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Update #79: Welcome Newbies!
Mary Ann Saturday, 25 March 2000, at 10:40 a.m. DEAR ALL: This PFUCU is especially to WELCOME the many new Preymates, Preynds and Preybys who have posted on the PFUMB and the Sci-Fi BB since Prey started airing on the Sci-Fi Channel, and also to the newbies from Holland and Australia! I, personally, have made several new "Preynds" over the past several weeks, as I have been dubbing episodes for poor suffering folks who forgot to set their VCRs, LOL! Believe me, I can relate; there was a time (shudder!) when I actually was foolish enough to tape over an episode of Prey (in fact, before I was "grabbed", it had never occurred to me to tape any TV show for keeps!). Prey is indeed "an international passion" (as Kiera says!), with fans in close to 30 countries (maybe more!) by now. Especially for those of you who are new, I'd like to make you aware of some good sources of information about Our Beloved Show (lots of links!), and about the PFU Campaign: PFU
Campaign Site
Also, for those of you who missed episodes the first time, the series will be shown again on Sci-Fi, starting on April 23, 8:00 & 11:00 p.m. EST. LETTER-WRITING CAMPAIGN: I wish I could report to you all that we have received encouraging and positive responses to the many letters that we have sent to the Sci-Fi Channel (not to mention our beautiful Prey basket!). However, to my knowledge, non-one has heard a peep from them (even LaPeep, LOL!). However, this does NOT mean that we should give up, but that we should continue the effort: remember that "nothing is impossible" in the TV business (and, for you Bible buffs out there, this is a quotation from the gospel of Mark!). For your information, here is a repost of the letter-writing guidelines I circulated last time (they are based on expert advice from a "friend" in the TV business): If anything is going to happen, it's going to be at the Sci-Fi Channel, so that's where we should be focusing our energies. BE SPECIFIC in your letters; for example, make it clear that our primary goal is a NEW SEASON (or, at minimum, a TV movie); acknowledge that cast changes might be necessary (especially with respect to Debra Messing)–I would add that we should INSIST that Adam Storke remain in the Tom Daniels role if at all possible. Finally, when asked if it would be possible to resurrect Prey after two years, he said, "Nothing is impossible in this business!" OTHER THINGS TO ASK FOR IN YOUR LETTERS: A live "chat"–organized by Sci-Fi–with some of the cast and other Preymakers; PLEASE MENTION that this is something that S-F has done for Brimstone fans, and we should expect no less! Ask for an explanation of WHY this has not been arranged for fans of Prey. A Prey "Marathon"–again, this has already been done for Brimstone; ask WHY NOT for Prey?! AN INTERESTING PIECE OF EVIDENCE you should cite is the different numbers of postings on the Prey vs. Brimstone Bulletin Boards on the Sci-Fi website–as of yesterday, Prey (which has only been on since January) had 131, while Brimstone had only 30 (and it started on S-F last year!). As always, ask for Prey merchandise, especially high-quality tapes of episodes 1-13, but also posters, T-shirts, mugs, fridge magnets, autographed cast photos–the whole shebang! You can email the Sci-Fi Store directly at customerservice@totale.com. Also, those of you who've seen it can "review" Into Pitch Black (for which Prey was pre-empted!), and mention also how well Prey has been doing in the Nielsens. Also consider writing to SCI-FI ENTERTAINMENT, asking them for a feature article on Prey: 11305 Sunset Hills Road, Reston, VA 20190 U.S.A. (sovmedia@erolds.com). For the talented among us,
Sci-Fi Weekly (the S-F Channel's online newsletter) is looking for submissions:
see
BONNIE HAMMER'S ADDRESS IS: Bonnie Hammer, Executive Vice President, General Manager Sci-Fi Channel, 1230 Avenue of the Americas; New York, NY 10020. STRATEGIES FOR THE FUTURE: Since we apparently haven't made much headway yet with the letter-writing campaign (at least in the sense of getting any responses from Sci-Fi), I think that we should plan to strategize, on-line and in-person at the Mini-Con, once the 13 episodes have run their course on Sci-Fi. I must confess, I personally, am out of fresh new ideas (if I ever had any!), and would appreciate the input of one and all! PREY RAFFLE REMINDER (Yes, JudyA, I will send in my money!): The prizes in the raffle are: pictures of the Prey cast, a Prey mug, a Prey tote bag, a Prey story bracelet, and some magnets from Carol (and Mary Ann/Ute). All money has to be in US
denominations. The prices for the tickets are as follows:
The drawing will be at the Mini-Prey Convention. Contact MollieKelly@worldnet.att.net CANADIAN SPACE CAMPAIGN I received a rather discouraging letter from SPACE: THE IMAGINATION STATION a while back, after I had specifically asked WHY they had not picked up Prey when Sci-Fi and TV stations in 30-odd countries HAD done so. Here is the relevant excerpt: "We are aware of the series Prey. We know the series has a fan base but unfortunately the response it has gotten in the U.S. doesn't warrant the acquisition of the 13 episodes for SPACE [!] As you can imagine, we receive many requests and petitions for a huge spectrum of programming. We cannot accommodate each passionate viewer group requesting their favourite programs. We try to make the best decisions possible for the cannel to benefit both programming and business needs." Well, my fellow Canadians, I cannot help but conclude that this "explanation" is less than satisfactory (to put it nicely!) in view of the evidence. It's very important that we keep track of the ratings, cite them explicitly, and mention the FACT that Prey is being aired on SF currently and has been picked up by TV outlets all over the world. SO WHEN YOU WRITE TO SPACE, BE SURE TO DESIGN YOUR LETTER DELIBERATELY TO REFUTE THE IDEA THAT VIEWER RESPONSE TO PREY HAS BEEN MEDIOCRE!!!! GRRRRRRR!!!! THEY'RE GOING TO BE THE PREY, IF THEY DON'T WATCH OUT (LOL–just me venting!). WRITE: SPACE: The Imagination Station, 299 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5V 2Z5 In conclusion: As always, contact me if you have any suggestions! Bye for now! Mary Ann "It's in my head somehow, like a dream I can't remember" (Tom Daniels in Prey). |
