#Rob Mars

[hopeymchope]

No hardcore fandom has ever died so quickly and so completely as Veronica Mars. This is the story of its murder.

They should study Veronica Mars in Hollywood. I'm serious. It's an incredible story of how to go from "loud, passionate fanbase with its own fandom name that campaigns and advocates constantly for it" to "absolutely zero fucking interest" damn near OVERNIGHT with just ONE epically terri-bad decision.

If you weren't there, you don't understand: From 2007 to 2014, the fandom — the "Marshmallows," as they called themselves — were everywhere in the Internet's geek spaces, my friends. They routinely beat the drum about the series' three seasons and its excellence, lamented its cancellation, pushed others to give the show a try, and always - ALWAYS - proudly and loudly called for the series to be revived.

FULL DISCLOSURE/CONFESSION: I've not even watched that much Veronica Mars, frankly... ? Yeah, I'm sorry! it does seem pretty good from like the four-or-five hours I've experienced firsthand. I just never took the time to sit down with it. Regardless, I find fandoms and their dynamics — both how they operate internally and how they display to others externally — deeply fascinating. And I honestly find them easier to study from the outside than the inside. Like, if I'm IN a fandom, I'm more likely to stay in my corner and ignore places that seem negative. But being on the outside lets me just... absorb what's out there, looking into every forum without judgment. It's like studying pop-culture sociology or something? And it helps that I'm very close to some serious(-ly burnt) Marshmallows. It makes it so much easier to find and absorb the gamut of the fandom.

Besides: There is NO fandom story I've ever seen that's anything like what happened to Veronica Mars and the Marshmallows.

(Time to insert a brief explainer for the uninitiated: Veronica Mars was a TV series that aired from 2004-2007 on the now-deceased UPN network wherein Kristen Bell played the titular character, a high school girl whose single dad was a private detective in the fictional community of Neptune, California. She grew up working "unofficially" as his assistant, which meant that she herself was effectively a teenage private detective.

The three core elements of the series were: 1) Veronica investigating each week's big mystery with plenty of quips and snark, 2) Watching Veronica's various relationships develop and shift, with most of the focus given to a) her relationship to her father and b) Her romantic pursuits (which began as the Veronica/Duncan/Logan triangle before eventually becoming focused on the slow-burn, off-on Veronica/Logan love story), and 3) The gradual development of that season's "mytharc" — the overarching BIG MYSTERY that doesn't get resolved or wrapped until the season finale. So it went over the course of two seasons that took place in high school and the third, shorter season that was at the start of Veronica's collegiate career.)

Just how big and how passionate were the Marshmallows? WELL! When series creator Rob Thomas (not the Matchbox 20 guy) and star Kristen Bell announced the Kickstarter campaign for the Veronica Mars movie in March 2013, it achieved its heretofore-unprecedented goal of TWO MILLION GODDAMN DOLLARS within less than 12 hours. At that time, it was the biggest Kickstarter goal to ever succeed — and certainly the fastest to reach that kind of height. Fans fell OVER themselves to pay out for it. Hell, my own significant other was DEEP in the tank for VM at the time and invested enough to get multiple t-shirts as backer rewards as well as a disk copy of the movie when it eventually came home.

And AFTER the movie hit in 2014? It was thankfully beloved and embraced! The once-teenage characters were adults who were actually out living on their own and working for a living, but the fandom had grown up with them, so it wasn't like they were begging for them to stay young students. They embraced Adult Veronica and her new adventure. The fandom rejoiced loudly and continued to be all over the geek side of the Internet... where they, of course, still wanted more. Sure, there were new novels in the aftermath (which were written by the creator of the series), but most of the Marshmallows were calling for more movies or a streaming revival.

And then, at long last... season four was actually announced. And there was much (premature) rejoicing yet again.

Yes, Veronica Mars returned for a fourth season on Hulu in 2019. It was just eight episodes, and it was heavily centered on one season-long mystery instead of sprinkling that amongst a bunch of smaller ones, but it would still feature the same ol' Veronica. They promised a new, more "adult" mystery/investigation plus a strong focus on Veronica and Logan's love story.

New Hulu purchased the rights to the first three seasons and hyped up its presence on the platform while marketing the return for the new run. The marketing team played up the most popular quips from the show's history plus put out TONS of stuff centered on the Logan/Veronica ship to pump up the fans.

The season was dropped all at once using the classic Netflix "binge" model in July 2019. And then... afterwards?

There was a brief explosion of LOUD RAGE from the Marshmallows at what series creator Rob Thomas had to done to burn and spite the fandom and ruin his own goodwill.

SPOILERS FOR SEASON 4: See, at the end of the movie, Veronica and Logan finally entered into a long-term relationship. In season four, they've been dating for years, and Logan proposes marriage. But of course there has to be drama/obstacles: In this case, Veronica isn't sure she's ready to marry... or capable of being in a marriage. Ah, but of course she eventually realizes how much Logan means to her. The two are married, and, in the season finale... Logan is killed by a car bomb in the penultimate scene. The final scene is a flashfoward to a year later, where Veronica leaves Neptune alone.

For most fandoms, that'd be a memorable point of pain. A big ol' speed bump that ultimately throws some people off the bus, leaving only the die-hards. But the fact that fans had been invested in this relationship for literally 15 years and that Hulu (and creator Rob Thomas) had heavily marketed the new season as being a big romantic event for the ship... it was too much. Unlike the aftermath of the Star Wars sequels, there was no lingering group of die-hard fans who were open to whatever was next — at least no significant one. I did some Googling and could only find TWO people who still wanted another season.

Funnily enough? Critics LOVED this. Hell, Vanity Fair infamously penned an editorial about how Veronica Mars had "finally grown up" with this finale. I suppose all the other murders and deaths and drug overdoses and r*pe weren't "mature" enough before now for... some... reason. (The same editorial also featured the author openly hating on Veronica ever being in a relationship because it causes "arrested development" and declaring that the movie -- which was acclaimed by both critics AND fans alike, I remind you -- was a lame dud. So. The writer must be a reeeaaaal fun person.)

But a series doesn't live based on critical acclaim, as it turns out. The fandom was murdered overnight. "Marshmallows" stopped appearing in geek spaces online entirely. No one expressed interest in seeing the next season or the next movie. The constant flow of fan AMVs on YouTube and fanfics on AO3 dried up to nothing or damn nearly so.

Since 2019 ? Nothing. Chirping crickets. An intensely dedicated fandom of 12 years was just... vaporized.

I've never seen anything like it before OR since.

That's why it's so fucking fascinating.

So what went wrong?

Creator Rob Thomas was adamant about two things: ONE, the series was intended to be a noir show, which meant there couldn't be any happiness for its protagonist. And TWO, the death of Logan was necessary to evolve and grow the series.

Thomas thought that having Veronica in a relationship would be holding her back, and that a marriage would absolutely kill the series and leave her stagnant. It never even occurred to him that marriage isn't the end of a character's life and growth. It never occurred to him that plenty of drama can be had AFTER someone is married, or that development/growth could be that the characters mature enough to be capable of maintaining a committed relationship. Thomas' view of his own universe was so myopic that he couldn't conceive of any possible way that Veronica could still be a private detective involved in life-threatening investigations AND be married at the same time. Futhermore, he felt that fans just wanted Veronica to become a pregnant housewife, which is about as far from what Marshmallows were after as you can get without straight-up killing Veronica and/or Logan. He managed to do the only thing wronger than what he wrongly thought was their insistence.

On top of the above, Rob Thomas only viewed "noir" as a vehicle for total fatalism... despite the fact that many of the most famous noir stories are cynical and full of moral ambiguity, but they still feature a positive outcome. The Big Sleep still has the protagonist get the girl. The Set-Up arguably ends with the happiest possible ending in spite of the beating the hero receives.

Perhaps most importantly? Despite Thomas own insistence that Veronica Mars was always "noir," the majority of both TV critics and fans did not think that designation ever truly applied. I suspect that's the reason why Thomas decided to go as dark and fatalistic as possible: He wanted to be noir, and he was being told that he wasn't. So he went so far into noir that he killed his own most popular property.

He was adamant that it was the only way for the series to grow. But as it turns out, it was instead the only way for the series to permanently end. Without that season four finale, a passionate group of fans would still be begging for more. With it? It's over. Nobody fucking cares now.

That's kind of amazing.

[theluckiestlb]

girl...WHEN??? WHERE????

what are you talking about???? when you kept him isolated for 14 years??? when you robbed him of bodily autonomy???? when you exposed him to his mother's corpse to akumatize him, TWICE????

wait, wait—OH you mean when he was terrified for his life, literally begging you to stop after you beat him up. my bad.

no? OH, you mean when you forced him to leave the country and the love of his life.

Huh.

[mastomysowner]

"WHERE IS YORK?" by @mazaochizao

[vindicia]

↳ My favorite video games of 2023

[veronicamarsconfessions]

The TV revival is an extremely tricky thing to get right because whether or not the original run of episodes ended how the showrunners intended, there's no guarantee of recapturing the lightning-in-a-bottle magic of that initial go-around.

Worse still, perhaps, is when a revived show ruins a previously beloved character, either by drastically altering their characterization, wringing them through a woeful subplot, killing them off, or, get this, maybe even resurrecting them unnecessarily.

These 10 TV revivals all made major missteps with vital characters, usually through careless writing but also occasionally due to some unfortunate timing in relation to real-world events.

Whatever the cause, and regardless of how it affected the show as a whole, these characters were seemingly tainted forever more in their belated returns to the small screen...

1. Logan Echolls - Veronica Mars

Veronica Mars' fourth season endured a far shakier response from the famously passionate fanbase, who took particular umbrage with the events of the season finale.

The finale features the dramatic death of Veronica's (Kristen Bell) husband Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring), who is killed in an explosion set by the season's antagonist just as the two are planning to set off on their honeymoon.

To many fans, it felt like creator Rob Thomas sticking a middle finger up at the audience, to deny Veronica a happy ending by killing off her love interest since the very first season for sheer shock value.

Some even deemed it egregious enough to not only ruined Logan as a character but the entire dramatic through-line of the show itself. And given that the season only existed due to the success of the 2014 crowd-funded film, fan outrage was especially ferocious. It obviously remains to be seen how a potential fifth season may follow Logan's death, but for some, it was enough of a dramatic misstep to taint the whole series.

[raisedbythetv89]

I just started watching White Collar for the first time and a realization about most male written and directed media smacked me DIRECTLY in the face which is that SO MUCH media written by a for men is genuinely just male nerd self insert, non-canon compliant, AU fan fiction??????

Like them writing and creating stories is just “ok so these guys are soooo smooth and well dressed and women just flock to them at every turn and they can get away with anything and everyone believes and supports them when they do mess up and everyone thinks they’re sooooo brilliant”

This media isn’t just portraying women “for the male gaze” it’s EVERYTHING. Everything in these stories is supporting and uplifting mens’ delusions about who they are, how they’re perceived, and how they should expect to be treated. Which is incredibly ironic because anytime media portrays women or the world in the female gaze in a more “in my ideal world things would be like this” instead of portraying us as nothing but weak, broken, unloved, traumatized, victims OR one dimensional sex symbols with no needs or emotions they’re screaming, crying, throwing up about how stupid and unrealistic the story is….

This explains SO MUCH about how male characters are handled in shows like Veronica Mars and Buffy. Even though they’re shows staring women all the “good guys” get the delusional self insert, y/n, AU fan fic treatment (Buffy still wants Angel in season 3 and Riley in season 6 even after everything they did and Xander is CONSTANTLY forgiven for all the atrocious shit he says and does and is wanted by all women besides Buffy. Veronica forgiving Duncan and getting back together with him and even CONSIDERING Piz could truly only be born from men being delusional AS FUCK. Writing how they want men to be treated by women rather than being based in reality and the woman having even an ounce of self respect.)

Which is why the “bad boys”, Logan and Spike are such better characters. They’re so much more realistic, they get held accountable by the women in their lives, have better growth and are just way more appealing and attractive because they’re not the walking embodiment of what MEN want men to be treated and act like.

Oh god this feels like such cursed knowledge to have like it’s important to see this media for what it really is but now watching it feels that much yuckier like finding the porn of someone you DO NOT LIKE but like their emotional porn “this is what life would be like in my fantasies” and they’re the fantasies of the grossest men alive 😭😭😭😭😭

Also it shows their emotional maturity like all of these things are what 13 year old boys fantasize about not actual mature, grown men….

Also just realized this is why the Star Wars sequels were so hated. It wasn’t just Rey being powerful and loved by her found family and Kylo. It was that the movies showed the reality of men like Kylo. They destroyed the male fantasy Darth Vader created. They aren’t super cool, powerful badasses. They’re extremely sad, broken, temper tantrum throwing lost little boys who just want love and acceptance but have lost the ability to accept it because of the dark side (aka the patriarchy) which is the reality and that made me SOOOOO ANGRY lololololololol and this is why Joss Whedon THOUGHT making Spike into a sad pathetic mama’s boy of a poet would make the audience not like him because that DOES work on misogynistic men who enjoy the male gaze but does NOT work and only humanizes and makes Spike even more complex and lovable to the female gaze 💀💀💀💀 oh good lord

[chrissysky]

Veronica Mars characters with some of their TV Tropes.

Note that Dick should actually be "Heart of Gold, Dumb of Ass" but that's not actually on their TV tropes page... But know in my heart, that's what it is.

and lily should be "laura palmer".

[spacevixenmusic]

Source: Biker Mice From Mars [1995]

[album-aurum]

I'm Dreaming of a Dead City

[thegirlwiththebikermicetattoo]

I am happy to report that I did manage to remember how sentences work but I think my heart exploded when he started doing Throttle’s voice.

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1111 - Initial Thoughts

The chapters are taking longer and longer to come out it seems, but One Piece finally dropped its final chapter before another 3 week hiatus.

It's a shame, but it's an understandable route, I think we all had the urge to wrap Oda in bubble wrap after Akira Toriyama's saddening death, everyone has to process it their own way.

Regardless, we have a chapter still to get through, so let's see where we're leaving things?

Spoilers for the Chapter, Support the Official Release

A colour spread of chips (or fries for you Americans) and jellyfish with the crew, Kuma, Vegapunk and Bonney, of course Bonney wants more after eating her own

Marcus Mars indeed has breached the Labosphere and Jinbe, sensing the haki, wants to get out now

Zoro's not quite content though, Lucci is beaten but not down

Scarred now at the front, Lucci still stands, angry but stumbling over to the two

With time of the essence Jinbe grabs Zoro and uses a 5,000 Brick Fist to propel them away

I'm sure Sanji stans and Anti-Zoro fans will have a field day of 'Zoro didn't beat Lucci' but guys he looks plenty beat, just because they get up again after being knocked out doesn't mean he's not beat, else we're gonna have to say that Mihawk never beat Zoro or Luffy never beat Enel

Like the moment they left he collapses back into human form

And then proceeds to shit bricks seeing Mars, asking for status on York

The loyal dog (or cat) he is he does give Mars the rundown; York is in the control room, the 5 straw hats above are seeking escape through the south when Zoro and Jinbe reconvene, 2 Vegapunks are up here, 85 CP agents and 4 Seraphim in the basement and 6 minutes before Vegapunk's message

Though, a rare show of sentiment from Rob Lucci, as he requests that Kaku - heavily injured in the control room - be recovered

Also worth noting that if Kaku's bandaged like this it likely means Chopper healed him after he was wrecked by at least S-Hawk

Mars however makes no guarantees, already planning to 'wipe out the nest'

Back to Luffy we see him reunite with the giants

Dorry and Brogy seem to think that Luffy's taking the image of the Sun God rather than actually being Nika

Warcury and Saturn are once again taken aback by the appearance of giants

Sanji has been relaying the messages, having told the giants to help Luffy with escaping

Kinda strange though because Sanji was very isolated for Little Garden, having that little coffee break chatting with Crocodile and breaking the Unluckies' necks, but sure enough

We have a map too, though Oda made sure not to mark any of the Gorosei

Dorry blows a horn, signalling that they got to Luffy, which pulls the giants into a tactical retreat

Warcury readies a retort though, blowing his own 'horn' with a yell of Conqueror's Haki

A yell so powerful it popped most of Luffy's features off his body, including his scar!

But naturally toon force means he can put it back together, he's literally holding his eye scar

'Some Government Big Shot' is so funny when you consider that Luffy literally doesn't know who the five godheads of the world government are

Warcury's got flips too, looking to attack with the horns, but the giants block each tusk with their shields

Warcury's tusks seem to have the definition of swords now, I wonder if that's linked to his powers

He asks for backstory on why the giants are loyal to him and to that we say 'read pre-Timeskip'

A double shield bash knocks the Topman to the bottom

Of all things disturbing about Saturn, seeing his mouth is probably the most disturbing

Much like Magellan, he fires pellets of poison at the trio

Luffy, resourceful and once more entering Toon Force, grabs a palm tree, eats it like a corn on a cob, and paints it into a baseball bat - complete with helmet - both adorned with Go-Mu (56) on it

Ayyyy batter batter swing batter!

Expecting the venom to just hit the Gorosei on the return, Luffy's surprised to see them explode like nukes

The opening is there to leave, but Luffy points out to Brogy that the Gorosei aren't beat, they can't die

Everyone's in a rush to get ready; Luffy, Dorry and Brogy are on the move, Sanji is still running and carrying Vegapunk's corpse, Jinbe is running and carrying Zoro's reluctant ass, everyone but Nami is pulling the Sunny back in position

But Bonney has 3 vice admirals waiting for her

Might be unwise to put yourselves between a long boat of giants and more giants though ngl

Mars finds York though, still trapped and now panicking because a monster is asking her where the room the transmission is coming from

Kizaru meanwhile is being tended to, but he claims his wounds 'run deep' - basically he's thrown in the towel

But through the flames it finally arrives, the giant mecha, unfazed by the elements, bigger than a giant, and it speaks

'Joy Boy, forgive me'

Jeez Joy Boy must have lived in an age of regrets because every time we meet something or someone from his time they have something they regret or are apologizing for; Zunesha, the Nefertari family, Joy Boy themselves, now the sleeping giant? I guess in a way it's kinda poetic, they lived in an era where their dreams couldn't come true, so they live in regret, in darkness, until the dawn rises once more.

As for the rest, I know some people will be miffed that Lucci survived, but it serves as a necessity for Mars to get where he's going, and like I said before he's practically out, even Jinbe says that the fight is already won and I doubt Jinbe would lie. When we first started this portion of the arc I was 100% expecting Luffy and co to have left the island by this chapter, but it seems more like it's the beginning of the final phase, the fights leading to escape much like Enies Lobby and Sabaody did. At the least it seems Mars is more occupied with the transmission than the Straw Hats but his priorities can change, plus he can still activate the Seraphim after them instead. V. Nusjuro - who like Ju Peter was quiet this chapter, given how they both got more shine in the previous one - is still circling the island too, which can still lead to a Sanji confrontation, but I'm more eager to see Franky hopefully get some shine against the Vice Admirals; Nine Chins et al don't seem to be the proper threat in terms of VAs though with Bluegrass and Doll hovering around, plus we did see Tosu get bonked by a giant in one hit so I'm not expecting them to go far.

Watching Luffy go full Toon Force is a joy though - pun intended - it's just delightful rubberhose creativity straight outta Tom & Jerry, even gnawing some wood into a baseball bat is classic stuff, so for me it works in comedy and nostalgia. I might die if he paints a tunnel only he and his friends can run through.

We didn't get much word on Vegapunk's transmission and we won't for quite some time now, but I would like to hope that Vegapunk's smart enough to know where the government would look first. I know there's theories that Dragon has the main signal but I feel like it'd have to exist somewhere more akin to a tree in the forest in order to piggyback off of government Den Den Mushi connectivity, if Dragon had that kinda access he probably would've used it more for intelligence. But it's not something I'm too attached towards being wrong about.

Hope Oda gets some rest and stays healthy, if there's one thing we as fans are known for it is indeed our ability to wait.

[maddys-nerd-blog]

I figured I’d share this cuz I’m actually really proud of it! I’m going to Comic-Con next week and I found out Rob Paulsen was gonna be there, and I thought ‘since he’s one of my all time heroes, I’ll draw him a present!’

So I created a poster of all of the characters he’s voiced that I personally adore! Of course you have the TMNT guys, but I also added Yakko cuz that’s probably one of his most iconic characters! And I added Throttle too cuz he’s really cool! 🤣

I really hope he likes this, as I may not be the most talented artist, but this took a month to work on and I poured all my heart and soul into this! 🥹 there’s other gifts I’m making too that I’ll post when they’re done!!

Hope you like this!! It was tons of fun!! 😊

[warpedwings]

Look at these cuties! 🥰 Misha, Rob, and Ruth at the launch of El Mar Margarita.

[awrestlinggirlwholoves80sbands]

I stuffed this bad boy like a turkey on Thanksgiving or a maccheroni frittata ( tag yourself) 

( Also if you think I add another row because I didnìt know where to put CC, no you don’t) 

[raisedbythetv89]

Listen the angst of seasons 1 and HALF of 2 is MORE THAN ENOUGH. By season 3 I’m beyond ready to see them happy and at peace within their relationship with the only conflicts coming from outside their relationship that they deal with together and NOT from Veronica’s friends or family because Logan is still so young he deserves a fucking chance when he’s getting the love and support he needs and is free of his abusers. And I don’t care if that’s unrealistic, the whole show is unrealistic lol if they can experience more trauma in a season of television than some people do in their entire lives they can also magically have their love for each other be enough to make them feel secure and trusting at least with each other. So Skipping the entire cassidy plot twist and therefore V isn't doubly sa’d and skips all the trauma of that night of thinking Keith died, no kendal there in the morning after alternaprom and so LoVe comes back together because Veronica is able to be brave and Logan is ok being alone and give Veronica a little time to process. Not because trauma forces their hand. No piz, no parker, no madison, no mercer, no break ups, Keith isn't psychotically overly involved and mistrustful of logan, they move in together, no 9 years of radio silence, NO NAVY, no corporate law and no tragic ending. LET THEM BE HAPPY THEY’VE BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH.

[veronicamarsconfessions]

The Unfortunate Pattern Of TV Shows Lying To Fans

Showrunner Dick Wolf is in hot water this week with fans of Law & Order: SVU on Twitter. Digging into the complaints, the current outcry isn’t really a surprise. Take a ship that’s been working on a slow burn for almost a quarter of a century, add in some bait-and-switch advertising, and you have a perfect storm.

While it’s true that showrunners have the right to run their shows how they see fit – and while fandom teasing is pretty much a staple of the medium – no fan appreciates being lied to. And there is very much a difference between teasing fans and lying to them.

Shippers of Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) and Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) have been hanging in through thick and thin for almost 25 years. Their dedication seemed like it was about to pay off, as promos for the most recent episode teased that this couple might finally – finally – kiss. Ultimately, not only did a kiss not happen but the shot featured in the promo – with Benson caressing Stabler’s face – was cut from the episode entirely.

Things happen in editing shows, and sometimes things get cut. So is this a case of “teasing fans” or lying to them? After almost a quarter of a century, it’s hard not to feel like this isn’t the latter.

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist showrunner Austin Winsberg earned the fandom’s ire in the show’s second season when he promised the end of the dreaded love triangle. Only to very much keep the love triangle alive. Now, in this case, this was a case of the showrunner genuinely misunderstanding what “love triangles” mean in fandom spaces. He seems to have interpreted “fans hate love triangles” as “fans hate arcs in which a character can’t or won’t decide between two romantic prospects.”

Failing to realize that “making one choice and then later making another choice, and then later going back to the first choice” is, indeed, being unable to decide. Still, the promise of “no more love triangle” was followed pretty quickly by the return of the love triangle leaving fans feeling intentionally misled.

The case of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist is a good argument for shows to have fandom consultants for showrunners who have probably not engaged in fandom spaces the way fans do and thus may mistake how things will be perceived. Winsberg professed the entire problem to have been a massive misunderstanding on his end. Perhaps that’s why fans of the series were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and successfully fought to save the show from premature cancellation.

Veronica Mars showrunner Rob Thomas got into similar trouble for handling the show’s last season. The Logan/Veronica ship (LoVe) had been a major focus of the series and subsequent movie. It was no wonder, then, that they were outraged when the fourth season ended with Logan’s death. Adding insult to injury, Rob Thomas explained the decision by basically saying that Veronica is “boring” when she’s happy in love and not traumatized and that he wanted to completely change the concept of the show moving forward.

Veronica Mars was a particularly special case of showrunners lying to the fan base because of the unusual nature of his salvation. Fans – a large number of them LoVe shippers – had directly been responsible for funding the Kickstarter that got the film sequel to the prematurely canceled series green-lit. Which led to the show’s subsequent pickup on Hulu. And Thomas knew how invested these fans – fans he directly called upon to resurrect his series – were heavily invested in LoVe. There was even an entire series of promos featuring Kristen Bell and Jason Dohring reading LoVe fanfiction leading up to the fourth season.

Teasing fans is a natural thing for shows to do. It keeps fans engaged. It creates buzz. But, as evidenced by Veronica Mars, when fans feel like teasing has become lying, they may not stick around to give the show another chance.