It’s hard to tell where the parody of morning shows like Today and Good Morning America ends and the parody of Nancy Grace begins. But so long as you spend your tax rebate cheque at Home Depot and start stimulating this here economy, does it really matter?
After a Coca-Cola spot airing before the American Idol finale, television advertisements from Dominos Pizza, Topps Major League Baseball Cards, E-Trade, General Mills, and the movies You Don’t Mess with the Zohan and Sex and the City were, according to TiVo data, among the least fast-forwarded through in May, a category otherwise known as “just tolerable enough.” [TVD]
By now you’re well aware of AMC’s excellent Mad Men, the Jon Hamm-led drama set in the 1960s advertising world where three martini lunches and sleeping with the girls of the typing class was expected and celebrated. We count ourselves among the show’s original fans — not these Johnny-come-latelys with their season one DVDs — and, having professionally stalked at least three of the cast members, are very clearly a little bit obsessed with this show. And now, everybody else will be too, because every damn one of you critics is sharing with America television’s best-kept secret, from Entertainment Weekly (plastering it on the cover of their Summer TV Preview) and Vanity Fair (laid out in the June issue as the “high-water mark of male chauvinism”) to today’s New York Post (Linda Stasi is on the beat!).
But when the crowd forms to lift the champion atop its shoulders, the only thing that’s left to happen is The Fall. You know what we mean: the backlash, where something we couldn’t imagine not loving in suddenly the punching bag we throw knives at. Don’t believe us? CONTINUED »
“The median ages of the broadcast networks keep rising, as traditional television is no longer necessarily the first screen for the younger set. Not long ago, CBS was by far the oldest network, with a median age above 50. But ABC and NBC have gradually gotten older, and are approaching 50 themselves. In fact, among live viewers, ABC has hit 50, while NBC is at 49. Even FOX, now has a median age over 40. And CW, the one broadcast network that still has a median age under 35, is struggling to manage even a 3 household share with its new programming. For the first time, the average live median age for the five broadcast networks combined is 50.” [TVBTN]
The Atlanta installment of Bravo’s incredibly-addictive guilty pleasure, the Real Housewives series, is coming soon. And, in a distinct departure from RH norm, the majority of the snobby, materialistic, delightfully-entertaining, cat-fighting cast this time around will be representing Atlanta’s “black elite.” Yes, some, but thankfully not all, are married to professional athletes.
Those annoying advertisements that are taking over the lower-third — and, lately, lower-half — of your television screen don’t just piss off you, the viewer. They’re also obnoxious for the talent behind the camera, whose programs they so often interrupt.
Sure, you really only have yourself and your DVR to blame for these invasive promos, which came about when the networks realized you weren’t watching their 30-second spots anymore. But lately, what were once perfectly acceptable “snipes,” as they’re called, have ballooned from innocent logos and timeslot alerts to full-fledged animated flames, screeching tires, and yes, talking heads — the most egregious recent example being Bill Engvall’s “pausing” of Family Guy while he delivered an obnoxious plug for his own terrible comedy.
So what’s a late night host to do? CONTINUED »
Not content to spare the small screen from her lackluster acting chops, Mary-Kate Olsen convinced the producers of Christina Applegate’s excellent Samantha Who? that she’d be a smart choice to play the self-destructive bad girl who reminds Samantha of her younger self. Olsen, of course, also guest starred on last season of Showtime’s Weeds, where she failed to bone up her acting skills before getting on camera to play a pot-smoking Christian gal, leaving her part falling somewhere between “go cast yourself as an extra on Gossip Girl” and “there’s a Valtrex commercial with your name on it.” But: Was she ever the consummate professional! “She showed up alone, ready to work, is great on set and is serious about the job,” says Samantha exec producer Don Todd. “This is a girl who’s been in front of the camera almost literally her entire life.” Well yes, but this is what we see when we think of Mary-Kate in front of the camera: CONTINUED »
Who says having your show canceled is the end of the world? Look at Married With Children alum Christina Applegate. After a a few lackluster seasons of Jesse, she’s riding high on Samantha Who?. William Fichtner lost his lead role on Invasion; now he’s a regular on Prison Break. Even Fichtner’s Invasion co-star, Eddie Cibrian, has stayed afloat; with brief stints on Dirty Sexy Money and Samantha Who?, he’s got a plot arc on Ugly Betty as Coach Diaz. And today, two new cancellation survivors to add to the list: CONTINUED »
The gay media watchdogs over at GLAAD have been watching an upcoming episode of FX’s 30 Days - and they don’t like what they see.
A forthcoming episode of the series, which transplants people into new lives for a month, features an anti-gay woman who trade places with a child-rearing lesbian. Cue dramatic music…
We have a confession to make. You know MVP, the cliché ridden Soapnet series? Well, we’re already total fans.
Yes, it’s terribly overacted, trite and a blatantly low budget imitation of Footballer’s Wives, but those faults make it all the more fun. What’s more, it’s positively brimming with attractive men. Thus, like other series before it, MVP seems poised to become a gay favorite.
This got us thinking - what are some other gay favorites that aren’t necessarily “gay shows?” Thus, we’ve wracked our television loving brains - and pink pals - for currently airing series the gays love - or could, at least. Our one rule: no major gay characters, which very nearly ruled out ABC.
The newspaper industry succeeded at beating last year’s revenues. Errr, revenue declines, that is. In 2007 the industry saw ad revenues slide 8 percent; this year they’re on par for a 12 percent drop. Congratulations publishers!
If it makes you feel any better, across the media spectrum at the TV networks — who’ve seen their ratings plummet by double digits as viewers move to cable channels, video games, and Facebook — managed to beat last year’s upfront sales with more than $9 billion in sales.
That the two industries are working with opposite logic signals one thing, which isn’t particularly top secret: Advertisers continue to believe in television as an influential way to reach consumers, and they’ve all but abandoned hope in newspapers to do that.
During last night’s 11pm premiere of original Canadian-imported SOAPnet soap opera MVP, about a group of well-paid hockey players, the following pop culture primetime soap cliches were maintained:
• Someone died
• The guy who died was last seen snorting coke with an AmEx Platinum card off a mirror
• A sex tape was made (with a young lass)
• The hot guys take their shirts off — in and out of the locker room
• The cougars are on the prowl
• The paparazzi cause trouble
The only thing missing? A homo. Actually, they’ve got that too, but he’s just a bit part, not a locker room patron.
See how MVP keeps it classy (see bullet point #4 above), below. CONTINUED »
Either MTV is much smarter than us, or they have completely lost touch with America’s youth. There’s also the chance those two possibilities are not mutually exclusive. But when MTV announced, in December, that they were teaming up with the producers of High School Musical to create The American Mall, we were immediately skeptical: Isn’t mall culture dying?
The financial woes of most retail stores would say so, as would the acceleration of teens and tweens’ time spent sitting in front of a computer, television, or iPhone screen. But MTV charged ahead its new romantic dramedy TV film, already done filming and in post-production, about two teens falling in love while one tries to save her mom’s record shop. The obvious appeal to the walking commercial that is MTV, of course, are the marketing opportunities; placements for Hot Topic and Torrid stores are no-brainers. CONTINUED »
To revamp the stodgy look of veteran soap operas, Guiding Light exec producer Ellen Wheeler has swapped out pedestal cameras and studio sets for “hand-held digital cameras to rove the three dozen small sets constructed within the hulking CBS Broadcast Center in Manhattan and outdoors in nearby Peapack, N.J.” It’s all an effort to attract younger viewers. And make the old ones feel nauseous. [LAT]
Not content to watch magazines like Elle, and soon, Marie Claire, clean up on the small screen, elitist publisher Conde Nast is finally trying to get on the television bandwagon. Though it’s not completely unfamiliar territory: the group does produce two successful programs a year, Movies Rocks and Fashion Rocks on CBS, which are as much about movies and/or fashion as they are about producing a slick broadcast that has the words “Conde Nast” slapped all over it. “What we’re trying to do is create original ideas that can deliver as much as possible for us in print, as a live event, and in the digital and TV space,” says Richard Beckman, president Conde Nast Media Group and chief marketing officer of Conde Nast. But this isn’t about attaching any of their magazine titles to a reality show like those lesser glossies. Rather, Conde is going to continue with the specials route, with two more Fashion Rocks-esque broadcasts slated for 2009, and a total of six by 2010. So what’s left, after fashion and movies? Well, there’s always Home Interiors Rock, Thirteen Summer Barbecue Recipes Rock, and Angelina Jolie Adopts Seven New Children on Live TV Rocks.
We would love nothing more in life, besides an air conditioning system that worked outdoors and followed us where we walked, than a Gossip Girl spin-off. And it appears producers at Alloy Entertainment, which owns more of tweenage culture than you could ever imagine, are following the wise path of shows like The Office, which understand how hard it is to get a new program, with unfamiliar characters, off the ground with so many competing series premiering. So it’s the brand extension route they’re taking, and for Gossip Girl, it’ll likely hinge on little Jenny Humphrey, sister of Dan, who heads off to boarding school to reinvent herself as the popular girl. “In the books, a series of public embarrassments (such as appearing in a teen magazine wearing next to nothing) results in Humphrey having to either repeat ninth grade or find a new school.” [THR]
Only problem: Gossip Girl isn’t exactly drawing stellar ratings, and it’s home, The CW network, already has a slew of shows targeting similar audiences: The new 90210, as well as the brooding One Tree Hill. So while The CW, which is co-owned by Gossip co-producers Warner Bros., has a right of first refusal for the spin-off, it could very well turn down the new show. Which means Alloy would have to shop it elsewhere. Which is fine, our TiVo will know where to find it. Just don’t put a dagger through our heart and let it end up on Lifetime.
Update: This might all be false.
When word arrived from the television network FX that they were moving forward with Courteney Cox gossip vehicle Dirt, our hearts pitter-pattered as tidbits began to emerge, like Cox basing her cutthroat tabloid editor character on Bonnie Fuller, and how sex tapes would play an important part of the plotline. (Sextapes. Remember those?) Then the show actually appeared on our TV sets and, well, “disappointment” was the only way to describe the mess that we saw. But somehow, FX still had faith. Despite lackluster ratings (even Jennifer Aniston couldn’t help) and the cold shoulder from critics, they ordered a second season of Dirt, but that nasty writers strike cut short Cox’s gossip revival. And now, the ultimate bad news: CONTINUED »
The FCC mandate that television broadcasters turn off analog signals and fully switch to digital delivery is this year’s Y2K: The industry, from networks to big box retailers hoping to move 50-inch plasma screens, has consumers in a frenzy.
Best Buy and Circuit City will be more than happy to remind Americans that 9.4 percent of them are considered “Completely Unready,” and will lose their ability to get a signal beginning Feb. 17, 2009, when the big switch – to free up some of the broadcast spectrum to resell it with much higher licensing fees to other operators – is made.
Television operators, meanwhile, are doing everything they can to make sure customers are prepared for the switch, trying to school them on whether their old analog sets will need converters, or whether their new flat screens are A-OK for February’s messiah. (One network in Las Vegas even flipped the switch early to tell customers whether they’d be left behind or not.)
But what happens when those television operators, like software salesmen during Y2K, completely lie to you about your risks? CONTINUED »
… the ad unit isn’t going anywhere. At 55 percent of all TV ad units, it still remains the go-to format, according to information-contriver Nielsen. Also: “Nielsen Co. says when viewers watch ads in prime time, the majority of messaging still comes in this tried-and-true package.” Which is sort of like saying: “When young people write letters and send them by snail mail, the majority of those notes are still written with Bic pens.”
Now that The Wire is gone for good, Lost is my favorite show on television — even though the writers have an interesting history of making major black characters die horrible deaths. But, hey, don’t take my word for it. Here’s what Harold Perrineau, whose character, Michael, got blown to smithereens in last week’s season finale, has to say about it.
Editorial Director
