Fan Responses To My LJ Topic

Ok so I posted an LJ topic for discussion on the Ugly Betty site, along with a couple of choice comments/pointers of my own. As a result, it generated lots of good arguments, replies. A few blamed ABC for what they did and what had happened, whilst another person thought that the lack of fan support and hence, ex-fans turning their backs on the show for good, had evidently signalled UB's demise. Here I ask what, according to them, led to the show being cancelled. 


These are a few responses:   


LJ topic: Who Killed This Show? 


19th century girl:

'SILVIO HORTA IS THE MALE VERSION OF SHONDA RHIMES'

Silvio and the writers are mostly to blame. The writer's strike as well. ABC put a lot of faith in Silvio and Betty but to me at least all the roads lead back to Silvio. He's the male version of Shonda Rhimes (Shonda Rhimes is the exec. prod, writer and director of Greys Anatomy and Private Practice).

maahem33:

'ABC OVER-PROMOTE THEIR HOTTEST SHOWS' 

There is no use blaming anyone. Shows always have ups and downs and thats just the way it is. Nothing is perfect. I am still thankful for the downs because without it there would be no ups.

If you want to actually blame someone, blame ABC because if they had promoted in S3, ratings would have been normal. And had they kept it on Thursdays for S4, ratings would have been fine with a huge promo lift. Flashforward and about 6 other shows were cancelled/ending (Hank, Eastwick, Scrubs, Better off Ted, Flash Forward, V) and they didn't work (except Lost, making the total number of shows they lost this year 8 - including Betty)  

EVERYONE who watches ABC knows they 'over- promote' their hottest shows. Greys always gets promoted wayyyy to much and most of the time, it doesn't even need it and quite frankly, it was rarely promoted with UB. Grey's got promoted with Private Practice.

Even with those gone, ABC has knocked off more shows than any other network.


If you were to look at those rating websites like TV by the numbers, I am confident that everyone there knows how stupid ABC is. So yes, I am still blaming ABC for killing Ugly Betty.

Fountainhead98:

'BLAME FORCE THAT DRIVES ABC.... EX-FANS WHO LEFT UB TO DIE'

I do think it's funny that some fans are putting the blame squarely on ABC's shoulders. Let's face it: Generally speaking, the networks are in it for business, not to keep fans happy. If a show is popular, then they are going to keep promoting it as much as possible. They are going to invest in whatever is a major product for them. (For ABC, this would be "Grey's Anatomy" or "Modern Family".) But once that product starts to drift from the minds of viewers, they're going to pay less attention to it and instead, they'll bank on other things that are still working. Is that fair? Hell, no. But for them, it's good business.

In fact, before we can blame the network, maybe we should blame 'the force' that drives the network's hand - namely, the former fans who left this show to die. As thisisaudo astutely pointed out, the network would've renewed UB if it still had its loyal fan-base intact. However, plenty of them jumped ship long ago (not that I can blame some of them, of course). And that, we know, wasn't ABC's doing. Viewers left on their own free will. With that in mind, something had to turn them off, of course...which is why this eventually comes back to Silvio and his team of writers. (BTW, he's still the head writer and showrunner. So although everyone gets their say, it was generally his direction that they were following at the end of the day.)

For my part, I didn't hate Seasons 1 and 2, and I actually liked the first nine episodes of Season 3. But IMO, everything went downhill after that.  


Asinnerofsorts: 

'4 SEASONS IS A GOOD RUN'

More often than not the fans make it sound like a conspiracy. Of course the fans wouldn't have been ready for the show to end, but four seasons is an admirable run. I'd rather it ended now/early than it go on and on and resort to reusing plot points or outstaying its welcome.