Most of the new TV shows that debut each fall are dreck but there are always a handful of shows that surprise us. BrandIntel, a Toronto based testing outfit published their 2007 TV Landscape report yesterday, highlighting the new shows that generated the most interest in their online sampling of over 20,000 raw search hits on the Internet. Last year's report predicted the success of "Ugly Betty" and "Heroes". So what are their predictions this year???
"Pushing Daisies" had the "highest sentiment and intent to view of all new shows". Of course it probably didn't hurt that ABC gave out daisies at their screenings. "Pushing Daisies" stars Chi McBride, Swoosie Kurtz and Kristin Chenoweth, a good cast with a quirky plot. A pie maker brings crime victims back to life, by handing out flowers. Let me guess, could they be daisies???
The most unique promotion used by the networks to sway viewers is a CBS campaign which will appear in Rolling Stone this week for their new show "Cane" starring Jimmy Smits. Smits plays a powerful Cuban-American running a rum and sugar business in South Florida. The ad will feature a nonalcoholic flavor strip in a "tamper-proof pouch". It's a good thing it's not on rolling paper...
The lowest rated of all shows tested is the "one-trick pony" comedy "Cavemen" which tries to take advantage of the success of Geico commercials. It had a low quality of discussion with conversation focused on the marketing of the show, not the intent of consumers to view. No surprise there. The proof of the new series pudding will be once viewers sample the show, will they come back the following week? Marketing a show successfully doesn't equate to good ratings. Content does...
10 Timeline Memories:
- 1906] The forward pass is born: Bradbury Robinson of St. Louis University throws a "projectile pass" to teammate Jack Schneider. It's the first forward pass used in a game as St. Louis beats Carroll 22-0. Carroll should play Lenoir-Rhyne with the winner taking on William & Mary...
- 1918] 1st National Anthem at ballparks: The national anthem is sung at a ballpark for the 1st time at Comiskey Park in Chicago at the World Series, moved up because of WWI. This has been disputed by those that believe our anthem was sung as early as 1897 in Philadelphia and the following year at the Polo Grounds. The New York Times goes with this date in 1918...
- 1930] Bass Ackwards: Charles Creighton and James Hargis drive from New York City to Los Angeles backwards in reverse gear. The trip takes 42 days in their 1929 Model A Ford. The obvious question is Why???
- 1960] Gold Standard: 18-year old Cassius Clay of Louisville (KY) wins a unanimous decision over 3-time Euro light-heavyweight champ Zbigniew Piertzytkowski to win a gold medal at the Olympics. Seven weeks later Clay will win his 1st professional bout while Piertzytkowski was looking for a couple of vowels...
- 1966] 1st MDA telethon: Jerry Lewis hosts his 1st MDA Labor Day Telethon which started out locally in New York (1955). This past weekend the telethon raised a record $63.8 million and lots of complaints about Jerry's gay slur (see my Commentary)...
- 1972] A bloody Olympics: Arab terrorists kill 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team. Five guerrillas and a police officer are also killed in Munich in the darkest day in Olympic history...
- 1975] Dodging a bullet: President Gerald Ford escapes an attempt on his life in Sacramento (CA) by Charles Manson follower, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme...
- 1987] Curtains: Dick Clark hosted "American Bandstand" is cancelled after 30 years...1989] Chris Evert retires from tennis after a brilliant 19-year career...
- 1992] A Princely sum: Prince signs a $100 million contract with Warner Brothers, making him the highest-paid pop artist in the country...
- 2002] NFL Thursday Night kickoff: The first NFL Thursday Night game is preceded by a concert starring Eve, Alicia Keys, Bon Jovi, Enrique Iglesias and Joey Fatone. Those of us that worked at CBS-FM at the time watched the rehearsals in Times Square from the 40th floor of the Viacom Building. Tomorrow night's game between the champion Colts and New Orleans Saints will be preceded by a 30-minute concert starring Faith Hill, Kelly Clarkson, Hinder and John Mellencamp...
Music Memories:
- 1964] Released on this date: "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" - Manfred Mann (in an interview I did with songwriter Ellie Greenwich she mentioned that when she and then-husband Jeff Barry wrote this that the title didn't mean anything but much like "Be My Baby" the lyrics were cute little expressions they both used to each other and here's the video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fh7B5zWHzw ...1965] "Get Off My Cloud" - Rolling Stones and here's the video in glorious black & white: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l20L9SFqbBw&mode=related&search= ...[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in each timeline]...
Commentary...
The CBS-FM Top 500 Top 5 from over the weekend: 1) "Hey Jude"-Beatles, 2) "Satisfaction"-Rolling Stones, 3) "New York, New York"-Frank Sinatra, 4) "My Girl"-Temptations and 5) "Yesterday"-Beatles...Jerry Lewis has apologized for the gay slur he directed at the son of one of the cameramen. Listen to the audio in this video clip: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Pz6vE8zyCco ...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Michael Keaton a.k.a. Michael Douglas (his real name) (56), Buddy Miles (61), Al Stewart (62), Raquel Welch (67) and here's the gratuitous trailer from "One Million Years BC" featuring a pre-historic cat fight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_1DclzprLM , WRKO's Gordon Brown (68), John (Kingston Trio) Stewart (68), William Devane (68), Yankee killer Bill Mazeroski (71) and Bob Newhart (78)...
Timeline Countdown: One day until the NFL kickoff, 18 days until Autumn begins, 28 days until the MLB playoffs and 49 days until the World Series begins...
