With the recent un-cancellation of the CBS drama “Jericho,” which the network revived after a frenzied fan campaign that involved sending tons of nuts to CBS’s offices, fans of other canceled shows are hoping similarly over-the-top efforts will get their programs back on the air. The longest shot may be “The Black Donnellys.” The NBC drama lasted only five episodes before being yanked in the spring for low ratings, averaging just a 2.7 rating in adults 18-49. But fans of the show, about an Irish mob family, think it deserves another chance. They began congregating on NBC’s “Donnellys” message boards last spring, brainstorming ways to save the show. When their posts began mysteriously disappearing, they created a site, www.savetheblackdonnellys.net, devoted to convincing HBO, known for its edgy dramas, to pick up the show instead. Fans began bombarding the pay cable network with letters and emails, but recently organizers of the campaign started collecting money to send HBO crackers instead. Just as “Jericho” sent nuts in an homage to a character who used the word in the show’s season finale, “Donnellys” fans picked crackers in part because the family bar in the show is called Firecracker Lounge. Though fans have yet to hear from HBO about the campaign, they say they’ll target other networks if the HBO effort fails. Organizers of savetheblackdonnellys.net talk with Media Life about why “Donnellys” failed on NBC, why HBO is the right network for the show, and the chances of a second season of “Donnellys.”

What made you target HBO and not NBC for this campaign?

When “The Black Donnellys” first aired on television, there were a number of fan discussions about the high quality of the show and how surprising it was that a show of “The Black Donnellys’” caliber was on network television.

Many fans compared “The Black Donnellys” to cable shows like “The Sopranos,” “Brotherhood,” and “The Wire.”

Then when NBC aired the third episode of “The Black Donnellys” online only, due to the graphic nature of the episode, many felt that “The Black Donnellys” was meant to be on a premium cable channel. In light of many of “The Black Donnellys'” connections to HBO, HBO just made more sense.
 
In addition, immediately after “The Black Donnellys” was pulled off of television, fans began contacting NBC and various media outlets to express their disappointment and outrage. 

When NBC indicated that the survival of “The Black Donnellys” would depend on online viewing and iTunes purchases, fans faithfully streamed and purchased episodes to show their support. In spite of these efforts, the network executives have made it clear that they have no interest in another season of “The Black Donnellys.”

Have you heard anything from HBO about your campaign?
 
Not yet, but we are hopeful.
 

How far along are you toward your goal?
 
Over $1,200 has been raised for the cracker campaign to date with more coming in every day. We will continue to ship crackers until funds have been depleted or when HBO announces season two for “The Black Donnellys,” whichever comes first.

What's HBO's incentive for picking up "Black Donnellys?"
 
We think HBO has everything to gain by picking up “The Black Donnellys.” For one thing, HBO needs something to entice “The Sopranos” fans to remain HBO viewers. Not that “The Black Donnellys” is a replacement for “The Sopranos,” because its themes are different, but it does offer the same mob genre. Within that genre, “The Black Donnellys” is a coming-of-age drama about four brothers swept into the mob and their struggle to survive by relying on each other.
 
HBO also needs annual viewers. I am not privy to their statistics but I am sure that there are viewers out there like me. I order HBO, watch “Entourage” or “The Sopranos” and then cancel the subscription. If “The Black Donnellys” followed “Entourage” in the fall, I would keep HBO all year round.
 
HBO will also benefit from [a handful of] “The Black Donnellys” actors that have either already been involved with an HBO show or soon will be.
 

How much hope has the surprise reprieve for "Jericho" given "Black Donnellys" fans?
 
While we’ve been campaigning since April and probably still have a long road ahead of us, “Jericho’s” success has definitely been an inspiration for our campaign.

Even though we started campaigning prior to “Jericho’s” cancellation, their fans and campaign have helped us get organized and are reminders of the impact that individuals working toward a common goal can have. The “Jericho” campaign and their fans have definitely paved the way for other canceled shows to be revived. Additionally, their success announces to the public that it is time for us to speak up for quality television.
 

Why do you think the show failed to find an audience during its initial NBC run?
 
NBC supposedly canceled “The Black Donnellys” due to declining ratings.

However, what most people don’t know is that “The Black Donnellys” was a victim of NBC’s own indecisiveness. Originally, the series was going to air in the Thursday night timeslot during “ER’s” hiatus in November 2006. But because “ER” was doing well at the time, NBC pushed back the airdate of “The Black Donnellys” to January 2007.

NBC subsequently pushed “The Black Donnellys'” premiere date back even further until late February/early March when it became the Monday night replacement for NBC’s other high-profile series, “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” which was having ratings difficulties. Not only did NBC anger “Studio 60’s” viewers, who responded by boycotting “The Black Donnellys,” it also gambled with the high-budget series by putting it in the dreaded Monday night timeslot.
 
Though “The Black Donnellys'” pilot episode aired after NBC’s hit show “Heroes” and pulled in nearly 8 million viewers, subsequent episodes followed the game show “Deal or No Deal” (when “Heroes” was on hiatus), and the viewers dropped to 5 million.

In addition, “The Black Donnellys” competed with the NCAA March Madness finals and CBS’s long-running hit “CSI: Miami.” In the end, NBC made poor decisions with respect to marketing, scheduling, and storyline continuity. Regarding the latter, NBC showed an online-only episode containing important plot details yet failed to notify “The Black Donnellys” television audience that such an episode even existed. Then, inexplicably, when viewers became confused by the storyline, NBC panicked like it did with “Studio 60” and pulled “The Black Donnellys” off the air after only five episodes.

Have you heard from anyone affiliated with the show?
 
We are in touch with some of the cast of the show. Billy Lush, Keith Nobbs, Jamie Bonelli have been extremely supportive by posting information on their MySpace pages. They are in touch via email also. They want the show back as much as we do.

What do you think the chances are that this will work and HBO will pick up "Donnellys?"
 
We are 100 percent optimistic, of course, and can only hope that “The Black Donnellys” can find a home at HBO. Our petition (www.petitionspot.com) has over 37,000 signatures and is growing by the hundreds daily. It is clear that HBO already recognizes the talent of “The Black Donnellys’” creators and cast since a number of them have worked on an HBO series or miniseries. Plus, HBO needs to give all of its mob drama fans something new to get involved in.

If not HBO, hopefully another network will see the potential in “The Black Donnellys.” FX, TNT, and Showtime are all great networks on which “The Black Donnellys” could thrive.