I took two chickens out of the smoker and carried them into the kitchen, where Anne was mixing up some potato salad and heating a couple cans of baked beans. Ryan and his girlfriend walked into the house, with Nolan shortly after them.
“Are you excited?” Anne asked me.
“I … guess? Not really.” I began to carve the chickens for our dinner.
“Why not?”
“The excited part is when I’m on the stage in front of the audience, everything else is various levels of anxiety while I wait.” My incredibly sharp knife slipped in my hand and cut my finger. “Ow! Shit!”
My finger began to bleed, and I wrapped a towel around it.
“Okay, so … this is going to take a few more minutes before it’s ready,” I said.
A few minutes later, we all sat down to eat dinner, while we waited for the first episode of The Wil Wheaton Project to come on.
As Heroes of Cosplay ended and little versions of me popped up on the screen reminding people to stay tuned for my stupid face, I turned to Anne. “Okay, I just got excited.”
I did a little dance when the show started, and enjoyed myself through the entire thing. My kids thought it was really funny, and my son’s girlfriend, who had never seen any of it at all, told me that she loved it. “It would have been very awkward if I hadn’t,” she told me.
We celebrated with some ice cream cones, the kids left, and Anne and I celebrated with some champagne.
Before I went to bed, I looked at Twitter, prepared for people to hate it, and me, but most everyone seemed to like the show, which made me feel good.
When I woke up this morning, I looked at the news for reviews, and found that most places liked it (we got a B from the AV Club, which is like an A+ anywhere else), some really didn’t, and some were sort of “meh” on the whole thing. It’s about what I expected, but I wasn’t expecting the reviewers who didn’t like it to complain that I wasn’t mean or snarky enough. It’s disheartening that people would tune into a show expecting and hoping for someone to be mean, but if that’s what they want, this isn’t the show for them.
Some of the feedback was really useful, and lined up with my own thoughts: My energy at the beginning of the show was way too high (I wanted to keep it lower and more like myself, but I was directed to be BIGGER BIGGER BIGGER, so I’m trusting my instincts and being more myself next week), and the audio was weird in places. Some people complained about a laugh track that doesn’t exist (we shoot in a small stage with a full audience that’s very loud, which is good), but overall, the feedback was generally positive.
The biggest disappointment for me is our ratings numbers. They were not as good as I’d hoped, and I don’t know why. Though we did better than anything that’s been in our time slot before, we lost about half the audience that was watching Heroes of Cosplay, which surprised me. People who understand that stuff better than I do told me not to worry, because shows like ours usually start out with a small audience that grows, as word of mouth spreads. I hope they’re right. There’s also something called “Live +3” which is the total ratings number that includes people who watch the show on their DVR in the three days after the show first airs, and we expect those numbers to grow.
This whole ratings thing seems outdated and irrelevant to me, because it doesn’t take into account cord-cutters, who I know are a significant part of the audience, and I guess the fact that two different topics associated with our show were trending on Twitter doesn’t count for anything, either. What this says to me is that the industry needs to rethink how it scores things, and networks especially need to find ways to get their programming to people the way those people want to see it, whether that’s on demand, on a site like Hulu +, on Apple TV, Google Play, or whatever else the damn kids today are into. There’s a very real chance that I won’t get to do more than 12 episodes of this show because so many people who want to watch it don’t subscribe to cable, and that makes me really sad.
Overall, though, the things that I had a hand in, and the things I could control from a creative point of view, seemed to land on the majority of the audience in a good way. People expecting me to be a dick.0 didn’t like it, and that’s totally fine with me. Now that I’ve had my brief moment of excitement (and it was genuinely awesome to watch the show with my family, and find out from thousands of people on Twitter that they liked it), I’m back to the focus and varying levels of anxiety that come with getting ready for the next one.
I loved it. Your sense of humor slays me. My sixteen year-old watched it as well on OnDemand. He laughed…so please don’t give up. We will be watching. 🙂
I definitely wouldn’t depend on the whole ratings thing as a measure of the show’s popularity. As you say, cord cutters probably make up a large slice of your audience. It certainly describes our household. We haven’t had cable or satellite for several years now. If we can’t stream it, we don’t watch it. The studios need to move with times or get left behind.
Wil, you are definitely in your element with a totally unique show that you are very obviously happy about and it shows! This new show is a winner. You are a winner with a ginormous following. I haven’t written you since I emailed you the Google Search Trends after your first appearance on ‘Big Bang Theory’ where you beat out Monday Night Football for more than 12 hours after the show aired. I still have the email I sent you and no doubt the same results are true. Best, Johnny
wil wheaton, eddie royal, monday night football october 19, 2009
via Google Hot Trends on 10/19/09
1. wil wheaton
2. eddie royal
3. monday night football october 19
4. jeff mathis
5. butterfly world florida
the ratings system has always been BS anyway because, as i understand it, only a small number of homes are selected to participate & they guesstimate the total number of people watching based on the ones in their program that do. so, the actual number could be higher or lower than what they think.
I was asked to join the Neilsen TV group – and they dropped me because we had “cut the cord” – no broadcast TV or cable TV access. I know I can’t be the only one, so that tells you right there that the Neilsen ratings are bogus.
I was really surprised that SyFy ran it as a “new” show at 4PM EST the next day (it’s a DVR thing) on my cable provider (Brighthouse – Tampa). I agree with those who would like to see the people in your audience to blend the laugh track. It would be very cool to see an audience interactive question of the week with some type of theme…where are the actors from your favorite canceled too soon science fiction shows now (especially since SyFy is on the very guilty list) – or even something like “This Week’s Petition” where a quick video petition for shows fans feel need to be re-booted and why they feel the show is worthy (both ideas I’m sure you’ve already toyed with). People will watch the show just so they can feel like their voices are being heard. At least that’s what I believe from watching random Arsenio and Windy Williams shows on YouTube. You did an AMAZING job your first week out and we’re all so proud of you for putting together such a fun show! Thank you for entertaining us so well. 🙂
Well, I think ScreenRant in particular was off the mark…sounds like they just wanted more TableTop. As for me, I laughed so loud a few times that the cats jumped off the couch and skidded across the floor. I anticipated an extra bit of enthusiasm the first few episodes, given how stoked you sounded about the project when it was in development. And I don’t think even Sheldon C. or Amy F-F would have been looking for a dose of snarkiness from you. So, I’m definitely looking forward to waking this a weekly habit with my teenage geek child. We’ll be watching it on Hulu+, though, so I’m afraid I can’t contribute to the network’s delusions on the viability of Nielsen-type ratings. (Duh, networks: if I’m watching it on Hulu+, you have an actual, factual audit trail of what I watched, when I watched it, where I paused it, how many times I watched it again. You know, REAL data. Nick Fury can even tell which of his credit card ads are relevant to me!)
For anyone outside the US, you could try Media Hint: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-hint/
It seems to work pretty well with both syfy.com and hulu (at least, it worked for me, and I’m in Europe).
Now I just wish they’d stop using Flash…
Im from the UK so couldn’t watch it anywhere but managed to find it on YouTube and watched it through my Roku.
The show was entertaining and funny, but I guess being the first show, there’s potential for improvement. Keep up the hard work. I looking forward to TTS3 🙂
Wil,
Thought the show was solid with some honestly LOL moments, but I agree with you that you were a little too ‘on’ at the beginning and during the bit with Chris, particularly when your voice reached into the higher registers. Also, do you have a PayPal link or something that we could use to slide you a few bucks in case the show wasn’t officially available where we are? Hate to see you not get paid when your work was enjoyed in spite of the network and cable BS.
Don’t forget those of us overseas who have get the show through “other means”. I hate to do it, but Syfy here in the UK doesn’t show it, so how are we to get a dose of the Wheaton then? So don’t forget about us little people who supported Ensign Crusher until the bitter end!
Today I want to watch it…but still don’t know how…I am from Czech Republic and we don’t have anything like SyFy….
Sorry to be part of the problem. To complicate matters, Hulu+ is showing your show as “web only” content. My Roku and iPad will not play it. I will hook my laptop up tomorrow just to watch this.
I watched it twice on my cable subscribed DVR last night. I hope that counts double to offset the problem some.
Watched the show on Hulu+ on my laptop about 24hrs after airtime. (Tried to watch earlier in the day on my Roku, but it didn’t come up on search, so I don’t know if that’s because it wasn’t available yet, or because it wasn’t available on Roku.)
I enjoyed the show very much! I think the show will improve a lot when you find your comfort zone and get to be more “you”. I know that you and Chris have a lot of history, but I didn’t feel he added anything to the show. Not sure if that was due to the way your interactions were written or just the way your personalities mix on stage, but I didn’t really care for that bit. (I know that contributed to the trending on Twitter, so it obviously landed with others, just not with me.)
I’m really looking forward to seeing what you do next week, and I know that you’ll settle into a more comfortable-feeling space as the show matures. Don’t sweat the small stuff, and don’t let the negs get you down!
You are awesome!
I thouhgt it was great, but I agree the start was a bit frenetic. Just be Wil. We love Wil.
Great show!!
Yes on the cord-cutting thing. I will watch it somewhere but we don’t have cable.
A really solid start – I know it’ll just get better too. Still a far better love story than Star-Crossed.
Dunno if you bother reading these, but I thought the show was pretty well done. As a cord-cutter, I watched it on Hulu. If I were to criticize it for anything it’d be the weird Hardwick cameo, but it was followed up with a pretty fun satire of an 80’s Walking Dead title sequence. It can be difficult to be funny without being mean, so tell your writers that they’re doing a fine job walking that tightrope.
I actually learned from your show that Dracula had been cancelled. Kinda sad about that. It was a pretty cool show… At least I won’t be wondering why it’s not on Hulu come the fall.
Take it easy.
I’m one of the cord-cutters. My husband and I watch everything via Netflix and Hulu Plus, through our xbox. I was bummed that Hulu doesn’t have permission to make your show available via the xbox, but I’m going to watch it on my laptop, just b/c you are awesome! Maybe print our twitter and send it to the Power That Be? 🙂
I hope they figure out a way to see the bigger picture. My cable package doesn’t include syfy, but even if it did we don’t watch TV by appointment. All of our viewing is online. I watched your show on syfy.com. I will watch it on Hulu+ if it is available there. But it might be a few days until we do so all the different ways of viewing should be taken into consideration. I also think the content providers aren’t taking advantage of the advertising opportunities online properly. But that’s a whole different conversation.
You can tell those people who do numbers that yours for sure would be higher if they were counting online views, and views that happen more than 3 days after original airtime. We don’t have cable or satellite at our house, and I want to watch the Wil Wheaton Project in the next few days, as soon as life gives me a few spare moments to relax.
Wil, just wanted to let you know I am in that “+3” category. I typically go to sleep by 10 on Tuesday’s because I get up at 6 (sucks), but I did watch it last night.
Sucks about the rating system though. I know I’m not a Nelson home and it seems incredibly stupid that studios base their decisions on such a faulty and now outdated system. Too many shows taken before their time because of poor ratings despite their resounding success with fans.
I generally liked the show, even though it felt a bit over-scripted (though a lot of that may have been first-night nerves). But my biggest disappointment was the lack of any real depth to anything. I was expecting some more discussion about our geeky loves, but the show felt a lot like my Facebook feed looks – except I couldn’t click on any links to find out more. For just a moment, when you paused during the “cancelled TV shows” bit at “Almost Human”, I thought you might break out of the pre-scripted stuff and give us some of the real Wil Wheaton, as you told us what it was you loved about that show. But then you moved right on and it was more memes.
It was a good start, but please drop the scripted jokes and just be the Wil Wheaton that we love talking about the things that we love.
Yeah, I wish that he could get a whole hour and make it sort of like a late night show. Give him the chance to monologue up front, but then get some geeky guests to come in and let him just be himself.
Oh, thank heavens you thought the same thing that I did – that it was a bit shouty-shouty OTT yay at times.
But I watched it at 3am here in Australia and enjoyed it. I’m sorry that my viewing won’t be in your ratings. That 80s sitcom opener was bloody genius. Hanging out for next week…
I definitely agree with the “be more you” feedback. I could really tell you didn’t feel comfortable in places – I just kept wanting to tell you to relax! Hubby and I agreed it was first show jitters, and look forward to you settling into your comfort zone.
I liked it. I do have one note, though. I got kinda bored with ‘Wil standing on the right side of the frame.’ Maybe mix it up with a desk, couch (the Loser’s lounge couch would be an awesome shout-out), or something else. Anyway, hope you do well with it.
I could do without the green screen BG. A real set would be nice.
I enjoyed the show as well, Wil, and I’m a cord-cutter. I found it on Syfy and watched it from my computer, but I hope that Hulu+ does pick up the show so you get a wider distribution.
Keep doing what you are doing Wil. Best wishes to ya sir!
There’s always room for improvement, but no one is truly great off the start. Give yourself time to develop the show, and then you’ll be great.
watched last night (on demand) I loved it from the beginning, my husband not so much (he was reading “ready player one” at the time so he was a bit distracted.) by the time of the Vikings in the hot tub he had put the book down and was laughing. I think you did great, keep up the great work!
Great show! I agree with you about the energy in the beginning. The only way to make the show better would be to just let you be yourself! As an example, I absolutely loved the Blastr interview.
The audience was certainly having fun! Maybe, to hush the critics, and give the audience a thrill, the camera could pan around to them at some point? Again, fantastic show, and I will continue to watch on syfy.com. Congratulations Mr. Wheaton! A well deserved success!
If you only get to make 12 for Syfy… see if you can get the rights (or just change the name but keep the format) and move it over to G&S or even try and kickstart it to prove it out.
Very nice, had a real Daily Show feel to the comedy, but on topics I enjoy. You need a desk with a backdrop and a guest each week would be nice. Your tie should say something about you as well, maybe a dalek tie or star trek or star wars… something. You looked a bit too generic. Even a classy tee drom sharsplode with a sports coat would be more ‘you’.
“This content is currently unavailable” on the SyFy web site!!! WTF?! So apart from loosing ratings because of alternate viewing methods you’re also loosing actual viewers because SyFy is blocking certain regions from seeing it?! It’s like the studio execs saying “sorry Wil, we loved your show but not enough people watched it – BECAUSE WE WOULDN’T LET THEM! Muhahahahahaha!!! Now fetch me another martini, lackey.”
Yeah Wil, don’t worry about the “numbers”, your show was GREAT! I like the presentation a whole lot, you’re amusing, witty, and charming. Keep on doing what you’re doing with the show and just be yourself, high energy and all. I remember I wasn’t too fond of Wesley Crusher when the first STTNG came out, and by the end of the series he was one of my faves, I really like this show from the “get go”, you’ll do just fine. And keep “biting the hand that feeds”, SYFY needs to have some fun poked at it’s expense; Heroes of Cosplay, that’s “meh”! Look forward to seeing you in “Sharknado, the Revenge”!
Wil, I was watching the World Wars on History channel but caught your show on Demand the next day. I was really excited and had my calendar marked and everything. But I was disappointed when I watched the actual show because it looked really campy with the obvious green screen and also it seemed a bit much like the SNL news skit I always did not like during the brief years I watched the show. I like what you are trying to do and will give it a few more episodes but please try to be less cheese late night and more of you… Like you do live in person at con’s and w00tstock.
Really enjoyed the show! I’m definitely one of the DVR watchers – I don’t know that I ever watch anything on TV when it it shown “live”.
I haven’t laughed out loud so often on the first episode of anything since 30 Rock or the first episode of @Midnight (Doug Benson totally cracks me up).
Looking forward to further episodes!
Wil, I liked the show and there were a lot of parts that made me laugh.
If you don’t mind a suggestion, I’d like to see a few serious moments as well. Specifically where you mention the shows (or other things you really like) and why. Highlight some of the great new things in this space (e.g., Orphan Black and how amazing the lead actress is or your newest favorite table top game) that some of us may not know about.
The satire and humor was fun but I think it would add a lot to the show to incorporate a few serious moments as well (it might even make the comedy funnier by comparison).
Good luck,
-R0b
http://www.hulu.com/the-wil-wheaton-project
Yay!
While I wasn’t able to catch your show when it aired due to a prior commitment, I watched it the very next day. I found it very funny, and you as entertaining as ever. Your sharp wit and keen insights into things nerdy do our kind proud. I really enjoy your irreverent sense of humor, and willingness to poke the tiger with a sharp stick. I especially love your ability to take shots at SyFy, the channel on which you air. I am definitely looking forward to seeing your next episode.
Loved the first episode of the show and am looking forward to seeing it develop polish as it progresses.
I’ve long been of the mind that the ratings system needs a massive makeover. I’m one of those ‘cord-cutters’ you identified — we have never had cable (unavailable in our area) or digital satellite, and never plan to — so any shows we keep up on are done so via Hulu (free), Netflix, network websites (when available), or as a last-ditch effort, torrent. I don’t know how much of that data is captured by the ratings system, but I do know that a growing subset of viewers use similar methods for consuming media because the cost-to-value ratio of subscription-based television just simply isn’t worth it.
I loved it, and so did my whole family! It’s like The Daily Show for geeks – I hope you get picked up to run every week, not just seasonally.
As a note of support….I absolutely would have watched if I had cable.
Yeah, yeah, great show and I sincerely wish you all the best . . . But more importantly, what smoker are you using? (Weber bullet, offset, etc.) Are you really smoking whole chickens? (Beer can method?). What smoke wood did you use? How long did you smoke them and at what temp and how did they turn out?
You can’t just leave me hanging, man.
Thought the show was a great start and hope it can continue. I loved the deGrasse Tyson bits!
On the ratings front, as a Canadian, I’m part of the problem. Syfy won’t let me watch it, Hulu won’t let me watch unless I play proxy games and then I’d have to mess around a bunch to be able to watch it on my TV. 🙁
Ideally for me I’d love to see the show on Netflix or I’d even pay a subscription to have it show up on iTunes. In a pinch get it on a Canadian network that would let me stream through a tablet to the TV.
Wil,
Sorry if you found our review a bit harsh. Personally, I’m not a fan of “mean” humor – and I know that it can take a few episodes for a new show to find its comfort zone sometimes.
Best regards,
Vic Holtreman
CEO, ScreenRant.com
You don’t have to apologize for anything, Vic. I don’t expect everyone to like the things I do, and if your reviewers didn’t like our show, maybe it’s just not for them.
I enjoyed it, Wil,
But I really don’t like how you’re sort of sending your fans to attack negative or “meh” critisms. Read it, learn from it. Don’t douche.
I’m not sending anyone to do anything. I’m sharing the things I’ve seen, because they’re relevant and interesting. Please show me where I sent anyone to do anything.
Wil,
If this show doesn’t “take off” in the traditional sense, I sincerely hope you’ll consider exploring alternative ways to make this work (ie: Kickstarter for funding, internet distribution, etc). You have the perfect skillset to pull this off. I’d love to See The Wil Wheaton project change the entertainment industry. Because you’re spot on: if your show helps drive trending topics on Twitter, hundreds of Facebook commentary, etc, you’re powerfully engaged with your audience. You (and by extension we) can make this work. Or so I believe.
I watched on my DVR the next morning and LOVED IT. It sucks that you probably don’t get those ratings plus whoever watches it on the inter-webz for awhile, but I’m sure more people watched the show overall than initial ratings suggest. Hopefully execs start taking that into consideration b/c the times are a-changing and the industry really needs to get with the program.