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Kudos to NBC Universal for not trying to claim that the research summary I reported for the network’s rough-cut pilot of its forthcoming sitcom Parks and Recreation was fake. Instead, Ben Silverman defended the mockumentary which stars Amy Poehler and comes from The Office‘s Greg Daniels and Mike Schur, and premieres on April 9th. “All of the research we do around initial rough cuts is negative,” Silverman said to EW. “If you had seen the initial research on all of ours and our competitors’ successful shows, it tends to be like that.” Ben is absolutely correct: poor test scores like this are quite common. Because most of the stuff in network primetime is crap, and most of the testing takes place in loser venues like Las Vegas. And yet the idiot network execs keep using the research to torture every show’s writers, producers and showrunners. Especially at NBC. Go figure.
Problems With NBC’s ‘Parks & Recreation’
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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“…testing takes place in loser venues like Las Vegas.”
You know those elitist Hollywood types you were spitting venom at during the strike and SAG fiasco?That’s exactly the sort of thing they would say.
You need to be careful Nikki. That sort of behaviour can just creep up on you and next thing you know you’ve got Brad Gray on speed dial.
What makes Las Vegas a “loser venue”? I’m not from there, I don’t live there and I don’t particularly enjoy the town. I just really don’t know what “loser venue” means.
I would guess network testers would defend Vegas as a good place to recruit viewers (or whatever the subjects of these test screenings are called) because Vegas is a vacation destination for a broad sampling of Americans.
“And when the research shows us the audience hates the show or doesn’t think it’s funny we put it on the air anyway because what do they know?” Silverman continued. “Thank goodness I’ve got Leno on at 10pm every night starting in September. Developing hit TV shows is really hard.”
This is probably the ONLY thing I will agree with Ben Silverman on because I am NOT a fan. Most test results come back negative because the people testing a show feel like they are there to be overally critical, etc. Now it is true that some shows test high but that is not the norm. The norm is more like what we saw for Parks and Recreation.
::Nikki affixes bayonet to rifle barrel as she unexpectedly storms Vegas and it’s “losers”::
“loser venue” might have been a little strong, but seriously what kind of person goes to Vegas then participates in a network focus group?
How many show-runners and writers would answer “just the kind of person who would watch my show!” Pfft. Give me a break.
I think what Nikki is trying to point out is that it’s very short-sighted for networks to try to focus group television shows at vacation spots because you’re not really getting a true sample of a show’s target audience.
But it’s probably easy and cheap, and since when don’t networks prefer that to actually doing something helpful?
Oh please, it is a loser haven
Which is it? Yesterday it was Ben’s a loser because the show’s a loser because the scores sucked. Today it’s Ben’s a loser because he uses scores from losers to torture creatives whose show may or may not suck because testing sucks. We get it. You don’t like Ben. But at least be consistent with your bile.
did you just say that Ben Silverman was right about something?? Is this Nikki Finke still or did Variety actually buy you out??
i generally enjoy coming to this site and reading your reporting but my god sometimes you really do come off like an upitty cunt.
Well over at ABC when they test a show and it tests crazy well, they dont tell the showrunners and writers because they feel like that will give the writers the power. And God forbid they give their writers creative freedom!
For example, that Alyssa Milano show Mcpherson picked up last year and then cancelled before they filmed an episode tested off the charts well when the studio tested it across America but ABC kept saying “well that doesn’t mean anything.” So which is it, I ask, does the testing results mean nothing or something? I guess it depends on what the network heads want it to mean.
What evidence has there ever been that developing anything creative via focus group is smart or advantageous? These silly people spend so much time and money analyzing whether they are spending time and money well that the reason they are doing it in the first place is rendered wholly irrelevant. What an outrageous scam these research groups run and have been allowed to run for years.
Why doesn’t someone that has ascended to a position of control in these creative companies actually get into the creative business for a change? Old moguls might have been ruthless and just as concerned with a buck but at least they knew what business they were in.
The networks test in Vegas so the execs can gamble and go stripclubbing (yes it’s a verb) after a hard day’s work watching people watch TV. How do I know this? I’m a former exec. C’mon. Where would you choose to test a new show — Vegas or Ft. Wayne?
seems like Nikki’s going soft on her obvious dislike of Mr SIlverman.
as for Las Vegas, it truly is the crossroads of the nation. a great place to sample audiences who come to Vegas from all those fly over states that Hollywood and NYC seem to despise, but need, so much
So this is you backing off because you were afraid of the creatives getting up in your grill for leaking the scores?
Classy.
And yet the idiot network execs keep using the research to torture every show’s writers, producers and showrunners.
You mean by like publishing the reports in a public venue? Because only a real asshole would do that. I don’t think it’s possible to read a more hypocritical post.
Guys, how idiotic are you? What, do you think the testing companies recruit their samples from The Bellagio and Circus Circus on the Strip?!? Vegas also happens to have hundreds of thousands of actual residents who live there and don’t use terms like mis-en-scen and talk about character arcs in the focus groups. THAT’S why they go to Vegas. Jeesh!
This guy has got all the money he could ever want and could probably get any production deal he wanted. Why does he stay there and embarrass himself? I understand that Zucker won’t fire him because that would be admitting a wrong. But why doesn’t Ben bounce?
“and most of the testing takes place in loser venues like Las Vegas.”
What happens in Vegas…
So wait- does this mean the male cast members are now back to being “datable?”
There’s a pilot-testing facility in the basement of Bally’s. You walk past it on your way to the Vegas monorail. It’s the ideal venue for attracting a lot of middle-class middle Americans — Bally’s is not a top-drawer property, it’s more “accessible,” and here you have a stream of people from all over who might actually be a little excited by the “help shape the shows you watch…” pitch. It makes great sense to do testing there. Whether what NBC does with the resulting data makes any sense is another story.
Las Vegas is a loser venue for testing, people; don’t read more into it than that.
To be fair, Nikki’s right: Vegas is a pretty awful place full of very stupid people.
I saw that Alyssa Milano pilot at a focus group test screening. It wasn’t very good. Most of the people that go to this thing would watch monkey’s humping for an hour and love it. They are really dumb. So if they don’t like something, they really don’t like it.
yeah, normal for nbc