Wikipedia:Peer review/The Random Years/archive2

The Random Years

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This peer review discussion is closed.

I would like to nominate this article for a FAC later this year, but I want to first make sure that it is as prepared as possible. Any help with this peer review would be greatly appreciated! Aoba47 (talk) 02:04, 22 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Comments from SatDis

Lead

Oooh, I can't believe Will Friedle is in this series! Are there any clips online?

I was surprised to read about this as well lol. The only clip I can find of the series is the opening credits which does not includes any of the actors. It seems like the series really fell into complete obscurity. Aoba47 (talk) 17:43, 26 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I've noticed UPN refers to the network as "the United Paramount Network", but then just "UPN". Maybe adjust the lead?

Good catch. I am not sure how I missed that. Aoba47 (talk) 17:43, 26 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

To avoid the "and" repetition, I would split to "According to a 2002 Broadcasting & Cable article, Roswell received low ratings and UPN was scaling back on the series and would likely cancel it; the network denied these claims, saying they were "just making room for its midseason shows"

"the series is about" - maybe "the series centers on"?.

Revised. That sounds better to me. Aoba47 (talk) 17:43, 26 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

"the cast as a whole also got negative feedback." - change "got" to "received".

Revised. I agree that "got" is far too informal for Wikipedia. Aoba47 (talk) 17:43, 26 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Premise

I like the sentence "Storylines focus on the characters' jobs and romantic relationships" - can this be worked into the lead? For example, "Storylines focus on the characters' jobs and romantic relationships, often including their neighbor Casey Parker (Natalia Cigliuti) and their building superintendent Steve (Winston J. Rochas)."??

Thank you for the compliment. I have incorporated your suggestion into the lead. I agree that it is an improvement as it more clearly conveys what the series is about to the reader. Aoba47 (talk) 17:44, 26 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Production and broadcast history

"replaced by Eddie Kaye Thomas.[14][9]" - swap references.

Revised. Aoba47 (talk) 17:47, 26 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

"These new programs were not promoted" - maybe "These new programs were not put forward", or "proposed"?

Revised. Aoba47 (talk) 17:47, 26 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

"Few Watching; UPN laffs a gaffe". Variety. needs a url-acess=subscription as I can't read the ratings.

Revised. Aoba47 (talk) 17:47, 26 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

"and attracted only half the audience of its replacement Roswell" - I know Roswell returned, but in the previous paragraph it says The Random Years was the replacement for Roswell - can this be clarified?

That is far. I have removed "its replacement" and revised this part. According to the sources, Roswell was struggling with ratings so UPN replaced it with different shows which received even worse ratings. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions on how to present this information better though. Aoba47 (talk) 18:08, 26 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

This bit is a little confusing as it says "both shows", and then "it" (which show is "it" referring to?). Then it says "Episodes airing on March 12" - does that mean multiple episodes of The Random Years, or is it episodes of both shows respectively? But then it says "it" again. Might need a reword.

That is understandable. I was hesitant on repeating the names of the series too often, but I can understand how that ends up just being confusing. I have attempted to fix this, but please let me know if further revision is necessary. Thank you! Aoba47 (talk) 18:08, 26 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

"and its final two episodes" - maybe "the final two aired episodes were shown on March 19, though more were produced".

Revised. Aoba47 (talk) 18:08, 26 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

"in their time slot" - just another pronoun confusion, who is "their"?

I have revised this part to hopefully be clearer. Both series (which are each 30 minutes) were replaced by an hour-long program. Please let me know if further revision is necessary. Aoba47 (talk) 18:08, 26 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Episodes

Can the note about the alternate title be moved down to that episode's summary?

That is a much better placement. I wanted to place it by the episode title, but it leads to a weird visual where the note is placed in the quotation marks for the episode. Your suggestion is much better than what I had thought. Aoba47 (talk) 18:09, 26 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Critical reception

I don't have any issues with the reception section. However, I can foresee that in the FA nomination, some reviewers might say that there are too many direct quotes here.

That is fair. I have removed some of the quotes and I have removed some sentences that were just repeating what other critics were already saying. Aoba47 (talk) 18:20, 26 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hopefully these comments have assisted! SatDis (talk) 04:55, 26 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@SatDis: Thank you for your help. You have improved the article a great deal already. If you have any further suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it. For whatever reason, I was struggling with how to better convey the information on the show replaced Roswell and the information around its broadcast and ratings. Unfortunately, it seems like The Random Years is one of those shows that was lost to time. It was never released to the public on DVD or streaming. I'd be interested to see Friedle in the series. I am a huge fan of NCIS so I was surprised to see Sean Murray in this cast line-up. This would for such a niche audience, but I kind of wish there was a streaming service that was entirely made up of these one-season shows. I think that could be fun lol. Anyway, have a great rest of your week! Aoba47 (talk) 18:27, 26 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Aoba47: Very interesting that only the title sequence is available and it's a fairly recent upload. Such a 2000s feel! I can't believe a whole show can be completely missing online. Anyway... You have done well with the changes, hopefully they have helped. Just a few ideas for the trickier section:
"As If and The Random Years had the lowest ratings on network television for the season and both series had lower viewerships than Roswell."
"The March 12 episodes of As If and The Random Years lost two-thirds of the viewers from their lead-in program Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
And another comment: to avoid "and" repetition, I would split to: "According to a 2002 Broadcasting & Cable article, Roswell received low ratings; UPN was scaling back on the series and would likely cancel it. The network denied these claims, saying they were "just making room for its midseason shows".
That will be it for my comments! SatDis (talk) 22:39, 26 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@SatDis: Thank you for the response as well as for the suggestions. I have implemented your recommendations in the article. I used a slightly different wording for the last one as I want to emphasize that cancellation was just rumored at the time. It was quite obvious that Roswell was in the process of being canceled, especially since a network would never cut down a show's season and then put it on a seven-week hiatus if they wanted to invest in it further, but I wanted to make sure it was not presented as 100% factual as it is all tied up in a report. The title sequence is very 2000s lol. I am also surprised that not even a small clip of an actual episode is available. I did find this promo but it is so distorted. That video honestly makes it feel older than the 2000s lol. Aoba47 (talk) 23:44, 26 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Aoba47: Wow, the fact that these clips have so minimal views means they musn't had any popularity at all! That's all of my comments. When you put this article up for FA, I'll be happy to provide my support. SatDis (talk) 00:34, 27 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for the response. The views are incredibly low. For me, this is really the fun part about working on more obscure media. I'd imagine that this article would be the most comprehensive source on this particular series. I'd love to see what the cast and crew would think about someone putting together all of this research in one place lol. Aoba47 (talk) 00:57, 27 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by Pseud 14

Going to post my review soon. Pseud 14 (talk) 19:16, 1 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you! Aoba47 (talk) 23:16, 1 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I think the article is in good shape. Here are a few suggestions from me:

and their post-graduate lives -- perhaps we can use "lives after college" or somewhere along those lines, some readers may not fully understand the term. WP:NOTSIMPLE

That is fair. There can also be some potential confusion on what graduate is referencing (i.e. post high school graduation or graduate school graduation could be some misinterpretations). I have used a version of your suggestions. Aoba47 (talk) 18:56, 2 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

has his own website. -- does this imply the website is already active? or is this one of his goals? If the former, I would probably say, he runs his own website.

He does have use own website so I have used your suggestion. Aoba47 (talk) 18:56, 2 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

A mother's boy -- I would use mama's boy instead, as it's commonly used phrase.

Good point. Revised. Aoba47 (talk) 18:56, 2 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Wiseman only became a dental technician upon her suggestion -- this is only a personal preference/suggestion, maybe we can state "Wiseman only became a dental technician to please her", being he is a mama's boy. --Pseud 14 (talk) 18:42, 2 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

That way is a ton better so thank you for that suggestion. Revised. Thank you for your help! Aoba47 (talk) 18:56, 2 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]
- All changes look good. Ping me when you take this to FAC and will be happy to review as well. Also, only if you have some free time, might I interest you to have a look at my current FLC? --Pseud 14 (talk) 19:21, 2 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  Thank you for your response. I will look at the FLC in a moment. I always more than happy to help out when possible. I should have comments posted momentarily. Aoba47 (talk) 21:05, 2 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]