oselle | (no subject)

I'm officially loathing the CW network right now for being the cheese-factory that they are. I don't know if any of you guys watch Reaper, but they ran a promo during tonight's episode. I won't call it a promo for either Smallville or Supernatural, it was a promo for, in their own words, "The Girls of Thursday" i.e. Ruby, Bela and that new gal on Smallville. Kara or whatever.

I can't say anything about Kara on Smallville because I don't watch that show, but promoting two new, untested and so far, poorly received characters as the reason to watch Supernatural, and promoting them in a cheesy commercial that says absolutely nothing about the show other than "check out these chicks, they're hot!" is just such a cheap-ass, juvenile and downright offensive ploy that I don't even have the words for how much it pisses me off.

And I don't ever, ever want to hear about how Bela sleeps "naked on silk sheets, rolling in money" again (that was a line they used in the commercial). People may say, hey any new viewers for Supernatural is a good thing, but if they're tuning in to watch Bela talk about her silk sheets, then they're not watching for the reasons the fans have been watching for the past two years, and that means the show ain't gonna be what it's been for the past two years, period.

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Oselle, where you been. Hot chicks sell shows. It's not like Sam and Dean have a huge, rabidly devoted fandom.

See, THIS is why I'm not a network executive.

I hate those chicks. I hate those chicks. I hate them who think those chicks are everything. The chicks even behaved like they were the stars of the show in programs like in E. Huh. :(

Why shouldn't they behave like the stars? The CW clearly thinks they are -- giving them top billing right next to Jared and Jensen, promoting them in commercials, etc. I cringed when I heard about these cast additions, but I figured I'd give them the benefit of the doubt until I saw them for myself. Ruby I can handle (so far) but Bela -- no. Just, no.

It's about damn time that TV and Film executives recognised the mature female audience and their purchasing power.

*grumble*

You know, after I saw that commercial, I asked myself if I would have preferred a similarly styled spot about "The Boys of Thursday," directed at female viewers. To be honest, I wouldn't have. Playing up the fact that the stars -- any of the stars -- are good-looking is not only a cheap gimmick but it also smacks of desperation. Sort of "watch this show for the hotties," as if it doesn't have anything else to offer.

Before the show went on mid-season hiatus last year, they ran a sort of "coming attractions" spot at the end of the last new episode, showing upcoming scenes all set to Nazareth's "Hair of the Dog." This is included on the Season Two DVD, at the end of "Crossroad Blues" I think. Way too long to be a commercial, but something like that gives a far better idea of what the show is about. I've also heard there was a commercial that ran near the end of Season Two, full of angst, action and Winchesters set to Johnny Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down" (I MUST look for this on YouTube). These are the sorts of spots they should be running for this show. Not the cheap, insulting shit I saw last night. I don't think that network knows or cares what the hell this show is about, and they don't seem to have any desire to find out.

I asked myself if I would have preferred a similarly styled spot about "The Boys of Thursday," directed at female viewers. To be honest, I wouldn't have.

That’s why I added the modifier of “mature” to female fan – we want good plot and characterisation with our pretty. For heavens sake, I only started noticing that Sam and Dean were good looking when I was on about my third consecutive run-through of S1!

I’ve deliberately avoided the “girls of Friday night” promo when I’ve seen it online because I knew it would annoy me. It’s not just the “lowest common denominator” bit that worries me, it’s the suggestion that the show is similar enough to Smallville that it can be advertised on the basis of the same “qualities”. I had to bail on Smallville very early on when it became apparent that Superman was going to take a backseat in his own mythos to one of the most vapid female characters I’ve had the misfortune to come across - and, given that I’m a lifelong Marvel supporter, it had to be pretty bad to get to me! I hate the idea of Supernatural being promoted as the “Ruby n’ Bela show featuring the Winchester Brothers.” because, if that promo does manage to pull in the oh-so-precious teenage boy viewers then the writers will be under even more pressure to move it in that direction.

Smallville and Supernatural are similar enough strictly in terms of genre that I do think they can be marketing together, in the sense that one is a good lead-in for the other (i.e. Smallville makes a lot more sense as a lead-in for Supernatural than Gilmore Girls did). But I agree that lumping them together in a "Girls of Thursday" ad tells the audience that hot babes are the only reason to watch either show -- and as you said, if that strategy works, it's just going to be hot babes all the time.

Lana may be a pain in the ass to all devotees of the Superman mythos, but at least, at LEAST, she was a part of the show from Day One, so you had the chance to bail out early. They didn't give you two whole seasons to get attached to the show and then suddenly throw Little Miss Perfect into the mix and tell you how much you had to love her.

I'm just so annoyed. After "Fresh Blood" I had some hope, but between that commercial and some of the things I'm hearing the writers saying about plans for Bela's character, I have a feeling there will be a lot of upcoming eps I watch on fast forward.

I believe this is the Johnny Cash promo from last year:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NVEEblzahxs

Quite a difference from "The Girls of Thursday."

Somebody needs to tell those idiots that Bela is a name for burly Romanian guys.

Somebody needs to tell those idiots how not to alienate your existing audience with poorly conceived characters and idiotic commercials that make you embarassed to be a viewer.