Today's cuppa: coffeeshop iced tea
Well, the results are in for Wednesday's Franchise Wars polls (as of 7:20 PST, Nov.22), and they're interesting and a little strange. I'll lay out the numbers, reveal how I voted, and you'll let me know what you think.
What is your favorite "CSI" series?
- "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (the Las Vegas original) -- 57%
- "CSI: Miami" -- 10%
- "CSI: NY" -- 20%
- "CSI: Moosejaw" -- 12%
Me: "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" ("Miami" is my chief guilty pleasure, but pressed to choose, I'd go with the original.)
If you've never heard of "CSI: Moosejaw," don't feel left out, since I thought I made it up, until I realized that something with a similar name was performed in Canada as a live musical spoof called "CSI: Moose Jaw: The Country Cases" (maybe it's time for me to revive my version of "Moosejaw," perhaps even here. Hmmm. Investigator Angus Hamish MacAngus may be soon ready for his closeup). It's a little disturbing that a fictional "CSI" franchise out-polled "Miami," which garners huge ratings both on CBS and around the world. One thing you can say about Cuppers -- they don't follow the crowd.
What is your favorite "Stargate" series?
- "Stargate SG-1" -- 67%
- "Stargate Atlantis" -- 30%
- The original "Stargate" movie -- 3%
Me: The original "Stargate" movie. Yeah, I know. I do. I watched "SG-1" and enjoyed it (and the cast members are some of my favorite TV folks ever, and I always loved visiting the set) but I'm kind of a Devlin/Emmerich loyalist with this one.
But from the Cupper side, it's pretty definitive. It's "SG-1" all the way. It'll be interesting to see if any possible future "Stargate" spin-offs can recapture the original magic, because at least among these voters, the first spin-off is second best.
What is your favorite "Star Trek" series?
- "Star Trek" -- 7%
- "Star Trek: The Next Generation" -- 30%
- "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" -- 30%
- "Star Trek: Voyager" -- 22%
- "Star Trek: Enterprise" -- 7%
- "Star Trek: The Animated Series" -- 4%
Me: "Star Trek" (with "DSN" running a close second).
Gee, with such low numbers for the 1960s original series, I can only guess that the poll voters fall on the younger end of the 18-49 demographic, since people often (though not always) hold closest to their heart the "Trek" they grew up with -- but I'm happy to see a little love tossed the way of the oft-overlooked. Emmy-winning Saturday-morning animated show from the mid-'70s.
What is your favorite "Law & Order" series?
- "Law & Order" -- 30%
- "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" -- 40%
- "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" -- 23%
- "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" -- 8%
Me: "Law & Order" (though I haven't really watched since Ben Bratt left.)
Again, Cuppers buck the trend, picking "SVU" over the venerable mothership, which is one of the most popular shows in reruns. But it's not too surprising, since "SVU" has both the respect of the critics and plenty of ratings love from the viewers.
What TV franchise(s) do you avoid entirely? (multiple votes OK)
- "CSI" -- 29%
- "Law & Order" -- 35%
- "Stargate" -- 19%
- "Star Trek" -- 16%
Me: Currently avoiding "Law & Order." Obviously, "'Trek" isn't in new episodes right now, but if it were, I wouldn't avoid it (and I definitely won't avoid the upcoming "Star Trek" movie from J.J. Abrams. Click here for an interview I did with Zachary Quinto of "Heroes," who plays the young Spock.)
In vote totals (and while there were good-sized differences in the totals, no franchise was an utter slam dunk and no franchise was a total washout), "Stargate" came first, followed by "Star Trek," "CSI" and "Law & Order," which almost tracks with the avoidance numbers. But since there are more "Trek" series than "Stargate" series, and the franchise has been around for 40 years in syndication and in network primetime -- making it much harder to ignore -- I'd consider those two shows to be in a statistical tie in this poll.
So what do you guys make of these results?
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