The political thriller Valley of the Wolves (Kurtlar Vadisi) and the Ottoman costume drama Magnificent Century (Muhteşem Yüzyıl) are among the most popular, profitable, and widely-distributed Turkish TV dramas in a sector that is second only to the US in terms of global reach. Though the two shows work by very different dramatic logics and target very different audiences in terms of gender and education level, both have been hugely controversial in Turkey due to their blending of “fact” and “fiction” and the resultant concerns this has caused regarding their effects on audiences. These concerns, raised by individual citizens, non-governmental organizations, commentators on news media and talk shows, regulatory bodies such as the High Council on Radio and Television (RTÜK), and a number of media scholars, both stem from and reinforce an overarching discourse on media effects in Turkey that posits audiences as “ignorant” (cahil) and in need of protection from harmful programming. In the case of Valley and Century, this discourse was greatly bolstered by the reactions of audiences to the deaths of key characters in the programs. Valley fans became legendary for mourning the death of Mafia boss Suleyman Çakır in a range of forms including moments of silence in football stadiums and obituary announcements in the newspaper. Similarly, Century viewers turned out en masse to visit the tomb of Şehzade (Prince) Mustafa in Bursa after the execution of his character on the show. While such reactions are frequently taken as evidence of fans’ failure to distinguish fact from fiction, this interpretation ignores the consciously performative aspects of fan behavior. In this paper, I first examine the discursive framing of fan reactions to the death of these characters in Turkish TV and print media and then compare this with ethnographic accounts for the logics of this reaction from from fans, which emphasize varied rationales for performative mourning. Ultimately I suggest that the “ignorant” audience might be best understood self-serving construct of the Turkish news cycle.