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Press ReleasesBack to Press Releases Subject: Save The Black Donnellys Campaign
For Immediate Release April 16, 2007 Good morning, It has come to our attention that NBC removed the Monday night drama, The Black Donnellys, abruptly off the air after only airing five episodes. NBC will be showing the rest of the remaining thirteen episodes on their website. NBC's actions created an enormous response of support from viewers that currently watch the drama. We are distributing this letter amongst the media to facilitate our cause in saving the Black Donnellys from permanent cancellation. We understand NBC pulled the show because of the low Nielsen ratings and lack of viewers. We believe that NBC did not give The Black Donnellys a chance to acquire a large audience in that timeslot. The first episode had aired after NBC's hit drama, Heroes and acquired close to ten million viewers both evenings, showing the potential of this new series. The last two episodes aired after a primetime game show, which is not a favorable lead-in for The Black Donnellys because of the demographics of that particular audience. Finally, the April 2nd show was aired in competition with the NCAA tournament. According to Sean Elliott, senior editor from IFMagazine.com, "A beginning is always a delicate thing. Especially in serialized TV. It's tough for viewers to invest themselves in a brand new series, not knowing whether or not its going to stay on the air, or not even going to finish out story arcs that have been started." A new series is a delicate thing; so delicate and fragile that the cancellation of the show spurred tremendous support for The Black Donnellys within a short period of time. NBC and all network television studios need to give other viewers the chance to invest their time in The Black Donnellys, a show that exhibits qualities that are lacking in network television today. In Josef Adailan's April 16th article (Variety reporter), "NBC pines for mass with its class", he interviews a few NBC executives, including Katherine Pope, Executive Vice President. She indicates that NBC wants "to get a little more female and a little more helpful". She says, "Quality doesn't always mean gritty. We don't want to sacrifice authenticity for what we think people might like.. (but) people want to have some hope in their shows." We, the fans of The Black Donnellys agree with Ms. Pope. The Black Donnellys provide a storyline about a young Irish family facing the troubles of a difficult and corrupt environment. This story reveals that strong family ties and bonds prevail, which give our own families hope. We understand that since the series finale of NBC's Friends and Seinfeld, NBC is steady at #4 among the competing networks. We, as fans of The Black Donnellys, understand the significance of producing shows that gain large ratings. We would like to help. Petitions, web sites, blogs, message board discussions and other conversations have erupted in response to the cancellation. Over 23,500 viewers have signed the petition created at http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/Donnellys within the course of the last week and a half. The Black Donnellys have been among the top 10 downloaded episodes on Itunes. Fans have called NBC's comment lines, addressed letters to NBC executives. We have sent quarters and shamrocks along with our letters for the new jukebox (episode 5) and will continue to do so. We would like NBC to distribute the money raised to the creators of the show Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco. They can redistribute the funds to their charity of choice. We would like to thank both Mr. Haggis and Mr. Moresco for creating such a depth of characters to encompass an incredibly engaging series. We would like you, the media, to help us bring back The Black Donnellys by voicing our passion and outrage. To be honest and concise, we are tired of CRAP-ality TV. Return The Black Donnellys and you will have intelligent television with intelligent viewers.
Sincerely,
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