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Live Television Stunts
Tuesday - November 08, 2005
The producers of
"The West Wing" must have been pretty impressed with their idea
to stage a political debate between the two fictional
presidential candidates on live television Sunday. It was a
through-the-looking-glass experience where NBC ran a live
debate between two fictional characters, moderated by real-life
reporter Forrest Sawyer, and aired with the NBC News Live "bug"
(the little station graphic at the bottom of the screen). A
similar moment occurred on Fox's football pre-game show on
Sunday, albeit much more brief; lasting only a few seconds.
Upon returning from a commercial break, James Brown announced
that the next segment would be pre-empted so that the President
could make an announcement. My heart stopped upon hearing him.
Given the times, I expected the worst; maybe an attack, maybe a
natural disaster, maybe another unqualified Supreme Court
Justice nominee. Instead, comedian Frank Caliendo was made up
as Dubya, announcing his game picks for the week.
Neither of these events was harmful per
se. The NBC debate was clearly drama - Jimmy Smitts and Alan
Alda's characters aren't real; they live in TV Land. The Fox
intro may have just been a case of James Brown selling it with
dead pan seriousness. If they had handed the intro over to the
never-serious Terry Bradshaw, I'd have been spared that two
seconds of heart plummet. At issue isn't my response but the
creative decision-making behind using the network's news
material in the use of entertainment. NBC's decision to do the
live broadcast was likely borne out of the need to add a shot
in the arm to their once great presidential drama. The use of
the news logo, tacky video look, artificial spontaneity and the
use of Sawyer were likely the creative decisions of the show's
producers, pursued with the network's blessing. But I have
moral and artistic objections to the smelting of entertainment
and news and of art and cheap tricks.
(I'm so getting sued for
this.)
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The news division
of the major networks should be their crown jewel; a hallowed
group of integrity and professionalism, protected by the
network from sponsor interest and from needing to make a
profit. Obviously those days are long gone. Now everything is
under the entertainment umbrella. Shows like Nightline face
cancellation because they're not scoring the ratings that the
late shows do. 60 Minutes is expected to compete with Fox's
Sunday night lineup. The news stories must be compelling or
sensational enough to compete with fiction. It seems
sensationalism is easier to produce than compelling journalism.
The West Wing and its appropriation of the NBC News "brand" is
not directly a product of news sensationalism. It exists
because the sensationalistic news itself has diminished the
value and prestige of the News "brand". It has made the logos,
the look, the talent little more than props available to its
fiction department to use as they see fit.
Artistically, the show did not need to
be done live. It wasn't as though there were callers or
audience Q&A (the audience was also staged). The drama,
like most TV shows, is typically shot on 35mm film and
transferred to video. This is what gives prime time shows the
same rich color and movement that movies on television have, a
look that traditional video lacks. This is why shows shot live,
such as Saturday Night Live, your local news, or live
debates lookdifferent. But for the past few years, studios have
started experimenting with progressive scan high definition
video that mimics the look of film quite accurately.
Artistically, the producers could have maintained the look of
their show. Technically, they would have pulled off the first
live prime time drama episode shot on progressive video. It
would have been unique, ground-breaking, and a surprise to
those exposed to all the hype leading up to the
broadcast.
Instead they went safe and cheap, doing
nothing we didn't already expect. In the process, they continue
to blur the line between news and entertainment, further
degrading the value of their news brand; of all news brands. It
may not be long until you or I can afford NBC news logos and
Forrest Sawyer for use in our home movies. As for Fox Sports,
let's have Terry introduce future fake news
alerts.
Posted at 06:59 PM < Just Another Brick in the Blog
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