The Seven promo with a vision of the future – it may not be on air yet, but it’s a hit
So here’s a curious thing.
The nice people at Seven have just emailed a link to a trailer for their new show, Flash Forward.
And it does indeed look quite good.
But the odd thing is that the trailer is jam-packed with what appear to be quotes from reviews by various Australian media for a programme that hasn’t begun yet.
I have to admit, on viewing the trailer, I thought I must have missed the first episode.
A couple of things spring to mind. It could be that preview tapes have been sent out. Bearing in mind even the States don’t see it until Sep 24th and some of those periodicals would not exactly be high on the list for promo copies, I find this unlikely.
What I think we all suspect really happened is the highly common movie poster trick of taking words out of context. (This, I believe, is now banned in the UK).
Someone saying “This new show on Seven looks exciting if the trailers are to be believed” gets truncated to “‘Exciting’ – radio station person”.
Then again, Nine was releasing program guides to newspapers that contained episode two of Dance Your Ass Off (not knowing they would be cancelling it after the first ep) that described it as a hit. Seems the networks feel able to make up anything now to create buzz that just isn’t there.
Jeez, some people really think their audience is stupid.
That’s right. The full 96.5FM quote they used in the promo was “Don’t blink – as Channel Seven will have this show taken off air faster than you can say Heroes”
Hey I think I’ve just invented a new parlour game – fill in the missing words from TV promos!
Looks like a great show (I’ve been following the development of it in the US) but as Adam notes correctly: it won’t last 3 episodes on Seven. Sci-Fi never gets a decent run here, as the way Channel 9 treated the excellent (and high rating in the US) show Fringe.
@Duncan – Scifi doesn’t get a decent run anywhere because it just doesn’t rate with Australian audiences.
BTW, good luck to channel 9 with V next year…
I think a big reason why SciFi doesn’t do too well in Oz these days is that SciFi tends to rely heavily on story arcs. Audiences have learned not to become too emotionally involved with new series that require a continuing story because chances are the show they commit to won’t be around for too long.
It’s a law of diminishing returns – TV execs thinking they’re being clever by pulling under performing shows only to discover that they’ve been shooting themselves in the foot all along.
I tend to recall “V” did quite well for Channel Ten in the eighties when audiences could trust their broadcasters. “V” in 2010 on Channel Nine doesn’t stand a chance.