LazyTown in the USA: an attempt to change things up!

[Zokita]

Hi everyone,

As I'm sure most of us in the USA are painfully aware, LazyTown has fallen out of the public eye in the United States. It has been nominated for Daytime Emmys this year, but it is no longer on Nick. Jr's regular schedule and hasn't been for some time. Low ratings and revenue have contributed to the downfall, and we are now watching on the sidelines as other regions such as the UK get new episodes months ahead of us, better merchandise, and more exposure in general.

Perhaps the executives' minds have been made up: that LazyTown is a complete failure in the USA and can never be anything more. Maybe it's all over and we can't win. But there's always a way, so I want to start a campaign to have our voices heard. People have tried similar attempts before, but I want to try again!

Write to Nick Jr. USA
Write to LazyTown Entertainment

I've personally written a letter to Nick Jr. USA, and I plan to write to LTE soon. I'll post my letter to Nick Jr. later on.

If you have any other ideas, I'd love to hear them. People in other regions lacking LT as of late, feel free to post contact info for your local broadcasters and write letters too! I'll add the contact info to this post so we can start a global campaign. (The UK and Germany need no exposure :p)

[Sir Finkus]

Its on at 7:00 am every day at my house at least, It would be nice if they showed it more often in a better time slot though.

[Stevilito]

i think one reason is that kids dont wanna get fit, since thats what its intended to do, cuz we all know kids are fatter in USA.

the uk kids go NUTS over here for it

maybe another reaosn is that kids in usa dont whatch it so why keep it on the schedule, but i could be wrong lol

[Edgar]

here is 4 or 3 times a Day, but i dont have any Merchandise, yeah There's Always Way, Julianna you can Act in more Episodes ;)

[Zokita]

Its on at 7:00 am every day at my house at least, It would be nice if they showed it more often in a better time slot though.

I'm trying to get to Nick's schedule page to confirm that (it's not on the Nick Jr. site) but the site is crashing everywhere and generally broken in Firefox.

Even if it is airing at 7 AM daily, that's a death slot and the execs know it. Historically, that's the timeslot where all the failure shows are sentenced to die. I'm hoping to convince Nick Jr. against all odds to give the show another chance.

[Edgar]

But Zokita We Need more People to do that like Magnus or Julianna

[Ultra Magnus]

That's the same reason Futurama (I think? Might have been something else) got cancelled.

The Fox execs thought it wasn't doing well enough to keep its prime-time slot, so they kept moving it, which meant it did even worse because nobody knew when it was on, until finally they axed it.

It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy, or something.

[Zokita]

That's why I'm trying to let LazyTown Entertainment know about the issue as well.

You guys can also support the show by buying merchandise here for USA residents, and more is available in the Nick Jr. Shop here
I mentioned the merchandise in my letter to Nick Jr. as well, specifically that
I buy as much of it as I can and wish for more.

And you're absolutely right about the self-fulfilling prophecy aspect, Ultra Magnus. I think a combination of writing letters and buying merch is our best chance, though.

[Stevilito]

no matt gorening just couldnt keep simpsons and futurama going




7am is an alright slot for kids shows, i know here kids are always up at like 6am ish so ya if its same there then kids would be up too see it

where as over here on nick jr first showing is 9:30am where some kids should be at school so ya know meh

[Ultra Magnus]

I think a combination of writing letters and buying merch is our best chance, though.

Yeah, buying merch and especially the DVDs.

Buying DVDs shows that there are people who want to watch this show!

Futurama & Family Guy were both saved by the strength of their DVD sales.

matt gorening just couldnt keep simpsons and futurama going

A lot of the commentaries for the Futurama season 4 DVDs include Matt bitching about why they got cancelled, and how the network went wrong in so many ways, and how much more potential the show had/has.

[Zokita]

I think a combination of writing letters and buying merch is our best chance, though.

Yeah, buying merch and especially the DVDs.

Buying DVDs shows that there are people who want to watch this show!

Futurama & Family Guy were both saved by the strength of their DVD sales.

I agree that this is vital. I've bought the Records Day and Surprise Santa DVDs during my Kmart trips, and I'm looking for the rest every time I go. I specifically mentioned to Nick Jr. that I buy those DVDs and want more episodes available.

[Edgar]

i have Some DVds Here in a Big Store, but i want some of the New Season,

[Tobias]

As long as Lazytown is on the air here at all (preferably on actual Nickelodeon) thats all I really worry about. It is very frustrating being a fan from the very first broadcast to see it relegated to no man's land and Noggin. It seemed to be doing well for a while. People seemed to respond at the start, and then seemed to have its footing and got some ink when "Lazytown's New Super Hero" aired in prime time. Before I knew it, it was no longer in it's time slot.

I think it has less to do with kids laziness or whatever, cuz they're already watching tv -- as if. I think it generally has to do with its uniqueness. People generally don't respond well when you **** with the standard formulas off the bat, and Lazytown did that in its visual styles and narrative style. Theres nothing else like it on the tubes, and the thing that makes it so great in the eyes of the fan, is also its demise in the general public. For reference, see Firefly.

Another snag is its very unique and very diffuse target audience. It got aired at Nick Jr. and was generally the last show before the switch back to regular Nick. This right here acknowledges that the show, while still enjoyable to, is "advanced" for that demographic. But then the demographic it is more accessible to is in school, and you can't really put it later in the day to make-up because then you lose out at the older kids who will write it off as a "little kids show." Lazytown is a bit of an odd peg and I noted it from day 1.

If it's on the air at all, I'm ok. 7 am on weekends is frustrating (and 12:30 on Noggin) but at least it's there at all. Now if they stop showing new eps (or eps at all) then I can riot.

And maybe the "daily showing" thing was part of the problem to begin with. If my previous notes were correct and that Lazytown hit its popular zenith at "New Superhero," then at the time they essentially kept cycling through the same 12 eps. I know for me it seemed like "Defeeted" got aired every week. Maybe a weekly airdate is est to begin with, I don't know.

If we somehow promoted Lazytown ourselves and were able to crop new viewers i think that would be the only way to really sway the execs to move it to a more accessible time.

EDIT: An I agree about the DVD sales in regards to Family Guy/Futurama. The problem is, those shows HAD dvds to be bought. Lazytown because theyre 1 disc per unit affairs, it's a bit harder to generate those kinds of numbers when with the aforementioned shows gave you a whole season of content to buy, thus more incentive for consumers, thus more profit since theres higher overhead.

[merlin55]

I unfortunetly am very pessimistic with petitions and the like. They do not work alot, and often are pointless because 2,000 sigs is not enough to change peoples minds as alot of fans think sometimes. Once in a while they DO work though and I think that is wonderful.

If fans were to be heard I'm pretty sure some real effort would need to be put forth. I'd love to help in some way but we would really have to try hard. We would have to gather people who would be willing to take time out of their day or possibly some money out of their pockets to start a war...er...I mean a Campaign.. ;) to save Lazytown and bring it back to Nickjr! ^_^

I really can't think of specific ideas right now but yes, I agree lets start a big campaign!

[ooozmin]

Here in Canada on YTV...it's on twice a day. They even play "New Superhero" sometimes