Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Top Tweets Vol. 8: Time to Band Together

Colby returned to the twittersphere tonight, and unfortunately it was not with good news. Top Shot seems to be in dire in straights and if we want this show to continue, we are going to need to put forth some serious fan support to keep it on the air. But I will get to all of that in a minute.

It was another stellar episode, and with Colby back, I can finally get back to these posts, which I really enjoy doing. Here's another round of solid tweets from this week's episode:
  • Colby was very impressed by the shooters abilities with the Accuracy International.
  • Practice for this weapon was determined by the number of rounds, not by how long each contestant spent with the rifle
  • If anyone has ever wondered how long it takes to replace the exploding targets, Colby let us in on the details. It does take a while as the pyro team is kept behind the firing line until the target goes off, and then must travel all the way down range to replace it. 
  • Apparently the Desert Eagle is high on most fans list for the gun they would like to see used in elimination if there is another season of Top Shot.
  • During filming, Colby apparently sleeps on a sleeping bag in the garage adjacent to the house the contestants stay in (which does explain how easily he entered the house to announce the exit of Jake Zweig during Season 3...).
  • Colby (like myself) believes the head to head challenges are always more fun to watch.
  • I hate to end on a sour note, but Colby is urging fans to voice their support of the show, and why they feel it deserves another season. Start hounding @HistoryChannel on Twitter, and let them know why you love Top Shot. Hit them up once a day or once every hour, every little bit helps. The fan base may be small, but it is loyal. 
As I said, I do not want to end this on a sour note, so instead let's end with a ray of hope. There are numerous reality shows I watch, among them, Animal Planet's Whale Wars. Whale Wars ended its fourth season on August 12, 2011. It was not until December 27, 2011, that the fifth season was announced. So take solace in the fact that History may not make their decision right away on whether or not to cut Top Shot. Show your support, and keep this show alive. 

My recap will be up Wednesday afternoon, followed by my analysis on Thursday. Still hoping Tony or maybe someone else will have something to post for Friday. In the meantime, keep watching and keep shooting.

3 comments:

  1. Howdie Chris. Just a quick little comment on Colby. I would love to believe that he is that down to Earth to sleep on a sleeping bag in the garage, but honestly I think he was being full of poop on that one. I can't say how I know that it's a fib, because it would reveal very secret info about the show's production, but trust me, he stays somewhere much nicer when he's not on set.

    As far as the show being dropped, don't get me wrong, it's my favorite show, but I saw this coming a mile away. There were a couple of demons at work here.

    One was the time slot. Unfortunately, it's hard to push Top Shot into a better time slot. It's just not a new, hot show, or Pawn Stars. Since it's on so late, a vast majority of the fans of the show and its demographic DVR or otherwise record it and watch it the next day. That looks terrible on ratings lists.

    Second is how narrow the fanbase really is. I love the show so much that often it's hard for me to remember that it's a niche thing. When I finally got to announce I was on Top Shot, word spread pretty quick. Then, I had a ton of people, even people in the shooting community say, "what's Hot Shot?" It never ceased to amaze me how few people that were the target audience had no idea the show was on. A large part of that was the network it was on combined with the time slot.

    Finally, there is the drama. Now I actually like a lot of the drama aspect of the show. I don't want it to just be a shooting show or completely focused on competition. There are several other shows I watch on the Outdoor Channel that provide me with that. I want some insight into the characters and reason to root for one person or another. However, when the whole episode is nothing but bitching and arguing, and people almost getting into fights, I can't stand it. It's been talked to death, but a perfect example is the whole Jake thing. Season 3 started airing shortly before we were done filming, so i had some episodes to catch up on as soon as i got home. Right off the bat, I was put off by the Jakeness and all the bullshit. Then there were other people on the show that made me think, "where the hell did they get these competitors?" I had a really hard time finding anyone i wanted to see win until more than halfway through the season. At that point, I thought, "if I'm disliking this as much as I am, our season is going to have to pick everyone back up. If it doesn't, Top Shot is doomed."

    After reading all the comments (and I do read every single one I can find) all over the internet, I knew it was going down in flames. I really think that there was just too much against the show to begin with, and season 3 was the nail in the coffin. At this point, I think that enough of the fan base, which was already too small, was turned off by season 3 and they were already set to dislike season 4 and now season 4 has become the farewell death rattle. It sucks and I hate it, but I doubt there's any way it can be turned around. I think History has already made up their minds and there's just no hope for it. I hope I'm wrong.

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    1. Ok rapid response, here we go
      1. Yeah definitely a joke, Colby likes to mix it up with half serious/half off-the-wall answers

      2. Time slot seems to be number one issue among most fans, could also maybe use a better lead in. Maybe split up Pawn Stars and American Pickers so they can help out other shows.

      3. Totally agree, I don't think anyone should be disillusioned that Top Shot is supposed to appeal to everyone. That being said, I've never shot a gun in my life, I just love good TV, which is a category Top Shot definitely falls into.

      4. I do take issue with putting the blame on Season 3. Shows are always going to have unlikable characters, but one character, or contestant, does not break a show (although I would argue it could make it). Once Jake Zweig was gone, the final episodes of season three were pretty solid.

      5. I also am going to have to disagree with your opinion that Top Shot is going down in flames. Shedding a couple thousand viewers is hardly a sign of destruction. Viewers have gone from between 1.7-1.8 for Season 3 to about 1.5-1.6 for Season 4, which I agree isn't a great sign but it is pretty consistent week to week. I think Top Shot also plays better in the summer.

      P.S. Why doesn't Fletcher Knives have a Twitter, it would definitely help get the word out when knives become available, also small question for you. How can you make a knife called Tango and not have one called Cash?

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