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Outlander In The Media


maraleia
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I blame Battlestar Galactica. It's the first show I can really remember doing this. Although from what I understand it was more Space than BSG. Mad Men and Breaking Bad didn't really help it either. At least these splits are still within then same year.

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So Outlander has been renewed for a 2nd season.  I am delighted.  I'm also just a wee bit proud because I suspect that all of us who participated on these boards can take a wee bit of credit for the renewal.  Back in the day, TV shows lived and died by their ratings.  I supposed PR counted too (were magazines doing stories, did entertainment magazines with your show on the cover sell well, etc.)  Maybe they considered fan mail too -- I don't know.  But for hard data all the executives really had were ratings.  

 

In the case of Outlander, the network did not skimp on promotion.  Doing the premiere at Comic-con, flying in the cast for panels,  paying all those pipers and kilt-wearing lads to march around -- that wasn't cheap.  Neither were all the ads on buses in NYC and flying the cast and crew there for the 92nd Street YMCA panel.  The network pulled out all the stops to promote the show and if we, the fans, had not responded with equal enthusiasm, I think this show would have been written off now -- sunk costs be damned.

 

But we did respond in kind.  People took advantage of the "try-before-you-buy" aspect and watched the episode online in droves.  Bunches of us have admitted on these boards to subscribing to STARZ just to get the show (I did) and then we doubled-down by watching the episode 101 on-demand on STARZ more than once (I did).  We've chatted on these boards, giving good, honest criticism where it is merited (nothing is perfect) but for the most part sharing our unabashed delight with what we've seen so far.  The number of Twitter followers exploded for the cast and crew.  We stormed the Twitterverse yesterday for a Q&A with Sam, pushing the show onto the "trending" list.  The number of "likes" on Facebook for show-related pages went through the roof and people commented volubly on everything that was posted there. People in countries all over the world have used social media to  clamor for their local outlet to pick up the show and more and more countries are announced as having been added to the broadcast schedule each day.  This is economics 101.  Supply and Demand.  Data data data. We demonstrated to STARZ in no uncertain terms that this shows has FANS.  We are legion.  We're gonna stay subscribed to STARZ for this show and when the DVD set comes out, we're gonna buy that too.  What the heck, we'll even buy the book with the TV promotional cover (on the NY Times best seller list now) even though the book is 20 years old and most of us early-adopter, die-hard fans already own it.  

 

We active Outlander fans should feel really proud about this early renewal.  I certainly do.  Here's to us.  Slàinte!

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What the heck, we'll even buy the book with the TV promotional cover (on the NY Times best seller list now) even though the book is 20 years old and most of us early-adopter, die-hard fans already own it.

 

Yeah, but you know, the cover's falling off, so it's probably time for a new copy.

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I may get the evil eye for posting in the wrong place, smile, but if you decide to go for a new copy I urge you to consider the Anniversary edition that came out last year!  It is just plain gorgeous, softly 'padded' cover, lovely ribbon marker, higher quality paper and print.  Beautiful and I hope they plan to do the same with each of the books as their time comes round.

 

edited for typos!

Edited by dustoffmom
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I hope I can make back-to-back posts here, since the last one was 6 days ago.

 

Anyway, I saw the following tweets on twitter about Outlander's ratings.

 

Joe Adalian @TVMoJoe  ·  10m

The third episode of Starz' OUTLANDER was the show's most-watched yet in same-day ratings: 1 million viewers.

 

Joe Adalian @TVMoJoe  ·  10m OUTLANDER ratings track: 720K>>890K>>1M

 

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Just saw a tweet that Outlander is being broadcast in Japan starting on 8/29 -- which I guess is today in Japan. What other countries, besides the U.S., is the show airing?

 

Okay, looked on this site:

http://outlandertvnews.com/where-to-watch/

 

And this is the list of countries either airing the show or anticipating airing it. Japan's not on the list, so I assume things are evolving as we speak:

 

Where to Watch:

United States – Starz - August 9. 2014
Canada – Showcase - August 24, 2014
Australia – SoHo – August 14, 2014
New Zealand – Lightbox - August 27, 2014
The Netherlands – HBO NL – August 11, 2014
Denmark – Viaplay Denmark – September 10, 2014
Sweden – Viaplay Sweden – September 10, 2014

 

Edited by Nidratime
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Athena, thanks so much for posting those recaps!  They are pretty awesome.  This paragraph puts into words what I couldn't in another thread.  This writer put exactly into words what I was thinking.  Death does matter, and it's real.  To the writers of Outlander, thanks for letting me into a most powerful scene.

 

I’ve got nothing funny to say about this scene. This was legitimately hard to watch. To see a man on the edge of life and staying with him until the end. Television and movies have a tendency to gloss over death, to speed it up and get back to the action. But not “Outlander.” Instead it devotes nearly 5 minutes to how agonizing it is to watch the life slowly drain out of a friend, knowing there is nothing you can do to stop it. It humanizes Dougal and shows Claire at her war nurse best as they ease Geordie away from fear in his last moments. It was a difficult but brave thing “Outlander” did here. As George RR Martin says, death should matter.
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Nidratime thank you for posting that! What an unfailingly positive review from a major TV commentator. Everyone on these boards and in Outlander-related social media all seem overwhelmingly happy with the show but there has been a small part of me wondering if the show would really break big and capture the attention of non-book-readers, men, and young women. I have been assuming that most viewers are like me -- women of a certain age who love the books. Now I'm thinking that was just me projecting and being a wee bit ego-centric. This show really does seem to have broad appeal. Edited by WatchrTina
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Came across an article with photos from filming of the last two episodes of the season. They are a bit spoilery of course.

 

Outlander Stars Film End of First Series...

 

Also found the following, which discusses future filming locations and so is spoilery as to upcoming story.

 

Ron Moore on season 2 (and potential 3).

 

There's also a very nice video interview with Sam in the second link, so it might be worth a bit of spoiling to watch. He does make one small mention about Jamie's future that could also be considered a spoiler. Don't know if he's speaking authoritatively on that though. Sorry for going on, but fair warning for those wary of any spoilers.

Edited by justmehere
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This is why there is a "YES" button on the Twitter image of many of the cast and crew (if you are following the cast and crew on Twitter).  And some have speculated that the vote is the reason why Outlander has not been picked up for broadcast yet in Great Britain.  As of this morning, the news says polls cannot predict the outcome of the vote -- it's too close.

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FYI, Scotland has it's own tv broadcasters, such as STV (Scottish Television) who naturally have the option of picking up the show themselves, if they wished to do so. This isn't a UK vote (England, Wales & Ireland aren't voting), it is only a Scottish vote, they are deciding their own fate, which I, as an English person, am totally happy about :)

 

FWIW, I highly doubt that TPTB at national broadcasting tv stations would care about a new tv show impacting the Scottish vote, like all big corporations; all they care about is profit.

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FWIW, I highly doubt that TPTB at national broadcasting tv stations would care about a new tv show impacting the Scottish vote, like all big corporations; all they care about is profit.

I would also sincerely hope that a television program wouldn't influence how someone votes. What a horrifying thought! I wonder how much most English people care about this vote. I know whenever there was a referendum in Canada I would get horribly upset about the thought of the country breaking up.

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I would also sincerely hope that a television program wouldn't influence how someone votes. What a horrifying thought!

You have a far higher opinion of voters than do I.

But then I am in America and we have terrible voters here who are influenced by media rather than fact every time.

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I would also sincerely hope that a television program wouldn't influence how someone votes. What a horrifying thought!

Politicians line up round the block to get on Saturday Night Live during election seasons for this exact reason.

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I would also sincerely hope that a television program wouldn't influence how someone votes. What a horrifying thought! I wonder how much most English people care about this vote. I know whenever there was a referendum in Canada I would get horribly upset about the thought of the country breaking up.

 

The average English person on the street feels the Scottish should do whatever they choose. (Rather than get into political discussion on a tv show forum; if anyone is properly interested and wants to PM me please do). Also they will still get all the BBC services etc but their licence fee will go up because it will no longer be subsidised by the rest of the UK. Don't believe all the media hype. ;)

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The key number to look at is in the last column. Nearly 1.1 million viewers caught the first run of spisode 6, i.e., the week-to-week growth continues.

 

There's a different number that will come out sooner or later that will also include any additional viewers of the repeat airings over that weekend, through the week, as well as from Starz on Demand and Starz Play, which is for tablets, smartphones and kindles.

 

I would expect there will be more interest in this week's episode in particular, although episode 6 is probably one of the most intense hours of television I've seen on any show in a long time.

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Well, if indeed this episode gained the most viewers for its first airing thus far, I'm not surprised. This was the episode all the reviewers were touting even before the show premiered. Every article I read or video I watched said that, if you aren't sold on the show when you first watch it, stick it out to Episode 6 because that one's the kicker, so to speak. So, I kind of expected everyone to want to see this one -- even those who hadn't read the books. That's why I'm not so certain that the next episode will gain in viewers, but we shall see. While Episode 6 might be a big draw for those non book fans and those who like "excitement," the next episode should be more of a love letter to the book fans.

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Also, ratings aren't the end all and be all for premium cable networks. What Starz is really concerned about is whether Outlander was the reason why they got a bunch of new subscribers. It's why the released the first episode online a week early. Then you had two weeks to decide whether you wanted to subscribe in time to see episode 2. Ratings can be convoluted in the first place but they're also mostly meaningless for a network that doesn't need to use them to set ad rates.

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Some more videos from Starz!

 

First Ron gives Diana a tour of the set including the Gaelic classroom, the art department, the prop department, the costume department, and various sets:

 

Speak Outlander lessons (these are all VERY short, around a minute long) - Outlander's Gaelic coach Àdhamh Ó Broin and Sam Heughan teach you how to pronounce some of the words used on the show (with help from Nell Hudson, Lotte Verbeek, Graham McTavish, Gary Lewis, Annette Badland

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I've been following the Scottish independence vote for actual real world reasons. But I think my head is going to explode between the news and the show. 

 

Yeah, me too.  It's kind of surreal watching fiction and non-fiction collide.  I am an American so I can't be a part of the solution for the Scots, but wow, it's interesting to watch for sure.

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He accuses Claire of sleeping with Dougal. She is naturally outraged and so are the other men. What a cad! What a jerk! What a…wait a hot second, did that lady just say we’re the aggressors on Scottish land? THAT WHORE.

 

 

 

My new favorite re-capper!

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Rekilt,

I just sat here and read every single one! OMG! seriously some of the funniest stuff I have read in a good long time. I think my favorite thing is the continuing insinuation that Clair's lavish wardrobe is being pilfered by Mrs. Fitz from Leticia's wardrobe closet! Laugh out loud funny!

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Rekilt,

I just sat here and read every single one! OMG! seriously some of the funniest stuff I have read in a good long time. I think my favorite thing is the continuing insinuation that Clair's lavish wardrobe is being pilfered by Mrs. Fitz from Leticia's wardrobe closet! Laugh out loud funny!

I know! Right?!! And Scottish Santa! Bwahahaha. I keep expecting him to bust out a HoHoHo.

ETA: it's the first place I run to after the episode is over. But I learned the hard way not to read them before the episode or you'll have her recap running in the background (your mind) of the show and find yourself laughing at inappropriate moments.

Edited by Rekilt
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I have only just now discovered this Monkeys as Critics but I will be a faithful follower believe me.

 

I don't usually watch the show the night it airs (Saturdays in my world are for going out and doing ---not sitting at home watching TV) so I catch it  (sometime a couple days) later ON Demand. But I make no promises not to read before I watch. That is some seriously funny stuff. ;-)

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As mentioned in the episode topics, TV.com has some funny picture recaps of the show. A full list is here.

Thank you so much for sharing these! I love these picture recaps. This is my favorite quote so far from the "Rent" recap, but there are so many good ones!

Silly Claire, it's just Jamie sleeping on your doorstep LIKE PLATONIC GENTLEMEN FRIENDS DO when they are staking a claim on you like a magnificent ginger lion.

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