Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Jericho: Changed By the Nuts
How did the Nuts campaign change you? Part II
1. Terocious:
When I stop to consider that only 5 months have passed since the initiation of Save Jericho I am absolutely blown away by how much our metaphors of war mirror war itself. There have been some needless and necessary casualties and some victories that were nothing short of miracles. There have been long days in foxholes passing the time playing cards and moments when you would give anything to know the whereabouts of your best friend.
The language of war has been a part of all of this from the beginning. We have received mission orders and gone to Boot camp. This continues to be true as I write. I am amazed at how familiar and even comforting it has all become to me.
My twenties were spent as part of a 10 person independent theatre company. I learned, as part of that company that group dynamics has a life of it's own. That experience helped me to prepare for group dynamics on a major scale within the Jericho movement. I have been fascinated to watch as moods swept thru the group like the folks who hold up signs in a stadium. I think, for some writer, there is an incredible book in all of this.
I have said before that Jericho Fans are my Hero. This is not because they always do the right thing but because they always do something. They try and if something does not go right then you can count on them to try something else.
I find this inspiring.
2. ADker:
I have tried to be a good follower, a good Ranger. I have so little experience on message boards, in a fan community and on the internet that the only way I could possibly contribute was as a good follower. A fundamental part of my personality is that I buck authority and this has been challenging for me.
The whole experience of posting, exploring the internet, digging, reading blogs, not to mention blog talk radio, has been a virtual education.
Any change in me has been for the better. Overall, I have nothing negative to say about the campaign or this entire experience.
3. Mswldflwr:
The Save Jericho campaign helped see me through a very difficult time in my life more than changed me. On March 21st, 2007 I received a call that my father had passed away. It was very unexpected and he was only 69 years old. I live 600 miles from my family. They are in Michigan and I am in Pennsylvania.. So I went "home" and went through the motions that one must go through when they lose a loved one. I was only able to stay with my family for a week, but had to get back to work. Well, I don't have a husband or children, so I had nothing to put any energy into and the sadness just seemed to invade every aspect of my life I just couldn't seem to find the energy or the desire to get on with things. And worrying week after week how well my mother was going to be able to figure out how to live without my father and only being able to be with her over the telephone.
Then along came the Save Jericho campaign. I finally had something to do that gave me something to think about other than just work and sadness. It seemed a little odd at first finding joy at watching the nut count go up every day. Something so simple, but at least it was something. And listening to how grateful the actors were on Shaun's show. Day by day I found myself not feeling the cloud quite so heavy over my head because of the simple baby step joys.
And then Memorial Day came and it was the traditional weekend that my parents would usually come to visit. Only this year, they wouldn't be coming. But at least I knew how important it was to keep the boards busy that weekend and that's what I did. Again, something so simple, but something I could do and now allow myself to wallow quite so much.
By the time June 6th came and the announcement was made, it was the first time in months that I had something to be completely JOYFUL about without feeling guilty about being happy. So thank you, CBS. I will always miss my father, but the mourning period became a little bit easier.
4. Eskiepup:
In regards to Jericho & the Nuts campaign and how it changed me, I agree with what my fellow Rangers have already stated so well.
I'd like to add the following observations:
- I note that some folks have stated that, up to now, they had been passive about things in their life that had not gone well for them. I've been the opposite: I've been the warhorse that would go to battle over a perceived wrong, poor treatment by a business, etc, but over the years, I've acquired "battle fatigue". ;-) As a result, I've had to carefully choose my battles, 'cause I realized that ya can't win them all. What a great surprise it was to find that so many of you thought that Jericho was worth the fight, and we joined together to bring it back. You all have rekindled my spirits!
- I dunno about the rest of you, but I'm pretty tired of dealing with unresponsive people, corporations (and governments!). No one likes to talk to a wall, or to be ignored. To think that as a culmulative result of Jericho fans pulling together, we actually persuaded CBS to sit up, take notice, and give Jericho (a TV show that WE want!) a second shot is a real triumph, a win for us all. To paraphrase what some of you have already said, it's amazing what we can do as a group. For fans to bring back a cancelled show is a pretty rare situation; let's be proud of our accomplishment!
- Speaking of shows... I found it fascinating that I was able to "catch up" on the first 10 episodes of Jericho by watching it online. The ability to watch these shows online, the Jericho website blogs, chats, wikis, along with the NUTS campaign itself - maybe I'm wrong or sadly uninformed, but all of these resources together is semi-state-of-the-art, groundbreaking stuff for networks and TV shows (it must have been if the Jericho website was considered for an Emmy). Could you imagine how successful we would have been if NONE of this had been available on the CBS website to initially pull us together? The times are changing for entertainment media, and all of this together with our demand for Jericho's return will affect and shape the future of TV. And to think we're part of making this happen!
- Last, but not least..... during this campaign, I've had numerous opportunities to post/email/chat with fellow Rangers, and in the process, I got to "know" them and become friends. This has not been the greatest year for me & my family from a health & employment perspective, but as I've talked with others, I found that many others have gone through some challenges, too. This is life, and as a group and "family" of Rangers, we pull through together.
5.selini44:
Up to even last year, I would have never thought of joining in a campaign like this one. I decided to jump on the bandwagon and get involved to save Jericho because it is a great show; I was so sick of all the garbage that is on network TV. At first, it was kind of a fun thing to be doing: sending nuts, writing, emailing, etc. But it has evolved into so much more than that. It made me realize that if a lot of people band together to stand up and fight for something they believe in, they really do have a chance to achieve their goal, even against a giant corporation like CBS.
I also became more aware and involved in the internet community. I finally got out of the stone age, computer-wise, and got a new PC and broadband internet (I had dial-up before), all because of the campaign. I've learned about digging, message boards and all kinds of things online that I never knew about before or hadn't taken part in. I've even become involved in getting a fan club up and running, something I probably never would have done if it weren't for the Jericho campaign.
On the downside for me, I didn't realize how hard it would be to recruit people to watch the show once it had been saved and the re-runs were to air. I was afraid of talking it up so much that it would turn people off. I still keep talking about the show and urging people to watch it, but even now I hope I'm not pushing it too far. It's been difficult to gauge when enough is enough.
My overall experience with the campaign has definitely been positive. Even though I don't have as much of a chance to post and get to know more of the Rangers better, I still feel like I am part of the family. And that alone has been
More to come.
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