Tag Archives: CBS

August 22, 2007 · 5:28 pm

Why Viewers Need to Give CBS’ ‘Kid Nation’ a Fair Shot

CBS’ fall lineup certainly has its problems, but one of its show has been forced to deal with a large portion of the media blitzkrieg. Kid Nation was conceived to draw some level of controversy: placing forty kids into a ghost town on their own is never going to be seen as anything less than exploitation upon first glance. However, beyond that point, the series has been attacked from all sides.

It started, immediately, with the show being unfortunate enough to be placed directly into Jericho’s former timeslot during the Nuts for Jericho campaign. It was one thing for a show to be replacing Jericho, but a reality program with a very different set of values on the surface was quite another. Jericho fans, unsurprisingly, targeted Kid Nation quite directly in their efforts to save their show.

Things really hit the fan, if you will, when the show began to face ethical and safety concerns on behalf of parents and, more importantly, authorities. Claims of child abuse, evasion of child labour laws and enforcement officials, and just about everything else under the sun have started flying, and things are not looking good for the series.

L.A. Times Article (via Zap2it.com) – CBS Addresses ‘Kid Nation’ Controversy

And yet, out of all of this, I think that something needs to be said: as a concept, I do not think that this is a bad idea. As far as reality shows are concerned, I would argue it is in fact one of the least exploitative of the new season. While the show should not receive a free pass for any abuse which may or may not have taken place, I think that it has received a stigma not quite equal to its content. And, well, I think that viewers should keep an open mind.

Continue reading →

3 Comments

Filed under 2007 Fall Preview, Jericho, Kid Nation, Television

Tagged as

August 18, 2007 · 12:04 pm

Jericho Fridays “The Day After” – Fan Central Feedback, Rerun Ratings

[After last night’s rerun, and after some great feedback on Jericho Fridays two blog posts, it’s time to look ahead to next week, and see how Jericho fared in the ratings last evening.]

Jericho Fridays’ Question of the Week

For next week’s edition of Jericho Fridays, I want to get the opinion of Jericho viewers on the role of Jericho’s Fan Central in future months. This site, set up by CBS, is designed to let fans know of blog articles, promotional opportunities and anything else that might interest fans of the series.

I personally think that this is a fantastic opportunity to interact with fans, but right now it seems that outside of a thread where comments can be made there isn’t much interaction between the two sides. Any good blog, this one included, is best able to serve an audience when it embraces it in a real fashion, conversing with them and finding a way to best utilize their promotional power.

So, fans of Jericho, what suggestions do you have for Jericho Fan Central? Send me an email at cultural.learnings @ gmail.com and I’ll be putting your suggestions into next week’s edition of Jericho Fridays! Try to get them in before Thursday so I’ll have time to put them together.

Jericho Rerun Report – “A.K.A.”

I was able to watch this episode late last night, and it was great to finally be able to see more of Hawkins’ back story. What I like is that they didn’t try to answer too many questions: he is still mysterious, still a threat, but at this point represents someone whose mystery doesn’t render them good or evil but rather an integral part of this universe. I still think that Heroes’ Company Man is the best back story episode of the season, but this was darn good as well.

Wikipedia – “A.K.A.” 

Viewers seemed to think so as well: Jericho came extremely close to matching the Household numbers from last week’s Preseason football game.

Continue reading →

4 Comments

Filed under Jericho, Television

Tagged as ,

August 17, 2007 · 11:00 am

Jericho Q & A: Oh Canada! – Why Canadians Can’t Watch Innertube

[As part of Jericho Fridays here at Cultural Learnings, we’re taking questions and comments from fans or anyone in general really. You can send your own questions or comments to cultural.learnings @ gmail.com, and they might be answered in this new feature, Jericho Q & A]

Jericho Q & A

August 17th, 2007

Jane, the hard-working and dedicated Jericho fan who runs a multitude of blogs on the subject, asked that I investigate or at least address a particular question about Jericho fans in the Great White North…which happens to be where I live!

From Jane:

One topic I find interesting is that CBS will gladly accept Canadians paying for advertiser’s products but won’t let them watch on Innertube.

And so, the question is born:

Why can’t Canadians watch on Innertube?

This answer is on one hand decidedly simple, and on the other entirely complicated.

The simple answer? Canadians can’t watch Innertube thanks to the CRTC, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Council.

Wikipedia – The CRTC

But, it’s more complicated than that. The CRTC is not inherently evil, even if they’ve made some unpopular decisions. The important thing to know is that the principle they uphold, the Canadian autonomy over broadcast rights specifically, is what is keeping Canadian viewers from watching on Innertube.

For all the details, and what Jericho fans might be able to do to get their show streaming in Canada, keep reading after the jump.

Continue reading →

17 Comments

Filed under CTV, Jericho, Television

Tagged as ,

August 17, 2007 · 7:45 am

The Post-Nuts Era: Jericho Fans Continue to Promote Their Show

[As part of Jericho Friday, Cultural Learnings has gotten some great feedback from fans who want to get the word out about their efforts in the era after the nuts barrage that saved their show. It’s a tougher road now, with many fans having stepped back from message boards and fan groups, but some fans are working hard and making their voices heard. These are their stories of the Post-Nuts Era.]

Jericho in the Post-Nuts Era

DVDs for Troops: Sending ‘Jericho’ to Real-Life War Zones

While there is certainly political and social turmoil in the world of Jericho, it is admittedly nothing compared to the real life war facing the countries of Iraq and Afghanistan. No matter one’s opinion of the politics of the wars being fought in either country, it is impossible not to empathize with the soldiers who are fighting there. And, some Jericho fans want to give them something to help them through.

A group of Jericho fans are working with Staten Island Project Homefront to ship Jericho DVDs to the troops overseas through fan donations, much in the vein of the nuts shipments sent to CBS earlier this year. In fact, many of those nuts actually made it over to the Middle East via CBS and Project Homefront, so this partnership is not new. However, it is a great way for fans of the series to continue to both spread the word about Jericho and spread some much-needed love to the troops.

For more information on the campaign, and how to donate, head to this thread on the Jericho Message Boards. While this could end up being a good PR opportunity, more importantly it’s a good cause. The A special thanks to Jackie (Ahma, on the Jericho boards) for bringing this to my attention! She says that Project Homefront reports that the troops loved the nuts, so they might just love DVDs even more.

Jericho on the Big Screen: Fans and CBS Unite

For two Jericho fans in Massachusetts, the post-Nuts era was about celebration: celebrating their show being saved, celebrating the show itself, and celebrating the men and women who came together during the campaign to get ‘er done, if you will, in the New England area. But while they might be working on a small scale compared to nationwide nuts campaigns, they’re dealing with a big screen. In fact, they’re taking Jericho to the Movies.

I’ll post a link to all of the information in a second, but this is really the perfect example of synergy between fans and CBS. The fans needed to get permission, and the high-resolution copies of the show, from CBS in order to make it work, and through a lot of hard work forum members Rhinogirl1 and ccpdppr pulled it together. This might not be a nationwide campaign, but it’s a powerful symbol of working with CBS to promote Jericho, and they should be commended for their creativity.

The result is the screening of two episodes of Jericho at a theatre in Milbury, Massachusetts at 2pm on Sunday, August 19th.

[For all of the information, see this thread on the Jericho Boards]

Continue reading →

6 Comments

Filed under Jericho, Television

Tagged as ,

August 15, 2007 · 3:54 pm

Announcement: Cultural Learnings’ “Jericho Fridays”

Fridays are a day we all look forward to: it signals the end of the school/work week, the beginning of the weekend, and a break from the usual grind. However, in terms of television, Friday is usually a slow day…until now.

Starting this Friday, Cultural Learnings will be starting a weekly feature aptly called “Jericho Fridays.” As the series films its seven new episodes, and its fans continue to rally behind the cause, I figure that a normally slow day like Friday is the perfect day to showcase a series that deserves more attention.

Each Friday, I’ll be covering some Jericho news bytes along with that night’s rerun in the Jericho Rerun Report, and look back at some of the stories I wrote, and ones others wrote, about the campaign through a new lens.

However, more than anything else, I want to know what Jericho fans want to hear, and what is on their minds. The big problem right now is that CBS and the fans just aren’t communicating enough to provide a united front.

Continue reading →

6 Comments

Filed under Jericho, Television

Tagged as , ,

August 13, 2007 · 5:45 am

Weekend Wrapup: CBS Edition – August 13th, 2007

So, as you may have noticed, Cultural Learnings basically went black over the weekend. This was thanks to a camping trip to Kejimkujik National Park in Southwestern Nova Scotia, which was beautiful and wonderful. If you are interested (Testing my level of consistent readers here), there should be some Flickr photos on the right sidebar below. However, for those more inclined to learn what went on in TV Land over the Weekend, let’s take a gander at what CBS was up to over the three day period.

CBS’ Weekend To-Do List

Preempt “Jericho” without Informing Rabid Fanbase

So, CBS, let’s have a chat here. Because, really, I know that you’re trying your best to deal with this whole Jericho situation, but you need to learn a serious lesson in communication. Because preseason football preempting Jericho? It’s normal. In fact, it happens to every show every year. But you need to make that fact clear to the people who you clearly promised that you would air the show’s first season [almost] in its entirety this summer.

Because you’re really not doing it: you’re just pretending that a large portion of the country didn’t see last week’s episode, and you’re just going to mosey on to the next one. First off, people are clearly going to notice: you already learned that these people are smart and savvy and more than capable of realizing that their show is being messed with. And second, you’re trying to convince people to watch a serial drama: unless you’re packing that preseason football game with commercials for your online viewing service, you’re getting in the way of that goal.

So I’m off camping, missing this week’s episode, and it turns out that millions more are likely missing it too. If you’re seriously committed to the show, you should be doubling up on the reruns next week to make up for it, and continuing to do so to make sure these episodes are aired. I don’t think that’s too much to ask, personally, especially since some of us (I’m referring to me, eh?) are Canadian and can’t watch Innertube episodes.

Embrace Jericho’s Blog Potential

Admittedly, CBS didn’t do all wrong with Jericho: they’ve officially embraced their Fan Central portion of their website in an attempt to spread the word about blog posts about the series. I’m a little bit late in grabbing this news, but since they linked here to Cultural Learnings I took a peak at the site. Basically, they’re centralizing the “Diggnation” and other such initiatives that fans have been trying to move forward.

Continue reading →

7 Comments

Filed under Criminal Minds, Jericho, Television

Tagged as

August 10, 2007 · 6:30 am

Summer TV Wrapup: Most Watchable Reruns – “Jericho”

It is my view that summer reruns are an underutilized tool in promoting a series; however, I see where the concerns lie. There is little reason for people to turn into reruns: they’ve likely already seen the episode, and even if they haven’t they’re unlikely to choose a repeat over new programming on another network. However, some reruns are more watchable than others, and there is one distinct reason why: because people have a reason to watch.

When Jericho was renewed by CBS in June after a month-long fan campaign to save the show, there was a promise made that the show would be rerunning over the summer. Immediately, fans began to get people excited about this prospect. Jericho is the perfect series for reruns: it lost a portion of its original audience thanks to a hiatus, and it created buzz that made people curious enough to tune in.

And there’s where I think comes the show’s watchability: you feel like you’re watching something that has been earned, that has been warranted, and that has some sort of meaning. This isn’t just CBS filling the schedule: this is the work of thousands of devoted fans beaming into your television set Fridays at 9pm. I, personally, find that somewhat inspiring.

Continue reading →

11 Comments

Filed under Jericho, Television

Tagged as , , ,

August 7, 2007 · 5:29 pm

Summer TV Wrapup: The Biggest Flop(s) – Pirate Master and On the Lot

It is no coincidence that the two shows that have tied for the Summer TV Wrapup recognition of The Biggest Flop have something in common. Mark Burnett created Survivor and The Apprentice, and immediately rocketed into the upper echelon of reality TV producers. He’s the only one who is a personality, a character in his own way. While this usually helps him, it has actually made his fall from grace this summer all the more damaging. Pirate Master (CBS) and On the Lot (FOX), two sure-fire hits, flopped this summer, and Mark Burnett is the man to hold accountable for that fact.

Pirate Master suffered from the very beginning from both poor ratings and a lack of cultural buzz. While the show was not terrible, it was criminally derivative: it didn’t deviate far enough from the Survivor formula to bring in new viewers, and its failure proves that people aren’t watching Survivor because of its quality but rather because it’s Survivor.

The show was cancelled 2/3rds of the way through its run, and will spend the remainder of its time on CBS.com. The show never had the personality, never had the host, and never had the magic touch we’re used to seeing from Mark “Midas” Burnett. In failing to live up to that pedigree, it was by far one of the summer’s biggest flops.

Cultural Learnings’ Summer “Pirate Master” Coverage

On the Lot, meanwhile, had all the pedigree you’d usually need: Burnett was not only attached as producer, but so was legendary director Steven Spielberg. It was supposed to be FOX’s buzzworthy summer hit, but they forgot something very important: the summer viewing audience aren’t movie geeks.

Continue reading →

3 Comments

Filed under FOX, On The Lot, Pirate Master, Reality TV, Television

Tagged as , ,

July 31, 2007 · 9:00 am

Pilot Previews: How ‘Cavemen’, ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and ‘Aliens in America’ Confront Stereotypes

[Regardless of what I think about some of the fall pilots, there are three comedies that each deal with prominent cultural stereotypes to very different degrees. Rather than review them individually (I’d be overly mean to some of them if I did), I figure I’d run them down in relation to their ability to deal with these sensitive cultural issues.]

Cavemen (ABC)

Culture in Question: Prehistoric Man (Cavemen)

Yes, Cavemen deals with the stereotyping of a non-existent culture, and there is a distinct problem with this: the writers are not capable of forgetting real cultural stereotypes in the process. The entire series basically boils down to stealing every single African-American sitcom joke and just transferring it to these hairy neanderthals. The Cavemen feel out of place at a country club, they feel that their crime is more reporter than white crime, and they worry about interracial marriage.

Cultural Impact: Setting the clock back decades. By presenting a culture of exclusion to a level not seen since the 70s, it’s basically making North America out to be this cultural dead zone incapable of accepting other cultures. And while racism is still a serious issue, ignoring any of the past three decades of advancement is just insulting to the efforts of the civil rights movement.

The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

Culture in Question: Geek Culture

While certainly not attempting to prescribe a moral to the state of geek culture, The Big Bang Theory does attempt to represent it. In the process, however, the geek turns into a complete sitcom stereotype: they play World of Warcraft, they watch Battlestar Galactica (w/ Commentary) and they don’t know how to talk to girls. This, in the mind of sitcom writers, is a geek in a nutshell.

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under 2007 Fall Preview, ABC, Aliens in America, Battlestar Galactica, Cavemen, Television, The Big Bang Theory, The CW

Tagged as ,

July 28, 2007 · 5:06 pm

A Lesson in Viral Marketing for CBS

So, CBS, I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but the critics don’t seem too happy about your new fall shows. If we would have to qualify which pilots are gathering “buzz,” I could downright guarantee that none of your shows are on the list. And really, you’re at a disadvantage: Moonlight went under massive retooling, Cane simply lacks any noteworthy attributes, and then you’ve got The Big Bang Theory and Viva Laughlin. These two shows are much-maligned with critics: some have stated their outright dislike with the latter, and I’ll chime in on the prior saying it is basically my most hated pilot of the season.

And yet, it appears that CBS really wants me to like them, because they’ve hired viral internet marketers to spread the word about these two shows. Now, I’d like to point out a few things here, things that perhaps CBS might like to listen to. Because if you’re going to do viral marketing, you need to be either entirely upfront or cunningly subtle about it. And the people you’ve hired? Are neither.

Take for instance Bill’s comment about The Big Bang Theory:

I am hearing some great things about the Fall show called The Big Bang Theory on Mondays on CBS. The critics love it and think it is very,very funny. Everyone who has seen the pilot loves it. It comes from Two and Half Men’s Chuck Lorre. This could be the next hit show.

[Deleted Link to Show’s CBS Website]

or see clips here :

[Deleted Link to YouTube clips]

This is clearly viral marketing and nothing more: no one actually talks like this, as far as I am aware, and there isn’t even an attempt to make things sound natural. It would be one thing if he wasn’t trying to pass himself off as just another guy named Bill, as opposed to a studio hire. Also, he says that critics and “everyone” loves it, without stating his own opinion. Likely because he hasn’t even seen the show, and doesn’t know any better.

Here’s an example of what might have worked in terms of marketing this show:

I watched The Big Bang Theory just last night, actually; the pilot really impressed me. I’m a fan of Two and a Half Men, and it seems like this show would fit right in. I actually think that it might work better in the slot after Two and a Half Men instead of on Mondays at 8:30 like they have it scheduled. Personally, I think Chuck Lorre (Who produces Two and a Half Men) has a hit on his hands.

See, I just wrote that in thirty seconds, and it sounds as if I actually watched and enjoyed the pilot. In reality, I bloody well hated the thing: it was horribly written, horribly acted, and failed to introduce a single fresh element to the sitcom formula (World of Warcraft does not cultural relevance make). But what I wrote there actually makes it seem like I did, and encourages people to give its pilot a shot. This would be smart viral marketing.

Continue reading →

7 Comments

Filed under 2007 Fall Preview, Television, The Big Bang Theory, Viva Laughlin

Tagged as , ,