And now, a word from viewers like You!

To the writers of the Jeff M. Davis Show,

First of all, let me say I'm a big fan. Great casting, great writing, really believable characters, love it all. This show has had its ups and downs, but it has just gotten better with the last few seasons. That is actually what prompted me to write to you today- the most recent season. What happened there? You had a wonderful drama/intrigue series going along and then decided a scifi/fantasy would be better?

              Let's talk about Jeff, though. Obviously, it's important to get the title character right. You'd had wonderful development of the character the past three seasons, creating more interesting personal dramas and plans for him to create and escape from. Jeff was an amazingly complex cynical mastermind type, the sort of hero you love to hate. And whoever costumed for him did an amazing job with the perfectly flipped up hair and thin ties, I have to admit I had suit envy on more than one occasion. But now what- a kindergarten teacher? Trying to make a difference in people's lives? No plotting? Asian bangs and combat boots? And no offense intended, but Jeff is a Midwest American white boy who had been on a boxing team for one semester. The whole ninja powers stuff...come on. One more thing. I realize you had to cast an attractive actor for the lead role, but you don't need to have all the passerby exclaim that he's a “handsome guy”. He's not that good-looking.

               As for the show itself, it's clear what you're trying to do, and as a firm believer in capitalism, I appreciate the need to appeal to an audience. But you're pushing the bounds of believability here with having two gratuitous fight scenes per episode. And a bombing of a first world country? You know those don't happen very often, right? About the swordsmen in the subway and the pocket-sized navigator-communicator-research device, willing suspension of disbelief only goes so far. As for neglecting to provide pants to all the females in minor roles-- I understand you have the thirteen-year-old male audience to worry about, but no one's gonna believe people actually dress like that.
                Regarding the cast...what was so wrong with the one you had? Last season was probably one of the better casts the show had seen, with wonderful leadership politics and excellent performances by the actors. There was great tension between complimentary and opposing personalities, there were dramatic situations galore, there was romance and character development...And what did you do with them? Swapped them out for foreigners so you could have cheap culture shock humor (and I still don't believe Koreans consider it polite to tell someone they look bad today). You took out the romantic tension of will-they-or-won't-they and made last season's love interest his actual girlfriend (and we all know Jeff doesn't do the whole relationship thing). AND you traded all of the excellent driving sequences for high kicks and mountain temples.

                 The camera and directing need mentioned here too. Last season had a really closely-shot intimate feel to the camerawork. All of the scenes felt like you were right there in the rooms with the characters, like your world was really as small as theirs. This year's director seems obsessed with sweeping panoramas of mountains or rivers (the number of times you've had “crossing the Han River into Seoul” shots is getting ridiculous) or worse, concrete jungle shots. I realize there are many cool places to see. But you can only appreciate the beauty around you for so long before you start to miss the people hidden on the other side of the shot.

                  Like many of my friends, these were the staples of why we returned to the show every week. The Jeff M. Davis show was the pinnacle of clever dialogue and intriguing drama in our tv regimens. Your turning our favorite suave trickster into a futuristic action hero in a fantasy land is going to alienate a lot of your fanbase. The unsubtitled foreign language bits don't really help either.

Sincerely,
A Concerned Viewer

P.S.
Whatever happened to the Traveler's Tips segments? Those were great stuff!

P.P.S.

Changing the soundtrack entirely to Korean Pop was actually a really good choice, though.  So catchy!