Dollhouse fans crash FOX phone system asking for second series.
Submitted by Kevin.Beaumont on May 14, 2009 – 7:27 pm26 Comments
Dollhouse actress Miracle Laurie mentioned fans should call FOX a few hours ago — likely unaware of what would happen. Reports started to emerge from fans about problems calling. We tried calling the viewer feedback number, to find it out of order. End Of Show checked with Fox, who confirmed their voicemail system has been floored by fans of Joss Whedon’s series asking for the show to return.
Sources at Fox say the show is still in the running for renewal and talks continue. The official line is that the announcement will be made at Fox’s upfront Presentation on Monday.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicle fans have also been hot on the voicemail action. Check out this promo they put together.
Popularity: 52% [?]
Whoops.
I’ve updated this article with information about the TERMINATOR campaign fans are conducting, as they clearly overlap. Weirdest comments ever, by the way!
Oh how wonderful we are. wonder if we can fill and crash their email now
That is total BS, the ones that crashed the lines were the TSCC fans which are busting their @$$es trying to save the show. Dollhouse fans barely make a blip on the radar!
Are Terminator fans calling the same number? Dollhouse fans are calling 310 369 3066, I have written down here.
It was Miracle Laurie who urged Dollhouse fans to call. And you think it coincidence it didn’t happen at all before her asking Dollhouse fans to call Fox. Loser lol…nyah!
Agree that it was likely Dollhouse fans that tipped it over – due to the timing coinciding STUNNINGLY well with Miracle Laurie’s request on Twitter to them, which listed exactly that number – however, it was probably a combination of different people worried for both shows technically, assuming they were calling the same number (which I don’t know if they were), since raw phone traffic is still phone traffic and if no one else were calling, who knows, the system MAY have been able to take it (for longer, at any rate).
Either way, there’s no need to be vicious about it, folks. They’re both good shows with some serious possibility, with devoted fanbases that love them, let’s hope they BOTH survive, ok? :)
I call BS on this too. Terminator fans have been winning polls, sending emails, letters, and have been calling that FOX number.
I call “calm the fuck down, as it’s obviously a combination of the two but due to timing, the actual breaking of the system was more likely from Dollhouse fans”.
See, Dollhouse fans have also been doing those things for the past few weeks.
You know the only thing that had changed in the hours leading up to the phone system crashing?
Miracle Laurie, one of the stars of Dollhouse (and in fact, one of the ones who portrays one of the most liked characters on the show, thus, someone whose Twitter gets a LOT of traffic), posted on her Twitter contact info for Fox including that particular number, and encouraged fans to use the info to tell Fox not to cancel it, with the implication being that this coming weekend is the last chance they have to sway the execs before the announcement on Monday, I think she literally even said something like “you only have 2 days!”. Within hours of this particular post – I could swear within 3 or 4 hours even – the system crashed.
I have seen no evidence that a star or producer or anyone else directly connected TSCC made a request such as that, that was that specific that it included the phone number and an outright plea to use it to save the show, that hit the rounds of fan forums, in the exact same time frame. You are welcome to try and dig it up, and I would then acknowledge it was much more of a mixture of the two, but I have not seen such evidence yet. As such, the logical conclusion is that the system was probably being used pretty heavily, but pushed over the edge by Dollhouse fans who had JUST all at once been told to call it.
I have no doubt that TSCC fans are just as devoted as Dollhouse fans, and have no doubt that were a member of the TSCC cast or crew to do the same as Laurie did, TSCC fans would have rushed the system in large enough droves to crash the voice mail as well.
However, it’s pretty clear that in this specific instance, what pushed it past “stuff the system can tolerate” was Dollhouse fans being egged on to call that exact number, by a popular cast member of Dollhouse. The timing is far too spot-on to be coincidence.
Not to say some of the folks calling can’t have been TSCC fans, maybe even a lot of them, just saying what most likely outright BROKE the system was the extra Dollhouse fans who all decided to call at exactly the same time as each other. ;)
I also don’t understand the animosity on this particular comments section between Dollhouse fans and TSCC fans. :\ Most other places I’ve seen, there are lots of people who care about BOTH shows or don’t at least hate on the other show/fandom.
Can’t we all agree that they’re both good sci-fi shows that deserve to stay on the air, at least? We could join forces to save BOTH shows, possibly, but biting each other’s heads off over credit for something like this, is just not going to help ANYONE, least of all the shows.
I love my fandom!
Dollhouse fans have been calling that number for several days now, partly because it has been encouraged by http://twitter.com/watchdollhouse
Miracle’s tweet simply got the word out to more people, but aside from making phone calls, fans have also been sending @replies to FoxBroadcasting on twitter as well as sending emails for weeks now asking Fox to strongly consider renewing the show.
TSCC and Dollhouse fans are calling the same number at Fox.
That would not surprise me, as the number and email were both publicly listed and certainly have been making the rounds, but the point here is that both fandoms have been calling in, it’s just that the Dollhouse fandom got some extra motivation from one of the actors on the show tweeting basically “here’s the number, call them now you only have 2 days to tell them not to cancel it!!!” (I’m paraphrasing, but that’s what it boiled down to).
The system then crashed within… I think 3 or 4 hours of that tweet, maybe even less.
If someone from the TSCC cast had done the same thing – getting the extra word out and adding “only 2 days left!” therefore spazzing the entire fandom just about – I have no doubt that that would have been what pushed it over. But as it is, I don’t think any of them did so during the same time frame, and it’s just enormously coincidental to be actual coincidence.
It would not surprise me in the least if the system were already taxed from the combination of Dollhouse AND TSCC fans calling in though, since I think the TSCC fans I’ve seen have been really eager to see it renewed and really worried that it won’t be, at least as much so as Dollhouse fans (while Dollhouse fans have visions of the cancellations of Firefly, Wonderfalls, and other Tim Minear/Joss Whedon shows dancing in their heads, both shows were relatively low in ratings and TSCC fans have the extra worry of their show probably being more expensive to license for next season).
Dollhouse fans and Terminator fans did an amazing job ! These 2 shows are so much better than that Hell’s Kitchen crap or even Lie to Me.
Yes, I had to laugh when I saw the news of Miracle Laurie’s tweet and then kept seeing comments like, “I can’t call in, the voicemail’s down! D:” I do think Laurie’s tweet pushed it over via creating fandom panic, but would not be surprised if some of the tax on the system was also TSCC fans though, since both fandoms have been running campaigns for several weeks to save their respective shows.
I also agree that the two most intriguing shows on Fox right now are Dollhouse (which I’m totally hooked on now) and TSCC (which I haven’t caught as often, but definitely was interested in and wished I’d caught more of). <3 Here’s hoping they both get renewed!
[...] END OF SHOW
Are you geeks really arguing over WHO actually crashed the phone lines — Terminator fans or Dollhouse fans? Really? Talk about living up to the stereotype. Get a life, people.
Dollhouse. Great show. Hope it comes back for another season.
Terminator. Have watched in passing but never got sucked in yet.
Either way, hope both stay on the air… but c’mon now, nerds. Can’t we all just get along?
Epic. I know that I was calling about twice a day for Dollhouse. I really hope Fox sees that there is a legit fanbase for both shows and renews them both. Not to knock their usual programming but these are probably the best shows they have and they just want to throw them away. What’s wrong with them?
Calling twice a day? Wouldn’t that be “stuffing the ballot box” so to speak? Its the same reason online polls can’t be taken seriously. It really skews the results and makes it seem like there are many more interested than actually is and if Fox knows that, they might not even take it seriously. It might not have crashed the phone system. They might have just disconnected the number so they wouldn’t have to deal with it.
I hope the show stays on but at this stage of the game, I think they know what they are going to do and people spamming a phone line or a website isn’t going to make much difference I don’t think.
I’m glad we are rallying. I dream of a day when we don’t have to.
I swear to God, if I ever get rich I will bankroll Joss, no questions asked, just let him do his thing!
Also, let’s not forget that Sarah Connor has some great actors, and let’s not forget that the hard core ass kicking terminator is alumni.
Don’t let them divide and conquer. I love both shows, I support both shows. I will be incredibly disappointed by Terminator’s cancellation. If Dollhouse is canceled, I will never, ever watch Fox again. And I sent them an e-mail telling them that.
Omg. This is soo funny. Both shows are good. Ain’t nothing wrong in supporting both. Yeah we Dollhouse fans probably loaded the voice mail box pretty good after the Tweet. but it is a general mailbox for Fox shows. Dichen Lachman was on later also…We are encouraged to Tweet and write emails. Let’s all do that for both shows.
Tweet!
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