- SOS Press Release - June 13, 1998 -
- SOS Press Release - June 13, 1998 -
For Immediate Release
FANS FIGHT THE NETWORK
Angry fans of the United Paramount Network's sci-fi/drama series, THE SENTINEL, are running a national ad in the LIFE section of USA Today, Monday 15 June, to protest the show's treatment by UPN.
The season finished with a gut-wrenching cliffhanger which left one of the show's two main characters, anthropologist Blair Sandburg (Garett Maggart) apparently drowned, despite the resuscitation efforts of his partner, Detective Jim Ellison (Richard Burgi). The only hope was a message at the bottom of the screen which promised viewers that the story was "TO BE CONTINUED."
Just hours later, fans of the series were dealt another blow when they learned on May 21 that UPN had dropped THE SENTINEL from its fall lineup to make way for a large number of untried new series.
Shocked viewers immediately flooded the network with thousands of phonecalls, emails, faxes and letters. SUPPORT OUR SENTINEL, an internet website created to spearhead the campaign, recorded over 13,000 hits in the 48 hours following UPN's announcement that it had dropped the series. The struggling netlet was so overwhelmed by the influx of calls that they set up a special "Sentinel Hotline" recorded message to handle the deluge, and it continues to dryly inform callers that no information is available on future episodes.
Frustrated at the network's "no information" policy, viewers were further enraged when they noticed an apparent bias against female callers in UPN's handling of enquiries. Female callers were more frequently transferred to the "hotline" than their male counterparts. Some female callers were told that their opinions made no difference to UPN, while male callers were asked to participate in a survey on their viewing preferences.
Sympathetic regional affiliates of UPN brought their viewers' concerns to the UPN affiliates meeting held on 7-8-9 June at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Dana Point, California, and the poor handling of viewer enquiries was specifically addressed. Yet network CEO Dean Valentine and newly promoted President of Programming, Tom Nunan continue to maintain that a decision has not yet been made on the series.
The show performed particularly well for many regional markets and nationally, it rated better than other UPN programs which have already been renewed for the fall.
Despite UPN's poor overall performance, THE SENTINEL has developed a strong viewer following, and interest in the series continues to rise. Dedicated fans hosted their first convention in April 1998 in Vancouver BC, where the series is filmed. A new soundtrack CD from Sonic Images was recently released and the show has spawned at least a hundred separate fan websites on the internet, with numbers growing steadily.
Adding to the fans' desperation, the actors' contracts are about to expire and UPN still has not committed to a decision about the show's future. Loyal fans of THE SENTINEL hope that bringing the plight of their show to wider media and public attention will help to force the network's hand.
The campaign is focused through the SUPPORT OUR SENTINEL website at: http://world.std.com/~sentinel/ and can be emailed at sentinel@world.std.com (note: links are no longer valid)
THE SENTINEL is produced by Pet Fly Productions in association with Paramount Television, and currently screens in rerun on Wednesday nights (8/7c) on the United Paramount Network.