Commenting on fame

       Since the seventeenth century people have been writing about the scandals of others.  This can be  seen through Samuel Johnson's diary where he comments on the life and those around him. The need to talk about others is further pushed when newspapers began to comment on the personal lives of aristocrats.  This commenting becomes so prevalent in newspapers and magazines that even play writes such as F. Burney and R. Sheridan began to talk and comment on the lives of rich and famous in their satirical 1770's plays.
   Now lets fast forward 200+ years where becoming famous has become as easy as writing a blog, self publishing a novel, starting a fashion line, etc.  The ways to Warhol's fifteen minutes of fame are numerous, but how long one will stay in the spotlight is debatable.  However, those that stick around or forever commented on by bloggers and paparazzi. If you make a bad fashion choice, or end up in a bad movie role in a movie people will know about it and comment on it. 
   But these days bloggers, podcasts and the common man via twitter can now voice their opinions about movies and television shows. One positive of this is that people's opinion dictates how a story might turn out in the end in a television show.  But is this a good thing, because times even when a tiny show has become popular it can still be cancelled. The examples are numerous such as "Firefly, Dollhouse, Pushing Daisies", etc.  However, it has been such viewers that has been able to with such things such a "Firefly" and "Veronica Mars" movies.
    I think it might be a double edged sword where viewers dictate what is on television but at the same time they are not always able to do anything if a show or someone gets the axe in a television show.  (spoiler alert) A great example of this would be "Downton Abbey" where they killed off two of the main characters leaving viewers both mad and sad at the end of the third season.  The viewers had no control of this since we did not that their acting contracts had expired after three years.  So this has me wondering if people need this immediate feedback/commentary on a television show and their actors? Also is this feedback a good thing? And if it is why?
    I ask this because shows like "Pretty Little Liars" and "Gossip Girl" reveal how private information being revealed in a public nature can destroy lives. In the case of "Pretty Little Liars" they are blackmailed into behaving a certain way. While in "Gossip Girl" it is very voyeuristic with others watching and analyzing your every move in the spotlight. These shows seem to be commentary themselves on how even some private information of fictional major figure heads seem be off limits in the information age. But this has me asking why these figures, what is so important about them? Why them and not anyone else? So readers I ask if you have any responses or thoughts to my many questions.