Arrested Development Fanfare Rewatch and a pony inquiry June 20, 2014 1:36 PM Subscribe
I've drafted (very roughly) a Fanfare post to kick off a spoiler-friendly Arrested Development rewatch. I'm seeking people who have input on what such a rewatch would include. I also have some questions about what will happen to meta-Fanfare posts like this one in the future.
The purpose of this post is to primarily gauge interest, find people willing to give feedback and input on what the rewatch posts should include, and to give a heads-up to people who might be interested, but aren't checking Fanfare regularly. Feel free to memail me if you'd like to see the post draft, or if you have interest in helping to organize such a rewatch or input on what you'd like to see from one.
On a semi-related topic, I'm curious about what the mod team envisions for the future of Fanfare, and especially these meta-Fanfare organization posts. As someone pointed out in the Twin Peaks rewatch proposal thread earlier today, these meta threads aren't a good fit for Fanfare's main page (which should be reserved for media discussion threads), but I'm not sure if posting to Metatalk every time someone seeks input on procedural aspects of setting up a Rewatch/First Watch is really a great solution, either. My proposition would be that Fanfare gets a Music Talk-style adjunct discussion board, which could be used for announcements, hashing out spoiler policy for rewatches and edge-case current broadcasts (like Game of Thrones), etc. I don't know if this presents additional mod-level problems that might make this solution not-viable.
The purpose of this post is to primarily gauge interest, find people willing to give feedback and input on what the rewatch posts should include, and to give a heads-up to people who might be interested, but aren't checking Fanfare regularly. Feel free to memail me if you'd like to see the post draft, or if you have interest in helping to organize such a rewatch or input on what you'd like to see from one.
On a semi-related topic, I'm curious about what the mod team envisions for the future of Fanfare, and especially these meta-Fanfare organization posts. As someone pointed out in the Twin Peaks rewatch proposal thread earlier today, these meta threads aren't a good fit for Fanfare's main page (which should be reserved for media discussion threads), but I'm not sure if posting to Metatalk every time someone seeks input on procedural aspects of setting up a Rewatch/First Watch is really a great solution, either. My proposition would be that Fanfare gets a Music Talk-style adjunct discussion board, which could be used for announcements, hashing out spoiler policy for rewatches and edge-case current broadcasts (like Game of Thrones), etc. I don't know if this presents additional mod-level problems that might make this solution not-viable.
especially these meta-Fanfare organization posts.
I refrained from one when I started a Fringe rewatch. People noticed anyway.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 1:47 PM on June 20, 2014
I refrained from one when I started a Fringe rewatch. People noticed anyway.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 1:47 PM on June 20, 2014
Yeah, perhaps there should be a separate FanFareTalk where people can gauge interest in re-watches or movie clubs etc.
That said, I am definitely in for an AD rewatch. Being a twenty-minute show, perhaps we would watch 2-3 episodes a week and talk about them on MWF or something? One episode a week is not going to cut it, I don't think. AD is a bit like candy; I can just binge watch it any old time, and I assume many others feel similarly.
Looking forward to seeing if this develops and will participate no matter how it pans out. Great idea! :)
posted by sockermom at 1:47 PM on June 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
That said, I am definitely in for an AD rewatch. Being a twenty-minute show, perhaps we would watch 2-3 episodes a week and talk about them on MWF or something? One episode a week is not going to cut it, I don't think. AD is a bit like candy; I can just binge watch it any old time, and I assume many others feel similarly.
Looking forward to seeing if this develops and will participate no matter how it pans out. Great idea! :)
posted by sockermom at 1:47 PM on June 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
One episode a week is not going to cut it, I don't think.
Seeing episodes in quick succession also helps with the foreshadowing and callbacks.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 1:48 PM on June 20, 2014 [2 favorites]
Seeing episodes in quick succession also helps with the foreshadowing and callbacks.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 1:48 PM on June 20, 2014 [2 favorites]
I had no idea the Music Talk section even existed. Yeah, an analogue of that as a side-area of Fanfare would be cool. Certainly, the MeFi Horror Club could go there, as well as additional movie clubs as they emerged.
The Horror Movie Club was/is, of course, not just its own entity, but also an informal test case for the viability of movie clubs here. Our first thread, the one on The Cabin in the Woods has been very active, logging as many or more comments as pretty much anything on FanFare that isn't Game of Thrones.
We are, though, just one group. Presumably, some other movie clubs will also pop up. That way, different sets of minds can play around with the idea and start thinking on how stuff like this can work best.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:56 PM on June 20, 2014
The Horror Movie Club was/is, of course, not just its own entity, but also an informal test case for the viability of movie clubs here. Our first thread, the one on The Cabin in the Woods has been very active, logging as many or more comments as pretty much anything on FanFare that isn't Game of Thrones.
We are, though, just one group. Presumably, some other movie clubs will also pop up. That way, different sets of minds can play around with the idea and start thinking on how stuff like this can work best.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:56 PM on June 20, 2014
YES PLEASE ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT I AM EXCITE!
I agree with doing multiple shows in a week. 2-3 seems like the right amount.
I'm not 100% sure what you mean about what the posts should include - just episode name and a one-sentence synopsis maybe? It would be funny actually to post the "next time on Arrested Development" end tag from the previous episode to highlight how meaningless those are.
posted by jeoc at 3:33 PM on June 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
I agree with doing multiple shows in a week. 2-3 seems like the right amount.
I'm not 100% sure what you mean about what the posts should include - just episode name and a one-sentence synopsis maybe? It would be funny actually to post the "next time on Arrested Development" end tag from the previous episode to highlight how meaningless those are.
posted by jeoc at 3:33 PM on June 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
Honestly, I've been wondering about this, with all of the fanfare posts on MeTa. Obviously, at the moment, there's no better place for it, but at the same time, there are a ton of posts about what people want to watch, or gauging interest. I know that I can just skip stuff I'm not interested in, but it just seems like it's clogging up MeTa. The introduction of IRL was, I thought, a really good way to, essentially, keep MeTa for things that it was ostensibly built for.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:56 PM on June 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Ghidorah at 5:56 PM on June 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
"Spoiler friendly" means spoilers are allowed or not allowed?
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 7:12 PM on June 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 7:12 PM on June 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
I think the idea of a Rewatch thread is that you can talk about things that happen in the future of the show. A First Watch would be spoiler-free (no spoilers) but the Rewatch threads allow spoilers. The FAQ on FanFare labels for Rewatch says: Spoilers about later shows can be freely shared here.
posted by sockermom at 7:52 PM on June 20, 2014
posted by sockermom at 7:52 PM on June 20, 2014
I'm in! I'd enjoy the thread greatly even though I'm well aware each post will quickly devolve into comments saying "I've made a huge mistake." or "Marry me!".
posted by mmoncur at 11:13 PM on June 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by mmoncur at 11:13 PM on June 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
I definitely hope these can be posted somewhere else soon as I have no interest in fanfare and come to metatalk for discussion of policy and features so it's a little unsettling seeing so many metatalk posts that seem neither here nor there (though I agree this is the best place for now, I just don't like it).
posted by Aranquis at 3:35 AM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Aranquis at 3:35 AM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
That said, I am definitely in for an AD rewatch. Being a twenty-minute show, perhaps we would watch 2-3 episodes a week and talk about them on MWF or something?
That’s why you’re no longer president. Two weeks! Let’s do it in two weeks! Hey!!
(If it's going to be aimed at first time watchers, I'll have to stay away from it as far as I can..)
posted by bigendian at 4:03 AM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
That’s why you’re no longer president. Two weeks! Let’s do it in two weeks! Hey!!
(If it's going to be aimed at first time watchers, I'll have to stay away from it as far as I can..)
posted by bigendian at 4:03 AM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
I would rewatch Arrested Development. I've been thinking about doing it independently for a while now. I'm good with 2 or 3 episodes per week.
posted by codacorolla at 7:46 AM on June 21, 2014
posted by codacorolla at 7:46 AM on June 21, 2014
I assume a "spoiler-friendly rewatch" means one with lots of spoilers. If all you mean is that spoilers are allowed, you can just say "rewatch." The term "spoiler-friendly" is a little confusing. Now that I think about it, it must mean "plenty of spoilers" ... but I did have to stop and think about it.
posted by John Cohen at 4:29 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by John Cohen at 4:29 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
I recommend using and linking to the Wiki.
Someone should do Seinfeld too. Hard to imagine Arrested Development without Seinfeld.
posted by John Cohen at 4:43 PM on June 21, 2014
Someone should do Seinfeld too. Hard to imagine Arrested Development without Seinfeld.
posted by John Cohen at 4:43 PM on June 21, 2014
That said, I am definitely in for an AD rewatch. Being a twenty-minute show, perhaps we would watch 2-3 episodes a week and talk about them on MWF or something? One episode a week is not going to cut it, I don't think. AD is a bit like candy; I can just binge watch it any old time, and I assume many others feel similarly.
That sounds good. I'll throw the pilot post into the queue, and then mid-weekish (or when the E1 thread starts running down) someone (anyone who feels like it, really) can throw in a new one. I'm guessing the post rate will naturally fluctuate some, since there are some episodes that really benefit a lot from being watched successively (the Marta arc in the middle of this season) and others that are essentially standalone.
I'm not 100% sure what you mean about what the posts should include - just episode name and a one-sentence synopsis maybe? It would be funny actually to post the "next time on Arrested Development" end tag from the previous episode to highlight how meaningless those are.
Okay, that is a cute idea. I had included a brief run-down of what in the "next time" was actually real, a brief list of foreshadowing moments, and was wondering if there were other "features" to look out for. Probably best to keep it simpler, though.
"Spoiler friendly" means spoilers are allowed or not allowed?
I assume a "spoiler-friendly rewatch" means one with lots of spoilers. If all you mean is that spoilers are allowed, you can just say "rewatch."
Yes, I meant spoilers-allowed (or "Rewatch", in Fanfare's parlance), but actually, I am sort of envisioning a spoiler pizza with extra spoilers. It's a show that is really dense with details that only emerge on rewatch, and as the man of twists and turns alludes, part of the fun is going back and seeing how all of the foreshadowing and callbacks you initially missed connect. The show is over a decade old at this point, has been out on streaming for several years, and has a fairly large following on Mefi; I'm not really sure there would be much demand for a First Watch.
posted by kagredon at 5:30 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
That sounds good. I'll throw the pilot post into the queue, and then mid-weekish (or when the E1 thread starts running down) someone (anyone who feels like it, really) can throw in a new one. I'm guessing the post rate will naturally fluctuate some, since there are some episodes that really benefit a lot from being watched successively (the Marta arc in the middle of this season) and others that are essentially standalone.
I'm not 100% sure what you mean about what the posts should include - just episode name and a one-sentence synopsis maybe? It would be funny actually to post the "next time on Arrested Development" end tag from the previous episode to highlight how meaningless those are.
Okay, that is a cute idea. I had included a brief run-down of what in the "next time" was actually real, a brief list of foreshadowing moments, and was wondering if there were other "features" to look out for. Probably best to keep it simpler, though.
"Spoiler friendly" means spoilers are allowed or not allowed?
I assume a "spoiler-friendly rewatch" means one with lots of spoilers. If all you mean is that spoilers are allowed, you can just say "rewatch."
Yes, I meant spoilers-allowed (or "Rewatch", in Fanfare's parlance), but actually, I am sort of envisioning a spoiler pizza with extra spoilers. It's a show that is really dense with details that only emerge on rewatch, and as the man of twists and turns alludes, part of the fun is going back and seeing how all of the foreshadowing and callbacks you initially missed connect. The show is over a decade old at this point, has been out on streaming for several years, and has a fairly large following on Mefi; I'm not really sure there would be much demand for a First Watch.
posted by kagredon at 5:30 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
Yes, it should be "Rewatch."
posted by John Cohen at 7:54 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by John Cohen at 7:54 PM on June 21, 2014
When you get to the last season, you should probably open up all the episodes at the same time.
posted by Grangousier at 2:40 AM on June 22, 2014
posted by Grangousier at 2:40 AM on June 22, 2014
I'd say do these planning and interest-polling as a post on Fanfare itself. Call it the Prewatch.
posted by kafziel at 6:11 PM on June 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by kafziel at 6:11 PM on June 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm totes down for an Arrested Development rewatch soon as I'm done rewatching The Wire which should be next week.
I prefer to watch until there's nothing more to watch so maybe 3 posts - one for each season, spaced out 1 every other week - would be ideal for me. Otherwise, perhaps a ical invite I can throw into my calendar to remind me to watch an episode at the same time as yall would be useful.
posted by rebent at 10:29 AM on June 23, 2014
I prefer to watch until there's nothing more to watch so maybe 3 posts - one for each season, spaced out 1 every other week - would be ideal for me. Otherwise, perhaps a ical invite I can throw into my calendar to remind me to watch an episode at the same time as yall would be useful.
posted by rebent at 10:29 AM on June 23, 2014
It would be funny actually to post the "next time on Arrested Development" end tag from the previous episode to highlight how meaningless those are.
Yes, this!
posted by JiBB at 9:12 PM on June 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
Yes, this!
posted by JiBB at 9:12 PM on June 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
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For now, dumping them here in MetaTalk works but we'll continue thinking of better ways to facilitate discussion about shows on the FanFare site itself.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 1:38 PM on June 20, 2014