Archive for September, 2010
COOL COMMERCIAL: FROSTY JACKS ‘ANTI EXCUSES’
Sep 30th
Check out this terrific new commercial for Frosty Jacks, a cider brand sold in the UK. Jacks is the best-selling cider brand in Britain today and popular with students, likely due to it’s high alcohol content (ah, that takes me back to my college days where buying booze was all about low price and high strength – never mind the taste!)
The advert’s tagline is ‘Anti Excuses. Anti Conventional’ – which doesn’t mean a heck of a lot to me… but it’s still a pretty darn good spot with a terrific punch line!
I’m not going to spoil the commercial for you but basically it involves a guy waking up in the middle of the night and trying not to disturb his partner and… well you’ll see what happens… we’ve all been there (or maybe not!)
Enjoy…
ZUCKER PUNCH! FIRED EXEC’S FAREWELL VIDEO…
Sep 30th
Oh Jimmy Kimmel is very, very naughty…
Here’s a very funny video doing the rounds today as the late night host neatly skewers recently fired NBC head Jeff Zucker.
By now I’m sure everyone knows the Zucker story but in a nutshell Jeff was the youngest ever EP of the Today show (at age 26) who enjoyed a meteoric rise in the TV industry – and became the top guy at NBC. Unfortunately Zucker also took the network from 1st to 4th place during his tenure - but somehow kept being promoted, eventually earning Zucker the nickname ‘Teflon Jeff’ for his amazing talent to fail upward! Remarkable.
Among Jeff’s perceived failures – the inability to find replacements for key shows like ER, Friends and Frasier, the hiring of Ben Silverman (the whiz kid producer who presided over almost 2 years of flops), the whole Conan / Leno fiasco and of course lots and lots of ratings disasters including Coupling, Kath and Kim, Knight Rider and Bionic Woman…
I’ve never met Jeff and we all know TV is rife with jealousy and bitchiness so I take some of the reports with a pinch of salt… but ultimately the figures do speak for themselves… and within the industry it was well More >
QUICK TAKE: GLEE ‘BRITNEY / BRITTANY’
Sep 29th
Wow – what a disappointment!
After months of hype and speculation, the much-touted ‘Britney Spears’ episode of Glee finally aired last night – and boy was it a bummer of an episode.
Everything that’s wrong with Glee as a whole was on full display this week – most notably plot inconsistencies, shoe-horned in songs, unlikable characters and totally pointless storylines. Compared to the superlative Power of Madonna episode this was a major letdown.
Where to begin? Well first and foremost has to be the boneheaded decision to stage most of Britney’s songs as copycat remakes of the original videos. Not that they looked bad – the show’s production values were strong – but did we really need to see an almost shot by shot replay of I’m A Slave For You, Me Against The Music and Hit Me Baby One More Time – with Brittany and Rachel subbing for Ms Spears…. I don’t think so.
MELTDOWN MOMENT: AUSTRALIA’S NEXT TOP MODEL
Sep 28th
Here it is – the clip EVERYONE is talking about today – the model mix up on the live finale of the current season of Australia’s Next Top Model.
So here’s the story (cue Tyra style voice!) Two contestants remained in the running to be Australia’s Next Top Model – Kelsey and Amanda. Host Sarah Murdoch – yep a member of the Murdoch clan (hmm I wonder how she got the job) – announced Kelsey as the winner. Kelsey celebrates and starts giving her acceptance speech… and suddenly Sarah has to admit she’s not the winner – it’s Amanda instead. What a fiasco!
From a TV producer’s point of view I have to say this is shambolic on every level. Sure it’s live TV and things do go wrong – but not like this.
Here’s the issue – you should NEVER tell your presenter a result via an ear-piece – it’s just too prone to error. Sarah’s on stage in front of a live studio audience while the producer is in a busy gallery – it’s all too easy to be misheard.
What they should have done is stop the voting lines a few minutes before the live result. Then you throw to a More >
WEIGHT-LESS
Sep 27th
Dropping Pounds And Dropping Ratings – Are Weight Loss Shows Over?
So recently I took a look at Thintervention, Bravo’s new weight loss show, anchored by lesbian gym owner Jackie Warner.
In typical Bravo fashion it was a very polished and well-produced show – full of upscale contestants with strong personalities, tightly edited and with some nice touches (I liked how Jackie would literally turn up on contestants’ doorsteps at just the worst moments)
But as much as I liked the show I can’t help but shake the feeling that weight loss as a whole is a really played out genre on TV today. And it seems I’m not alone. Lifetime’s Diet Tribe and Oxygen’s Dance Your Ass Off both collapsed in the ratings from series 1 to 2, Losing It With Jillian could only scrape together 3-4 million an episode in its summer slot on NBC, and over on Vh1, Money Hungry has the dubious distinction of being one of the lowest rated shows of the year – just 225,000 viewers tuned in for the show’s last installment!
THE SIMPSONS: GLEE SPECIAL
Sep 27th
Check out the most talked about moment from last night’s Simpsons‘ premiere – as the cast of Glee introduce Lisa to the world of arts education.
It’s a smart move on the part of Fox to revive interest in the flagging series – now in its 22nd season. The Simpsons averages around 6 million viewers an episode now, down from a high of 13 million in the show’s heyday. But with Glee now getting those kind of figures some cross promotion was obviously in order.
Also turning up in the episode were Bret McKenzie and Jermaine Clement from uber-pretentious comedy Flight of the Conchords (the hipsters’ show of choice – as you can tell I’m not a fan!) The two played artists living in Springfield who tell Lisa that following her passion for art could lead to a wonderful life… until she realizes the pair live in abject poverty!
So did you watch The Simpsons last night – and what do you think of the show’s current quality? Start weighing in…
COOL COMMERCIAL: BURNING LIKE A CIGARETTE
Sep 27th
Here’s a stylish anti-smoking commercial currently doing the rounds over in Sweden that’s worth checking out…
It’s a simple idea, well executed, though I must say I’m not sure that it will necessarily turn young kids away from smoking. The advert may get people talking – but more about the effects than the actual topic of smoking itself.
The advert is actually a student project put together by a Stockholm advertising college… and it’s certainly a lot more impressive than the work churned out by the film school I went to in England. Our cameras were literally held together by sticky tape and the teaching staff had less TV and film experience than many PA’s I’ve met over the years… I can’t imagine us turning out work as slick as this!
Anyway enjoy the video – and start sending over your thoughts… Do you think the video will deter teens from smoking – or is it all style and no substance?
THE X FACTOR: BOOTCAMP – NICOLO FESTA
Sep 26th
Mr Attitude is back!
Remember Nicolo Festa from a couple of weeks back, the Italian student whose arrogant attitude repelled million of viewers (and potential voters!)
But of course Nicolo is great TV and Simon Cowell is nothing but media savvy… he knows Festa is the contestant we’re all going to love to hate – so he made it through to the Judges’ Houses round… and the editing of this week’s show clearly plays up Nicolo’s diva demands!
As for Festa’s singing… well let’s just say it’s a good job he has a memorable personality as his cover of David Bowie’s ‘Life On Mars’ was hideous… just check out that awful, strangled end note…
Your thoughts? Do you think Nicolo will actually make it through to the live shows? Or will his attitude be his undoing? Start weighing in folks!
SNEAK PEEK: SISTER WIVES
Sep 26th
Debuting tonight on TLC is Sister Wives, described in the press as ‘The Real Big Love‘ – and attracting some pretty good reviews from the normally stuffy broadsheets.
The show follows Utah advertising salesman Kody and his three wives: Meri; Janelle and Christine – with a fourth wife, Robyn (and her three children) on the way… you may have seen the cast doing the rounds this week – including a high profile slot on the Today show (below)
I haven’t seen much of Sister Wives yet – but the glimpses I’ve seen felt ‘authentic’ and I like how many TLC shows are skewing closer to actual documentary than the ‘scripted reality’ you’ll find on other networks (no names – but they know who they are). I thought Police Women of Memphis was engaging and very well cast – and Mall Cops, which could have been horribly contrived and gimmicky – again felt real…
Another reason I’m mentioning the series is the show’s Executive Producer Jon Sechrist, a friend of mine who also oversees the network’s Cake Boss and BBQ Pitmasters. Jon is unusual among network executives in that he looks for reasons to say yes – rather than always saying no (which seems to be the More >
THE X FACTOR: BOOTCAMP – STORM LEE
Sep 25th
One more contestant from tonight’s X Factor Bootcamp – and it’s Storm Lee – the highly irritating wannabe rocker who’s clearly already on the wrong side of Simon Cowell.
And who can blame him – everything about Storm is off – the outfit, the overconfidence, the faux rock star swagger and the superhero like name. Doubtless Simon is having flashbacks to Steve Brookstein – the arrogant first season winner who can now be found playing pizza restaurants around London (see my Before and After posting for more)
Check out Storm’s creepy comments to Nicole, his bizarre pre-song ramblings, and the song itself, a cover of Sweet Child Of Mine – which to be fair he sings pretty well… but I’m just not buying the whole package…
But what do you think? Are you a fan of Storm… and can he ever win over Simon?
