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I pretty much collapsed, while the other six ran various errands (see the top of my post), but I managed to fill out postcards for 12 crewmembers, plus Lisa Ryder. When the rest got back, we finished filling out the postcards (we were all pretty much on the verge of collapse by that time) and then I got *tricked* into waking up (you sneak, Toni! {g}) and going to look at The Royal White Tigers Of Sigfried And Roy at the Mirage. Got to see the volcano explode, too. Bonnie, we *did* win on a slot with your quarters-- got $2.50 back on a $.75 stake-- but then got greedy and lost it again. Oh, well...
Dinner at the California Pizza Palace (I think...) and then Toni and I had to dash for the airport.
Catherine:
After we got ourselves together at the hotel, we got a call from Annmarie, who told us the good news
about the Geminis! I was the one on the phone, and when she mentioned Ger first, I leaped to my feet and
started dancing about the room like a fool while everyone sat there and stared at me, until I told them,
and then I was afraid we were going to get a call from hotel security about the noise level again, we were
all screaming so loud. :)
Somehow, between getting out of all those nice clothes (aaah!) and going out to dinner, we managed to waste about four hours that I still can't account for.
Diane:
I can. You and Cherri were walking the Strip, dropping brochures (I repeat, they were MUCH too classy-looking
to be called flyers) at every hotel you could, while Debbie and Catherine was contacting our Vegas
affiliate (Hi, Linda!) and Toni and Angela were delivering those gorgeous flowers to the EM people. I was
falling asleep on the bed writing postcards to the crew.
Catherine:
So we went out and got dinner, then Toni and Diane had to catch their plane, and
the rest of us stayed and gambled for a couple hours. I think I was the only one to actually come out
ahead, but then I only came out with five bucks after spending four. Not exactly high society. :) And I
was really bummed. I'm only 5 months from 21, and I look fairly old for my age, so I figured I'd be fine,
for sure. I got carded three times over the course of about three hours. My dignity may never recover. :)
Anyway, at that point it was 2:30, and we had to get up and leave at 7, so we all fell into bed.
Cherri:
We all wrote postcards to the cast and crew, and will send it all out in a manila envelope to save postage.
Cherri, Dianne, and Angela went around to all the hotels within walking distance (Toni and I used a cab to get to the farther out ones -Ed.). They left stacks by phones, on bell desks, spare tables, literature racks, anywhere they could find. Unfortunately, no one was immediately snatching them up, but it was also about 11 at night, so that doesn't mean anything. Dianne said Cherri's now an apprentice sneak, because she was too nervous to leave things at first, but by the end was dropping things here and there and everywhere.
Diane and she had a great time handing out bags, because people weren't nasty at all, they were all really nice, even if they didn't take anything. In general, people were really enthusiastic and came and talked to them from time to time, so it made it all seem very worthwhile (me too :) -Ed.). Plus, it was a lot easier to get active when you knew that everyone was counting on you. (Most of us are real person to person weenies, and you guys were our strength time and time again. You guys are great, all of you. Even though you weren't there physically, you stood beside us in spirit, and we could feel it. -Ed.)
Well, we went home, rested up, and went on with the fight for fourth season. And shortly thereafter, information on how we'd done started coming in. Again the following accounts are mostly culled from postings to FORKNI-L, although some of them are from other sources.
96-01-26 23:28:40 EST:
Talked to someone who talked to someone.
TriStar may be chatting about your escapades over coffee, but everyone else is chatting over how bone-headed USA and TriStar must be to have ignored and underestimated us this badly. Got an e-mail from [name withheld by request] today that says that USA is talking to TriStar about coming back INTO the third season tail end deal and may want in for a fourth season.
We wowed them with the private mail and goodies, but NATPE took it one step further--we took it into the public realm. Embarrassing TriStar was NOT our intention, but we managed to do it . . . and it may help us. Because EVERYBODY knows that TriStar has a hot property called "Forever Knight." Which gives TriStar more leverage in signing syndicators at higher bucks.
You guys made waves, the ripples of which we'll be seeing for a loooong time to come.
And that's as specific as I can get. Sorry.
Date: Sat, 27 Jan 1996 03:23:40 +6
please don't take this too seriously, but...
USA apparently is having second thoughts about new episodes and if they break down and ask TriStar for more new episodes, it's going to make our fight for a fourth season a lot easier. Proffesional, poilte pressure to KAY KOPLOITZ and ROD PERTH will make a difference.. Today, I feel like we're making some headway. We can't stop until we see the words "fourth season" in black and white!
thanks from all of us on the Knight shift
http://www.execpc.com/~echelbarPosted to the FORKNI-L list Date: Sun, 28 Jan 1996 21:24:47 -0800
Word has it, from a variety of sources, that we stunned the industry. Truly STUNNED them. The independent companies are cheering for us. TriStar and USA Network are shaking their heads. The Neilsens were already under attack, and Forever Knight fandom is being seen as another serious blow to their credibility. FK is the talk of all the coffee clatches at TriStar, AND TriStar (and FK) is the talk of all the coffee clatches elsewhere in the industry! :-)
The industry is amazed at our sophistication, professionalism and organization. That old shibboleth, about how it is best to appear as an unorganized group, has been put to rest by our efforts. Now the industry is beginning to look at fans as an untapped resource in selling and promoting their shows. That has never happened before. And it is happening because of US.
Best of all, there is now a chance -- just that, a chance, not a guarantee, but a realistic possibility -- that there will be more FK after this season. With or without USA, perhaps movies instead of a 4th series, but SOMETHING.
And that would never have happened if not for the work that every single one of us has put into this campaign. And all the other people who have gotten the word from us and pitched in. So everyone should feel very proud of themselves today. :-)
More tidbits from NATPE itself that you may have missed:
Kay Koplovitz was extremely annoyed at her subordinates for not knowing about us. She made a call on her cellular phone from the NATPE floor and reamed someone about these FK people being at NATPE, and why were they here, and why did she know nothing about it. :-)
People took flyers over to the TriStar booth and asked what was the story with FK. People ALSO took flyers over to the USA booth and asked what was the story with FK, don't you broadcast this show, what's going on.
People on the NATPE floor were using their laptop computers to dial into the Save FK web site!
Date: Sun, 28 Jan 1996 12:16:39 -0500
Subject: We're into 5-digit numbers now!
The 10,000th hit to the SFK Web Page was recorded last night, at 11:23 PMEastern Time.
Our access rate is now one hit every two minutes, fifty-three seconds --nearly double what it was only a week ago!
Date: Sun, 28 Jan 1996 21:26:39 -0500
I just spoke to a friend of mine who was at NATPE. I was really disappointed in myself because I never had a chance to ask her to pick me up an FK bag or EM magazine. Apparently she ran into one of the NATPE 7 (she said she only ever saw one of them) and did get me a bag. YIPEE! She also bought me a FK mug as a gift. I'm so thrilled!!! She said whoever she ran into seemed not to know about the mugs, and she offered to sell them hers and go back and get me another one. As it turned out they didn't need a badge to get to the place that was selling them.
She was there as a member of the press and you might all be interested in knowing that she said that there was a big stack of flyers in the press room and the stack was smaller every time she went back until they were all gone.
I'm so pleased to see what has been done; sort of feel like the great-grandma of this project, since fans never spoke up, much less agitated as you did, before the Trimbles ran their 1968 "Save Star Trek" campaign.
But you folks took it FAR, FAR beyond what we did [or, to be fair, could have done in those days] so congrats! I am very impressed, and want to meet all of you! Thanks for keeping me posted on this. I'd have been there to help, had the Trimble budget been OK. Unfortunately, two daughters decided to marry within seven months of each other....!!! [geez!]
Your combined energy is amazing! Keep me posted on future activities and any progress. -- Bjo
PS: If you want to, you may certainly reprint this note in newsletters. I don't think any of the FK fans know who I am, but words of encouragement are usually welcome.
Monday, January 29, 1996
Show and sell
Big-name stars! Big-deal executives! Millions at stake! At a convention in Vegas for TV types, the objective is to syndicate shows -- and everybody'sshooting for a 10-year-old record.
By Jonathan Storm
INQUIRER TELEVISION CRITIC
LAS VEGAS -- Geraldo Rivera stepped from the Delta jetway at McCarran International Airport after the one-hour flight from Los Angeles. So did soapy goddess Morgan Fairchild. But the waiting news crew panned their cameras closer to the floor, where, a newsman like Geraldo should have realized, the better action was.
Also disembarking was fellow first-class passenger Murray, the lovable, lazy mutt from Mad About You. (He always gets a seat in first class, even if he lies down on the floor most of the time.)
Like Geraldo, Fairchild and scores of two-legged stars, Murray had come to Vegas to sell his TV show at NATPE.
``NATPE'' stands for the National Association of Television Programming Executives, but the acronym is more generally used in the TV industry to refer to the group's annual convention.
Participants also use the words circus and zoo, discussing a gathering that last week swelled to more than 17,500 people, many of them manning the 625 booths that covered 396,000 square feet at the Sands Convention Center here. A football field, with end zones, covers 57,600 square feet.
If you're from Terre Haute or Tokyo, if you have a TV station, a TV show, a TV idea, a TV ratings service or some TV gizmo; if you publicize TV, or run a TV network or a TV studio or a TV distribution company, you'll be at NATPE.
If you're the Army Reserve, you'll be offering military footage for free. If you're the desperate fan of a vampire show called Forever Knight, about to get a stake in its heart, you'll be there to plead that the series live on.
[rest of article edited out to save space]
We were assured, by an "inside source", that we would have gotten a fourth season if Forever Knight had been a network show, instead of syndication. Me, I call that a moral victory.
Forever Knight is now in perpetual reruns on the SciFi Channel and we did get two Forever Knight CDs from GNP/Crescendo and three books. Which is more than a lot of cancelled TV shows get.
And we hear TriStar and USA are considering making a TV movie, which would make the Seven (and the rest of the fans) very happy. If you want to help convince the Powers That Be to give us a Forever Knight movie, click here for more information.
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Questions? Comments? Want more details?
Send feedback on this page to the webpage keeper
Or e-mail members of the NATPE Seven:
Diane Echelbarger
Dianne DeSha
Angela Lai
Cherri Munoz
You can see more pictures of our trip at the SOS-FK NATPE Strike Force photo page Dianne DeSha set up right after we got back.
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