Have writers ever changed television series based on fan discussions?

October 16, 2014 12:18 AM

Have writers ever changed television series based on fan discussions or feedback? I have a memory that this happened with Lost, but I can't find the specific article. I may even have read it in a book. Any other suggestions? Links to articles/interviews would be helpful.
posted by feelinglistless to Media & Arts (25 answers total)

'The Good Wife': Backlash Over [Season 4] Storyline Prompts Early Ending
posted by roger ackroyd at 12:37 AM on October 16, 2014 [2 favorites]

Soon after, producers admitted that the duo were killed off because they were generally resented by fans and critics alike. Producers were also frustrated because people were talking about their dislike for Nikki and Paulo more than the episodes themselves. [15]
posted by goshling at 12:56 AM on October 16, 2014 [3 favorites]

I think Heroes also killed off unpopular characters. I think originally Heroes was intended to have a higher turnover of characters, wrapping up old stories & introducing new ones each season, but this was changed as fans disliked new characters & wanted more of the older ones they'd become fond of/interested in.
posted by goshling at 1:00 AM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

Heroes characters wikipedia page
posted by goshling at 1:20 AM on October 16, 2014

The new Doctor Who title sequence was inspired by one made by a fan if that counts!
posted by firesine at 2:07 AM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

There's a fairly widespread discussion about season 3 of sherlock being effected by this. I can definitely see it, and i sort of hate it.
posted by emptythought at 3:50 AM on October 16, 2014 [4 favorites]

Veronica Mars, West Wing, and Babylon 5 are all the ones that come to mind for me. The creator of Veronica Mars was pretty wrapped up in Television Without Pity, while the creator of West Wing created an entire episode about fan feedback (a character discovers an online fan website devoted to him and things go south from there).
posted by pie ninja at 4:57 AM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

It's a relatively common thing for characters to be introduced as guest stars/minor recurring characters for an episode or two, and then become full-on regulars because they're so well received. Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an example of this.
posted by mkultra at 5:08 AM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

The writers of Supernatural have done this a few times. Their effort to add denial characters in Season 3 upset fans so much that they killed them both off spectacularly. This was also seen in the expansion of the role of Castiel, who was meant to be a minor character, but was so loved by fans that he's still around to this day.
posted by terilou at 5:15 AM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

There is an 8th half season of magnum pi because people were unhappy with the original end of the series.
posted by phil at 5:36 AM on October 16, 2014

I believe this happened with Walking Dead after the immensely unpopular second season. Since then they've been sure to include a lot more zombies and action.
posted by Librarypt at 5:42 AM on October 16, 2014

the creator of West Wing created an entire episode about fan feedback (a character discovers an online fan website devoted to him and things go south from there).

I saw the east coast first broadcast of that episode. During the commercial break I did a search on variations of "LemonLymon" dot coms, nets, and orgs. Not a single one had been registered. What a missed opportunity!
posted by Buttons Bellbottom at 5:43 AM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

Yes, Supernatural was the one I was thinking of - it had (still has?) a reputation as a show whose creator was very attentive to fan feedback, and there was a big debate in fannish circles around 2008 over how much the misogyny of a certain very enthusiastic section of the fandom was influencing the direction of the show. (Also notable for the first internet use of 'mansplaining' in one of the fan discussions, incidentally.)
posted by Catseye at 5:45 AM on October 16, 2014

Carnivale. HBO canvassed fans for how to pursue Season Two.
posted by Sticherbeast at 5:49 AM on October 16, 2014

This happens all the time. Fonzie was originally a minor character on "Happy Days," but he was so popular with the fans that they wrote more for him. Same thing with Urkel on "Family Matters". And the baby Olsen twins on Full House. And...
posted by Melismata at 7:08 AM on October 16, 2014

Happened a lot on Xena.

Can't find a link quickly, but the producers tapped one of the most popular Xena fanfic writers to do a real episode.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 7:13 AM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

I've been listening to a podcast about The X-Files and it's come up a number of times that the writers lurked in the show's Usenet forum. They'd use it to take stock of what was and wasn't working with viewers, theories people were interested in, and so on. Dean Haglund, who played one of a minor trio of characters, says fan interest for recurring appearances, and goes on to say that entire lines of dialogue were lifted directly from fan conspiracy discussions.
posted by Monster_Zero at 7:44 AM on October 16, 2014

Gossip Girl cast a few of their most-prominent commentators in cameos in the last season, and in the last two seasons made a number of winking references to fan comments and commentary.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:03 AM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

Stargate SG-1 fans were none too happy with the departure of Daniel in season 5 - the actor ended up coming back from season 7. A couple of blog posts from one of the writers: Joseph Mallozzi: Reflecting Back On SG-1’s Fifth Season, Stargate: SG-1 Season 7 memories
posted by Ness at 8:11 AM on October 16, 2014

Helo on Battlestar Galactica was supposed to die off-screen on Caprica but became a fan favorite and, well, lived.
posted by Lucinda at 8:19 AM on October 16, 2014

The surprise twist of the Dallas Dream Season was, at least in part, a response to fans unhappy with the show's new direction.
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 8:56 AM on October 16, 2014

Before the WWW existed, USENET newsgroups were the place for discussions. Participants on alt.tv.simpsons noticed concidences between their discussions and later episodes. They asked if any Simpsons writers would identify themselves. None did. So they came up with a plan. Find an obscure food, one that most people from the culture / country can't stand eating. Suggest Homer eat it. They settled on Lutefisk. In the final issue of Simpsons Illustrated, a companion magazine to the TV series, Homer says 'mmmmmm .... Lutefisk'.

alt.tv.simpsons post from Nov 1992 on Google Groups.
posted by Homer42 at 9:11 AM on October 16, 2014 [2 favorites]

It's a relatively common thing for characters to be introduced as guest stars/minor recurring characters for an episode or two, and then become full-on regulars because they're so well received.

Don't know if I can find a cite, but I seem to recall hearing this was the case for Michael Emerson's character (Ben Linus, first appearing using the alias Henry Gale) on Lost.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 11:09 AM on October 16, 2014

Somewhat tangential, but this describes how the writers of My Name Is Earl set up TWOP years in advance of the episode airing. So, an example of TV writers manipulating the fan commentary for an episode-long joke.
posted by goo at 11:46 AM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

Vince Gilligan has said that Jesse (Aaron Paul) of Breaking Bad was meant to be killed off at the end of the first season, but the fans liked him too much, so he stayed.
posted by cmoj at 4:20 PM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]