Desperate ABC
Can we cut through the BS on this Nicolette Sheridan/TO Monday Night Football skit?
First, everybody knew about it in advance. The NFL knew, the Philadelphia Eagles knew, ABC knew, EVERYBODY knew. Promotional activities do not take place in a vacuum.
Second, ABC and the NFL knew that there would be a negative reaction after the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake "wardrobe malfunction" stunt, and had the pre-canned apologies and tut-tutting all ready to go.
Third, this "skit"'s purpose was not to promote Desperate Housewives, which is, regrettably, already a huge hit. It was to drum up additional viewers for Monday Night Football, the ratings for which have been in the toilet for years. ABC tried to generate cross-over appeal with Dennis Miller, and then John Madden, to no avail. So now they have a gorgeous starlet who plays a whore on a popular show take off her clothes and seduce an NFL star playing in this past Monday's MNF offering.
Fourth, while the sports/entertainment world is definitely talking about MNF, one has to wonder if this is the kind of publicity ABC really wants. As Jim Caple points out today, this is far from the first time that that network has mixed T&A with the NFL. The difference is that in the past instances he points out, it was MNF giving the rub to other ABC programming, not the reverse. It hardly seems likely that viewers who tune into Desperate Housewives but not MNF are going to be encouraged to take in a football game because of this stunt. Rather, it just makes ABC look desperate for sinking to such depths to try and save a long-declining prime time franchise that is on life-support.
The saddest part about it all is that, for all the patently phony apologies, nobody is really taking any responsibility. "Blue" America and "red" America indulge in the rhetoricizing typical of each, but in the end the "blues" win hands-down because of the very tactics employed. Just splatter "inappropriate material" across the screen unannounced and then contrive contrition as ass-covering. It couldn't be any more cynical, but once something like this airs, the damage is done, and broadcasting standards are eroded that much more.
Who knows? Next time it might be Nicolette Sheridan and Teri Hatcher mud-wrestling nude over Tom Brady. And ABC will "apologize profusely," decent people will howl in frustrated outrage, and the amoral barbarians will snickeringly tell the rest of us to just "change the channel."
All I can say is, thank God for cable. You can't go wrong with the History Channel.
First, everybody knew about it in advance. The NFL knew, the Philadelphia Eagles knew, ABC knew, EVERYBODY knew. Promotional activities do not take place in a vacuum.
Second, ABC and the NFL knew that there would be a negative reaction after the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake "wardrobe malfunction" stunt, and had the pre-canned apologies and tut-tutting all ready to go.
Third, this "skit"'s purpose was not to promote Desperate Housewives, which is, regrettably, already a huge hit. It was to drum up additional viewers for Monday Night Football, the ratings for which have been in the toilet for years. ABC tried to generate cross-over appeal with Dennis Miller, and then John Madden, to no avail. So now they have a gorgeous starlet who plays a whore on a popular show take off her clothes and seduce an NFL star playing in this past Monday's MNF offering.
Fourth, while the sports/entertainment world is definitely talking about MNF, one has to wonder if this is the kind of publicity ABC really wants. As Jim Caple points out today, this is far from the first time that that network has mixed T&A with the NFL. The difference is that in the past instances he points out, it was MNF giving the rub to other ABC programming, not the reverse. It hardly seems likely that viewers who tune into Desperate Housewives but not MNF are going to be encouraged to take in a football game because of this stunt. Rather, it just makes ABC look desperate for sinking to such depths to try and save a long-declining prime time franchise that is on life-support.
The saddest part about it all is that, for all the patently phony apologies, nobody is really taking any responsibility. "Blue" America and "red" America indulge in the rhetoricizing typical of each, but in the end the "blues" win hands-down because of the very tactics employed. Just splatter "inappropriate material" across the screen unannounced and then contrive contrition as ass-covering. It couldn't be any more cynical, but once something like this airs, the damage is done, and broadcasting standards are eroded that much more.
Who knows? Next time it might be Nicolette Sheridan and Teri Hatcher mud-wrestling nude over Tom Brady. And ABC will "apologize profusely," decent people will howl in frustrated outrage, and the amoral barbarians will snickeringly tell the rest of us to just "change the channel."
All I can say is, thank God for cable. You can't go wrong with the History Channel.
posted by JASmius at 5:55 PM
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