Yet while casually killing time on the internets, I run into another campaign of loyal Veronica Mars fans trying to save their favorite show from cancellation. Being the cynical skeptic that I am, I usually treat this kind of campaigns with dry amusement, some people never realize when they've lost the battle. After all, when was the last time an online petition ever had actual results?
Yet these people are actually trying something a lot more creative, taking a leaf out of the campaign to save Jericho, which by the way was met with success. And if Jericho, in all honesty a mediocre show which I personally hated, can be saved, then Hellfire and Brimstone, why shouldn't this work for Veronica Mars?
The current plan calls for loyal viewers to send as many "Mars" chocolate bars to CW execs before June 15, when the final decision for the show's future is going to be taken. And for those that can't afford to send a Mars, you can even send a JPEG image.
The two main sites where you can find more info on this are BarsForMars.com and Save Veronica Mars, which also has a very comprehensive list of things one can do in order to help VM from getting cancelled for good.
I have to say, I also saw something in this campaign that managed to warm my jaded heart just a bit. Some people are offering Mars bars for $1.79 and with free shipping if you're intending to send such a bar to the CW execs. Definitely a very decent initiative.
Now I've said before (in too many posts) that I was actually content with the idea of Veronica Mars ending its run this year. It ended on a high note after hitting an all-time low in both ratings and quality during the mid-season (honestly, when the "Pizonika" incident occured I swear I could see someone jumping over a shark in the background, possibly Logan), with a wonderfully bittersweet ending that fit the series's themes perfectly. Also, I've always believed that it's better for things to just end than drag along, and this goes for VM as well. Three seasons are good enough.
However, the whole idea of Veronica in the FBI I had mentioned in an earlier post really grew on me in the meantime, and it's the one that we'll apparently get if the show does get picked up for another season. I could really see this working. Effectively, it would be a reboot, something they already tried to do with this season and the new college setting, but this one could actually work. No more teen relationship-drama, with V being all grown up and in the FBI now, gone would be most of the new and annoying supporting cast (fuck off, Piz), and so on and so forth.
If the last episode of season 3/the entire series, appropriately called "The Bitch is Back" showed us anything, it's the fact that the series is at its best when Veronica is a brooding, misanthropic outcast, indeed, when she is a bitch*. I could see that happening if she were to join the FBI, not many people would take a miniscule blond girl trying to be an FBI agent seriously, so she could very well be an outcast yet again.
And of course, the new setting would be ideal for the return of the Noir feel of season one. Darker, grittier storylines, moody atmosphere... if done well, it could be perfect. This would also be a great way to market the series to a new, more mature audience. My guess is that most people past their mid-twenties would much more easily take interest in a Noir-themed show based on an FBI agent rather than a high school/university student. Almost a win/win situation, if you ask me. We get the VM we fell in love with during the first season, and the studio gets a solid viewer base.
I am honestly contemplating writing a letter to the CW and joining in on this little campaign thing. It has to be a letter though and not a simple email, a letter is much more powerful, it would seem. I did it with the Sam and Max campaign back in '04, and that was a battle we won. I'm just worried that the letter won't make it on time, which kind of sucks. And I'm not going to send an actual Mars bar alongside it, of course. It will definitely go bad by the time it gets there, and that would not only be gross, but also rather counter-intuitive.
Lastly, I just have to post this image because I really love it. Amusingly enough, this was created two years ago, after season one had ended and people were demanding that UPN would continue the show for at least one more season. It's kind of funny to think how many near-cancellations this show has had. Let's see if it can survive this one as well.
*Interestingly enough, if VM were a male character the appropriate word to use in this context would be "badass". Food for thought, I believe.
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