Chris Dahl gets us started.
I was reading a blog other than your own (hard to believe, but I do read other blogs) and in the comments section of this different blog a conversation evolved around the timing of episode releases. Netflix is famous for dropping entire seasons at once to allow for bingeing and initially people seem to have enjoyed this. It was almost a selling point for the streaming services.
But it seems a trend is starting, at least on Disney+, to now drop new series episodes weekly just like in the good old network TV days. The argument is that it retains the best of both worlds, allowing excitement/buzz to build over a period of time promoting the series while also allowing newcomers to catch up and join the fun. Thoughts or comments?
I can see advantages to both. It’s very appealing to have viewers return every week instead of one time only for an extended period of time. Once someone is on your site they’re more apt to see what else they offer and stay longer. But there is an additional burden placed on these shows. Are they compelling enough that viewers are willing to wait a week to watch a new episode? Especially when so many show are dropped in batches.
The advantage of dropping a whole series at once is that it’s something only streamers can do. Broadcast and cable networks can’t compete with that. And viewing habits have changed. With so much product out there it’s nice to find a show you like and immerse yourself in it for two or three nights then move onto something different when it concludes.
What I find interesting about binge-watching is this: According to viewer research, people will re-binge shows they like — occasionally multiple times. I guess it’s like hearing your favorite song over and over except the song is ten hours long.
From Rory W:
When you were a baseball announcer, did you get approached to do local radio or TV ads?
I was listening to the radio broadcast of my hometown Cleveland baseball team when Jim "Rosie" Rosenhaus did an ad for Rose Pest Control and was wondering how sponsors approach announcers?
Do you just get a random call from someone saying, "Hey, do you want to do an ad for Neverwet Basement Waterproofing in Syracuse, NY?"
I did a couple of ads when I was with the Orioles in Baltimore. I was the voice of some Lexus dealer (for which I was given a new Lexus to drive during the season), and my partner, Jon Miller and I went to Washington DC to record spots for Food Giant or some market in the region. The car dealer just called me. He probably did that a lot — free spokesman for a loaner car (and for me, free car for an hour’s recording), and Jon got the call for the market.
I never had an agent. In the case of the Lexus dealer, the agent’s commission would be what, the trunk?
Steve McLean has a two-part question.
I recently heard an interview with actor/director Peter Bonerz who said, "I always made the argument for the laugh track...sitting at home you become part of a larger audience." (Interesting since he is probably best known for his role on 'The Bob Newhart Show' which did not have one.)
THE BOB NEWHART SHOW did use a laugh-track to supplement the live studio audience.
That’s the network's rationale for the laugh-track. When you go to a theatre the laughter is a shared experience and can be contagious. But just sitting at home alone things might not seem as funny. That’s the theory, but I think it’s bullshit. Hearing real audience laughter is one thing. Hearing fake laughter is insulting. As a viewer I resent being “told” when something is funny. Let me decide on my own.
And the second point I'm interested in your thoughts on, Peter said that when directing later sitcoms, "The audiences come in so hot, they have been warmed up to such a degree, that they overlaugh the show. They literally laugh at anything.”
He’s absolutely right. Audiences of hit sitcoms come in so primed to laugh because they love these characters and are so excited to be there.
On CHEERS we really had to fight against that. We knew that certain laughs the last couple of seasons were not earned. We made a conscious decision to ignore that and keep our standards high because we knew the show was going into syndication, and that after a few years new viewers would join and hold the show to its highest quality.
A hit show can be a trap the last few “beloved” years. And it’s easy to let down knowing you’re still going to get huge laughs. We took enormous pride in our work, and I believe it’s one of the reasons CHEERS still holds up so well today.
What’s your Friday Question? Again, you must be vaxxed.
from By Ken Levine
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