With the recent events in McKinney, Texas of police brutality at a pool party, it's time we as a nation consider the larger issue. The issue is not that of racism as popular media would have everyone believe - although, admittedly that may play a role, but the issue on a larger scale is that of profiling. Now, before you jump on me saying that the McKinney Pool Party was racial at the core, read the rest of this article. Profiling comes in many forms and racism is just one small, ugly part of it.
Profiling at it's basic core means to analyze something, or someone's capabilities. In the case of police profiling it's to determine, through analysis, if that someone poses a threat to society, himself or herself, or to the officer as defined within the law. Profiling can be based on the type of car driven, the clothing, skin color, tattoos, piercings, and even status in life. Keep in mind, of the many types of potential profiling that can occur, only one of them has to do with race and that is skin color.
To prove a point, I'm going to point out some key examples where I have been a victim of police profiling or have witnessed it. Despite my various heritage from Cherokee and other nationalities, the fact is most people seeing me would consider me to be Caucasian. So keep in mind that I'm for all intense purposes a Caucasian in each of these events.
Russellville, Arkansas - Several years ago I went with a group of friends to the basketball courts near the Arkansas River late at night. When the night was over, six of us got into a Ford LTD (big older car even for this time) and started back to our school (Arkansas Tech University). Another friend was in his own car. Going down Highway 7 we played around as young people sometimes do as if we were racing - keep in mind, our friend was driving a Volkswagen Rabbit that in our college days likely ran on two cylinders at best. While we were in the wrong, we were not exactly blowing the speed limits away or shooting up the town. When blue lights came on, we immediately pulled to the side of the road where we came face-to-face with one of Russellville's Caucasian Police officers. After a brief exchange between our driver and the officer, our driver was asked for his registration papers. He responded, "Yes sir, they are in the glove compartment. Can I get them." The officer who had been very rude up to this point, just about yelling at the driver, responded, "That had better be the only thing you get out of there!" He then placed his hand on his gun and unholstered it. Naturally somewhat nervous my friend reached to the glove box and handed the papers to the officer. I'm sure he was glad that nothing else fell out to distract or perhaps alarm the officer. Despite filing a compliant later, nothing was done to our knowledge with the officer. He had apparently used profiling to see a car with six people, racing with another car, pulled over the car, saw young people in the car late at night and decided based on profiling that we were a potential threat to someone. In the car was myself, three girls from our school, a former United States Marine, and the driver- an appointed Constable for his hometown area, an honor student, and a member of the ROTC program (consequently today he is a Lt. Colonel in the United States Army). Everyone in the car would be considered Caucasian and we had a Caucasian officer. We were obviously profiled as being "bad news" or "trouble".
Texarkana, Arkansas - years later I would be driving with my children when a light would turn yellow as I went through it. I felt strongly that the light was yellow, but apparently the police officer who pulled me over did not. He indicated to me that I had driven through a red light. When I responded that I thought it was yellow, he stated, "Now we can do this the easy way. My way. Or we can do this the hard way. Was the light red?" Naturally, with my children in the car, my mind flashed back to another officer who had unholstered his gun just because we wanted to get what he asked us to give to him. I decided we would do it the easy way. I responded, "Well, I must have been mistaken. It must have been red." I did not get a ticket, only a warning, but felt very threatened. In this case apparently the officer, using a profiling method, decided that I was going to be trouble based on the fact that I did not agree with his assessment and that he had to "put me in my place."
A couple of years ago I bought a black Volvo. I travel a lot down Highway 59 in Texas and it's known for having drug runners. For several months I drove the car with no problems. After I got the windows tinted dark, I was pulled over on average three to four times between Houston and Texarkana each trip I took. I was given excuses like, "You appeared to pass the truck very close. Have you been drinking?" and "I noticed your tire is low. You can come back here and look at it." Finally, after about the eight time of being stopped I had the following conversation with a nice county officers: I said, "Wow, I used to never get pulled over for anything. After I got these windows tinted I seem to get pulled over all the time." His response was, "I bet you do." Again, I had done nothing wrong other than make my car appear to be what they assumed a drug dealer might drive-needless to say I'm a little hesitant still to get the windows on my new Toyota Camry tinted.
While the examples above involve me, I have also seen people with tattoos being profiled and singled out. I have friends who ride motorcycles who have been pulled over for no apparent reason. I know young people wearing their pants low, both Caucasian, Hispanic, and African American, who have been stopped and questioned. I've seen homeless people walking down the street being questioned by police simply because of the way they look or the time they are out at night.
Based on everything I have read regarding the McKinney Pool Party-especially the last sentence of this article where a young Caucasian kid sees his African-American friends being singled out and nothing is said to him at this pool party (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/09/us/mckinney-tex-pool-party-dispute-leads-to-police-officer-suspension.html) profiling is occurring based on skin color in this situation. However, we do not need to think this is an exclusive area for profiling. Profiling is still based on many factors - cars, clothing, status in life, tattoos, mental abilities, and yes also skin color as pointed out.
When any officer takes action against someone simply based on any form of profiling we should all be alarmed. When I watched the video from McKinney, Texas I saw something very disturbing. I saw a young girl sitting on the ground asking the officer for her mother before being flung around and forced face down. She had no weapon, she was not fighting back, and in fact she seemed afraid. Witness statements seem to confirm that profiling in this case was based on race (remember, the Caucasian kid was overlooked). Even if this young lady had a bad attitude before, she certainly did not have that attitude before and as she was forced to the ground.
Many people will feel like the events at McKinney do not concern them. They will draw this conclusion because they are Caucasian, Hispanic, Japanese, Chinese, American Indian, or some other nationality. They will feel like the assemblies and protest do not concern them. I have never been profiled, to my knowledge, for my race. I have, as exampled above, been profiled for other issues. If we stand by allow The McKinney Pool Party to go by without our support and protest regardless of race, then how long before we are profiled for a Tattoo, a car, clothing, or even our own race? If we allow this to go unanswered, the the foundation of the Bill of Rights which was completely thrown out by this officer regarding this young lady for the First (Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances)-she was unable to speak in her request for her mother and forced to the ground for doing so, fourth (The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized)-she was unable to be secure at a party where she was invited and in fact those hired and paid to ensure her security violated that security, and Eight (Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.)-this officer threw her to the ground face first when there was no resistance and this qualifies as punishment inflicted parts will soon come back to haunt everyone through profiling. No, we cannot allow this to go unanswered and regardless of your heritage you must reach across and support those affected. If you do not, then someday it will come to your door as you are profiled for some reason and your rights are also thrown out by one individual or perhaps a group of individuals.
Tuesday, June 09, 2015
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Old Glory and Racism
A group of college professors and students have signed a petition to remove the American Flag from their campus because it represents racism (Fox News). As I read that first line on a news feed I was shocked at first, and then I read the article and I was angry. We live in a country where people seem to have forgotten a lot about that American Flag, or Old Glory as some call her.
First off, I will admit the flag has been flown in some situations that are outright racist. It was flown against Native Americans when our army slaughtered many of them for no reason other than to take their land, it was flown for many years over our country when we approved slavery, and it has been flown by some men and women at events meant to be racist in their very nature. But, the choices of those individuals do not represent the whole of what this flag has represented and what it continues to represent.
1. It represents a nation whose army marched into Little Rock, Arkansas to force segregation and protect school children trying attend public school.
2. It represents a nation that wrote the Civil Rights laws and has upheld them since the 1960s in federal courts.
3. It represents a nation where tax dollars are used for higher education (like that at the University of California) to pay for those regardless of ethnic backgrounds who can not afford to pay.
4. It represents a nation that ripped across Europe against the Nazi powers to stop oppression and destruction of those viewed as not Aryan.
5. It represents a nation that admitted the first African-American soldiers into the United States Army.
6. It represents and flew for freedom after the historic proclamation freeing all slaves in America and then carried the blood of those supporters.
Yes, I was angry when I read the article, I was offended, and I was outright upset. Take away the protections that the American Flag has stood for, and those same professors might find themselves without a job and perhaps without many of the freedoms they currently enjoy. Yes, our flag has been misused, but a symbol of racism? I dare think that if the men below were still alive today, those professors would not be nearly so bold:
First off, I will admit the flag has been flown in some situations that are outright racist. It was flown against Native Americans when our army slaughtered many of them for no reason other than to take their land, it was flown for many years over our country when we approved slavery, and it has been flown by some men and women at events meant to be racist in their very nature. But, the choices of those individuals do not represent the whole of what this flag has represented and what it continues to represent.
1. It represents a nation whose army marched into Little Rock, Arkansas to force segregation and protect school children trying attend public school.
2. It represents a nation that wrote the Civil Rights laws and has upheld them since the 1960s in federal courts.
3. It represents a nation where tax dollars are used for higher education (like that at the University of California) to pay for those regardless of ethnic backgrounds who can not afford to pay.
4. It represents a nation that ripped across Europe against the Nazi powers to stop oppression and destruction of those viewed as not Aryan.
5. It represents a nation that admitted the first African-American soldiers into the United States Army.
6. It represents and flew for freedom after the historic proclamation freeing all slaves in America and then carried the blood of those supporters.
Yes, I was angry when I read the article, I was offended, and I was outright upset. Take away the protections that the American Flag has stood for, and those same professors might find themselves without a job and perhaps without many of the freedoms they currently enjoy. Yes, our flag has been misused, but a symbol of racism? I dare think that if the men below were still alive today, those professors would not be nearly so bold:
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| Recruiting poster: http://civil-war-info.weebly.com/uploads/6/1/6/2/6162303/1300825024.jpg |
Tuesday, March 03, 2015
Why I'm Giving Up on the Save Dallas Campaign
I'm giving up on the "Save Dallas" Campaign that is targeting networks in an attempt to gain a season 4 for the series. As most people know, Dallas was cancelled by TNT back in October. It was crappy the way they did it, but it was done nonetheless. TNT had put out a poll asking viewers what they wanted to see in season 4, they ended season 3 on a cliffhanger - several actually- and they had a cast and crew working in the Dallas (you know, the city) area. After all that, "Boom", they dropped the bomb and said Dallas was cancelled and would not be renewed.
Most of the time when television series are ended, people get upset, but they go on with life. You have a few people who will write the network and complain, but for the most part people go on about life. This didn't happen when Dallas ended. A petition went up, Facebook post started, and famous hastags (#SaveDallas, #SaveDallasTNT, or even #SaveDallas2015) started going all over Tweeter and other sites. Heck, I wrote two articles about the drive and saw a huge spike in readers (thank you by the way!). Then NetFlix got seasons 1-3. There were rumors that they, NetFlix, might pick up the show in January and run it as a web based television show....now there was a historic opportunity that I thought they would take. I really thought that NetFlix would realize that they could get more viewers and be one of the first streaming networks to take a popular show from network television and put it on demand. I thought they will take a show that has been popular on two networks (CBS and TNT), transform major actors and actresses into streaming television, and move a major nighttime soap (or as TNT put it "Drama") into the world of the Internet streaming shows.....Apparently they didn't take the opportunity to make history.
While Netflix didn't take the opportunity, nobody else did either. We have now gone since October 2014 without one positive word on a season 4. Five months of no word is simply not good. It now is becoming apparent to me that we will not season 4 anytime. Sadly, I feel like it's time we hang up the "Save Dallas" campaign and move on. A lot of my friends will disagree, and I'm glad because in truth, I'd still like to see season 4. Maybe the Netflix folks will read my little blog and say, "Hey, this guy is right...we could make history!" There's always a chance. But in truth, I'm skeptical. I really figure we'll never see a reunion show, or another series again. If you're wondering why I'm skeptical, here's a list:
1. We only had 3 seasons of Dallas before TNT dropped the bomb. Not a good run to promote a reunion or even television movie.
2. J.R. is dead. Think about all the reunion movies...they were all centered around J.R. doing something. He's gone, it's over, and what are they going to do now? We did not have long enough for John Ross or any of the new characters to truly develop potential and the old characters aren't getting any younger (sorry guys).
3. It's been five months. The longer it goes, the less likely the chances of salvation for the show.
4. Face it, a quick read on Tweeter and search and you'll find a lot of the hastags are starting to disappear. That's right, people aren't posting as much.
5. The Save Dallas Campaign only has a little over 89,000 signatures. In the TV world, that's not a lot (Save Dallas)
6. The producers, who know TV way better than most of us, gave up back in November (Gave Up)
Now, all this being said and before I'm bashed for giving up, I'd like everyone to keep in mind J.R. would have always wanted TNT to think they won..... (Dallas Quotes)
Monday, February 09, 2015
The Walking Dead Presents the Good and Evil Choice at Death
The Walking Dead pulls no punches when it comes to killing off our favorite characters and Sunday night was no different. This time we said goodbye to Tyreese. However, unlike our former characters who have died, we were given a glimpse of what Tyreese hallucinated, saw, thought he saw, or perhaps he actually had a vision of those in the afterlife. The entire death scene presented the major possibility that Tyreese was actually being pulled two different directions. Good and evil was bidding for him to join their way of thinking during his last minutes alive.
Now set aside all theology and all thoughts of various religions as we believe them to be and remember those old cartoons. Remember when the good angel would sit on one shoulder and the bad angel would sit on the other should and encourage the person in the middle? It was the ultimate wrestle of the conscience and usually one or the other won out depending on the comic needs of the show. Sunday night was no different. We have Beth, Bob, Miki and Lizzie acting as the "good" side trying to encourage Tyreese by telling him "It's better now." We have to assume that they are trying to help Tyreese to the other side. It was interesting to note that Hershel was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he had some other stuff to do....you know, being all closer to God than most characters who have died seemed to be. Anyway, on the other side we have Martin and the Governor trying to pull rage, anger and even admitting that he owes the Governor something out of Tyreese. It's as if they want him to be angry and join them.
The pivotal moment comes when Tyreese tells the Governor off. You can almost imagine that he's telling the Devil himself to get away. Once that is done we are given some glimpse of other scenes before we find Tyreese seeing all his "good" friends again in the Suburban.
Tyreese is dying at this point. After all, most of us in Twitter land had already noted that he was looking a "little green" there. While Rick and company try to drive to the others and save Tyreese - not sure why they didn't maybe decide to make a fire where they were and save him, but hey, that's TV for you. Anyway, everyone in the Suburban turns into someone dead from Tyreese's past. He doesn't ever see some of the people he knew- which besides wondering about Hershel also leaves us wondering about Karen - but Miki, Lizzie, Bob and Beth all encourage him as they ride along that things are going to be okay. There's a moment when everyone watching has to stop and think, "Wow, Beth get your eyes back on the road or we're all going to get killed," but I guess when you're riding that final ride to Heaven, you don't need to see the road to get there.
So, once again the Walking Dead has found a way to bring some former characters back. Rick had to spend some time with his dead wife and hear other lost characters on the phone, and now Tyreese has allowed us to see some favorites one more time. I'm left thinking a couple of things. First, the "Bring Beth Back" campaign must have done some good since "Whoop, there she was!" and two the writers must want us to believe in the afterlife and that good and evil continue to struggle....besides, did Tyreese ever see the Governor with a hole in his head? I thought this was done after everyone left the prison, but sure enough you can see the hole and blood right there on the left side of the Governor's head. Since Tyreese couldn't have known that, maybe it's a hint that these good and evil people do come back to carry the dying across to that great unknown. Whatever the case may be, we can gain comfort knowing that Tyreese chose the right side and rode off into the sunset with Bob, Beth, Miki and....oh yeah, one crazy little Lizze who must have been healed of her mental issues once she passed over to the other side as a member of the "Hole in the head" club.
Saturday, February 07, 2015
Signing Off From the Shack One Last Time - The End of Radio Shack
When I was a kid I loved to go to card shops, comic book stores, and Radio Shack. Card shops have long faded or blended into comic book stores in the larger cities, but Radio Shacks were still on every corner. At least they were on every corner until this weekend. This weekend marks the bankruptcy death of the famous chain. All across the world the 1700 or so remaining "Shacks" have going-out-of business sales. Prices range from 25% off in some stores up to 70% off in other stores. After the sales, Sprint will take over some of the stores, but nobody knows if these sites will simply sale Sprint phones and services or if they will carry traditional "Radio Shack" stuff.
This weekend I visited two Radio Shack stores to search the sales, but more importantly to bring back some memories. I can still remember my first computers from Radio Shack, the childhood electronic project kits, scanners, all the adaptors any young person might need to make a stereo work perfect. I can remember looking at all the little switches, circuits, and boards. I can remember when the Tandy 1000 TX was replaced by the newest model of computers. At the time it seemed like nothing could beat a 286 and that the floppy drive would never die. I can remember all the cool spy stuff, not that it was supposed to be used for spying, but anything that amplified sound had applications for a budding spy!
As I strolled through the store I wondered briefly why I had not been to one in years. Looking at the prices, it quickly came to me that I had not been to the stores because they no longer held up against the competition. For example, at one store I found a Macbook battery for an older computer my daughter uses. With the discount it came to $27.99 before taxes. That seemed like a good deal until I used my cell phone to search E-bay and found better batteries for a price range of $12.99 to $25.99. So much for the big sale. I did manage to buy some "IRig" adaptors at a fairly decent price and a 400 watt converter for a little over twenty bucks. Overall, I found that many of the sale prices simply did not compare to what I could find at online electronic stores or on E-bay. It was at that moment that I realized that while Radio Shack was dying this weekend, it had died to me many years ago at the onset of Internet retail. I had simply moved from the "Shack" to my home computer screen. Now if I needed computer adaptors, radio supplies, scanners, or even project supplies, I simply clicked the button on a mouse, placed the order and waited for it to arrive at the house. There was no longer a need to run to the "Shack," and often it was overpriced anyway.
When I left Radio Shack today the clerk reminded me, "All sales are final." It was a polite way of saying, "You can't bring this back because we won't be here." I glanced at my receipt that said, "Radio Shack" and looked back at the big, red sign. My mind raced through the childhood thrills once again of a young man who was convinced that Radio Shack held all the components needed to make a space ship and go to the moon. I cherish those memories and those days spent searching for just the right items to make my electronic dreams come true. Soon, Radio Shack will slide into history alongside other greats such as Montgomery Ward. Then in a few years the "Shack" will just be a footnote for history classes and economic classes. I'll miss the "Shack"....at least for awhile, but ultimately that is due to sentimental reasons. It won't take me too long to hop back on the Internet and buy the electronics I need. It is ironic that Radio Shack began symbolically to represent a Ham radio operator's "Shack," a way to communicate worldwide through the air. Now we are able to communicate worldwide through the Internet. The very mode of communication that helped bring down Radio Shack, is now transmitting the end of the retail chain around the world. Soon, Radio Shack will sign off from the world one last time on the medium of communication that brought about the end of the electronic giant.
This weekend I visited two Radio Shack stores to search the sales, but more importantly to bring back some memories. I can still remember my first computers from Radio Shack, the childhood electronic project kits, scanners, all the adaptors any young person might need to make a stereo work perfect. I can remember looking at all the little switches, circuits, and boards. I can remember when the Tandy 1000 TX was replaced by the newest model of computers. At the time it seemed like nothing could beat a 286 and that the floppy drive would never die. I can remember all the cool spy stuff, not that it was supposed to be used for spying, but anything that amplified sound had applications for a budding spy!
As I strolled through the store I wondered briefly why I had not been to one in years. Looking at the prices, it quickly came to me that I had not been to the stores because they no longer held up against the competition. For example, at one store I found a Macbook battery for an older computer my daughter uses. With the discount it came to $27.99 before taxes. That seemed like a good deal until I used my cell phone to search E-bay and found better batteries for a price range of $12.99 to $25.99. So much for the big sale. I did manage to buy some "IRig" adaptors at a fairly decent price and a 400 watt converter for a little over twenty bucks. Overall, I found that many of the sale prices simply did not compare to what I could find at online electronic stores or on E-bay. It was at that moment that I realized that while Radio Shack was dying this weekend, it had died to me many years ago at the onset of Internet retail. I had simply moved from the "Shack" to my home computer screen. Now if I needed computer adaptors, radio supplies, scanners, or even project supplies, I simply clicked the button on a mouse, placed the order and waited for it to arrive at the house. There was no longer a need to run to the "Shack," and often it was overpriced anyway.
When I left Radio Shack today the clerk reminded me, "All sales are final." It was a polite way of saying, "You can't bring this back because we won't be here." I glanced at my receipt that said, "Radio Shack" and looked back at the big, red sign. My mind raced through the childhood thrills once again of a young man who was convinced that Radio Shack held all the components needed to make a space ship and go to the moon. I cherish those memories and those days spent searching for just the right items to make my electronic dreams come true. Soon, Radio Shack will slide into history alongside other greats such as Montgomery Ward. Then in a few years the "Shack" will just be a footnote for history classes and economic classes. I'll miss the "Shack"....at least for awhile, but ultimately that is due to sentimental reasons. It won't take me too long to hop back on the Internet and buy the electronics I need. It is ironic that Radio Shack began symbolically to represent a Ham radio operator's "Shack," a way to communicate worldwide through the air. Now we are able to communicate worldwide through the Internet. The very mode of communication that helped bring down Radio Shack, is now transmitting the end of the retail chain around the world. Soon, Radio Shack will sign off from the world one last time on the medium of communication that brought about the end of the electronic giant.
Friday, January 23, 2015
#SaveDallas Strong Support as Odds Increase Against Renewal
The #SaveDallas is still everwhere on social networks. In some form or another you can find such hashtags as #SaveDallas, #SaveDallas2014, and #SaveDallas2015. A blog post here just a few days ago shot up with readers to a record high for this small blog. This was a higher ratings for this blog than the "Goodbye Mork" post about Robin Williams. So what's wrong with the world? Why isn't some network picking up the iconic Dallas?
The answer to the above questions is really simple. With the exception of some die-hard fans, and a handful of other supporters everyone else has given up. Look at the show's stars twitter post and they've move away from #SaveDallas. We couldn't even pull in one or two stars here by mentioning them to get them to read our post. The producers gave up way back in December and others have already said no to the show coming to their networks. Now it's a battle of time, and as it goes in the television world, "Time is not on our side."
So what about those die-hard and even so-so fans out there who want to see Dallas continue? What about the ones that want to see some closure to the series at least? What can they do to promote Dallas back on before it's too late? Remember, now it's January. Time is flying by and February will be here soon. The longer it takes the more likely the stars will have new shows with new contracts, the sets will be gone, and the entire cast and crew will be scattered around the entertainment world. Time is not on our side here, so what needs to be done is three simple steps:
1. Any article about #SaveDallas needs to be promoted, read, re-read, and promoted again. All of them from small blogs to big blogs. Why is this small blog writing about Dallas again? Because people read it, people promoted it. Attention was brought to my blog. Other blogs work the same folks. Do it for all of them. Get those numbers up.
2. Hound the cast. They all have twitter accounts. Maybe someone else is running the accounts, but they are out there nonetheless. Make Facebook, Twitter and every other social media explode as you name off the cast, crew and show your #SaveDallas signs. You have to drive them back to respond just as I tried in my Twitter post.
3. Watch Dallas on Netflix. If you don't have Netflix call them and take it- be sure to tel them the only reason you're taking Netflix is to watch Dallas and then watch it. They know who is watching and who's not.
Finally, as I stated before, there is a good chance all this will not work. As time marches on, the odds of Dallas being picked up dwindles. Sorry, it's just the truth. But, if in the end Dallas can not be saved, remember - you were part of something big. You were a part of a move to try to save an iconic show and cast. You can always be proud of your #SaveDallas participation.
The answer to the above questions is really simple. With the exception of some die-hard fans, and a handful of other supporters everyone else has given up. Look at the show's stars twitter post and they've move away from #SaveDallas. We couldn't even pull in one or two stars here by mentioning them to get them to read our post. The producers gave up way back in December and others have already said no to the show coming to their networks. Now it's a battle of time, and as it goes in the television world, "Time is not on our side."
So what about those die-hard and even so-so fans out there who want to see Dallas continue? What about the ones that want to see some closure to the series at least? What can they do to promote Dallas back on before it's too late? Remember, now it's January. Time is flying by and February will be here soon. The longer it takes the more likely the stars will have new shows with new contracts, the sets will be gone, and the entire cast and crew will be scattered around the entertainment world. Time is not on our side here, so what needs to be done is three simple steps:
1. Any article about #SaveDallas needs to be promoted, read, re-read, and promoted again. All of them from small blogs to big blogs. Why is this small blog writing about Dallas again? Because people read it, people promoted it. Attention was brought to my blog. Other blogs work the same folks. Do it for all of them. Get those numbers up.
2. Hound the cast. They all have twitter accounts. Maybe someone else is running the accounts, but they are out there nonetheless. Make Facebook, Twitter and every other social media explode as you name off the cast, crew and show your #SaveDallas signs. You have to drive them back to respond just as I tried in my Twitter post.
3. Watch Dallas on Netflix. If you don't have Netflix call them and take it- be sure to tel them the only reason you're taking Netflix is to watch Dallas and then watch it. They know who is watching and who's not.
Finally, as I stated before, there is a good chance all this will not work. As time marches on, the odds of Dallas being picked up dwindles. Sorry, it's just the truth. But, if in the end Dallas can not be saved, remember - you were part of something big. You were a part of a move to try to save an iconic show and cast. You can always be proud of your #SaveDallas participation.
Sunday, January 18, 2015
The #SaveDallas Drive Continues
I'm going to date myself here a little, but I can still remember a Dallas when Southfork was a different house and Jock was alive. It was during that time that the thrill of nighttime soaps developed and Dallas became the cornerstone and basis for all other nighttime soaps. You had to have better sets, better acting, better plots, and yet somehow stick to the ability to link week-after-week's episodes together in a tight bond that brought viewers back. Nobody did it better than Dallas. Dallas did it so well that the "Who Shot J.R.?" theme became the cry for the series, a song, and one of the most talked about cliffhangers (sorry Cliff Barns, not about you) of all time. When Dallas rode off into the sunset with the apparent suicide of J.R. Ewing, nobody thought it was over. Everyone knew there would be a movie later and maybe a reunion special. Just as expected the reunions came, some were specials and some were sit-down and talk about the good-old days events, but they came. Then, TNT decided to give fans something again. Not a reboot with new actors playing J.R. etc, not three or four generations later, no TNT gave us the old Ewings and the new Ewings. They gave us the old Cliff Barns, even though he looks frail in health, and they gave us a young Barns to pave the wave of new destruction. They gave us the old cunning J.R. and his prototype son in John Ross. Bobby was back as was Sue Ellen and we even had glimpses of other old characters as well. Then we got all the new characters with their own set of drama, plots, and ideas on how to make the world better...whether with oil or some other form of energy. Excitement was in the air.....then TNT struck out.
It was almost as if TNT was preparing for the cancellation from the start. The show premiered with great ratings in a June slot. The Wednesday night time slot, while not the historical favorite of Friday night, seemed to be a solid place for Dallas. TNT then, for some unknown reason decided to move the premiere for season two to January 28, 2013. They particularly moved the show to Monday night where it could compete with some major competitive shows. Dallas started on this same night The Big Bang Theory was being used on CBS to help compete against The Bachelor on ABC (two hours) and The Biggest Loser (also two hours) on NBC (Schedule). Not surprisingly, ratings dropped. After that second season, TNT made the bold decision to move the show back to February, but still on a Monday night. Now the show was competing against the two-hour premier of The Voice (Schedule) and many other popular shows leading just before such as Mike and Molly. One of the final indicators that TNT may have been trying to discredit the show's popularity or justify their decision to cancel came in the Christmas season of 2014. Rather than release the final season on DVD during Christmas, when consumers were making major purchases, TNT waited until a January purchase date (Dallas on TNT). It appeared, at least to this writer, that TNT was attempting to put the final nail in the coffin to say, "See, Dallas just isn't popular enough to be on the air. We were right."
While it could be argued that the death of Larry Hagman may have been the death shot (no pun intended) to the show, in truth that is not likely. Hagman died during the production of season two (Ref). However, to be honest, the old J.R. character that people knew and loved was really a background character for the younger cast. Most fans, including this writer, could tell that Hagman was not in the best of health and he seemed to be getting weaker during each appearance on-screen. A close examination of his hands during one of the last on-screen scenes with Josh Henderson revealed spots and frailty that seemed to indicate a sick man was working. Regardless of the loss of Hagman, it should be noted that Dallas lost other stars along the way and survived. While J.R. may have been the prime character of the late 70's, 80's, and early 90's run of the original show, he was clearly not intended to be the main character for the new series. Dallas deals with life, though often inflated, and in life people die. So the death of J.R. worked well into the story, the series, and as a tribute to the actor and man who made J.R. come to life. Fans could rest happy know that not only did Hagman bring J.R. to life and become the character, but he also succeeded in what many actors can only dream of doing and that is walking the character out of life as well. No, the death of J.R. was not the death shot for the show, it was just a change along the way and change is something Dallas has always faced head-on and flowed through.
So, if J.R.'s death did not kill the show, then the only logical thing to conclude is that ratings killed the show; however that is doubtful as well. Strong fans will remember that TNT did an online survey wanting to know where fans would like to see Dallas go for season four. Questions were asked about the John Ross' sister link, what to do with other characters, and how to develop the show. It appeared to any fan that Dallas would be moving strong into season four. Then came the boom and TNT dropped the show. Interestingly, the major thing that seemed to change the Dallas landscape was still TNT's decision to move to Monday night. It can be seen in the chart below from Chart Page:
Anyone would admit that the chart clearly shows a decrease of viewers from season one to season two, but it also shows the change of nights from Wednesday to Monday. Sadly viewers are often calculated based on the ratings which only takes a small portion of the population into account. This writer for example was chosen within the last year to participate in the Nielsen Ratings (Nielsen). Sadly for me, Dallas was not on at the time and therefore my rating had no effect for the show. As for ratings, they are often based as stated before on small numbers. It should be noted that an online petition currently has 88,568 signatures to support keeping Dallas on air, somewhere (Petition). Since I have full Internet access, but have not signed the petition yet, I have to wonder how many people without Internet and some with Internet might be willing to sign the petition. It also should make any network provider wonder. After all, 88,568 is a small amount of people, but what if all those people were Nielsen Raters during a time Dallas had been on the air? Would 88,568 little booklets from people turned in equal to millions or more viewers? Would those ratings have shot through the roof?
Finally, it appears we may never know the answer. Dallas has now premiered with all three seasons on Netflix, but that doesn't appear to mean it's going to stay there or even start a new season there (Netflix and Dallas). But to Josh Henderson and the rest of the cast...especially, one of my all time favorites even from The Man From Atlantis, Step-By-Step and others Patrick Duffy, just know that your fans are still out here rooting for you and the Save Dallas hashtag (#SaveDallas) is alive and well as we wait to see you again.
It was almost as if TNT was preparing for the cancellation from the start. The show premiered with great ratings in a June slot. The Wednesday night time slot, while not the historical favorite of Friday night, seemed to be a solid place for Dallas. TNT then, for some unknown reason decided to move the premiere for season two to January 28, 2013. They particularly moved the show to Monday night where it could compete with some major competitive shows. Dallas started on this same night The Big Bang Theory was being used on CBS to help compete against The Bachelor on ABC (two hours) and The Biggest Loser (also two hours) on NBC (Schedule). Not surprisingly, ratings dropped. After that second season, TNT made the bold decision to move the show back to February, but still on a Monday night. Now the show was competing against the two-hour premier of The Voice (Schedule) and many other popular shows leading just before such as Mike and Molly. One of the final indicators that TNT may have been trying to discredit the show's popularity or justify their decision to cancel came in the Christmas season of 2014. Rather than release the final season on DVD during Christmas, when consumers were making major purchases, TNT waited until a January purchase date (Dallas on TNT). It appeared, at least to this writer, that TNT was attempting to put the final nail in the coffin to say, "See, Dallas just isn't popular enough to be on the air. We were right."
While it could be argued that the death of Larry Hagman may have been the death shot (no pun intended) to the show, in truth that is not likely. Hagman died during the production of season two (Ref). However, to be honest, the old J.R. character that people knew and loved was really a background character for the younger cast. Most fans, including this writer, could tell that Hagman was not in the best of health and he seemed to be getting weaker during each appearance on-screen. A close examination of his hands during one of the last on-screen scenes with Josh Henderson revealed spots and frailty that seemed to indicate a sick man was working. Regardless of the loss of Hagman, it should be noted that Dallas lost other stars along the way and survived. While J.R. may have been the prime character of the late 70's, 80's, and early 90's run of the original show, he was clearly not intended to be the main character for the new series. Dallas deals with life, though often inflated, and in life people die. So the death of J.R. worked well into the story, the series, and as a tribute to the actor and man who made J.R. come to life. Fans could rest happy know that not only did Hagman bring J.R. to life and become the character, but he also succeeded in what many actors can only dream of doing and that is walking the character out of life as well. No, the death of J.R. was not the death shot for the show, it was just a change along the way and change is something Dallas has always faced head-on and flowed through.
So, if J.R.'s death did not kill the show, then the only logical thing to conclude is that ratings killed the show; however that is doubtful as well. Strong fans will remember that TNT did an online survey wanting to know where fans would like to see Dallas go for season four. Questions were asked about the John Ross' sister link, what to do with other characters, and how to develop the show. It appeared to any fan that Dallas would be moving strong into season four. Then came the boom and TNT dropped the show. Interestingly, the major thing that seemed to change the Dallas landscape was still TNT's decision to move to Monday night. It can be seen in the chart below from Chart Page:
| Season | # Ep. | Timeslot (ET) | Premiered | Ended | Average Viewers (in millions) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premiere | Viewers (in millions) | Finale | Viewers (in millions) | ||||
| 1 | 10 | Wednesday 9:00 pm | June 13, 2012 | 6.86[45] | August 8, 2012 | 4.29[46] | 4.5[47] |
| 2 | 15 | Monday 9:00 pm | January 28, 2013 | 2.98[48] | April 15, 2013[49] | 2.99 | 2.84[47] |
| 3 | 15 | February 24, 2014 | 2.65 | September 22, 2014 | 1.72 | 1.92 | |
Anyone would admit that the chart clearly shows a decrease of viewers from season one to season two, but it also shows the change of nights from Wednesday to Monday. Sadly viewers are often calculated based on the ratings which only takes a small portion of the population into account. This writer for example was chosen within the last year to participate in the Nielsen Ratings (Nielsen). Sadly for me, Dallas was not on at the time and therefore my rating had no effect for the show. As for ratings, they are often based as stated before on small numbers. It should be noted that an online petition currently has 88,568 signatures to support keeping Dallas on air, somewhere (Petition). Since I have full Internet access, but have not signed the petition yet, I have to wonder how many people without Internet and some with Internet might be willing to sign the petition. It also should make any network provider wonder. After all, 88,568 is a small amount of people, but what if all those people were Nielsen Raters during a time Dallas had been on the air? Would 88,568 little booklets from people turned in equal to millions or more viewers? Would those ratings have shot through the roof?
Finally, it appears we may never know the answer. Dallas has now premiered with all three seasons on Netflix, but that doesn't appear to mean it's going to stay there or even start a new season there (Netflix and Dallas). But to Josh Henderson and the rest of the cast...especially, one of my all time favorites even from The Man From Atlantis, Step-By-Step and others Patrick Duffy, just know that your fans are still out here rooting for you and the Save Dallas hashtag (#SaveDallas) is alive and well as we wait to see you again.
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