COWARD!!!!

[23skidoo]

OK, I'm going to be doing something I rarely do. I'm taking to task a reviewer in a forum like this and I'm openly calling him a coward.

Matthew Milam, a reviewer for Chicago Now didn't like The Impossible Astronaut. I mean he REALLY didn't like The Impossible Astronaut.

He didn't like it to the point where he openly calls for 47 years of history to be thrown down the drain and for the BBC to cancel Doctor Who.

Here's his review.

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/mat...011/04/memo-to-the-bbc-cancel-doctor-who.html

The URL says it all.

Now, to each their own. Lots of people don't get Doctor Who. Lots of people think the show's been shit since 1974, 1981, 1987, 1996, 2005, 2010 (take your pick). There are people crying into their ice tea as we speak because of the Amy narration intro they added to the show. I get that. Hell, I felt an icy finger on the small of my back when I saw the BBC America logo take precedence over BBC Cymru's logo at the end, too, and I'm hoping that's just for the two US-shot episodes.

But what pisses me off is the guy goes and disables the comments on his blog because he basically doesn't want to hear people with opposing viewpoints. Yes, I agree most of the comments are going to be from diehard Whovians calling him a smeghead (sorry, I was watching Red Dwarf last night), but at the same time this is cowardly of a so-called journalist. He comes out and demands a cultural institution be destroyed simply because the current episode didn't suit his fancy, and the so-called "soul" isn't there any more (I've seen every episode of Doctor Who in existence since 1963 and I think the "soul" of it's as strong as ever).

Hey - hate the show. Feel free. Firefly is the worst SF series I've ever seen. So there. In my opinion. But if you're going to post something so inflammatory, don't be a frelling coward and be unwilling to accept rebuttal. Yes, 90% of it will be of the "f-off" variety. But the 10% who might actually be able to make an eloquent case are left out. If I posted a thread, or a blog, piling on to Firefly, I expect rebuttal and, who knows, perhaps the arguments might even make me change my opinion. And anyway, it's easy enough to weed out the "F-off" posts anyway rather than being lazy and saying "forget it, no one posts".

If you post something like what this blogger did, you're going to get people pissed off at you. And if this writer is an actual professional and not some joe submitting a blog as a volunteer, then he should be able to take it when he posts a contrary or unpopular opinion.

I mean, I'll probably get flamed for this post myself. But I'm not going to request a mod close this thread just because I'm afraid I might be called a smeghead or see comments by the small minority who might agree with him.

Alex

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I love it when people call for popular series to be canceled just because they personally don't like it. It's called "change the channel."

 

[DAK]

Maybe you can post a comment another way - if you look at the FAQ page, chicagonow is on facebook and twitter, and you can email them at staff@chicagonow.com

http://www.chicagonow.com/faqs.html

 

[marillion]

I guess I don't have a big problem with the blog.. It's his opinion. I don't share it.. Meh..

I find it interesting that at the top of the article now, it says "This blog is being re-written..."

So basically, he doesn't like the wibbly-wobbly-timey-whimey aspect of the show that keeps us guessing. He wants the old plain jane writing that left nothing up to the imagination or speculation about what is coming next.

I grew up on Baker and LOVED Davison.. 5 will always be MY Doctor... But that said, many times the scripts were so simplistic that there was nothing to think about.. Yes.. It was a children's show and was written as such.. I think that's why he likes the Sarah Jane Adventures more than NuWho... SJA is more of a children's show than Doctor Who is these days.

So basically he doesn't want to think about what he's watching. Well, that's up to him.. Frankly, I love being able to discuss the shows with my son and wife afterward and see if they got from it, what I did..

 

[Sindatur]

As written now, there's nothing really wrong with the blog, except, it's ridiculous for someone living in Chicago to call for the cancellation of another country's show, especially when that show just garnered 37% of the viewing population on it's premiere episode of the Series. (And after live airing viewership is expected to be at an all time high)

Yes, it's kinda cowardly, if you have a feedback forum, and lock the comments because you know what you wrote is incendiary (if it actually was more incendiary before it was re-written)

 

[Robert Maxwell]

As written now, there's nothing really wrong with the blog, except, it's ridiculous for someone living in Chicago to call for the cancellation of another country's show, especially when that show just garnered 37% of the viewing population on it's premiere episode of the Series. (And after live airing viewership is expected to be at an all time high)

Yes, it's kinda cowardly, if you have a feedback forum, and lock the comments because you know what you wrote is incendiary (if it actually was more incendiary before it was re-written)

It's ridiculous for anyone to call for a show's cancellation just because they don't like it. Cancellation is almost always strictly a business decision. It has nothing to do with how good or bad a show may be.

 

[marillion]

^^ Unless you're Paul Reiser..

 

[Sindatur]

As written now, there's nothing really wrong with the blog, except, it's ridiculous for someone living in Chicago to call for the cancellation of another country's show, especially when that show just garnered 37% of the viewing population on it's premiere episode of the Series. (And after live airing viewership is expected to be at an all time high)

Yes, it's kinda cowardly, if you have a feedback forum, and lock the comments because you know what you wrote is incendiary (if it actually was more incendiary before it was re-written)

It's ridiculous for anyone to call for a show's cancellation just because they don't like it. Cancellation is almost always strictly a business decision. It has nothing to do with how good or bad a show may be.

Absolutely, I was just pointing out, if you're a British Subject, who's tax dollars are being spent to produce a show, and it's a giant money pit, sucking up money left and rightfor years and viewership stinks, then there is a reason one might call for it's cancellation.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

As written now, there's nothing really wrong with the blog, except, it's ridiculous for someone living in Chicago to call for the cancellation of another country's show, especially when that show just garnered 37% of the viewing population on it's premiere episode of the Series. (And after live airing viewership is expected to be at an all time high)

Yes, it's kinda cowardly, if you have a feedback forum, and lock the comments because you know what you wrote is incendiary (if it actually was more incendiary before it was re-written)

It's ridiculous for anyone to call for a show's cancellation just because they don't like it. Cancellation is almost always strictly a business decision. It has nothing to do with how good or bad a show may be.

Absolutely, I was just pointing out, if you're a British Subject, who's tax dollars are being spent to produce a show, and it's a giant money pit, sucking up money left and rightfor years and viewership stinks, then there is a reason one might call for it's cancellation.

You do have a point there. Very little TV in the US is publicly funded so that line of thinking doesn't typically occur to me.

 

[OmahaStar]

Cancellation is almost always strictly a business decision. It has nothing to do with how good or bad a show may be.

For proof of that, I give you Seinfeld. No, seriously, take it away. That show should never have gone beyond a pilot, yet it managed to last for, what, a decade? And it was terrible.

 

[Sindatur]

Cancellation is almost always strictly a business decision. It has nothing to do with how good or bad a show may be.

For proof of that, I give you Seinfeld. No, seriously, take it away. That show should never have gone beyond a pilot, yet it managed to last for, what, a decade? And it was terrible.

Heh, the self proclaimed "Show about Nothing". I never got into it myself, and never really understood it's popularity. Not even the "Soup Nazi", nor "The Master of My Domain" episodes did anything for me

 

[Jax]

The dude's American right?

So an American is saying a British show funded by the taxpayers should be cancelled because he doesn't like it ...How about you let the British viewing public decide if they want Doctor Who or not.

 

[Cutter John]

Yeah. American reviewer. Which means his opinion means precisely dick.

 

[RevdKathy]

Got a hell of a lot of extra clicks for his review, though, didn't it? Bet his editor is delighted with him

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Cancellation is almost always strictly a business decision. It has nothing to do with how good or bad a show may be.

For proof of that, I give you Seinfeld. No, seriously, take it away. That show should never have gone beyond a pilot, yet it managed to last for, what, a decade? And it was terrible.

Blasphemy!

 

[captcalhoun]

the page didn't work when i clicked...

and i don't get what people are on about with Amy's narration... was that something added to the US version?

 

[jbny67]

It worked when I clicked through, but there was a header there that said he was rewriting the post because he felt his point did not come across properly.

 

[Sindatur]

the page didn't work when i clicked...

and i don't get what people are on about with Amy's narration... was that something added to the US version?

Probably. Before the actual "Tardis through the Tunnel" starting, Amy narrates her story of meeting the Doctor or something like that, and then it goes to the "Tardis in the Tunnel" traditional opening

 

[captcalhoun]

hnh. all we got was the opening scenes and then the titles...

 

[The Lensman]

the page didn't work when i clicked...

and i don't get what people are on about with Amy's narration... was that something added to the US version?

Probably. Before the actual "Tardis through the Tunnel" starting, Amy narrates her story of meeting the Doctor or something like that, and then it goes to the "Tardis in the Tunnel" traditional opening

I thought it was a little weird, and wonder if it'll be on future episodes. Having it at the beginning of this episode, after an all day series 5 marathon and then an hour long special summing up that all day marathon just seemed redundant.