Television

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Mazel tov everyone. Tomorrow you'll don your finest slutty-garments/ball-forming-pants in hopes of getting some fright-night action. May we recommend the bumble bee costume at Abracadabra on West 21st — you won't regret it (unless you regret it). Meantime, get in the spirit with this classic Tracy Jordan mashup, "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah", which has words like "Frankenstein" and "zombie" in it, but is in no way related to advertising. Sue me.

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Steven Colbert is America's American — a man whose job it is to make sure the man doesn't keep you down, while simultaneously propping the man up. It's a weird job, and part of it includes calling out companies like Miracle Whip — well, McGarry Bowen really.

This clip was aired last week, so sorry for being tardy. What's worse: the campaign came out this summer. So, yeah, we're using old material. But if you enjoy the following things, you probably won't care: laughter, mayonnaise, bongs and keg-stands.

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Watch this clip from season 1 of NBC's "30 Rock", a show based loosely on the writer's room of "Saturday Night Live", from the beginning to about :25. We were reminded of this clip late last week when we learned that this past weekend's episode of SNL was sponsored exclusively by Bud Light Golden Wheat.

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Anheuser-Busch, the makers of the new Bud Light Golden Wheat, have paid NBC to be the exclusive sponsor of SNL. The buy, which appears to be an extended hybrid of the MacGruber/Pepsi skits that aired during the SuperBowl, will include a mix of entertainment options, the likes of which the world has never seen (first time ever!).

Until now. For one night only (that we know of), SNL will air never-before-seen clips from the show, including previous seasons. Also, Bud Light Golden Wheat is totally sponsoring these hostage clips, begging the question: how much SNL are we not seeing? Did they really keep that "Gilly, Gilly" scene in exchange for something even awesomer — "Really?" (to quote Weekend Update).

If NBC got $3 million for a measly skit, what did InBev get for:

— each of the show's commercials*

— cutaways to actual bars where people are sampling BLGW and watching the show (be at: Rockit Bar and Grill on West Hubbard Street tomorrow night!)

— Hostage skits: "Backstage with Bud Light Golden Wheat"

(note: the "undisclosed financial terms" must be revealed:|)

Calm down. Here's how we introduced you to the Pepsi sponsorship: "NBC, Pepsi Jerk One Another Off, Hit Will Forte in Crossfire". So, since this one includes the entire cast, network and audience what do we call it? There's gotta be a porn phrase for stuff like this — "The Clown's Ball" sounds fitting, but I'm sure you can come up with better.

I wonder how much an entire movie would cost.

*two of the ads, which are from STL's Cannonball and MPLS's inthegroovemusic, include a storyline about a how Bud Light (a dude) and Golden Wheat (a lady) came together to birth BLGW.

Via The New York Times

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Earlier this month, VH1 debuted a documentary called Anvil! The Story of Anvil, about the band that started it all for rock. Their album, Metal on Metal, was a precursor to works by Metallica, Anthrax and Slayer. So, Burger King sponsors the entire thing, right? Ha ha guess where their logo showed up.

According to Luggage Tuesdays, Burger King's logo only appeared during a few choice moments in the program. One of them, was the scene you see above, involving what appears to be human feces.

Today is the day of stories about bad logo placements.

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Adland let us know about this CSI trailer — a long freeze-frame of what looks like the most epic gunfight of all times and places. Well, it would be if Philips hadn't already done it for their mega-wide-screen TV, the 21:9. The clip itself is 2 minutes, 19 seconds. CSI's is just shy of that at 2:16. But pretty much all the other elements are there: multiple gunshots, bullets entering flesh, explosions. There's no clowns, but you get the picture. Click continued for the original.

Adland via joelapompe

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Sesame Street seems to be kicking things into the pop culture realm these days, this time with a number paying homage to the letter D (for dance!) and the now iconic iPod silhouette ads. Mashable's Pete Cashmore asks "Was Sesame Street this current when we were growing up?" My tiny brain can't recall, but if yours does, let us know (agencyspy at gmail dot com).

Via Mashable

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Normally I don't watch Showtime or HBO unless someone convinces me a particular program is worthwhile. Why? Because for the cost of these channels alone I can just as easily get the best ever Netflix package. But Showtime has one program I can't seem to get away from, and the book God Hates Us All, written by the show's main character Hank Moody, just made not-liking "Californication" even harder.

Hank Moody, played by David Duchovny, is an unmarried dad who screwed up royally by not marrying the love of his life. He's a philandering writer who loves booze, pot and women and gets around LA in a worn out Porche. Each day is another rompfest with some nubile or milfy woman — a plight he cannot escape, but simultaneously fuels his writing prowess. Did I mention he's a blogger (for awhile) with a penchant for pissing people off? Minus the whorishness and perpetual inebriation, Moody is man to be admired.

And to show you and me how real Moody is, Showtime published a book that he wrote, apparently, years before — God Hates Us All (not to be confused with the Slayer album). I read it during a brief flight to the midwest this weekend*, and for anyone who's a fan of the show it's not only a fun read but also provides more about the character's background. Though the story is not about Moody, it does pull from his life (or so we're told on the show), and that just strengthens the idea of Hank Moody — cementing the backwards-hero in our minds as a man whose current life path is no more his own fault than the color of his hair.

*Full disclosure: Showtime sent me the book.

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Taking a cue from certain FOX and AMC programming, ABC won't bore you with commercials like they used to — at least for the first portion of their fall line-up premieres. Oh sorry, I forgot I was talking to the ad industry. You guys are at least partially responsible for this change, and as a representative of consumers everywhere, let me be the first to thank you.

This doesn't mean I (or any other consumers) will watch ABC's eight programs (including "Cougar Town" "Modern Family" and "The Middle"). What it does mean is longer storylines and less opportunity to walk away from the TV. But will it translate to more viewers and how much money did ABC lose by reevaluating the ad space?

LATimes:

"The story lines of comedies will be about three minutes longer, and those for the dramas may be as much as five minutes longer than they are normally. The opening of the dramas could run as long as 15 minutes before their first commercial. 'FlashForward,' ABC's big bet for the fall, may have an opening as long as 18 minutes."

Our expectation: three-five extra minutes could mean the difference between a show that makes a 16 episode run and one that's cut after three, 12, etc. But of course, the programs need to be entertaining, too.

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ABC's Desperate Housewives is still on the air, and in order to remain that way the show's writers have created an integrated ad campaign that will tie in the feel and drama of the program with advertising.

Reports Entertainment Weekly:

"ABC has recruited Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry to produce a series of eight commercials for Sprint that will unfold as a weekly soap opera. The goal? Pausing the fast-forward phenomenon."

The Sprint work is not unlike a 4-episode miniseries produced for NBC's Heroes last year. Again, the spin-off included the same kind of dramatic events of the main program without conflicting with characters.

Without getting into what this kind of blurring means for the overall state of television, consider the distinction that's made when sponsored content is separated from obviously-sponsored content. The show itself, though paid for by advertising, is relatively free of distracting ads. So when a 30-second commercial comes along and it looks and feels just like the actual show, the hope is that viewers will refrain from fast-forwarding. Channel-checking. Getting a beer.

But what does it say about the content itself? For one, that the storyline wasn't good enough to be part of the show. Or that the characters weren't good enough to make it as cast members. Indeed, two soap opera actors are taking lead in the ads. Whether viewers will notice or care about these distinctions is yet to be seen.

Via EW

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