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is that it was all just a publicity stunt of sorts. Marlena was alive and well; it was her twin sister who'd been murdered. Actress Deidre Hall was simply on vacation until it came time to do the big reveal.

That acknowledgement made, I truly believe the Save Daniel Jackson movement was the most well-oiled fan campaign in the history of television, even surpassing the Star Trek fete. It was amazing what these people did.

Back to the main focus of TV shows, more recently Jericho was saved, but the fans didn't show up to watch, and it was cancelled again. Scrubs was saved by changing networks. Just one week before this article is being written, NBC cancelled Medium, which was picked up within a few days by CBS, thus negating any need for a fan campaign. In some way, shape, or form, Family Guy, Arrested Development, Veronica Mars, Twin Peaks, and Designing Women were affected by write-in support of their fans. Not just that, but taking the tools learned from the Save Daniel Jackson movement, fans ignited the Save Carson Beckett campaign and succeeded in getting the once-dead-and-killed-off doctor back on Stargate Atlantis on a limited basis. These folks actually upped the stakes by having a rally in front of Bridge Studios where the show was filmed and notifying the media, which showed up.

The landscape of the fan campaign has changed. The internet has become a tool to unite people, and there are now more possibilities, such as what happened with the soap opera, Passions. NBC cancelled it and DirecTV picked it up. Ultimately, it doesn't matter if a show succeeds in staying on the air for one year or for ten more years; it's just that the fans' voice is heard, and the show continues beyond what it would have otherwise. Clearly, when done effectively, the networks do listen.

Learn more about this author, Marcia Studley.
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