View Full Version : Social Brew is Cancelled
jlouderb
06-06-2008, 05:28 PM
First let me apologize to everyone who had developed an attachment to Social Brew. This news will come as a shock, but unfortunately I've made the decision to cancel the show.
Why? From where I sit, it just wasn't working. It wasn't the hosts, it wasn't the producer and it wasn't the execution. It just didn't come together, and I really think the concept was flawed from the outset - and that's 100% my fault.
Behind the scenes the team worked extremely hard to try to pull it off. We went through a number of pilots, tried out a number of hosts, but in the end it just didn't have that certain something that would make Social Brew into a big, popular show - the kind that we need to have on Revision3.
So please accept my apology, and understand that this is a natural part of the evolution of a television network. We're going to try a lot of stuff, and not everything will be successful. It's important that we realize it early, and move on.
That's what we did.
If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to air them here, and I hope you'll continue to enjoy our slate of other shows.
jim
masherscf
06-06-2008, 05:31 PM
Thanks for the heads-up.
crobarian
06-06-2008, 05:34 PM
That sucks. I was really starting to enjoy it.
Thanks for the word finally but I wish it had come yesterday instead of almost 24 hours since the next show was supposed to be released. I think y'all need to look into a better way of getting word out to your viewers for late releases or cancellations.
travislopes
06-06-2008, 05:37 PM
That sucks. I was really starting to enjoy it.
Thanks for the word finally but I wish it had come yesterday instead of almost 24 hours since the next show was supposed to be released. I think y'all need to look into a better way of getting word out to your viewers for late releases or cancellations.
I agree. I'm glad that we know this (and glad that the show is cancelled...it did pretty much suck), but it would have been nice knowing this yesterday between the show not coming out and Neha being fired.
Do you digg it? (http://digg.com/television/Bye_Bye_Social_Brew)
mrpopular
06-06-2008, 05:55 PM
Thanks for giving us an official word.. Like ^ said it would have been better 24 hours ago. But I don't think there's any need for apologies we are human and understand when things happen. Don't feel like you can speak out to the fans, many of us thrive on connection & knowing what & how Rev3 is doing, it's the unique 1on1 bond with the Rev3 community that will set you apart. So continue to share with us...
it's sad to see a show go, But it's good to see you noticed the lack connection the show had.
Keep up the hard work.
nathan79
06-06-2008, 06:02 PM
Overall, I think Jim handled the situation in a stand up way. It's too bad about the theme song, though...
tokenuser
06-06-2008, 06:37 PM
Its a shame about the show being cancelled. Its a fact of life that not everything works out though.
... but ...
(and I hope you noticed it was a big but)
Please, please, please, please, please put the Miss M segments into popSiren ... release them as pop bites if need be. Her deadpan delivery is perfect.
jazgalaxy
06-06-2008, 07:10 PM
I have to say I really liked the show. I think the hosts and the format were great. I think the content was just a little odd.
As I wrote in a letter to Rev3 after the first showed aired, I would really LOVE too see the hosts and content rolled into TechZilla (which is lacking the content and charisma needed to make it a true ScreenSavers legacy show.)
The two shows were good by themselves... they'd be awesome together.
bonsai
06-06-2008, 07:47 PM
Thanks for the heads-up Jim. I guess the delays were additional pilot attempts to try out other hosts/formats etc to rescue the show.
As I've posted before, even to my untrained eye, the on-set awkwardness was extremely palpable--painful actually.
I think the only valid criticism here is lack of notification and communication with your audience. Heck, even the major networks are being more open these days about "re-tooling" attempts for shows. Remember "Men Behaving Badly" and "Joey" on NBC? As an ex-AMSer you know lack of timely notifications for delays or halts on deliverables just isn't acceptable for any professional endeavor.
Eh, "ddos happens", and it's still good to see Rev3 taking risks with demographic targets and formats. You're still in start-up mode and taking risks is what start-ups do.
Best of luck moving forward and congrats on the Epic-Fu acquisition.
rokov
06-06-2008, 07:50 PM
Damn, I was just starting to like SB. Oh well, it probably wouldn't have been quite as good without Neha and this does free up Moujan for other projects (http://revision3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18029&highlight=Moujan). (hint .. hint :D)
michaelejahn
06-06-2008, 07:52 PM
Try it, if you are in the need for a fix...
http://beta1.epicfu.com/
kronos6948
06-06-2008, 08:09 PM
Thanks, JLou for the heads up.
It's a shame, because I was just warming up to the show as well. Granted, there's only so much you can do with social networks, and Irene wasn't a lot of people's cup of tea (and it took me a while to get used to her), so here's to wishing the best of luck to the remaining Rev3 staff that had positions working for Social Brew.
I'm still gonna miss Neha though.
cooperwoods
06-06-2008, 08:13 PM
Jim, I don't think you gave Social Brew a fair chance to succeed.
bani-banan
06-06-2008, 09:45 PM
Jim, I don't think you gave Social Brew a fair chance to succeed.
That's an idiotic thing to say.
I respect your decision and I agree. However, I don't want you to blame it on yourself, Jim.
You'll eventually get a bad-ass idea that will blow everybody's minds away!
mr-underachiever
06-06-2008, 09:48 PM
How is it idiotic? The show only had, like, four episodes. And we saw how badly The Digg Reel struggled before they got into their groove, which was about ten or eleven episodes in.
mrpopular
06-06-2008, 09:55 PM
How is it idiotic? The show only had, like, four episodes. And we saw how badly The Digg Reel struggled before they got into their groove, which was about ten or eleven episodes in.
Youtube & Digg.. endless content for the Digg Reel.. There is only 3 sites people faithfully goto myspace, twiiter facebook
kronos6948
06-06-2008, 09:57 PM
How is it idiotic? The show only had, like, four episodes. And we saw how badly The Digg Reel struggled before they got into their groove, which was about ten or eleven episodes in.
I think the Digg Reel got ripped even harder than Social Brew did. Yet that one is still on the air. IMO, it's still a rip off of the Soup (which I haven't seen since Greg Kinnear), and it's not my cup of tea to watch the same videos that I already saw on Digg, then see a couple of them again on Diggnation.
bani-banan
06-06-2008, 10:09 PM
How is it idiotic? The show only had, like, four episodes. And we saw how badly The Digg Reel struggled before they got into their groove, which was about ten or eleven episodes in.
Like Jim said, they've been through many pilots, many hosts and still the concept doesn't last.
The crew was pretty damn sceptical about the whole Social brew thing as well. Heck, even the interns didn't like producing it.
Take into account what happens behind the cameras, not just the "talent".
The Digg Reel failed in the beginning because we didn't like Jessica. Her jokes were lame and everything felt scripted. Even the welcoming felt cold. They replaced her and instant success.
As I wrote in a letter to Rev3 after the first showed aired, I would really LOVE too see the hosts and content rolled into TechZilla (which is lacking the content and charisma needed to make it a true ScreenSavers legacy show.)
The two shows were good by themselves... they'd be awesome together.
Could not disagree with you more. Tekzilla is perfect with Patrick and Veronica as is. I think maybe the show could benefit from segments with Sarah or bringing back the Dark Tipper (he's just too cool for that now though), but the Social Brew hosts would not fit at all IMHO.
I was an avid TSS fan, and let's face it -- we're not getting TSS back. Ever. You can't replicate it. We all miss it, but trying to force a show to become it won't make it work.
Jim, I think you made the right decision. I was not a fan of this show. I'm sorry to the people who did enjoy it, because I'm sure if something I liked was canceled I'd be upset too.
kronos6948
06-06-2008, 11:51 PM
Like Jim said, they've been through many pilots, many hosts and still the concept doesn't last.
The crew was pretty damn sceptical about the whole Social brew thing as well. Heck, even the interns didn't like producing it.
Take into account what happens behind the cameras, not just the "talent".
The Digg Reel failed in the beginning because we didn't like Jessica. Her jokes were lame and everything felt scripted. Even the welcoming felt cold. They replaced her and instant success.
I didn't know that the crew working on SB didn't like the show...I had no idea. Where did you find that out?
will_stutler
06-07-2008, 01:01 AM
i knew it
nothing good ever lasts
lets hope no other show gets cut right now
trivialnobvious
06-07-2008, 01:24 AM
I'm glad that you all were will to take a risk on the show and also give it up when you saw it wasn't going to work. Looking forward to future programming.
will_stutler
06-07-2008, 01:29 AM
i just wish they would let us in on things a little sooner
they had to have know by episode 2 that they were going to end it
secret-steve-crumbles
06-07-2008, 02:24 AM
Damn, that sucks, this show was such a winner! Wasn't it you goochie-goochie-goo!!!
bani-banan
06-07-2008, 02:29 AM
I didn't know that the crew working on SB didn't like the show...I had no idea. Where did you find that out?
I think I stumbled across a blogpost somewhere.
The college-hack guys didn't seem enthused at all (new interns).
To me Social Brew was something that G4 would show. i watched all four episodes but could never get into it.
thecheat
06-07-2008, 03:49 AM
Neha is gone?
That's the only sad part about all of this :(
Please bring her back!
exoendo
06-07-2008, 04:16 AM
jim saw the same thing we all saw. Most on the forum knew that the show was a little off. Check out the polls, a majority didn't even like it. The concept of the show was flawed. It's a show about social networks, which a) must of us already know about b) have a limited capacity. There is only so long a show like that can go on.
It SUPER SUCKS that neha was let go, but I don't know if it was anything to do with this.
But it's good to know that the higher ups at rev3 see what everyone else sees. Good call on letting this show go.
cybersuchus
06-07-2008, 04:28 AM
It's unfortunate that the show is gone. I thought it had finally started to get some traction around here too. It's far more unfortunate that Neha had to go with it.
Still, I'm glad Jim answered the "what's happening?" questions that everyone had been posing. I just hope the next time that this happens, we get a quicker response.
Good luck to the old SB crew, in whatever they wind up doing now.
enrique_napa
06-07-2008, 11:14 AM
...Like a teddy bear drowning in a river.
bigshotprof
06-07-2008, 12:37 PM
I liked it too, but I guess when you really think about it, sitting for half an hour watching a show about social nets is counterintuitive to the people who really use them--kind of like watching exercise shows to lose weight.
kwang0274
06-07-2008, 01:53 PM
Now that SocialBrew is cancelled, what happens to SocialBrew.com? Are they going to let that continue on, or are they going to kill that, too? I wonder.
Now that SocialBrew is cancelled, what happens to SocialBrew.com? Are they going to let that continue on, or are they going to kill that, too? I wonder.
If not I can put the domain to good use :D
cacogen
06-08-2008, 07:46 AM
Jim, I don't think you gave Social Brew a fair chance to succeed.
It's possible the concept might work well a few years from now.
At any rate, from a business standpoint, that decision was a complete no-brainer. They have to assess the probability that a floundering show will come around. If one wants Rev3 to stick around and grow, you can't expect them to bleed money for lost causes.
will_stutler
06-08-2008, 08:24 AM
It's possible the concept might work well a few years from now.
At any rate, from a business standpoint, that decision was a complete no-brainer. They have to assess the probability that a floundering show will come around. If one wants Rev3 to stick around and grow, you can't expect them to bleed money for lost causes.
your right, but i think at this point it was the fucking long ass wait to find out and the fact that the week before they said it was mearly delayed
true they just went through some crap and i hate that for them but that still doesn't mean Jim couldn't take 5 minutes out of his day to tell us this bloody news sooner
i am more angrey at the lack of communication than the show being cut though that really "gets my goat" (no not old but hope someone else catches that line)
i just want to go up to Jim with a Pink Crayola Marker and right on his forhead "Communicate With Your Fans, Sonner" then turn around and walk away......no i wouldn't
bayareaking510
06-09-2008, 03:33 AM
Yeah, that show was pretty awful
nextgenxbox
06-09-2008, 07:48 AM
a big, popular show - the kind that we need to have on Revision3.
jim
BRING BACK CTRL+ALT+CHICKEN!!
Please? :(
highlanderjames
06-09-2008, 10:42 AM
Well Jim,
Kirk once said,risk is part of the game if you want to sit in that chair.
I think Rev3 will really take off soon. Trial and error is how you find shows that work or not. Some trials are really bad,like tech tv's tech live,oh that sucked.
darknessgp
06-09-2008, 04:23 PM
your right, but i think at this point it was the fucking long ass wait to find out and the fact that the week before they said it was mearly delayed
true they just went through some crap and i hate that for them but that still doesn't mean Jim couldn't take 5 minutes out of his day to tell us this bloody news sooner
i am more angrey at the lack of communication than the show being cut though that really "gets my goat" (no not old but hope someone else catches that line)
i just want to go up to Jim with a Pink Crayola Marker and right on his forhead "Communicate With Your Fans, Sonner" then turn around and walk away......no i wouldn't
At least you got a notification that it was canceled. CTRL+ALT+CHICKEN just stopped coming out, and only recently was there even a hint that it wasn't even being thought of being made anymore, which was Alex mentioning on Diggnation how he USED to host a cooking show.
Honestly, Rev3 has ALWAYS had a problem with communicating what is going on with it's shows if something happens. They have gotten tons better, I mean sometimes we get told a show is going to be delayed around the time it is supposed to be released, I remember when we'd have a show not get released or be delayed and we weren't told anything, at all, EVER.
highlanderjames
06-09-2008, 10:14 PM
we're not getting TSS back. Ever. You can't replicate it. We all miss it, but trying to force a show to become it won't make it work.
True. I was a huge TSS fan from day one. TSS was never the same with out Kate and Leo,it was good with everyone that came in after she left,but not the same. Tekzilla is great as it is. Ya I'd like to see the dark tipper come back,but still its a very good show. New shows will be pushed out and some will work and some will flop.
mr-underachiever
06-09-2008, 10:39 PM
Since one of the biggest complaints about this show was that it was too much like popSiren, what are the chances of making it a segment on that show, sort of like how G4 made Cheat a segment on X-Play?
your right, but i think at this point it was the fucking long ass wait to find out and the fact that the week before they said it was mearly delayed
true they just went through some crap and i hate that for them but that still doesn't mean Jim couldn't take 5 minutes out of his day to tell us this bloody news sooner
i am more angrey at the lack of communication than the show being cut though that really "gets my goat" (no not old but hope someone else catches that line)
i just want to go up to Jim with a Pink Crayola Marker and right on his forhead "Communicate With Your Fans, Sonner" then turn around and walk away......no i wouldn't
I get being bummed that the show is canceled, but...
Some people have a weird sense of entitlement. I don't get why you're mad (or perhaps indignant) about this. If Jim told you it was canceled sooner, you could have gone and done something else instead of sitting by your computer, waiting for the show to hit the RSS feed?
At any rate, I'm bummed to see Neha go, because I thought she was pretty cool. Her NerdBird segments on popSiren and comic convention coverage on TekZilla were fun. Oh well, though. She seems to be handling it fine, so I guess I can cope.
Good luck to the cast and crew, whether they're still at Rev3 or not. :)
pandrogas
06-10-2008, 07:18 AM
Well, it's been a few days. I have to say that I am sad that the show got cancelled, maybe they were looking for something that was more explosive right out of the gate, maybe there was too much negative feedback, I'm not sure. I think the show had serious potential, it just needed to find it's niche and pull together a little more, but then again, I'm not in television, and I don't know what went on behind the scenes.
I will ask what will happen to SocialBrew.com, though since it seems relativly dead there already, odds are it'll remain the only real evidence that this show existed other than this forum and the show archive.
I am saddened to read that Neha left, I think it will ultimately have an impact, but what's done is done, I can only hope that Social Brew wasn't tied to her being let go, though, I wonder if we'll ever truly know what happened. But she's a smart, talented woman, I'm sure she'll do great wherever she goes.
In terms of the show's format, I don't think that was what killed it so much, though it could always use a little sprucing up. I liked the community aspect of the show, so it probably would have done better with a larger community (or so I can guess).
The core concept resonates with a certain crowd, though evidentaly not everyone is into social networking as much as some people. And to the people who said that nobody ever goes anywhere other than FaceBook, MySpace, and Twitter, well, you can shove that attitude where it belongs. Up until a year ago, nobody knew what Twitter was. There is always a way to make something better.
In terms of the host, I didn't mind Irene as much as some, though she seemed like the type of host that warmed up to a show instead of just nailing it right from the start, best of luck to her going on.
I hope sometime down the road this show makes a comeback, maybe as a different name, different cast, or different something, maybe just trying it again to see if catches on next time. This show really helped introduce me to the other programming that Revision3 has to offer, so I'll give it credit for that.
I guess what's done is done, I'll move on, we'll all move on, someday we'll look back at this and either laugh or wonder at what could have been.
adderx99
06-10-2008, 09:44 PM
i hope they spin off the SBNN segment as its own show. even if it were only 5 or 10 min a week, Muojan Z's witty one liners and timed delivery share the same appeal as the daily show, and rev3 needs something like that in my opinion. Sort of a valleywag mets the daily show. sound like an idea or no?
rokov
06-10-2008, 09:59 PM
i hope they spin off the SBNN segment as its own show. even if it were only 5 or 10 min a week, Muojan Z's witty one liners and timed delivery share the same appeal as the daily show, and rev3 needs something like that in my opinion. Sort of a valleywag mets the daily show. sound like an idea or no?
That's a great idea. Several of us around here have been saying for a while that Moujan needs her own show and I think you may have come up with just the right format.:D
pstuart
06-11-2008, 04:05 PM
Won't miss Social Brew and won't miss Neha
esophagus
06-11-2008, 05:04 PM
Good call, Jim.
I reaaaally didn't see this going anywhere worth while.
esophagus
06-11-2008, 05:05 PM
I guess what's done is done, I'll move on, we'll all move on, someday we'll look back at this and either laugh or wonder at what could have been.Psst. You weren't dating Neha. ;)
pandrogas
06-11-2008, 06:12 PM
Psst. You weren't dating Neha. ;)
I was referring to the show. :p
Not that I wouldn't mind going on a date with Neha, but I doubt that'll ever happen. Lol.
aerodash84
06-11-2008, 08:17 PM
I thought the show had potential to go somewhere cool. I was going to write in if they could do more social segments. Not just sites, but reports from conventions or meet ups. Actually socially related. I'd like to see some things from the show carry over to popSiren cause this show felt like a spin-off initially. I liked the idea of the social network for the show though.
In response to Rev3 getting back to fans, I think they've grown a lot since it originally was developed. It was maybe 4 shows and came out randomly. So it's nice that they actually have a schedule for releases and everything else. I'm looking forward to see where the company goes.
kronos6948
06-11-2008, 11:19 PM
I was referring to the show. :p
Not that I wouldn't mind going on a date with Neha, but I doubt that'll ever happen. Lol.
I think a lot of us would date Neha. But, then again, most of us probably wouldn't even be in the same league.
will_stutler
06-11-2008, 11:47 PM
I think a lot of us would date Neha. But, then again, most of us probably wouldn't even be in the same league.
yeah no flippin doubt
shes hotter than hell, smart, funny, into tech and animals thats a perfect lady if you aske me
bagofdicks
06-12-2008, 07:16 AM
i was looking forward to see the dating episode, oh well...
kenshin159
06-13-2008, 03:29 AM
So I just recently added Social Brew to my podcasts and after about 10 minutes into the first episode I had to turn it off. It was just awful, the main girl (I dont know her name) was just a pain to listen to, its like her voice was just that tone that would drive me insane (Thank you for calling Initech, just a moment....).
jtm9emo
06-18-2008, 02:20 AM
I have to agree with the decision to cancel the show. Even though it was only four episodes in, the show never really worked for me. The host was annoying, the guy was uninteresting and the segments were kinda boring, except for Moujan and Neha's, which were the only co-hosts in the show that added any value to the show, for me anyway. That's enough for me to say that I won't be missing it very much. Just my opinion... Can't wait for the Oak Monster!!!
high6
06-18-2008, 05:33 PM
is irene still with rev3?
nextgenxbox
06-18-2008, 08:58 PM
is irene still with rev3?
I doubt it.
scoobydiesel
06-18-2008, 09:45 PM
i was wondering what happened and i never really checked the forums. thanks Jim for the info, even if im a bit behind.
ebowen
06-19-2008, 06:57 AM
I really wanted to like Social Brew but, it didn't seem to flow like Pop Siren or any of the other shows. The set seemed a little claustrophobic as well. One thing I really did like was the "Social Netiquette with Miss M." Maybe that's something that can be integrated into Pop Siren. I rely on Miss M's teachings to keep me in line on the net. Without her, I just may break the internet! :eek:
the thing that made me loos intrest was the host irene, shes not interesting or fun(she just tryes too much) not like pop siren and sarah lane (jessica eeeeh not so much) the show should have been hosten by sarah and "neha tiwari" (the social brew net-o-holic)
she's awsome ♥♥♥
rottnkorpse
07-14-2008, 05:48 PM
I only saw the first two episodes and to be honest I was kind of bored. I liked the hosts and the Miss M segment was quite funny, which I agree with tokenuser that they should be ported to popSiren.
I guess I didn't like the show because I am not much of a social user. I hate myspace and stuff like that and it seemed that the show was only about that kind of thing.
grundelboy
08-15-2008, 04:38 PM
Called it at episode 1. Nuf said.
burkhartmj
09-04-2008, 09:11 AM
I wasn't sure how I felt about popSiren til I watched the first 15 minutes of ep 1 of social brew [that's all I could stand]. That's when I realized how awesome popSiren and moujan really are. I pretty much only enjoyed when moujan was talking. I loved neha in other things, but she just seemed awkward and completely bored with the show the very first time you saw her.