Rebirth of an Internet Classic - Bone the Fish 2009
- From: TMC <tmc1982@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 22:39:25 -0700 (PDT)
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1865603/rebirth_of_an_internet_classic_bone.html?cat=15
In February of the fine year 2009, TV Guide through its parent
company, Gemstar, made the brilliant decision to destroy the classic
website "Jump the Shark". Now www.jumptheshark.com, is just a sub-
directory of TV Guide's website...not even meriting its own web
address. I had the misfortune of discovering one of my all-time
favorite websites trashed beyond all recognition becoming of all
things- a TV Tabloid news blog!! All of the fan's favorite parts of
the site were gone: voting for that moment when a series went
downhill, comments on obscure shows going back for years etc. A
website that was one of the first big Internet "hits" from the late
90's was taken away from us, sold out to the highest bidder to drive
traffic to the TV Guide site, or in the new Web 2.0 speak: make it
more "commercially viable".
One of the things that characterized the new corporate sellout version
of "JTS" was a "fun" positive spin to everything, which just rained
chum by the bucket load on the old concept of hitting bad TV where it
hurts for being just that- Lousy TV. Was TV Guide also doing this to
stifle dissent for the product it promoted? All signs pointed to this
as their goal, highlighted by the fact that the change happened with
no announcement or fanfare. I was reminded of the Colts leaving
Baltimore in the middle of the night to move to Indianapolis. The
secrecy was a feeble attempt to mask a horrible idea.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1865603/rebirth_of_an_internet_classic_bone_pg2.html?cat=15
Like an angry shark in blood infested water with nothing to eat, I
went on the hunt to discover if the incredible community of fans,
voters and comment makers had moved off into a fresh corner of
cyberspace to plant their flag of dissent against bad entertainment.
After all it was the awesome fans that made "Jump the Shark" a hit in
the first place with all of the content provided for public
consumption. Many fans would tell you that they loved reading hundreds
of old comments from long gone shows like "Manimal" or "The Greatest
American Hero". Simply put, for a website that was allegedly getting
over seventy thousand unique visitors a day- where did all those fans
go? Certainly they didn't care for the tabloid format forced on them
by the powers that be at TV GUIDE? Did they set up shop somewhere
else? If so, where did they go? Was TV GUIDE able to squelch
dissension in the TV fan ranks? Or had some new underground website
been secretly launched by the old vanguard of fans hoping to bring
back the old magic?
No searches on official news outlets or on TV Guide's site announced
the change at "Jump the Shark", but the blog internet community was
taking notice. As people browsed through their favorites on the
internet over the following weeks, this horrible transformation was
noticed and highlighted on hundreds of angry message boards around the
non-corporate controlled internet. Several blogs were written tearing
into the destruction of this venerable website. The honesty in the
blog community and the omission on the "official internet outlets"
highlighted the fact that unlike mainstream "old media" (TV, Print,
Radio) changes could apparently be done to the internet with no notice
at all, not even a confession that they had changed at all. Heck, even
the horrible decision to take the focus off cartoons on the "Cartoon
Network" got a press release from the parent company this year!
However as I continued my "Electronic Media Odyssey" there were three
words that were my clues to discovering the new "Mothership" where the
former "Shark Jumpers" were gathering again.... "Bone the Fish"
Destroying a long time, respected classic on the internet set the
stage for the fans to build something fresh, new and not under Big
Brother's all-seeing control. What I found was a piece of fan-created
internet magic," Bone the Fish", at www.bonethefish.com. Several fans
that were as angry as I was, but with more programming prowess, had
made a duplicate of the old JTS format along with some striking
additions of music groups and movies series, and even a new series of
"random" topics. Did you know Ice Cream "boned" when Mint Chocolate
Chip was introduced?
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1865603/rebirth_of_an_internet_classic_bone_pg3.html?cat=15
I doubted that BTF would become the cultural phenomenon that JTS had
become, but at least I had a place to vote on when GI Joe Jumped the
Shark, err, I mean BONED the Fish. The name was to me, irrelevant now
that I could nominate reasons for when Galactica 1980 sucked (Flying
motorcycles!) and write witty comments on the sad state of the last
season of "Bonanza" again! I had to laugh along with all of the fans
making fun of Gemstar and TV Guide on the site, as well as the obvious
dig at the old "Jump the Shark" name with the new and fresh "Bone the
Fish" moniker! Even the new logo on the site was more artful and
creative than the old JTS logo that looked like it was made on a
Commodore 64!
In the spirit of giving the fans an official voice in this matter, and
to make it "newsworthy" I wanted fans of "Jump the Shark" to know that
there is indeed hope for the internet after all, and that a simple
journey online can have positive results. And the best thing is, under
the "website category" at Bone the Fish, you can vote and comment on
when "Jump the Shark"... Boned the Fish. In fact you could serve up
the irony with some cole slaw, vinegar and hush puppies with all of
the "Fish" references!
----The Author can be found "boning" his favorite televisions shows,
movies and music now at www.bonethefish.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/The_Shark_Jumps_Again
.
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