An alternative perspective

[http://users.livejournal.com/_nextboldmove_/]

EDIT: This is a post for people to talk about WHY THEY WILL STILL WATCH. This isn't for people to reinterate sexism, why CBS sucks, etc. Please keep that in consideration!

I want to try something, and I'm sure it might not go over well. Mods...use your powers if you feel it right. But I think we need this here.

There are some of us, while sad AJ is leaving, who aren't going to stop watching the show. We may have thought some of the protests went too far. We may be excited for the change in team chemistry. Basically, we're gonna give it a shot.

We're also afraid that however calm and articulate we are, we'll be seen as flamers or we'll be flamed. I thought this could be the post for those of us who need to get this off our chests. Need to vent in another direction.

Feel free to be anon. I'd urge nobody to slam other fans, just talk about what they hope for season 6, why they aren't going to stop watching, etc. I don't want ANYONE ON ANY SIDE to feel insulted.

Whadda ya think?

EDIT: This is a 'Why I will watch' thread, not yet another place for people to state 'why they won't watch.'

Comments

[madlori.livejournal.com]

I'm happy to put my name to my statements.

I'm not thrilled AJ is leaving or that Paget is possibly being cut back. But I will keep watching. Frankly, this is Hollywood. The producers and/or network are not doing this because they are evil bastards and want to ruin the show. They are businessmen and this is show business. Whether we agree with their reasons or understand them, money is always the bottom line and they may make choices that disappoint us, but they're their choices to make. These things happen all the time, on every show, and AJ and Paget are both professionals who know the score and know that actors can and often do lose their jobs with little to no warning, through no fault of their own.

Change does not have to mean the end of the show. Sometimes it's good. Often it's not. We'll have to see.

I don't begrudge anyone their protests or their bitterness. I signed the petition, too. But honestly, I don't take it personally.

[coffeeem.livejournal.com]

The CM writing staff is still the best in the business, and (in spite of that conviction-shaking "vampire" episode *g*) I think they'll continue to create good episodes--intelligent, well-researched, and observant about human behavior on both sides of the badge. I'll keep watching until that ceases to be true.

But I'll always miss A. J. Cook. <3

[midgetnazgul.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting this!

JJ was never my favorite character, but even if she had been, I would have long ago accepted this as part of Hollywood. I have my own conspiracy theory as to why this happened, but that is irrelevant.

The entire concept of giving up on the show entirely because of one (and a half, counting Paget's cutback) cast change so preemptively is, imho, foolish. Calling it "sexist" is just ridiculous. Network execs only see TV shows in terms of ratings and money, simple as that. This isn't about whether women can only be portrayed as worrywart mothers or victims, or not. Many small female roles on CM have been meant to be inspiring. Watch JJ's departure and a couple episodes beyond that to see if CM has truly "jumped the shark".

[tennants.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting this! I've been afraid to comment in any of the other posts because I was afraid I'll get jumped on.

I'm still going to watch the show, I've been with this show for 5 years and I'm not going to stop watching it because they got rid of some of the actors. Yes I love AJ & Paget with all my heart, but I think that in life sometimes people need to move on, and this could be a great thing for them both if you think about it. They can venture towards movies, and get their name out more.

I look at it this way, I have been a fan of Doctor Who for over 10 years and if I can handle them changing the Doctor and companions every so often I can handle this, and I'm excited to see the new turn the writers and producers have in store for us.

[tennants.livejournal.com]

I agree, I don't understand how it could be sexist if they are bringing in another female character later on this season. If they really were sexist they would be brining in more male parts.

[britmandelo.livejournal.com]

I do see some storytelling potential in this--one thing I've always wished CM could do was really go there with killing off main characters. If I have to lose a character I love, I want them to really go for it, emotionally. I want a great storyline to come out of this.

I'll be disappointed if it's just one of those silly "oh, moving away, goodbye" tricks. (I think Mandy's departure would have been better if they'd really Gone There with the suicide instead of just playing with it and coping out.)

Ditto the other Doctor Who fan--I can deal with losing and changing characters, if it's done well. These things happen. I signed the petition, and I don't want to lose the girls, but you never know what it can do for the story. It might be awful and I might have to stop watching, but it might end up being great. Rossi was a great addition, and so was Prentiss after Elle pulled her murder stunt. (Another great storyline.)

[afteriwake.livejournal.com]

I think as long as they give AJ a good exit I'll keep watching. If they have her do something horribly out of character to get her to leave, my faith will be tested. As for Emily's situation, we don't really know yet what they mean by "reduced," right? Could be she's in 18 episodes of the year, and I can handle that. I'm waiting to see.

I'm still a little leery on a new addition (thinking back to JJ's replacement while AJ was on maternity leave), but new characters aren't always a bad thing. My favorite character on CSI: NY didn't show up until season 3 (though, when they killed her off my interest in the show plummeted, but that was because by that point I was primarily watching for her and her onscreen boyfriend). If she's introduced well, and given good charcterization from the get-go, and isn't "JJ 2.0" then I might be okay with her.

[asatomuraki.livejournal.com]

I think it would be awesome if they killed her off in some amazing way, but I suspect it will be the Mommy Wants to Stay Home thing. If it is, I hope the writers' bits rot off, are eaten by rabid dogs who then poop out their bits into vats of acid.

I certainly HOPE they have better sense than that, though.

[afteriwake.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of people forget that, that Prentiss wasn't around from the beginning. She was a replacement haracter, and look at how much love she has in the fandom.

[cupcakery.livejournal.com]

It's sexist in the way that they see the female characters as disposable - that they can just "replace" one due to budgetary reasons.

[scoob2222.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting this. I think, honestly, with the amount of money CM costs with the fact that they are always in a new location it is amazing they kept a full cast for this long. As sad as I am for AJ, even though JJ wasn't really a favorite of mine, the truth is that she had six years of solid, well-paying work in Hollywood. Right now that is amazing. The show has to do what it has to do to stay on the air, and deciding to stop watching is just going to put everyone else out of work.

[tennants.livejournal.com]

But see, I think CBS looked at who has the bigger following, and tbh I think most of the male leads have the bigger followings when it comes to CM. I myself am not trying to be sexiest (I'm a girl), but I feel that they thought what they were doing was the right thing and didn't think that all of a sudden the JJ and Prentis fans would come out of the woodwork to start a riot you know?

[almightyspaz.livejournal.com]

Here's where I sound off.

I love AJ Cook to death. She's a great actress and I see her getting something else. What I'm most upset about is the way CBS did this and how the fans had to fight just to get two episodes.

Having said that, JJ was my never my favorite character. A.J. did a great job, but the past season. This past season made me think of JJ more as window dressing. She didn't do all that much.

The new addition is where I'm wary. I am a huge Supernatural fan, but I can not watch season four without gritting my teeth due to the replacement of Ruby. That actress and the writing team butchered that character, so when I heard they were bringing in another actress for CM, I keep having SPN flashbacks.

Now, if the character is introduced properly and not made out to be a love interest for any of the characters, and the actress can hold up with the other actors, I will gladly accept her.

That's one thing I don't want, is ooshy gushy romance on this show. I hate what oosy gushy love has done to House and I don't want to see another one of my fave shows get infected.

[madlori.livejournal.com]

They're not in any more new locations than any other show, really. Pretty much everybody films inside the TMZ. I don't think CM has gone outside LA on location more than a couple of times.

[fun-french-fri.livejournal.com]

I see what you mean. I'm still going to watch the show. It's understandable that many people think others have gone overboard.

But.

I don't agree that "this is just Hollywood, casts change all the time, blahblahblah". What CBS did was shitty and it was low. To fire an actress from one of their top-rated shows without even telling her while everyone was on break? They pulled the rug out from under the entire cast. AJ has handled it with grace but Paget is obviously mad, and that makes ME mad. Seeing all these people saying "oh, it's no big deal", denying sexism, etc. is kind of terrible.

Also, I don't believe that we should have well-written women or none at all. The writers would have eventually had to have given Prentiss a storyline. That sound a little ridiculous but Morgan is getting one now, while Elle, Gideon, Hotch, Garcia, and especially Reid have gotten shitloads of focus in the past. We've got Rossi and Prentiss left. I feel that if they leave her in full-time there will be stories about her.

I'm not trying to say anyone is wrong to feel however they do or argue, but there's my opinion from the other side.

[almightyspaz.livejournal.com]

I'm a sick human being, I want death and angst too.

But not Torchwood level angst.

[almightyspaz.livejournal.com]

I agree with the character bits. Give me better back stories writers!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_nextboldmove_/]

To play it safe, we don't know that she was in the dark. Perhaps she didn't tell her cast mates because she didn't think she would really be let go? It could have been all secret negotiations for a reason. She may have known before it went public, but for legal or personal reasons kept it quiet.

[britmandelo.livejournal.com]

No, let's avoid Torchwood level gut-punching. That was a few too many in a row.

(I like to be twisted about emotionally by a narrative, show or book--sometimes it needs to be a bad feeling, not always a good one, heh.)

[underhand-glory.livejournal.com]

you took the words out of my mouth-- or keyboard, i guess

[http://users.livejournal.com/_nextboldmove_/]

The show has only filmed outside of LA with the main cast twice (according to some interiew Shemar did this spring...hell if I can remember). The alaska ep was filmed in Frazier Park up near Porterville, and the crossover ep...half that was filmed in San Francisco.

Even the season 2 ep in idaho was shot in LA, lost of spliced footage, which actually isn't cheap either.

[cupcakery.livejournal.com]

The only "right thing" they were trying to do is financial - it was budget cut-related, and they decided that the female characters were expendable; this is the same network that now gives Charlie Sheen two million dollars per episode of his sitcom, so the fact that they're cutting female characters from CM while giving Sheen a raise shows their feelings on the subject.

[scoob2222.livejournal.com]

Yes, but they have to create new sets every week and they have an entire guest cast pretty much every week. Whereas something like CSI has just the lab, and then a crime scene, CM has several locations in every episode, evne if they aren't actually at the location.

[fun-french-fri.livejournal.com]

To play it safe/make excuses, yes. She could have been hiding it. It seems unlikely though, judging from twitter and the fact that everyone in the cast is good friends with one another.

[drabbles-by-v.livejournal.com]

Aww, *hugs*, no one should be flaming you. It would be a pretty boring world if every fan thought the same way.

I don't really have much to say, actually. I'll keep watching, because my favorites are still there, but I'm going to miss JJ dearly. I felt like she was a really crucial part of the character balance.

More than anything, I think I'm just mad at the way CBS handled this. Someone else has already said it better than me, but the way they blindsighted the entire cast, and especially AJ and Paget, was just rude and unnecessary. For me, this is less about the show and more about the actual living people involved. It's obvious how close the cast is, and I think this is probably going to be at least a little hard for all of them, even if it is just business.