Ratings info for the NBC Christmas Movie!

[frogboy4]

Promotion

Luke-

Kilborn is on CBS, but it was still promotion (for Kermit's star and the special). I wouldn't say they pulled out all the stops. They definitely backed the project, but not with their full force. I'd give their promotion a C+. When you see them over promoting things like the Providence wedding - months in advance, and their new syrupy sweet show American Dreams is advertised in every show's bumper (including the Muppet special) it makes you wonder why they didn't do a little bit more. Maybe the execs didn't particularly like the project. It happens. The Macy's tie in was nice. Not NBC's call though. They just air the program. The Muppet special was promoted a little bit less than their average episode of Law and Order. (Love that show too!) Still not too shabby.

 

[beaker]

Originally posted by Luke

Maybe they should have used other Muppets in the guest appearances rather than using Kermit for every one, or had them do something else than just be interviewed on the show.

Why the heck isnt Pepe put on the talk show circuit? Goodness knows hes got a pretty nice following amongst the 'pop'/casual/mainstream/non Muppet fan...not to mention he fit in better with being on Craig Kilborn than say Kermit.

That said it's easy to play monday mornign quarterback...all in all the movie did one thing corretly: Got all us Muppet fans revved up for what could come next.

As for the poultry demographic, my sources indicate a Leghorn up on the competition, but not to the expectation sof N-Beak-C.

 

[VEND-O-FACE]

New idea

Speaking of talk shows, I think the Muppets should have their own late-night talk show, played like a normal show but with muppets as host and co-host, monologue, and one skit, just like the rest of them.

If Space Ghost and Greg Kilbourne can do it, why not Pepe, Kermit, or someone else?

 

[beaker]

Re: New idea

Originally posted by VEND-O-FACE
Speaking of talk shows, I think the Muppets should have their own late-night talk show, played like a normal show but with muppets as host and co-host, monologue, and one skit, just like the rest of them.

If Space Ghost and Greg Kilbourne can do it, why not Pepe, Kermit, or someone else?

That is an interesting idea. I remember a few years back I and a few others brought a similair idea of a "live" talk show type deal...

I for one think it would realllly be cool if JHC has a 'Pepe and Gonzo'(or Pepe and someone else) "Jay Walking" type segment, where they go up to random people on the streets of Manhattan or Hollywood and ask em funny questions. Its edgy, raw, unrehearsed, Muppets in real life.
It's the type of thing JHC needs to get away from the same ol sets and routine...such is why the Mastercard commercial was such a cool step towards that direction.

 

[Drtooth]

I kinda think that a Muppet talk show is kinda close to the proposed idea for ALF. However, it would be a cool idea. maybe if they had the characters in teract with eachother backstage sort of like the Larry Sanders show.

I would like to see one of the Muppets as a Space Ghost guest!

Be really cool!

 

[Luke]

Yeah i was gonna post that too - with the new ALF show in development it's unlikely the Muppets could ever follow that .... and ALF can go much edgier than Muppets ever could (i guess thats his general concept) and that seems to be what the media and public want so a watered down version would be kinda lame - not that i think the ALF Talk Show has much longetivity either.

Now a Muppet spoof sitcom - that would be cool for them !

 

[frogboy4]

Wasn't that called Aliens in the Family?

Eeeek! Actually I saw many production problems with that show. First, the mother always sounded congested. There were definite casting issues. I would have replaced everybody. No one was likable. We weren't given an opportunity. And the sound of the show was just terrible. It seemed to lack ambient noise and the laugh track was extremely fake sounding. Anyway, off my tangent. Just had to say that. LOL! I loved Bobot though. He was funny. It almost seemed like the baby from Family Guy was modeled after him.

 

[Chilly Down]

There seem to be two trains of thought in this thread: one, that the TV-movie performed horribly; the second, that it did just barely acceptable. Pretty strange, considering that the show won the coveted 18-to-49 demographic for NBC for that night for the whole season!!

No, I'm not being blindly optimistic. Quite the opposite - I was concerned that the 18-to-49 demographic would all watch the Bradys instead. I was thrilled that it was the other way around. So it was 50th for the week. So what? It was a slow night, and it was second place for the night. If NBC expected it to do much better than this, they were living in a dream world.

And I have no problem with the promotion for the TV-movie. They don't advertise ANYTHING more than a week in advance. When was the last time you saw a November TV-movie or special advertised in September??

Anyway, that's my thoughts. If I sound irritated, don't take it personally -- I'm just a little tired and cranky.

 

[frogboy4]

Well, Jack and the Beanstalk got a lot more publicity and advertising than this special did. It was promoted significanlty less than that week's Law and Order ep - and I do most of my work at home, so I catch a lot of TV. Nonetheless, I still think it had a respectable amount of o promoton.

 

[murgatoad]

Originally posted by Chilly Down
There seem to be two trains of thought in this thread: one, that the TV-movie performed horribly; the second, that it did just barely acceptable. Pretty strange, considering that the show won the coveted 18-to-49 demographic for NBC for that night for the whole season!!

No, I'm not being blindly optimistic. Quite the opposite - I was concerned that the 18-to-49 demographic would all watch the Bradys instead. I was thrilled that it was the other way around. So it was 50th for the week. So what? It was a slow night, and it was second place for the night. If NBC expected it to do much better than this, they were living in a dream world.

And I have no problem with the promotion for the TV-movie. They don't advertise ANYTHING more than a week in advance. When was the last time you saw a November TV-movie or special advertised in September??

Anyway, that's my thoughts. If I sound irritated, don't take it personally -- I'm just a little tired and cranky.

Well, I'm *usually* cranky, so there you are. However, regarding the ratings - yes, the movie did better in the 18-49 audience for a Friday than any other show so far this season. But as one TV reviewer at the Washington Post put it: "Come to think of it, that's not saying much, considering how well the networks do on Fridays." As for Friday being a "slow" night, well, that's why NBC put the movie there, I imagine; not a whole lot of competition, as there would be on a Sunday, for instance. It's not like there wasn't an audience willing to watch something that night; a "Law and Order" rerun did very well, getting almost twice the viewers the Muppet movie did. I think the best that can be said about the film is that it DID beat the Brady Bunch, and by a wide margin. But even given that, it's very hard for me to believe that NBC could be thrilled with a 5.7 rating and 52nd place in households, given the time alloted to the movie and the money spent. Almost certainly they expected it to do better. FWIW.