The picture above isn't from a Los Angeles street, it's from a New York City street. TNT is creating some ambitious marketing for their new cop drama Dark Blue. They're turning part of NYC's subway into "underground L.A." Included in the ad campaign will be posters, signs on staircases, even entire subway cars wrapped in pics that show the L.A. skyline. The show starts on July 15.
First off, everyone keeps using the word "infomercial" when describing the ads that Billy Mays did, including this piece at TampaBay.com. Actually, infomercials are longer form ads, usually 30 minutes. What Mays did were commercials (though yes, he did infomercials too). After a meeting between his widow, his son, friend Anthony Sullivan, and marketers, they have decided to resume running all of Mays' ads next week. I'm sure that's going to seem weird to some viewers.
I guess it's not completely odd, because we still watch a TV show that a celebrity has starred in after they die. But commercials are more recent, more "alive," more "of the moment" than some TV show that we all know is a repeat from one, ten, thirty years ago. And that's what's going to be odd about seeing these ads.
The overnight popularity of singing sensation Susan Boyle following her appearance on Britain's Got Talent all but guaranteed it'd only be a matter of time before the U.S. version of the show tried to manufacture the same energy.
Here are the necessary ingredients:
One national talent show where Joe Six Pack and Suzy Temp can reach for the polished brass ring of stardom.
One cynical mob eager to tear down anyone who dares to stand up out of the crowd without meeting nebulous performance standards.
One defective rube (either chubby, ugly, stupid or -- worst of all -- rural) who seems oblivious to the mob's hostility.
Three judges who are in on the bit while acting incredulous.
Of course, the rube needs to have genuine talent -- as in the case of Boyle and singer Kevin Skinner from Kentucky from this week's auditions on America's Got Talent.
We've talked about this a lot here at TV Squad, how the word "exclusive" isn't used correctly in TV news these days. In fact I'll go one step further and say that networks often lie when they say something is an "exclusive." They'll say that an interview with a famous celebrity or a politician is an exclusive, but you realize you just watched an interview with the same person on another network the night before, or there's an interview with the same person the next day.
Now, some networks will say they have an exclusive before another interview airs, so in that case I guess we can say they're right (if we give them the benefit of the doubt that they didn't know the other interview was coming, that is), but more often than not they know it's not an exclusive.
This is pretty funny: Funny or Die has created a Match.com video for Jon & Kate Plus 8 star Jon Gosselin. Now that he's going to be free from Kate, he's looking for a date. Didn't mean for that to rhyme.
The funniest part is the screen name they give Jon.
The Colbert Report has a regular feature called A Tip of the Hat and A Wag of the Finger, where he praises one thing and goes after something else. Last night he talked about Missouri State Representative Cynthia Davis and her "hunger can be a positive motivator" stance, and then criticized FOX News for calling Governor Mark Sanford a Democrat, saying they also identified Hurricane Katrina as a Democrat. (Video also here.)
Didn't Jimmy Kimmel do a similar joke recently? Yes he did:
First off, everyone keeps using the word "infomercial" when describing the ads that Billy Mays did, including this piece at TampaBay.com. Actually, infomercials are longer form ads, usually 30 minutes. What Mays did were commercials (though yes, he did infomercials too). After a meeting between his widow, his son, friend Anthony Sullivan, and marketers, they have decided to resume running all of Mays' ads next week. I'm sure that's going to seem weird to some viewers.
The overnight popularity of singing sensation Susan Boyle following her appearance on Britain's Got Talent all but guaranteed it'd only be a matter of time before the U.S. version of the show tried to manufacture the same energy.
We've talked about this a lot here at TV Squad, how the word "exclusive" isn't used correctly in TV news these days. In fact I'll go one step further and say that networks often lie when they say something is an "exclusive." They'll say that an interview with a famous celebrity or a politician is an exclusive, but you realize you just watched an interview with the same person on another network the night before, or there's an interview with the same person the next day. 
USA has a Burn Notice marathon all night (but no new episode).
TV Squad previews CBS's new shows
Tim Daly: The TV Squad Interview
Virtuality -- An early look
