You people humble me. I can’t begin to tell you what an honor it is to be a part of a community such as this one. A group of people who not only embrace something that they love, but one not afraid to acknowledge their affinity for something that other people may disparage. No matter how many people may question spending time watching television, in truth, it’s a large part of many of our lives, and to embrace that is the epitome of being honest to oneself.
Not only that — CliqueClack also believes in acting on our convictions. Its one thing to sit back and enjoy TV (the relaxing aspect being one of the pluses!), but to feel such a strong passion for it that we’re stirred to action is not only admirable, its laudable.
Recently, I wrote about the prospects of a little show called Eleventh Hour. The show had an early season finale, and there are rumors abounding about its chances for a season two. The new CBS procedural has a solid audience and has consistently turned in the goods, but with so many strong shows on its roster, the Eye has some tough choices to make come next year.
My assumption is that the show will survive. And, personally, I would have left it at that. Not so Kellie. She mentioned that she and her friends were mailing wristwatches to CBS with the face set to 11 o’clock. When I read that, I smiled at the ingenuity. As the evening progressed, I couldn’t help but to continue thinking about the idea. And as I tossed it around in my mind, my smile only got wider and wider.
You see, it’s rare that television provides us with something to enjoy. Surf this site, and you’ll find countless posts about shows that suck (I even wrote quite a few of them). Every day, a new show disappears from the air. So when something good comes along, it almost catches us by surprise. We’ve forgotten how to care for the gems, and sometimes, that becomes costly.
Is Eleventh Hour a cultural phenomenon? Is it Family Guy, or even Jericho? I don’t know. It’s an enjoyable procedural to be sure, one that challenges us on a regular basis. A lot of people disparage the genre, complaining that they’ve solved the crime before the opening credits roll. Others of us enjoy following along with the investigators on shows like Cold Case, CSI, and Numb3rs and that go from “A” to “Z”. At the same time, a lot of people say that TV numbs our intelligence; have they ever tried to follow along with Lost?
A good show challenges us. It makes us think, be it about the accuracy of the science, or the existence of smoke monsters. Either way, when it’s good, we need to say so. And when it’s in trouble, we need to remind the powers that be that we care.
Kellie, thank you for caring about Eleventh Hour. And for sharing this great idea with us. I’m with you, and I urge you all to be as well. Instead of waiting for the axe to fall, let’s be proactive. So get out there, pick up a watch at your local drugstore, or wherever, set it to 11:00 o’clock (preferably PM), and mail it to:
Les Moonves
President and CEO of CBS Corporation
51 West 52 Street
New York, New York 10019
Believe me; better we do this now than in six months … the cost of postage for a wall clock will be hell!
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Apr 13, 2009 @ 14:00 EST5EDT
I’m sorry but all this is inherently wrong.
TV Companies care about advertisers. They care about DVD sales.
Watch 11th hour and find out which companies advertise on this show. Then write THEM about how much you enjoyed their commercial – or even better, obfuscate it by saying “I saw your ad while watching 11th hour but I have a question about your product”.
Or write a mail to Amazon asking whether there will be an 11th hour DVD set.
That’s all more helpful than sending stuff that costs money in the first place. That money could go towards a DVD sale. That’s what counts.
But what you did here Aryeh isn’t that wrong either. Asking for more people to join the campaign is not a bad idea. Because this is generating press for the show. Posting about 11th hour alone helps. Posting about FNL alone helped, at least I hope so. I got what I wanted in return, all the while asking for people to buy the DVDs.
Family Guy was brought back solely based on the DVD income Fox generated. Nothing else. I know this worked on Jericho but to what result? 5 more episodes and a movie that will never happen. A gag if you ask me. Family Guy is still going strong. If you want to keep it on the air – buy DVDs. That’s all that helps. I know it’s sad but they only care about money – and maybe the press you generate for their show by your campaigns – but not as much :-/
*POST AUTHOR*
Your argument would be more accurate if the show was to be possibly canceled due to low ratings. However, because Eleventh Hour is a strong show with a large audience, the cause really needs to be directed to the network, not the advertisers. They HAVE to cut a good show to make way for new things; they don’t have anything different to choose from. We need the execs to understand that Eleventh Hour is the wrong pick; the advertisers already know that, based on how much they’re charged for a thirty second spot. Although I agree with you about the money thing, there’s just nothing to be done about it right now.
I brought Family Guy and Jericho into the conversation because they are two shows brought back by the voice of viewers, although in very different ways. You’re right that Jericho’s return wasn’t worth much, but Eleventh Hour is a top-twenty show, not a bottom-feeder like Jericho. Big difference.
This is really all about a very popular show not suffering a bad fate due to the overwhelming strength of the rest of its network; on any other network, Eleventh Hour would be a cornerstone on its night. CBS just needs to understand that other things are more expendable than Eleventh Hour is!
Aryeh, my jaw dropped when I saw this. Thank you so much for your support and very kinds words. It is funny, because I have never in my life done something like this for a TV program. But I think that Eleventh Hour is more than worth it and I feel that many others will or already do feel the same. Whether good or bad, I have never been a person to put much stock in statistics; I would rather just do the work and stand by it.
Again, thank you so much. And I also want to reiterate that I was not the genius behind this idea. Another fan named Lourdes was, and she is great! So, we will have her to thank when we are watching Eleventh Hour next season!
*POST AUTHOR*
Well, you may not have originated the idea, but you brought it to us, and hopefully that will make a difference! Thanks so much for bringing this to CliqueClack’s attention!
Oh, and Aryeh….another fan just came up with this!
https://www.zazzle.com/eleventh_hour_tee_shirt-235851240494207209
I’m very happy to read this. This was an idea that came to mind but seriously, it wouldn’t have been possible without Kellie’s effort (Thank you, Kel!). She’s the one who has helped this go on. We totally love this show and even when we haven’t heard any word of cancellation, we thought we’d rather ACT instead of REACT. And we want to make sure the watches are donated, an idea that came from another fan, but I don’t have the name.
So please send those watches now. Ask a friend, a co-worker, a brother, a parent to donate one.
Thank you for posting this, for supporting this and we really hope to see more of EH here and on TV.
Team EH!!!
*POST AUTHOR*
Oh no! I hope I didn’t offend by attributing this to Kellie as opposed to you or someone else. I just assumed from the comment that she left on the original post that the idea had stemmed from her.
Most important was to get the word out, and I hope you let other people know that we care about Eleventh Hour at CliqueClack too, but I definitely want to thank you, Lourdes, for initiating a really great idea to save a really great show. If we’re all tuning in to the season two premiere in the fall, we’ll have you to thank!
Aryeh, I agree with you. EH can’t be compared to Jericho because it has much better ratings.
I love you guys, you guys are just, utterly AMAZING. How this… IDEA has turned into a CAMPAIGN. I need to find out how to use the mail first, then I can start sending! :P If I’m tuning in to season two, I’ll be thanking both of you! (Haha BTW, It’s xFrEAKk, if you already haven’t noticed. :D)
Hey xFreak, thanks for reading this and supporting this great campaign!!! You know what I will happen if you send a watch ;)
And Aryeh S, thanks again for talking about this great show and for this article. And also thanks to everyone who has or will send a watch and please support this show by watching it.
There is now an official home forum for the Eleventh Hour Renewal Campaign. Here is the link:
https://www.cbs.com/forum/posts/list/46315.page
Also, there will be many updates over the next few days, so keep checking. We got a whole lot in the works.
EH fans….come and join in!!
We hope to see you there, let’s make this happen!
Please let us do what is necessary to save such a GREAT SHOW
I hope to see the show next season. My husband and I love the characters and its originality.
Mary and Karen,
Come over and join us! :)
https://www.cbs.com/forum/posts/list/46315.page
CBS may have been shortsighted enough to cancel Eleventh Hour, but the Campaign to bring it back is not over. If you love EH like we do, check out this new link at our new site. There are still possibilities to save this show but we need each and every fan to help!
https://forum.planet-hood.net/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=52
Like to watch Stargate Atlantis episodes and also Lost. I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
*POST AUTHOR*
Welcome aboard! :)