From: asta77	Date: February 7th, 2013 11:32 pm (UTC)		(Link Me)

I'm too distracted by that lovely 'bed head'. ;)

	From: zegeekgirl	Date: February 7th, 2013 04:45 am (UTC)		(Link Me)

You are most welcome. :) Any comments, no matter how many or few, are appreciated!

	From: zegeekgirl	Date: February 7th, 2013 05:28 am (UTC)		(Link Me)

Well, final cut of the pilot aside- it is as they delivered it - there are definitely things they could have done. I don't watch TNT often really but when I tuned in to see if ads were running I saw a LOT of the same ads over and over. And interestingly, they ran a Sarayu/Sydney-centric ad a lot, much lighter in tone than the other ads. Why exactly didn't they run an ad focused on each of the principals? They wouldn't all necessarily have to be lighter, but they might keep things interesting and engage more viewers, maybe? Bring the personalities to the fore; the poster campaign did this but broadcast didn't.

As noted above, not busting their ass to book the cast on more talk shows prior to the premiere is kind of unforgivable; Asta pointed out something, too, Conan is on TBS. He's in their corporate family! Gupta did Conan on 1/30, couldn't they have fit at least one cast member in too? What about Leno or Kimmel? Or Dave if someone was in NY at the time?

Also as noted in an earlier post, Dallas really seems to not have pulled the lead in they were banking on; its ratings took a nose-dive, too. There is a lot of discussion going on because of Do No Harm and MM both pulling in low numbers that medical shows are passe, but I don't think it is as simple as that; Smash just pulled in a really shitty overnight, too, particularly in 18-24 which by old-school rules is a disaster for a show like that, plus it is on a major network. How much are ALL of these shows pulling in on DVR and other outlets, though? People are still tweeting about just having watched MM today.

Plus, one could get the impression TNT got caught with their pants down (why, I have no idea... they should have accounted for this) thinking they would get the same numbers they get for new programming in winter that they do in summer. If MM premiered on Monday at 10pm in, say, August, it would not have had brand new episodes of Castle and H50 (both shows with extremely loyal audiences) to fend off in that time slot. This goes back to bending over backward and forking out the bucks to secure as much press in advance as possible. It's a whole other ball game.



Edited at 2013-02-07 05:29 am (UTC)

	From: asta77	Date: February 7th, 2013 06:16 am (UTC)		(Link Me)

zegeekgirl covered much of what we've been discussing since last night so I shall try not to be too redundant. But I'll probably still be wordy. ;)

The Big Four networks have been watching their ratings erode for some time now, but it seems as if that same viewer erosion (and by that I mean watching shows 'live') has started to hit the cable networks. I'm feeling part of the problem is there are just SO MANY choices now that it's getting harder to land viewers and then keep them. I, myself, have a rather lengthy list of shows this season that I gave up on. And after my initial disappointment with MM's overnight ratings, I realized today that, with very few exceptions, a lot of new and returning shows have fared poorly in the ratings.

There's a larger problem facing all the nets, but TNT seems to be in a period of wanting to broaden their appeal, but are either not sure how to do it or are failing to implement the plan successfully. Their big hits include The Closer, Rizzoli and Isles and Major Crimes - all on brand from a network known for airing endless repeats of Law & Order, Castle and The Mentalist. So, do they want to simply be the crime drama network or something more diverse like the broadcast networks?

And it seems like they really don't have a handle on how to market outside their brand. To their credit, I saw A LOT of ads for MM, not only on TNT, but other networks as well (I caught ads during Justified and Iron Man on FX, for example). But how well did those ads convey what MM was about? To be honest, all it told me was it was a show about doctors and created by David E Kelley. Compare their 'artsy' ads with an ad for any USA show that, in voiceover, tells you EXACTLY what the plot of the show is about.

Given most films and TV shows make a big publicity push via the talk show circuit in the two weeks prior to a premiere. I was shocked to not see a single cast member on any talk show (Conan would be the easiest show to book the cast on, but Ving and Alfred have appeared on numerous talk shows in the past). And other than Jamie and Jen, I didn't see any interviews with the cast in print or online. Even today, when, to be blunt, TNT should have been doing damage control, there wasn't a peep out of their PR people on Twitter.

I'm a realist and unless there is a drastic uptick in the ratings, there will not be a second season of MM. But TNT has had to cancel Leverage due to falling ratings (a show that had little publicity in recent years), is seeing Dallas dropping like a rock after a strong summer season, and are facing the return of their lowest rated show, Southland, which, again, has had practically no publicity (so I'm real curious as to what it's overnights will be), so there is a larger programming issue. The LA Times piece does makes me believe they see it too and now they have to take a long, hard look at what they need to do.

	From: zegeekgirl	Date: February 7th, 2013 05:55 am (UTC)		(Link Me)

Gurrrrl, "too old" to appreciate something that lovely means you're dead. ;) Any time is a fine time.

	From: lanalucy	Date: February 7th, 2013 06:08 am (UTC)		(Link Me)

Well, then I am happy to reassure everyone that I am definitely *not* dead.

	From: kdbleu	Date: February 7th, 2013 07:24 pm (UTC)		(Link Me)

It just seems a little old fashioned, trying old formulas and showrunners where others are trying more daring material and concepts.

This is exactly my feeling really. Wouldn't it be great of each episodes was case/doctor specific? It would make the show stand out and feel new as a medical drama and give the characters and actors a chance to shine.

	From: zegeekgirl	Date: February 8th, 2013 05:08 am (UTC)		(Link Me)

I still hope for Jamie's sake that it somehow turns around!

As do we all, I am sure. *big sigh*

And no, you didn't miss anything. Both Fred and Ving are big enough names that it seems VERY foolish for them not to have been booked on any shows at all. And Jamie and Jen did "The Doctors" and "Jeff Probst" (which airs Monday) with Sanjay, but those are daytime syndicated talk shows; why were they not booked onto any late night shows? I know it is probably tough booking talent onto late night as there are only so many hours in one week and so much film, tv and music that is after a pitch... but one more appearance, from someone? Maybe?!

	From: zegeekgirl	Date: February 8th, 2013 06:09 pm (UTC)		(Link Me)

And what do you know.... they did book Alfred Molina onto a talk show! I didn't catch this earlier in the week so maybe they updated after the fact? He's on Craig Ferguson tonight:
http://www.interbridge.com/lineups.html

TNT tweeted about it too (Their requisite one tweet a day this week - what is going on over there?! :P) It's not as many eyeballs as the 11:30 shows, but Craig is absolutely the best on late night IMO so it'll probably be a great interview. I really wish there were more bookings, though.

	From: zegeekgirl	Date: February 8th, 2013 02:31 pm (UTC)		(Link Me)

What a lovely surprise to wake up to, and you can stop by here with a comment any old time you want, especially one as crucial to hear as this one! Thank you for saying so, hon. {{{}}} (Full disclosure, everyone astreamofstars is a buddy of mine, although I swear I didn't put her up to commenting. I hadn't even spoken to her about the show yet, I was waiting to have a gab fest w/ her about it when we see each other in a couple of weeks! :) )

Yes, as you say for a lot of reasons it was different for MC, notably because of the time of year they debuted it and the lead in although as you noted, publicity was so poor that awareness was bad even with Closer viewers. *sigh* It is just so terribly frustrating.

I hope that the viewing figures for MM go up a bit in the coming weeks, and that TNT are willing to give it a chance to grow, because Jamie deserves that

THIS. A thousand times over.



Edited at 2013-02-08 02:32 pm (UTC)

	From: astreamofstars	Date: February 8th, 2013 02:40 pm (UTC)		(Link Me)

Heh, I think you may have the wrong person, but thanks for the welcome anyhow! Unless I'm completely confused...

Yeah, MC was lucky that it premiered in the summer and had a good lead-in for the premiere episode, at least, but it was successful pretty much despite TNT, rather than because of it. We were even wondering if TNT was trying to kill the show off at some points. There was this big summer round-up newsletter they put out at one point, extolling the virtues of all their shows, and they somehow managed to completely forget to mention MC in it at all, despite it being their top-rated show at the time. It was really weird.

MM actually had a bit more publicity, but had the problem of debuting at a difficult time of year. Although MC did have to go up against Monday night Football, that wasn't until a few episodes down the line, when it had built up some loyalty in the audience. So MM definitely got the raw end of the deal in that sense.

Hopefully TNT will realise this, and will keep on going with MM, letting it try to break through and give it some more support. They have to start realising their promotion is terrible sooner or later, surely?

	From: asta77	Date: February 8th, 2013 05:50 pm (UTC)		(Link Me)

No apologies! And the membership thing mostly has to do with spammers. We want as many people joining in the conversations as possible. Especially now. And I very much appreciate you sharing your thoughts and experiences with us from the Mary McDonnell side of things. (As a fan of both actors and HUGE Lee/Laura shipper, I confess to squeeing when both ended up on the same network.)

When Major Crimes debuted, I recalled seeing comments online from 'Closer' fans and TV viewers in general who had no idea a spinoff featuring Mary - and almost the entire cast - was happening. This surprised me, but then I realized, being a fan of Mary, of course *I* knew about it. And now, as a Jamie fan and having an even greater interest in a show on TNT, I've become very aware of the problems in TNT's marketing.

They don't, at all, seem to have a handle on how to deal with their shows. We actually ended up creating a social media campaign for the show just to get the network to take some notice.

Yeah, that's becoming clearer by the day. Currently, Southland seems like the forgotten child, to the point I saw one of the actors comment about lack of publicity (in a nice way) on Twitter.

I don't know if you wish to talk about it here (I understand of you don't), but did TNT take notice of your social media efforts? From my limited dealings with them, it strikes me that either they are unaware or discount what social media (and pre-existing fan bases) can do to help. Granted, Jamie and Mary fans are pretty much a lock to watch the shows, but what resources do we have to help spread the word? What do we know that they may not? USA, while perhaps not exploiting social media as much as they could, does do a far better job in reaching out to perceptive viewers.

Just wanted to say that we Major Crimes people get it and commiserate, really! And I, personally, am rooting for Jamie to come over to our MC side of the pool for a guest spot sometime ;)

Maybe we should join forces and form a support group? ;p And I would LOVE to see Jamie guest star on MC! Preferably not as her son visiting ;), but I'll take what I can get. :)

Thanks again for taking the time to share.

	From: kdbleu	Date: February 8th, 2013 06:47 pm (UTC)		(Link Me)

*waves*

It was actually something you said on twitter about MC that got me thinking about where the publicity for MM. Although I don't remember what now. But as a viewer of The Closer, I was incredibly confused about the launch of Major Crimes. It was almost line TNT didn't want anyone to know Major Crimes was happening.

We actually ended up creating a social media campaign for the show just to get the network to take some notice.

hee. I was actually thinking that we should offer to take over the publicity for TNT. ;)