favorites]

I also forgot about FanFare Talk.

I watch a lot of dumb shows; I am probably on board.
posted by purpleclover at 1:22 PM on January 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

Peaky Blinders is a pretty dumb show and I enjoy it immensely.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:43 PM on January 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

Back in the pre-2000's, on Sunday Evenings, all of us used to sit by the monitor in our log cabin, holding bags of artisenal popcorn, reading MetaTalk. It was the one favorite dumb show we could all agree on. Sometimes, for a change, we would have OS 7.5's text-to-speech voices (Fred and Agnes) recite our favorite flameout comments while we closed our eyes and imagined the outraged MeFite at their terminal.

Nowadays it's all ipong this and dataplan that... BAH!
posted by not_on_display at 1:44 PM on January 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

Sometimes I start watching shows just because I've noticed a bunch of Fanfare threads about them, so even if no one is talking about it yet IMO you should start putting up threads for it anyway because that might encourage some people to check it out.
posted by Jacqueline at 1:53 PM on January 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

Note, I write reviews of Agents of Shield offsite. So I usually make an AoS post, then there's an option on the side of the post to link to an outside recap, along with the ability to note that you've wrote it. So I do that and then just talk about the episode in the MeFi thread.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:21 PM on January 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

Lately I only watch shows that are on Fanfare because it's the only way I remember they exist. It also tells me what new shows are worth my time. Go ahead and post the first episode; people will show up.
posted by bleep at 3:49 PM on January 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

I was hoping this was Z Nation, because that is the dumb show I like.
posted by fshgrl at 7:15 PM on January 23, 2015

♪ The wonderful thing about FanFare MetaFilter is that any member can make new posts ♫

- or -

Make the posts you wish to see on FanFare (it doesn't quite have the same ring as "be the change you wish to see in the world")
posted by filthy light thief at 1:54 PM on January 24, 2015 [1 favorite]

What I do with the dumb show I like:

- Switch off The Walking Dead halfway through spoiler-filled preview of next week's episode
- Wait impatiently for someone else to make a post (13 seconds)
- Research post (11 seconds)
- Type up post (23 seconds)
- Retype post (176 seconds)
- Post post (1 second)
- Bask in my accomplishment (3 seconds)
- Notice minor error, enter anxiety spiral (ongoing)
- Read comments about post-credits scene I totally missed

I wouldn't bother gauging interest with Fanfare Talk. That's just a waste of time, seems to me: If people aren't interested, you're wasting just as much time (if not more) on the Talk post as on an actual Fanfare post. And, frankly, people are much more likely to actually see it if it's there gigantically on the main part of the front page and not tucked over on the Talk sidebar.

There's really no pressure to be awesome with Fanfare posts, since it's really all about the discussion, so just jump in.
posted by Sys Rq at 4:04 PM on January 24, 2015 [2 favorites]

Yeah, I'd have to add that adding a show on Fan Fare with or without a Talk post to gauge interest doesn't seem to matter. I mean, you can do the Talk thing to see if anyone feels the way you do if you want, but honestly, be the Fan Fare post you want to see in the world.

This is how I learned that no one wants to watch and discuss The Originals. Me included. (Yes, I haven't bothered anymore because god what a dull time suck.)
posted by Kitteh at 4:37 PM on January 24, 2015

Since we're talking about dumb shows, is Backstorm as bad as A.V. Club paints it? Because it sounds awful, but IMDb users rated it 7.4, for whatever that's worth.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:13 AM on January 25, 2015

OH MY GOD KAT518 POST THE DAMN SHOW ALREADY THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME.
posted by Etrigan at 9:02 AM on January 25, 2015 [5 favorites]

filthy, I'm pretty sure hatewatching is as valid a reason as any for FanFare to exist. As for IMDb, it is likely that many people are showing up to see Dwight with a badge (real this time), and the show is delivering.
posted by dhartung at 12:00 PM on January 25, 2015

hatewatching is as valid a reason as any for FanFare to exist

I have a whole summer of Under The Dome posts that confirm this.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 11:42 PM on January 25, 2015 [2 favorites]

Since we're talking about dumb shows, is Backstorm as bad as A.V. Club paints it? Because it sounds awful, but IMDb users rated it 7.4, for whatever that's worth.

I didn't make it through the whole pilot, it was indeed monumentally repulsive. Not even worth a hate-watch thread, just, ugh, so gross.
posted by oh yeah! at 5:41 AM on January 26, 2015