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Bovine inspiration at the FOX upfront
As I exited the FOX upfront presentation and spilled onto 55th Street Thursday, I saw just about the last thing I would have expected in Midtown Manhattan:
Cows. And not just a couple cows either, but a veritable herd of cattle, male and female, calves to full-grown heifers, brought in from a farm in New Jersey.
This, folks, is why for all its faults and frustrating scheduling and Moment of Truths, we can't help but love the sense of showmanship FOX tends to bring to events like this.
The cows have something to do with Fringe, the new J.J. Abrams-written and -produced series debuting on the network this fall. There was a brief shot of one in the trailer, hanging out in a derelict lab where, it's implied, a (literally) mad scientist (John Noble, King Denethor from the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King) did some unsavory things.
People in Fringe T-shirts were also handing out cards that noted that the difference between humans and cows, genetically speaking, is only a couple of lines of DNA. Other people in Fringe T-shirts were handing out apples, and there was a picture of a sliced-open apple on the cards.
So we have apples, cows and a bunch of people dying on a plane to open the show (what is it with Abrams and planes?), with overtones of a very large conspiracy behind all of it. Plus, it has Pacey and Daniels and a great big scope that will no doubt have J.J. disciples panting by the end of the two-hour premiere.
Curiously, Abrams himself spent the hour or so of the FOX presentation in the balcony, where the network usually just stashes the press. Joss Whedon, the creator of FOX's other sure-to-be-fanboy-object-of-worship, Dollhouse, was up there too. He spent part of the time beforehand reading (pretty sure it was Julie Andrews' memoir Home) -- which was rather charming in a room where seemingly everyone else was glued to a Blackberry.
Just why the two big-shot producers were way up there (as was the head of Warner Bros. TV), I couldn't ascertain; maybe the orchestra section was just really small. Their shows (which will undoubtedly be linked in a million stories -- like this one -- between now and the start of next season) were enthusiastically received, though, and FOX is doing a potentially cool thing it's calling "remote-free TV" with both of them.
Rather than the typical 17 to 19 minutes of commercials that normally make up an hour of network programming, Fringe and Dollhouse will have about half that -- for every episode. FOX says it's doing that because it wants to prove to viewers that it cares about them. Presumably there's a business reason for at as well, such as selling the shortened ad time as a prestige thing to big advertisers (so expect a lot of "Fringe, presented with limited interruption by Brand X" type of sponsorships). And presumably the promise of more show will keep some people from flipping channels, thereby keeping more eyeballs on Brand X's ad spots.
I still don't know what the cows have to do with it, but I'm willing to find out.
Do Fringe and/or Dollhouse have you excited? And really, what's with the cattle?
I'll believe that there are less commercials when I actually see less commercials beyond the pilot eps. Let's hope that is true, but for now I call shenanigans.
Rishi | May 15, 2008 8:15:06 PM | #I'll probably pass on both Fringe and Dollhouse. I'm already OD'ed on the slicky sci-fi thing. That's just me.
As for the cows(and the "limited commerical interuption") I thinkit's a sign of the times. Most adult viewers don't have 4 hours a night to sit in front of the TV so wwe TIVO or DVR most everything. Product placement and out and out sponserships are about the only way "ads" are going to be seen.(At least in my house)
| May 16, 2008 6:50:35 AM | #I'm on board immediately for anything Whedon and I'm also there for anything sci-fi/action related from Abrams.
I'm super excited about both these shows, and considering I watch everything Tivo-d or from iTunes, the only thing about limited commercials that excites me is slightly longer episodes.
Josh Man | May 16, 2008 8:42:07 AM | #There are three things networks need to do to keep us off the remotes. 1. Follow through on this promise of less commercials. I agree with Rishi - I'll believe it when I see it. 2. Stop snap-cancelling shows. Set minimum runs. If you commit to a show, don't pull it off just because it doesn't get 100 million viewers the first night. 3. Eliminate those damn on-screen logos, ESPECIALLY ones with ads tied to them such as what NBC is doing now.
Alex | May 16, 2008 8:56:37 AM | #Yeah, definitely excited about "Dollhouse." And Eliza Dushku. I still use here "Livin' 5X5 B" phrase from Buffy.
Kesten Migdal | May 16, 2008 11:35:58 AM | #Both are worth checking out, though I feel I already watch too much TV.
Billiam | May 19, 2008 8:53:18 AM | #
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