"Going bananas" is no longer just an expression. Fans of the WB series Tarzan are taking it quite literally -- they're sending WB execs baskets of bananas (not to mention plants, stuffed jungle animals, phone calls, postcards, and the occasional tin of cashews) to prove their point -- they want their show back, and they want it now -- even if they have to send out the troops -- in this case, traveling fruit -- to do it. Elaborate "Save our Show" campaigns are nothing new; a rally of viewer support is what has been said to have saved Star Trek nearly 40 years ago. More recently, campaigns to save shows like Roswell and Sports Night have been highly publicized, but they don't always yield results. In this day and age, if you want to be heard, you have to outdo all the campaigns of the past. 1,000 bottles of tobasco sauce isn't going to impress the TV execs who, by this point, have seen juuust about everything imaginable. The idea is to send them something they never could have dreamed up. Baskets of bananas, anyone? Tarzan premiered on the WB on October 5, 2003. A twist on the classic Tarzan tale, this show places the jungle boy, John Clayton, aka Tarzan (Travis Fimmel), in New York City. Sure, he grew up in the jungle after his parents died in a plane crash that nearly got his 4-year-old self killed, too. But this time around, he's been found -- by his evil uncle (Mitch Pileggi) -- and dragged back to New York City to be civilized so that he may one day claim his share of the family's humongous fortune. John wants none of this and escapes, only to encounter Jane Porter (Sarah Wayne Callies), a NYC cop. He takes an instant liking to her and, not knowing any better, starts following her around and trying to be near her constantly. Jane, who has always prided herself with being the smart, level-headed one, is shocked to discover she has growing feelings for naive, wild-boy John, but she can't help herself... it's gotta be love. The series follows the lives of John and Jane -- as John tries to keep out the clutches of his evil uncle, Jane's little sis Nicky, and Jane's drop-dead-funny parter, Sam Sullivan (Miguel A. Nunez Jr.). At the risk of sounding cheesy and cliche, it really is an action-packed, heartbeat-pound-inducing, angst/love/passion-filled hella good hour of television. Or... was... See, Tarzan's ratings weren't quite up to par in the minds of the WB execs. Forget that Sundays are a tough night for any show. Forget that Tarzan was up against several well-established hit shows. Or that Tarzan was absolutely incredible, worthy to be said to be equal to Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Smallville, and Dawson's Creek in terms of quality. In early November, an annoucement to pull the plug was issued: Tarzan was being put on "hiatus." "Hiatus" is truly a sinister term. For some shows, it means, "We're taking you off for the sweeps because your numbers suck but we want to give you a chance in, oh, say... January." For others, however, it means, "You're really canceled but we're trying not to make you cry so we're going to use a much softer term... there, there, now...." With the WB, you never really know what they're thinking. In late Fall, 2002, they announced they were going to cut the episode order for Do Over, a half-hour comedy starring Penn Badgley. As it happened, they aired just two more episodes before... never airing the show again. The network's website, for the next six months, continued to list Do Over as being on the WB's lineup, but the WB's schedule was noticeably Badgley-less. At this point, it still isn't clear what the WB intends to do about these fans' beloved show. But members of Team Tarzan (the group of dozens, maybe even hundreds of fans, determined to save the show) know one thing's for certain: it ain't over 'til it's over, and the fight's not over yet. Not until Michigan J. Frog croaks -- er, sings -- darnit. Update: 7 January 2004: And it's over. The WB finally opened its beak and announced the official cancellation. :( I.L.M.O. Tarzan, October 5 - November 23, 2003 Leave a message in the guestbook to comment on this article. :) (c)2003-2004 Alligator Juice