just a thought
Mar. 23rd, 2010 10:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ndnickersonI have a friend. (This is not "I have a friend who maybe accidentally attacked your neighbor's car with a shovel who may or may not be me," it's really a friend.) She didn't start watching Chuck until I was able to give her the Season 1 set, which meant she had to catch up on Season 2 with me because she didn't want to watch them out of order. So she was all primed and ready for Season 3 about 6 months before it began.
She's not in fandom. She doesn't read or write fanfic, she doesn't do our Twitter marathons. She might update her Facebook status when she's watching to indicate whether she enjoys or doesn't enjoy an episode, but that's the extent of her participation in the online presence of Chuck watchers. So I think she can accurately represent some of that segment of the Chuck audience that isn't vocal online.
My friend watches for the Chuck/Sarah. Secondarily, she watches for the spy plots. She likes the soap opera aspects of the show, but she's in it for the Chuck/Sarah.
So, my friend, who doesn't read spoilers, who catches up with Chuck when she misses it by watching it from the recording on my DVR, hates Shaw. She's irritated with his presence on the show and his interference in the Chuck/Sarah relationship. Whenever he appears, I think she actually has to convince herself to keep watching.
Now, I know that I've complained a great deal about the writing this season, but for her, it boils down to Shaw and the lack of Chuck/Sarah.
I think it's entirely possible that the show is losing viewers (if I'm not mistaken, the show has lost around 2 million viewers since the premiere) because they are also getting fed up with Shaw, and aren't going to stick around to see if that situation gets fixed. They have a lot of other options on Monday night. If they see Brandon Routh's smirking face and immediately change the channel, that's it. They're done.
My friend was invested in the show during the first two seasons because Chuck/Sarah was the heart of the show. It might still be, but it's buried under a lot of scar tissue right now. I blame the scar tissue on Shaw and shoddy writing, but for the casual viewer who might have been drawn in, I can very much see Shaw being the roadblock they just couldn't get around.
Don't get me wrong. I stick with shows, and Chuck, I'm pretty sure, is a show I'm going to stick with until the end. I did stop watching X-Files at the end because it was no longer about Mulder and Scully, and after Vince and Kathryn leave L&O CI, I doubt I'll be watching that much more either. I get invested in the characters. And when the characters get fucked with, that can make me irritated, and if it gets too bad, I find better things to do with my time. I really do love Chuck and want to believe that the writers are going to find a way to fix it, but, my God, when the showrunners themselves have identified Chuck/Sarah as the heart of the show, and have spent so much time this season keeping them apart, is it not unreasonable to think that frustration with that scenario has people leaving?
She's not in fandom. She doesn't read or write fanfic, she doesn't do our Twitter marathons. She might update her Facebook status when she's watching to indicate whether she enjoys or doesn't enjoy an episode, but that's the extent of her participation in the online presence of Chuck watchers. So I think she can accurately represent some of that segment of the Chuck audience that isn't vocal online.
My friend watches for the Chuck/Sarah. Secondarily, she watches for the spy plots. She likes the soap opera aspects of the show, but she's in it for the Chuck/Sarah.
So, my friend, who doesn't read spoilers, who catches up with Chuck when she misses it by watching it from the recording on my DVR, hates Shaw. She's irritated with his presence on the show and his interference in the Chuck/Sarah relationship. Whenever he appears, I think she actually has to convince herself to keep watching.
Now, I know that I've complained a great deal about the writing this season, but for her, it boils down to Shaw and the lack of Chuck/Sarah.
I think it's entirely possible that the show is losing viewers (if I'm not mistaken, the show has lost around 2 million viewers since the premiere) because they are also getting fed up with Shaw, and aren't going to stick around to see if that situation gets fixed. They have a lot of other options on Monday night. If they see Brandon Routh's smirking face and immediately change the channel, that's it. They're done.
My friend was invested in the show during the first two seasons because Chuck/Sarah was the heart of the show. It might still be, but it's buried under a lot of scar tissue right now. I blame the scar tissue on Shaw and shoddy writing, but for the casual viewer who might have been drawn in, I can very much see Shaw being the roadblock they just couldn't get around.
Don't get me wrong. I stick with shows, and Chuck, I'm pretty sure, is a show I'm going to stick with until the end. I did stop watching X-Files at the end because it was no longer about Mulder and Scully, and after Vince and Kathryn leave L&O CI, I doubt I'll be watching that much more either. I get invested in the characters. And when the characters get fucked with, that can make me irritated, and if it gets too bad, I find better things to do with my time. I really do love Chuck and want to believe that the writers are going to find a way to fix it, but, my God, when the showrunners themselves have identified Chuck/Sarah as the heart of the show, and have spent so much time this season keeping them apart, is it not unreasonable to think that frustration with that scenario has people leaving?