Basically, it's My Name Is Earl meets The Bachelorette meets How I Met Your Mother.
Remind me later to talk in full-length about how much CBS sucks. From its programming to its website, it seems determined to be a second rate network. And now, it's come out with a show engineered to traumatize thirty-something single women everywhere: The Ex List.
The main characer, Bella, played by Elizabeth Reaser (Grey's Anatomy) is a single surfer gal in California. All her male friends are attached or seemingly unemployed. Then, at her sister's bachelorette party, a psychic informs her that if she doesn't find her soul mate in the next year, she will lose him forever, and the kicker--it's someone she's already dated. Naturally, she freaks out.
First, what a horrible premise! Basically, the show is saying that all single women in America are just picky and have themselves to blame. They wouldn't be the first--this March, fortyish single writer Lori Gottlieb wrote a compelling case for settling in The Atlantic. Only in Gottlieb's case, she says it is the Hollywood idea of meeting the perfect soul mate that has made it nearly impossible for women to compromise.
So will the writers cop-out and make Bella's true love be a once nerdy friend who magically transformed into a buff hottie after high school? Or will he be the bald, slightly pudgy lawyer with a teabag problem, ala Harry on Sex in the City, who is otherwise caring and adorable? You only have a year to find out!
Which is the second problem--I'm all for keeping shows tight, but a year? At least My Name is Earl had 259 items on Earl's list. Are they really going to cut this off next year if this show takes off? Producer/show runner Diane Ruggiero (Veronica Mars) had said she has a secret plan to extend the show beyond one season.
But if the show can't succeed in the first few eps, they may not even need to cross that bridge. Rugierro herself has left the show last week over creative differences. Despite the upbeat tone of the advertising campaign (featuring a smiling Reaser sitting in a wading pool of frogs) I don't know how many shows are successful in building an audience while simultaneously injecting fear into their main demographic. But if you are home alone when the show debuts, fittingly on October 3, Friday night 9/8c, what else are you going to watch?
Showing posts with label cbs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cbs. Show all posts
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Dial "N" for Annoying: When Advertising Goes Too Far
Which webisodes go over the top with advertising? A comparison of N., Foreign Body, The Line, and Gemini Division
I've been watching Stephen King's webi-mobi-sodes "N." over at www.nishere.com. The story is compelling--it follows the psychiatric sessions of an obsessive-compulsive who feels like the world will end if he doesn't adhere to ordering and touching the world in specific numbers and the doctor who comes to believe these delusions are real. Daredevil artist Alex Maleev was a great choice for this motion comic (it's only minimally animated, more like an audio book with pictures); his photorealistic style makes it feel a little more like you're watching a movie or a TV show.
However, I'm annoyed at the ratio of content to credits and commercials. "N." is adapted from a short story from King's upcoming book Just After Sunset, published in November. Episodes last between one and a half to two minutes and that includes a 20-second intro where Scribner, Simon and Schuster, CBS Mobile, CBS interactive, and Marvel comics are introduced and a 14-second end credit for the artists and plug for the website and book. This was particularly annoying when I watched six episodes back to back; now that I'm watching one episode a day, it's not as noticeable, but it's still a nuisanceI'm not the only one who thinks so--here are some comments from the website:
In addition, given that this series is already promotion for a book, I'm a little miffed that I must watch a 15-second ad for barely over a minute of content.
In comparison, Foreign Body, a show from Vuguru, is a show with a similar format and length (though with twice as many episodes), and promotes Robin Cook's book of the same name. However, each episode only opens with a brief sponsorship intro by Honda, not a full commercial, and only contains 13 seconds of intro and outtro. Full-length commercials play after the episode and are therefore optional, but the Honda logo is prominently featured in the header of the website. Then again, while the sponsor is totally memorable, that only helps if people are watching the content and apparently the show itself was a relative flop.
The advertising format I'm most on the fence about is the one currently gaining favor for webisodes--product placement. Wired did a story about this becoming the model for a gaggle of new shows, including the comedy webseries The Line (which I reviewed here) and Gemini Division, which I started watching when it started earlier this week. The inclusion of movie posters for several upcoming movies flowed easily into the plot of The Line, since it was about fanboys camping out for the premiere of their favorite sci-fi movie.
In contrast, Cisco and Microsoft logos whack you over the head as soon as you start watching Gemini Division. Yes, it's worked into the plot--agent Anna Diaz uses a fictional Windows Mobile phone to record and transmit to an unseen friend who I guess is watching over a Cisco network. But not since The Wizard, which was literally a feature-length commercial for Nintendo, has product placement been so obvious.
One would think that by securing revenue with product placement, you wouldn't need commercials, but all that money goes to the producers of the video and the networks and portals still need their cut; both The Line and Gemini Division feature pre-roll ads when viewed at Hulu. In general, even though I was an avid TiVo user for almost 10 years before I quit TV, I'm happy to watch a few commercials in exchange for good content. Portals like Hulu do a decent job of balancing advertising and programming--it seems like shorter clips (under three minutes) on their site do not have commercials, while their longer ones do.
However, when the videos of that length are full webisodes, as opposed to excerpts from larger shows, that informal rule does not seem to apply. This would make webisodes an extremely cost-efficient advertising delivery mechanism. While the conventional wisdom says that webisodes and mobisodes have to be shorter for short-attention span that supposedly exist among online viewers, I have to wonder if the density of advertising also has something to do with shorter formats being used for these shows.
No one seems to be abusing this more than the distributors of N. At least www.nishere.com shows a commercial only every other episode--if you watch N. over at CBS.com, which I made the mistake of doing for the first few episodes, you watch a commercial after every episode. Again, given that this whole series is itself advertising for the book, that just seems greedy, or bad site design and business rules.
With original programming streaming on the web, portals and networks are once again in control over the dosage of advertising its viewers get--to an extent. One thing I've noticed is that web series are often syndicated across multiple portals at once and thus viewers have a choice: CBS.com may have a terrible video interface, but, thanks to a tip from one commenter there, I can also watch this series on CBS's YouTube channel, commercial-free, with only sidebar advertisements. I assume this channel probably gets the most traffic of all three venues for N., so they can make up in volume what they lose in attention by having less obtrusive ads.
(UPDATE: But I've discovered that the best place to watch N. is right here--the player above, although small, has the benefit of no commercials!)
Maybe all these methods work financially for these companies, but to the extent their business relies on happy viewers, here's my take on the user experience:
I've been watching Stephen King's webi-mobi-sodes "N." over at www.nishere.com. The story is compelling--it follows the psychiatric sessions of an obsessive-compulsive who feels like the world will end if he doesn't adhere to ordering and touching the world in specific numbers and the doctor who comes to believe these delusions are real. Daredevil artist Alex Maleev was a great choice for this motion comic (it's only minimally animated, more like an audio book with pictures); his photorealistic style makes it feel a little more like you're watching a movie or a TV show.
However, I'm annoyed at the ratio of content to credits and commercials. "N." is adapted from a short story from King's upcoming book Just After Sunset, published in November. Episodes last between one and a half to two minutes and that includes a 20-second intro where Scribner, Simon and Schuster, CBS Mobile, CBS interactive, and Marvel comics are introduced and a 14-second end credit for the artists and plug for the website and book. This was particularly annoying when I watched six episodes back to back; now that I'm watching one episode a day, it's not as noticeable, but it's still a nuisanceI'm not the only one who thinks so--here are some comments from the website:
dude! just put them all together into one and show that! enuf with 2 mins a day. stop bein cheap!
Is there any where to watch all episodes at once? Watching commercial after commercial for 2 minute shows are rediculous. I think these clips are cool but my time is worth more.
It upsets me when a major corporation advertises "Watch an Episode of Stephen King's N" - only to show a slim one minute thirty-three second CLIP. JOP!
I wanta see the whole thing..not these short 2 minute series. COME ON!!
LIKE I AM NOW BORED AS HELL, AND THIS LITTLE SHORT S**T DON'T HELP !
In addition, given that this series is already promotion for a book, I'm a little miffed that I must watch a 15-second ad for barely over a minute of content.
In comparison, Foreign Body, a show from Vuguru, is a show with a similar format and length (though with twice as many episodes), and promotes Robin Cook's book of the same name. However, each episode only opens with a brief sponsorship intro by Honda, not a full commercial, and only contains 13 seconds of intro and outtro. Full-length commercials play after the episode and are therefore optional, but the Honda logo is prominently featured in the header of the website. Then again, while the sponsor is totally memorable, that only helps if people are watching the content and apparently the show itself was a relative flop.
The advertising format I'm most on the fence about is the one currently gaining favor for webisodes--product placement. Wired did a story about this becoming the model for a gaggle of new shows, including the comedy webseries The Line (which I reviewed here) and Gemini Division, which I started watching when it started earlier this week. The inclusion of movie posters for several upcoming movies flowed easily into the plot of The Line, since it was about fanboys camping out for the premiere of their favorite sci-fi movie.
In contrast, Cisco and Microsoft logos whack you over the head as soon as you start watching Gemini Division. Yes, it's worked into the plot--agent Anna Diaz uses a fictional Windows Mobile phone to record and transmit to an unseen friend who I guess is watching over a Cisco network. But not since The Wizard, which was literally a feature-length commercial for Nintendo, has product placement been so obvious.
One would think that by securing revenue with product placement, you wouldn't need commercials, but all that money goes to the producers of the video and the networks and portals still need their cut; both The Line and Gemini Division feature pre-roll ads when viewed at Hulu. In general, even though I was an avid TiVo user for almost 10 years before I quit TV, I'm happy to watch a few commercials in exchange for good content. Portals like Hulu do a decent job of balancing advertising and programming--it seems like shorter clips (under three minutes) on their site do not have commercials, while their longer ones do.
However, when the videos of that length are full webisodes, as opposed to excerpts from larger shows, that informal rule does not seem to apply. This would make webisodes an extremely cost-efficient advertising delivery mechanism. While the conventional wisdom says that webisodes and mobisodes have to be shorter for short-attention span that supposedly exist among online viewers, I have to wonder if the density of advertising also has something to do with shorter formats being used for these shows.
No one seems to be abusing this more than the distributors of N. At least www.nishere.com shows a commercial only every other episode--if you watch N. over at CBS.com, which I made the mistake of doing for the first few episodes, you watch a commercial after every episode. Again, given that this whole series is itself advertising for the book, that just seems greedy, or bad site design and business rules.
With original programming streaming on the web, portals and networks are once again in control over the dosage of advertising its viewers get--to an extent. One thing I've noticed is that web series are often syndicated across multiple portals at once and thus viewers have a choice: CBS.com may have a terrible video interface, but, thanks to a tip from one commenter there, I can also watch this series on CBS's YouTube channel, commercial-free, with only sidebar advertisements. I assume this channel probably gets the most traffic of all three venues for N., so they can make up in volume what they lose in attention by having less obtrusive ads.
(UPDATE: But I've discovered that the best place to watch N. is right here--the player above, although small, has the benefit of no commercials!)
Maybe all these methods work financially for these companies, but to the extent their business relies on happy viewers, here's my take on the user experience:
- Thumbs up to Vuguru for finding less obtrusive methods of advertising during Foreign Body but better luck developing a show that will will let your sponsor get what they paid for.
- A relative thumbs up to The Line and Gemini Division for trying out product placement. As long as this is not the news, I'm OK with a little product placement as long as it doesn't absurdly modify the plot.
- Thumbs down to N. for the promotion-laden distribution. If this was a magazine, it would be the PennySaver--very cheap and all ads. Next time try fewer, longer episodes, and sponsors in the side of the page, or bottom of the video, or decide that what you are really trying to promote is future book sales and ditch the ads altogether--if you try to do both, you'll do neither well.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Star Trek for the Benefiber Crowd
I've talking a lot about Hulu as NBC and Fox's site for streaming video content, as well as ABC's video play, but didn't bother to comment on CBS. I don't have a favorite show on CBS, so I had no reason to check them out.
However, this Friday, CBS unlocked their vaults and started streaming the first three seasons of Star Trek, along with McGyver, The Twilight Zone, and Hawaii Five-O. their biggest cult hits from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Very smart!
The first thing I was struck by, however, was the advertising--Benefiber and Promise Active (a yogurt drink designed to lower your cholesterol). Wow, I am not their demographic, am I? Throw in some ads for prune juice and the AARP while you are at it.
But in catering to a slightly older crowd, I have to give them high marks for the user interface--this aims to be the Jitterbug of video sites. The control buttons -- Pause, Share, Volume--are huge and in text, whereas the nods to social networking-- Digg, Facebook--are accomplished via tiny icons. And by making it easy for those who may have watched these shows as youngsters and may now need reading glasses, they also make it easier for those who are viewing the video across the room.
But these shows do have some younger fans too. Hulu has the unique ability to not just let you embed whole shows in your blog, but to actually clip out excerpts and share it with friends, which is often what kids want (let me comment on the good part). Case in point, this clip entitled "Captain Kirk is a Gentleman." CBS might think about building this feature in down the road. But I have to give them props for knowing their core market.
However, this Friday, CBS unlocked their vaults and started streaming the first three seasons of Star Trek, along with McGyver, The Twilight Zone, and Hawaii Five-O. their biggest cult hits from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Very smart!
The first thing I was struck by, however, was the advertising--Benefiber and Promise Active (a yogurt drink designed to lower your cholesterol). Wow, I am not their demographic, am I? Throw in some ads for prune juice and the AARP while you are at it.
But in catering to a slightly older crowd, I have to give them high marks for the user interface--this aims to be the Jitterbug of video sites. The control buttons -- Pause, Share, Volume--are huge and in text, whereas the nods to social networking-- Digg, Facebook--are accomplished via tiny icons. And by making it easy for those who may have watched these shows as youngsters and may now need reading glasses, they also make it easier for those who are viewing the video across the room.
But these shows do have some younger fans too. Hulu has the unique ability to not just let you embed whole shows in your blog, but to actually clip out excerpts and share it with friends, which is often what kids want (let me comment on the good part). Case in point, this clip entitled "Captain Kirk is a Gentleman." CBS might think about building this feature in down the road. But I have to give them props for knowing their core market.
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