FOX is without scruples. Shame left them decades ago. Rupert Murdoch is a merchant of cross-promotion, and cross-promotion within cross-promotion. There is no end to his treachery. The geniuses, the
evil geniuses, at FOX have perfected the pimping of their own TV shows during other TV shows. Perhaps the greatest example of this is the way in which FOX launched
So You Think You Can Dance a few summers back. By piggy-backing the series onto
American Idol after a cacophony of Idol-tinged promotions, another successful franchise was built. However, I believe that on Wednesday, FOX went too far. In the middle of
American Idol (in the middle of the actual show, NOT during a commercial break!) they ran a “preview” of the upcoming season of
So You Think You Can Dance. Of course, this preview was nothing but a minute or so long commercial. Yes, that's right, FOX has broken new ground here: they aired a commercial during non-commercial time.
Your Take
oscardahl said:
True, I didn't mention the DVR thing, which is big, especially for such a boring hour of television like Id...
gusgus said:
I'm not understanding what the problem is. I don't watch AI, but I enjoy SYTYCD. What's the difference if...
angelpops said:
Expect a lot more of these in-show commercials now that everyone DVRs and fast forwards thru traditional co...
If this doesn't bother you, you are a cynical person. I am unmovable on this. This is the kind of crap that viewers shouldn't have to put up with. The decision by FOX to expand their
American Idol results show from a half hour to one hour was a needless and self-aggrandizing move. The results show was already filler-filled at 30 minutes, doubling it's run time was shameless in all the worst ways. The
American Idol results show is never an enjoyable hour of television – it is so, so, so drawn out that FOX has a difficult time finding content and have to bring in their own UK artists, take inane questions from callers, air painful Ford commercials, stage cringe-inducing group numbers and make the already-suffering contestants suffer much longer than needed.
But, these are all things that I have come to terms with. This is the way it's been all season, and I know that I've found ways of coping (mostly by incessantly mocking the festivities during my Live Thoughts). However, the in-show commercial for
So You Think You Can Dance nearly sent me over the edge. There's more than enough commercial time during the results show for FOX to air whatever self-promotional content they so choose. People watch TV to, you know, watch the shows. They don't tune in to watch more commercials. It'd be like if you went to see
Iron Man in the theaters today, and halfway through the movie Tony Stark sat down on his couch, flipped on the TV and watched a two-minute preview of
Spider-Man 4.
In reality, it's not that big of a deal. But symbolically, it's damn frustrating.
Was the in-show commercial going too far?
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of FOX)