His standup is more than that one routine. The “Here’s your sign” line was added to the bit and it was better before the addition.
The show isn’t redneck, really, and neither is his standup.
Stopping a show for an ad in that manner is bad, just bad. How did anyone think that was a good idea? I like Bill Engvall and his show, but that move deserves a sign.
I agree. Hopefully the cable nets will realize this little experiment isn’t working and try something else.
My two cents? It’s time for the Truman Show model. EVERYTHING you see on, say, Desperate Housewives is for sale. Go to the website and find out where you can buy that sofa, or what sizes those shoes come in, or what features were on that SUV.
If that’s a little unrealistic, I at least don’t mind product placement that isn’t too gratuitous.
Good Product Placement: On an episode of “My Name is Earl,” Alyssa Milano taunted Ethan Suplee with a Klondike Bar he wanted. “What would you do for a Klondike Bar?”… and then made him do a string of degrading things to get it. Worked with the general ‘feel’ of the show and didn’t feel in-your-face at all. I wasn’t sure it was a paid endorsement until they played the commercial during the following break.
Bad Product Placement: The Ford music videos on American Idol. Make it stop! I only have two eyes to scratch out!
…Ooh, this is the Pit. I mean, GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKING BANNER ADS!
At first look, that sounds like a cool idea. (maybe not everything…like the spaceship for example)
It makes the show less intrusive…no pop ups!
What is sold is pegged directly to the show. No more guessing from advertisers with ratings. Little sells? Show is cancelled. Also promotes fanboi’s to promote their favorite show by buying stuff seen on it.
Might not work on all shows…but it will on some. This is the creativity needed by the industry.
Wow. I’d hate to hear your opinion on Larry, Jeff, and Ron, then. Bill is easily the least offensive guy on that tour. And as someone pointed out, his “whole standup schtick” has considerably more to it than the “here’s your sign” bits. But beside that, he’s not at all above telling the ones people have busted him with.
I can’t wait to go 100% pay per view for my viewing. I’ll axe cable, and just buy the shows I want to watch. I bet I’ll even save money. No commercials necessary.
I think that’s how HBO does it. Sex and the City and Entourage have mad product placement, and it’s often showcased. People talking about how awesome their car/handbag/sneakers/pumps etc… are.
I’ve still been trying to get ahold of some MILFweed but no luck.
I came in here to post a rant about how I’m never going to watch another network show except the occasional sporting events because of the damn onscreen ads. As a horror/thriller genre fanboy, I was actually kind of excited about NBC’s Fear Itself; although I was disappointed by most of the episodes of Masters of Horror, I hoped that Mick Garris would be able to dial it in on a suspense/psychological level.
Instead, I got a nearly unwatchable show, not because of anything about the show itself but because:
(A) There was a tornado watch/warning/whatever tonight so my local affiliate helpfully took up the entire upper left corner of the screen to display an unlabeled “radar map” that tells the viewer NOTHING along with the words “tornado warning/watch/whatever” for the ENTIRE SHOW.
(B) NBC apparently thinks that the audience that would watch “Fear Itself” must REALLY need to be informed about the new season of “Some Stupid American Idol-type show About the Next Nashville Star, plus did you know that we are going to broadcast the Olympics?” so they had their Goddamn NBC logo PLUS the Olympic rings PLUS “Nashville Star” PLUS the day and time it was going to show, AND they put this damn monstrosity IN THE FRAME for the ENTIRE EPISODE. The entire fucking episode. Even with commercials for the stupid Nashville show every other commercial break, they felt the need to have that damn logo and promo thing on THE SAME SIDE AS THE TORNADO WATCH/WARNING/WHATEVER for the ENTIRE SHOW. Not only am I not interested in watching anything like a reality show about country music hopefuls, I am REALLY wanting to have a sense of immersion when I watch a horror/suspense/thriller. It’s one thing to have those idiotic ads while watching The Office; it’s not exactly the sort of show that one needs to lose themselves in, to suspend disbelief and put oneself in the moment to appreciate what the show is trying to achieve. For fuck’s sake, give the Goddamn onscreen ads a rest when it’s the kind of show that needs to draw the viewer in! I thought the episode itself was probably fairly decent but I can’t give a fair assessment because I was steaming mad about the onscreen bullshit and my ire was growing with each moment. If I had realized that the bullshit was going to go on ALL SHOW LONG I would have stopped watching and waited to watch it online or something. If the strategy is to make me stop watching TV, it’s working. FUCK. I was so pissed off I wanted to punch a kitten.
Just kidding. About the punching a kitten part, I mean.
** The guest in this thread has been brought to you by NBC’s Lost, (Every Thursday, 10PM ET). **
ABC.
And how does NBCs news arm manage to be so good (either Nightly News or MSNBC/CNBC) and their entertianment/sports arm manage to be so bad?
No, TiVo was invented in response to the unconscionable greed displayed by the TV PTB (read Stockholders). No, I do not watch any commercials. Maybe if we didn’t feel so bombarded AT EVERY TURN, we might actually–dare I say it–watch the stupid ads.
I worked in radio and TV sales for 10+ yrs. These people care more about the money they are making from the sale of ad time than the actual program itself. And rightfully so. Oh, you made 3.6 million last year in ad revenue? Well, then 4.5 million for this year is attainable. Oh, and if you come in below that number? Well, you can find yourself a new job.
I remember getting into broadcasting because I loved the concept of being involved with the entertainment of people. When I think of my career in that industry, I think about this old joke/saying…
“Hey, the other day I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out.”
Now I say, “The other day I was watching commercials, and a television program came on!” :dubious:
It may be tough to explain in brief, but I’ll try…there’s a difference to me between saying something offensive on stage – where the context is that the offensiveness itself is the joke – and something like the “here’s your sign” bit, where the humor requires me to accept the premise that these people are stupid for asking innocuous questions. When Larry the Cable Guy tells a gay joke, the humor is that the character himself is an idiot and has said something offensive…it doesn’t require me to hate gay people (and, more to point, doesn’t make the assumption that I do) in order to find it funny. When Bill Engvall here’s-your-signs some dude for asking him a question, he’s assuming that I’ll agree that the person was stupid for doing that, and I don’t. That’s why it pisses me off.
Yes, and Foxworthy does more than tell redneck jokes, and Gallagher doesn’t just hit shit with a hammer. Go ask 100 people what these three comedians do and let me know what answers you come back with. You’re right that he doesn’t spend his entire time up on stage doing “here’s your sign”, but it most definitely is his schtick.
So he recognizes that it’s a natural thing to do, even for him, yet still thinks it would be funny to be a dick to people for doing it? Not helping.
ETA: Sorry for the anti-Engvall hijack, but that routine just bothers me. If it gets too out of hand I’ll take it to another thread.
I just got a non-responsive response from TBS.
Yawn.
ETA - Ok I just noticed that at the bottom of the email is a link to their website. The link is advertising the GODDAMN BILL ENGVALL SHOW. ::screams::
Got a reply from TBS.