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Author Topic:   Shit My Dad Says
fred
A-List Writer

Posts: 8010
From:Redmond, WA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted August 09, 2010 05:57 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for fred   Click Here to Email fred     Edit/Delete Message
Advertisers asked to flee from (bleep)

By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer David Bauder, Ap Television Writer

NEW YORK – William Shatner, of all people, stands at the center of television's latest moral battleground.

He's the cantankerous lead character in a new CBS sitcom, "(Bleep) My Dad Says," that is scheduled to air on Thursday nights. Rather than "bleep," the title uses a series of symbols that suggest the expletive included in the book title on which the series is based.

The Parents Television Council last week sent letters to 340 companies that advertise frequently on TV urging them to stay away from the show unless the name is changed. The group argues that the title is indecent.

"Parents really do care about profanity when their kids are watching TV," said PTC President Tim Winter. "All parents? No, but something like 80 or 90 percent of parents. Putting an expletive in the title of a show is crossing new territory, and we can't allow that to happen on our watch."

Winter's letter to companies asks bluntly: "When you advertise on television, do you want your customers to associate your product with (bleep)?"

His letter uses the expletive, not the word "bleep." Winter uses the real word 10 times in two pages.

But how much do parents care?

Parental concern about profane language on TV is clearly waning, according to the Rasmussen Reports pollsters. Rasmussen's survey of 1,000 American adults taken July 27-28 found that 57 percent said there was too much inappropriate content on television and radio. Sex and violence is the main concern; only 9 percent of those polled pointed to profanity as the biggest problem area.

Top CBS entertainment executive Nina Tassler said the network really hasn't gotten any push-back from anyone besides the PTC about the title, although the complaints have "created a lot of buzz" about the series.

Translation: Any attention is good attention, when you're trying to sell something new.

To many people, it's not a big deal.

Shatner is among them.

"Do you know what I wish?" he said. "I wish they would call it (bleep). ...

"I've got grandchildren. I brought up three girls. They've all got kids. OK? And you say, `Boopy-doo-doo, you've got to make poo-poo. Come on. Make poo-poo in the toilet.' Eventually, poo-poo becomes (bleep). `Go take a (bleep), you'll feel better.' You say that to your kids. The word (bleep) is around us. It isn't a terrible term. It's a natural function. Why are we pussyfooting?"

Shatner didn't say "bleep," by the way.

To little notice, the Investigation Discovery network said last week it would premiere a new series — "Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry?" — on Aug. 25. The nonfiction series follows couples in which one spouse has a shocking secret, such as being a robber or bigamist. The actual word "bleep" is used.

Network President Henry Schleiff said the title fit the series' irreverent tone. Being a small network, Investigation Discovery needs to do things that will attract audiences, he said. "Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry?" will air at 10 p.m. ET and its target audience is women 25 to 54.

Shortly after the CBS series was announced in May, the PTC threatened to challenge the broadcast license of CBS stations that air "(Bleep) My Dad Says." The show hasn't aired yet, so there have been no challenges.

The council increasingly believes that advertiser boycotts are an attractive approach to seeking changes, Winter said.

"It's follow the money," he said. "Even though we are absolutely fighting with every ounce of power, we have to preserve the broadcast decency laws, we don't know if they're going to be good anymore. We don't know if they're going to be around much longer."

He said he's heard from a dozen or so advertisers that agree with his "(Bleep) My Dad Says" plea. All requested anonymity, he said.

Gauging the effectiveness of such campaigns is difficult. Winter cited the 2008 CBS series "Swing Town," featuring spouse-swapping couples, where mainstream advertisers began slipping away after the council pointed out the content. The series died. But it's almost impossible to really tell if advertisers fled because of the show's content, because it was doing poorly in the ratings or because of other reasons.

Most prime-time commercial time is bought in blocks, where an advertiser's products will appear within many different shows; a company would need to specifically request that its ads not appear within a specific show. CBS would not discuss what its advertisers have been saying about Shatner's series.

"We're hoping that the egos in the corporate suite at CBS will recognize that they did make a mistake and will change the name," Winter said. "I spent 15 years at NBC. If there's a show that comes in with no advertisers, there would be a change. If the show comes in with advertising, then I think it's appropriate for the public to know who's associated with (bleep)."

In these days of video games, movies and dozens of television networks, policing language for children has become a very difficult prospect for parents.

"They may be unrealistic in the world we live in today," Schleiff said.

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HollywoodProducer
A-List Writer

Posts: 2705
From:La Canada
Registered: Jun 2000

posted August 09, 2010 08:56 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for HollywoodProducer   Click Here to Email HollywoodProducer     Edit/Delete Message
The free publicity is tremendous. The show now has name recognition. Thanks Christian wackos.

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JayMcBee
Director

Posts: 139
From:Redondo Beach, CA, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted August 15, 2010 09:35 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for JayMcBee   Click Here to Email JayMcBee     Edit/Delete Message
CBS has really been marketing this one.

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JayMcBee
Director

Posts: 139
From:Redondo Beach, CA, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted September 11, 2010 08:04 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for JayMcBee   Click Here to Email JayMcBee     Edit/Delete Message
I think it's a hit - just because of the name. Not necessarily because it's funny.

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indiedan
A-List Writer

Posts: 8388
From:Santa Monica
Registered: May 2000

posted September 23, 2010 09:00 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for indiedan   Click Here to Email indiedan     Edit/Delete Message
Show’s Title, in Symbols, Defies DVRs
By BRIAN STELTER

CBS knew that when it ordered a sitcom with a vulgar word in the title, it would get attention. The network also knew there would be some hand-wringing about the coarseness of popular culture.

Here’s what the network did not know: that the title would trip up some digital video recorders.

It turns out that the search tools on some DVRs cannot find the new show, “$#*! My Dad Says,” because the symbols cannot be read. (Maybe some DVR developers could not foresee a world where TV shows would have a dollar sign in the titles.) Before the show’s premiere on Thursday, CBS released a viewers’ guide of sorts on Wednesday to help people program their DVRs accordingly.

The case illustrates how some TV networks have embraced the DVR, though tepidly. Despite the commercial-skipping abilities of the recording devices, highly rated shows become even more so when DVR playback is included in the Nielsen ratings that help determine prices for advertising time. About 38 percent of households now have DVRs, though the vast majority of programming is still watched in real-time.

“Obviously, our first choice is that you always watch everything on CBS live; however, we also consider the DVR our friend,” CBS wrote in its viewers’ guide on Wednesday, which was shared on CBS.com, on Twitter and elsewhere online.

CBS recommended that viewers set “$#*! My Dad Says” to record through the program guide rather than the search tool. Most DVR users already record shows through the program guide, said David Poltrack, the chief research officer for CBS, “but we don’t want to make it difficult for any of our consumers.”

It’s a leave-no-viewer-behind strategy.

The sitcom, which was inspired by a 30-year-old’s profane Twitter feed about his father’s blunt observations, stars William Shatner as the father. Mr. Poltrack observed that on some DVR systems, like the one operated by Time Warner Cable in Manhattan, the symbols in the title are actually an advantage, because the show appears at the top of an alphabetical list of programs.

Though networks say they consider the DVR a friend, time-shifting still causes headaches. Because the media tend to concentrate on overnight ratings for shows, even though millions of people now delay their viewing, shows can appear to be less popular than they actually are.

Partly for that reason, CBS this week started to include projections of the DVR playback of its shows in its statements on overnight ratings. For instance, it projected that Tuesday’s “NCIS” would gain 2.5 million viewers after a week of DVR viewing, a gain of 10 percent.

With the projections, “we can see, directionally, whether a show is growing or declining,” said Mr. Poltrack.

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indiedan
A-List Writer

Posts: 8388
From:Santa Monica
Registered: May 2000

posted September 24, 2010 04:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for indiedan   Click Here to Email indiedan     Edit/Delete Message
Not a bad rating last night.

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