Monday, December 31, 2007

Good news Bad news

Ok, so first the "bad" news. Journeyman fan Joe was able to have some e-mail correspondence with John Miller, Chief Marketing officer (and I believe member of the board of directors, but I'm not sure) for NBC. Now, bear in mind that in some ways, John Miller was responsible for the marketing of Journeyman, so he's not going to admit they did anything wrong with their placement and promotion of Journeyman. He does however lay things on the line, especially with regard to FOX.

Here's some quotes:

The biggest issue with Journeyman is that for all 13 episodes - the first half hour had more viewers than the second half hour. Every one - without exception. Hit dramas show some signs - over 13 episodes - that they can at least hold if not build an audience. The first original episode was the highest rated...and continue to fall week in and week out - even provided with a solid lead in.Too bad - it's a good show. The Show is owned by Fox - perhaps they can find another home for it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The data we get from Nielsen is live, live plus same (people who watch DVR in same day) and Live plus 7. What advertisers buy is C3. commercial ratings viewed with in 3 days. The Journeyman DVR use was high - but not as high as other shows on the network such as Heroes, the Office, or Friday Night Lights. FOX owns the show and can participate on other revenue streams such as International sale and DVD could place it on their own air or sell to another broadcaster or cable company. Unlikely. But possible. NBC just licenses the show for a fee. We ordered 13 and played them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My wife hounds me about the show as much as the 1000 e-mails I have received.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm going to leave it up to SaveJourneyman.net and YOU the wonderful Journeyman fans to decide what this all means, and where (if anywhere) we should now focus our efforts. It does sound as though perhaps the best hope lies with FOX, so perhaps someone can get started looking up "who's who" at FOX.

Ok, so while that's a little bit depressing, bear in mind again that while Mr. Miller is clearly being very candid, he would be reluctant to take any responsibility for what happened to the show. Not that he's lying or spinning the truth, but it's human nature to pass the buck, if only a little.

Also, the Rice-A-Roni is being sent to Jeff Zucker, who's likely more "important" decision-wise than Miller, so there's always hope that going to the top of the chain can result in something, just like it did with Jericho.

Ok, now for the "good" news. Over 1,300 boxes of Rice-A-Roni have shipped, and donation total is now over $2,500! There is still much more Rice-A-Roni to be sent, so Zucker will hear the message. In the end, even if NBC doesn't make a move on this, at the very least FOX will get wind of this information, and if they don't get wind of it, we'll make sure they know just how many people contributed to this cause. And all of this food is helping charity, so that's always a sliver lining.

Again, if anyone has comments or suggestions, please do share!

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Another bulk order!

Just ordered 288 more boxes of Rice-A-Roni. Updated Totals:

Donations: $2,201
Boxes of Rice-A-Roni ordered: 1,326
Estimated weight of Rice-A-Roni: 580lbs

I've lifted the $10 donation "limit" and upped it to $25 (as long as Amazon.com continues to carry Rice-A-Roni.) If you donated $10 before and want to donate more, feel free!

The previous order (from my last entry) shipped in seven separate boxes via UPS and is scheduled to arrive on the 28th - this Friday.

Oh, and someone commented asking if I'm ordering a variety of Rice-A-Roni... absolutely! They're getting all sorts of Rice-A-Roni along with gift messages addressed to Jeff Zucker asking for renewal of Journeyman.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

360 more boxes ordered

I just ordered 360 more boxes of Rice-A-Roni (15 cases of 24).

Grand total of 1038 boxes ordered as of tonight. That's roughly 450 lbs of Rice-A-Roni!

Total money donated: $2,039

I still have about $250 left to place more orders. Keep those donations coming!

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Updates

Hi gang! I will update soon with the new donations. Another order will be placed soon. Just when I think I'll be good for a while, a few hundred more $ in donations comes in and it's time for another big order.

I've gotten a lot of good suggestions lately, but unfortunately I can't keep up with updates to coordinate all the ideas. http://SaveJourneyman.net is a great place to keep up with any new plans in addition to the Rice-A-Roni mailings, so be sure to check there as well. We may actually end up merging the two sites.

1) Several people have pointed out that full episodes of Journeyman are available on the NBC web page, (http://www.nbc.com/Journeyman/video/episodes.shtml) and the episodes are ad supported, so your views = money for NBC = support for Journeyman.

2) You can also purchase full episodes or the entire season from iTunes or Amazon unbox (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VVL57U/ref=atv_dp_series)

3) Write to these guys:

Mr. Jeff Zucker
NBC Universal Television Group
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112

The GE Building at Rockefeller Plaza is NBC's corporate headquarters, and the phone and fax numbers of NBC's New York offices are:
Phone: 212-664-4444
Fax: 212-664-4085

Mr. Ben Silverman
c/o NBC-TV
3000 W. Alameda Avenue
Burbank, CA 91523

4) Don't forget that you can donate money towards Rice-A-Roni mailings on my page here: http://savejourneyman.funurl.com/

5) You can send your own Rice-A-Roni: http://save-journeyman.blogspot.com/2007/12/now-its-rice-roni.html (don't forget to include a nice letter to Jeff Zucker in support of Journeyman)

6) Sign both petitions:
http://www.petitiononline.com/jmf/petition.html
http://www.petitiononline.com/sjmnbc/petition.html

And again, I'd just like to remind everyone that even if I haven't replied to your e-mail, I have read them all. If there's something important you need an answer to, please do e-mail me again. Like I said, I've been somewhat busy, so be sure to also visit http://SaveJourneyman.net for news and updates as well. (We may eventually be merging when I get the time to straighten some things out).

Thanks everyone, and it's important now that we don't slow down our efforts!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

New Order

Just placed a new order for 314 more boxes of Rice-A-Roni! I've now received over $1,200 in donations (w0w) and by some time next week, NBC will have received 678 boxes of Rice-A-Roni from your donations. That's not even counting the potentially hundreds of boxes from individuals who've sent their own.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

All good things...

Well, we just witnessed what could be the last episode of Journeyman. If so, the show certainly went out with a bang. I want to thank Kevin Falls, and of course the amazing cast, crew, writers, producers, directors, and cinematographers who brought this short lived favorite to life. This last episode typified what the series was all about.

We love you, Journeyman, and if this is the end, then it was a great ride that will always be a part of us.

Now just a few notes:

I'm a bit behind on updating the donations list, so hang in there. I will get each and every one of you on the list if you've donated, and if you see a mistake or your name is still missing and you donated before the "updated" time listed, just e-mail me and let me know.

I'm still working on placing online orders as well as shipping out my own bulk packages, and as of this moment around 400 total boxes of Rice-A-Roni have shipped, and I will be sending more soon. I've received a much bigger response than I ever could have imagined (over $1,000 donated), and it's a testament to how much this show is loved.

Another important note - I've received a TON of e-mail since I started this blog and the Save Journeyman website (http://SaveJourneyman.funurl.com), and there are still a lot of e-mails I haven't been able to reply to. Please know that I've read every single message, and a lot of your ideas and suggestions have either been implemented already, are under consideration, or are in the works. If I haven't replied to you and you still need an answer on something, or if you have an urgent issue to address, by all means either reply to this post or send me another e-mail re-stating your comment or question. Believe me, your support and suggestions have been great, and even if I haven't replied to you I am not by any means ignoring you.

Thanks for all your help, and we're not ready to give up. Even as the Rice-A-Roni mailings will eventually wind down, there are still things we can do to promote Journeyman. While it's probably a long shot at this point, so have many things in history been a long shot. There's still a fight to be had, though.

I will be updating again soon as to the top things you can do (besides Rice-A-Roni) to help. Keep in mind that a long term, sustained "attack" that can't be ignored is the only way this will work. You need to keep writing, keep calling, keep e-mailing, etc. The names of key people to write to are scattered throughout this blog - just read through some of my previous entries for addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of those people that need to hear from you.

Don't forget that shows changing networks isn't unprecedented, so FOX may need to hear from us soon. They are the ones that produce the show, so it wouldn't be out of the question for them to pick up Journeyman if NBC relinquishes the rights to it. Again, a long shot, but you never know.

It's not any one fan doing a lot that will result in success, it's lots of us doing the little things, so hang in there, and stay tuned to the blog here and the other Save Journeyman sites on the web for news and updates.

Thanks again, Journeyman fans!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Journeyman Fan podcast with Kevin Falls

Well, the podcast is over, and it was terrific. For those that missed it, Troy from the Journeyman fan podcast conducted an excellent chat with Kevin Falls, with a lot of insight into the show, and reasons for why it flew under the radar of way too many viewers (time slot and promotion not being the least of its problems).

You can listen to the archived podcast here: http://podcastpickle.com/cast/28583

Kevin's passion for the show and everyone he worked with definitely comes through, and it's unfortunate that the planets just couldn't align to make this a hit right off the bat.

Don't forget the Journeyman finale tomorrow night (Wednesday Dec 19th, 10pm eastern).

And keep sending that Rice-A-Roni, and check back here for continuous updates on bulk shipments to NBC.

Kevin Falls on the Journeyman podcast tonight!

Tune in to the Journeyman podcast tonight (Tuesday, Dec 18th) at 9pm eastern. Kevin Falls will be a guest.

http://podcastpickle.com/cast/28583

Call 724.444.7444 and enter talkcast ID 56095 when prompted. Just hit 1 and # to join us live at 9 pm tonight!

Monday, December 17, 2007

Quick Update

Wow... Donations keep rolling in, and I'm still working to keep up.

Thanks to Jo for helping out by shipping out 60 boxes of Rice-A-Roni and I've just placed an order for 216 boxes through an online grocer.

Our current totals are:

$702 donated from over 80 different people

366 total boxes of Rice-A-Roni shipped to NBC

Great job, everyone. Much more Rice-A-Roni is yet to be shipped, so stay tuned for updates.

As for tonight's episode... what more can be said? This show continues to deliver, and it's quite sad that all that's left is Wednesday's episode (don't forget!) unless we can somehow make a difference. Even if we can't, at least there's going to be a lot of food going to charity and the people at NBC will know that we care.

Friday, December 14, 2007

E-mail addresses and more Rice for NBC

Another 60 boxes are on their way to NBC (90 total boxes shipped so far), and the donations are coming in so fast I can't keep up! (that's good and bad). Again, if anyone can give me the addresses of any online grocery stores that will deliver to NY, that will help. Right now, I'm going both through netgrocer and mailing my own after ransacking the local store of all their Rice-A-Roni.

I also have yet to update the donations page with several donations that I've recieved over the last day and a half, so if you don't see your name yet, don't worry! I should be updating later tonight.

Journeyman fan Allen sent me this summary of everyone he's contacted at NBC and their responses. This might be useful to see who's paying attention at NBC, and throwing an e-mail to these people might be helpful:


John Miller - Chief Marketing Officer NBC Universal Television
Group
John.Miller@nbcuni.com

Response:Thanks for the note - Journeyman is a terrific series in search of an audience.We plan on giving it time and continue to market it...keep your word of mouth going!
Best
John Miller

Joanne Park - Senior Press Manager NBC Entertainment Publicity
Joanne.park@nbcuni.com

Response:WE LOVE THE SHOW TOO!! PLEASE KEEP WATCHING! THANKS

[note: Joanne is basically in charge of Journeyman press publicity, so she's likely not involved in the decision making process, but she would still be able to pass on the information about all the e-mails she's received]

Marc Hirshfeld - Executive Vice President, Casting, NBC Universal
Television
Marc.Hirshfeld@nbcuni.com

Response:I appreciate the positive feedback and will share this with our current execs as well. Thanks for watching the show. Tell your friends to tune in!
MH



The following people did not reply, so either they're too busy, not involved with the show, or whatever. It couldn't hurt to e-mail them a lot too, though!


Mitch Metcalf - Executive Vice President, Program Planning & Scheduling
NBC Universal
Mitch.Metcalf@nbcuni.com

Vince ManzePresident, NBC Program Planning, Scheduling and Strategy NBC
Universal
Vince.Manze@nbcuni.com

Lisa VebberSenior Vice President, Scheduling & Strategic Analysis
Lisa.Vebber@nbcuni.com

And Rick LudwinExecutive Vice President, Late Night and Primetime Series,
NBC Entertainment
Rick.Ludwin@nbcuni.com
Note: Not involved with Journeyman do not send him email.



If you plan to e-mail any of these people, it's critical not to take a combattive approach. You want to be friendly, and express to them how saddened you are over the potential loss of the show, how much you love it, and how much you'd love for them to pick it up for another season. It might also be good to mention that you feel Journeyman is in a bad time slot, and mention that it's inconvenient for you to watch it at that hour. Perhaps enough people complaining about time slot and they'll considering that when looking at Journeyman's ratings!

And don't forget http://savejourneyman.funurl.com/ for details on the Rice-A-Roni campaign, and also my blog post from last week on how you can send your own.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Stupid NBC and more Rice-A-Roni

Well, somewhat sad news as NBC has not picked up Journeyman. Apparently, there was some sort of deadline to pick up the remaining portion of the season. However, I think that the WGA strike may somehow be involved in the decision, and I wouldn't rule out hope for a return if the last two episodes can pull a decent rating. Unfortunately Monday's episode didn't fare all that well, basically remaining at the same level as in the past, with the 18-49 demographic falling off a bit. (More details at http://SaveJourneyman.net)

Journeyman continues to be a success in DVR recordings, but just not enough to garner a renewal... yet.

The Rice-A-Roni campaign is going strong, however, and we need you now more than ever. Today alone I received around $120 in donations! Let's make sure NBC knows they have a winner with this show!

And finally, approximately 60 boxes of Rice-A-Roni will be shipping out tomorrow!

Updates

First off, the first shipment (15lbs) has been delivered at NBC! It was signed for today. The Fedex tracking number is available upon request, but I'm not sure if posting it publically is a good idea or allowed.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

We're up to almost $200 in donations! The next shipment will go out soon. I'm going to buy more Rice-A-Roni today, and hopefully mail it out via priority mail by the end of the day Wednesday or on Thursday at the latest.

Also, Rachel Thomas at About.com's guide to TV Dramas will be doing an article on Journeyman!

As always, if you have any comments or suggestions please let me know!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Media - newspaper, radio, etc contacts

We desperately need the media to jump on this thing to spread the word. If anyone has any contacts within the media universe (any brand of media), let us know! Make them aware of the Save Journeyman campaign for renewal of the show, and link them to any of the Save Journeyman websites, including http://SaveJourneyman.funurl.com, my blog here (http://save-journeyman.blogspot.com) and http://SaveJourneyman.net

And YOU can help! Send e-mails to tvguide bloggers, E! online, and all of the other entertainment websites. Look for relevant blogs and make comments, send e-mails to bloggers, etc. Word of mouth is what will keep this thing going, so do your part! The more these people hear from us about Journeyman, the more likely they are to take notice and spread the word.

Monday nights Christmas episode was just amazing. This show just keeps getting better and better. We can't let it go quietly into the night. Remember, most people don't know that this show hasn't been picked up for more episodes, so let them know, and tell them to watch the show and come online and help out!

I've shipped out 15lbs of Rice-A-Roni so far, and a new box will be shipped very soon!

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Donations over $100, 2nd shipment on Monday?

Well, we're over $100 donated for Rice-A-Roni!

I've placed an order through netgrocer, and I plan on buying up a bunch of boxes on Monday at the store and sending a box via priority mail that should arrive on Wednesday! Tracking numbers for both shipments will be posted once I have them.

If you want to donate: http://SaveJourneyman.funurl.com

And read my other blog entires to find out how to send your own Rice-A-Roni.

REMINDER: There are three Journeyman episodes left! Tell your friends, neighbors, co-workers and random people on the street to watch, sign the petition, write, fax, download episodes online and to visit the save journeyman websites and send some Rice-A-Roni!

The final three episodes are on Dec 10th, Dec 17th, and Dec 19th.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Rice A Roni!

I've collected over $70 so far! I've ordered the first "bulk" shipment of Rice-A-Roni, through netgrocer. It is due to arrive on December 13th.

Hopefully I'll get to some of the local grocery stores and clean them out of all their Rice-A-Roni to mail as well.

If you want to donate, details are here http://savejourneyman.funurl.com/

If you want to send your own Rice-A-Roni, read Here and my entry Here

If you buy your own at the store and send it to NBC, it might actually come out cheaper than some of the online sites. When you send it, make sure to write "Rice-A-Roni for Journeyman" on the outside of the box!

Also, Justine commented over at SaveJourneyman.net:

These really should be sent to NBC in Burbank.Here is the address:

Jeff Zucker
3000 W. Alameda Ave.
Burbank, CA. 91523
I used to work for NBC so I am certain that all prime-time related issues go to Burbank.



However, according to the NBC website, Jeff Zucker is based in New York, at the GE building's NBC headquarters. My question was:

Does anyone know which address we should be sending these to? Justine has commented above to send to Jeff Zucker in Burbank, but according to the NBC website itself, Zucker lives in NY. The corporate headquarters of NBC are in NY - they call the shots. If they send word to the Burbank offices that they want to do something with a show, wouldn’t NY have the final say?

I’ve just now ordered 30 boxes of Rice-A-Roni to be shipped to the NY address, but I don’t suppose it could hurt to send to both addresses (they did so with the Nuts for Jericho campaign), but I’m under the impression that sending them to NY where the GE building and NBC executive offices are would be the best bet.


So I'm still looking for a definitive answer on all this. If anyone out there can help, please let me know!

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Now it's Rice-A-Roni!

No more aspirin - apparently Rice-A-Roni is more donatable to charity, so we're going with Rice-A-Roni.

So the full blown "Rice-A-Roni to save Journeyman" campaign has begun.

If you want to send your own Rice-A-Roni, mail it, along with a note supporting Journeyman, to:

Jeff Zucker
RE: SAVE JOURNEYMAN
NBC Universal Television Group
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112

You can also write "Save Journeyman" on the box, "Rice-A-Roni enclosed," etc to make it clear what you've sent and what it's in support of.

If you don't want to go through the trouble, I'm collecting PayPal donations that I will put towards bulk mailings. Just check out the details here: http://SaveJourneyman.funurl.com

Stay tuned for updates!

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Quick Update and let's send some aspirin!

Hi Journeyman fans!

I've been kind of busy with this and that and haven't been very active lately. I'm depending on all of you (and of course the other excellent Save Journeyman sites and blogs that have been created) to keep up the fight and keep me up to speed.

First off, SaveJourneyman.net has organized an Aspirin mass-mailing. Read more about it here: http://savejourneyman.net/2007/12/04/rally/

If there's any news, updates, or general information of any kind, PLEASE post a comment here or e-mail me at SaveJourneyman@gmail.com so I can keep things current here and on my webpage at http://savejourneyman.funurl.com/



Now, for some other things that you can still keep doing (let NBC know how much you love the show and that you want to see it continue!):

1) Write/Fax/Call/Send stuff:

Mr. Jeff Zucker
President NBC Universal Television Group
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112

The GE Building at Rockefeller Plaza is NBC's corporate headquarters, and the phone and fax numbers of NBC's New York offices are:
Phone: 212-664-4444
Fax: 212-664-4085

Mr. Ben Silverman NBC Entertainment
c/o NBC-TV
3000 W. Alameda Avenue
Burbank, CA 91523

Write a letter, send a fax, make a phone call, send a postcard, send anything that says "Save Journeyman!" on it.

2) Watch Journeyman at NBC.com http://www.nbc.com/Journeyman/video/episodes.shtml

or download episodes for $2 each from itunes or amazon unbox http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VVL57U/ref=atv_dp_series


3) Sign the petition if you haven't yet, and tell everyone you can think of to sign it as well:
http://www.petitiononline.com/jmf/petition.html

4) Tell your friends, family, co-workers, classmates, etc to WATCH JOURNEYMAN and visit the Save Journeyman initiatives online and call, write, fax themselves. Never underestimate word of mouth!

5) Post on message boards and blogs! Post a message or comment on any appropriate blogs and message boards. Give them links to this blog and website, (http://save-journeyman.blogspot.com/ and http://savejourneyman.funurl.com/) or any of the other great Save Journeyman sites.

6)Vote for Journeyman on the People's Choice awards. There's less than 24 hours left to vote.
http://www.pcavote.com/pca/showvoting.jsp

6) Don't forget that Journeyman has three episodes remaining, and they will air:

Monday, December 10th
Monday, December 17th
Wednesday, December 19th

Ok kids, that's all for now! Again, please let me know of any news.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Vote! Aspirin or Rice-A-Roni

Michael over at SaveJourneyman.net is seeking opinions to decide what we'd like to get behind in terms of sending something to NBC. Will it be Aspirin (to ease Dan's headaches) or Rice-A-Roni (the San Francisco treat)? They're then going to put up a poll so we can vote.

You guys decide! Remember, the plan will be to mail the item to NBC in bulk, with notes or flyers attached letting them know it's in support of Journeyman. Keep in mind that I feel a big reason Rice-A-Roni has the edge would be food for charities - aspirin can be donated, but it's probably not as necessary as food during the holidays. In the end, I'm sure we can hook up with a local distributor to work out a donations page so that you can send in a few dollars and then the distributor will ship cases of food or aspirin to NBC's offices.

So there you have it! It's up to you guys, so share your voice.

You can comment here: http://savejourneyman.net/2007/12/01/weve-got-a-show-to-save/


And don't forget:

There's only a couple days left to vote for Journeyman at the People's Choice Awards, and you can vote once PER DAY
http://www.pcavote.com/pca/showvoting.jsp

This Monday is "Download Journeyman" day! At 10pm your local time, download "Blowback" from iTunes ($2), Amazon unbox ($2), or view it (or any episode really) on NBC.com (free) http://www.nbc.com/Journeyman/video/episodes.shtml
NBC is airing "Life" in Journeyman's slot, so show them we'd all rather be watching Journeyman.

And don't forget to sign the Petition if you haven't, and write a letter or send a holiday gift in support of Journeyman to Jeff Zucker or Ben Sliverman (links and addresses at http://savejourneyman.funurl.com/)