Television Studio Assures Fans It Has Reconsidered Unpopular Decision

Albuquerque, NM -- May 17,
2000 -- A two-week online campaign to save the belovedcharacter of Professor Arthur Summerlee has paid off! Early Tuesday morning, fans at Xenite.Org were surprised to find a message from the producers of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World. "Recently, many of you have expressedconcerns about losing the Summerlee character," the message read in part."In large part to your campaign, we have decided not to kill off the character."

Michael Sinelnikoff plays Professor Summerlee in the popular action/adventure show, which is shown in syndicated markets around the world. When he announced in early May that he had not been picked up for the second season, fans were stunned and disappointed. Sinelnikoff, 72, had just completed work on a movie during his off-season hiatus when he received word his option had not been renewed.

Dedicated fans quickly moved into action, organizing an online protest. TheWeb page for Telescene Film Group was located and contact information on the site was announced on the Lost World
Message Board ( http://www.xenite.org/boards/lostworld/lw_board.htm ). The message board is a fan-run forum where Sinelnikoff had only recently begun interacting with fans.

Xenite.Org set up a special page to headline the protest campaign ( http://www.xenite.org/special_events/save-summerlee.html ). The popular science fiction domain also sent out a press release, issued an announcement on the news groups, and started running Save Summerlee! banners on hundreds of science fiction and fantasy Web sites. Fannish response to the campaignwas strong and supportive.

Although contacted by Xenite.Org, Michael Sinelnikoff is currently travellingand unable to comment on the statement by the Lost World Producers at thistime. However, Xenite.Org has received assurances that the announcement is legitimate. Professor Summerlee's character will return for the second season of the show, but producers are not saying how. Summerlee was last seen suffering from a possibly mortal arrow wound in the first season finale.

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