Last week, I watched Ten's new flagship comedy
Modern Family for the first time.
Of course, that sentence should read "I watched Ten's '
new' flagship comedy", because the show has been airing for over a month now.
Why hadn't I watched it previously?
This is why:
The irritating Peter Bjorn & John sound-alike (really, Ten? You're telling us you couldn't just go out and buy
Young Folks, with all the other musical promos you run with the little CD icon in the lower left corner?), the unfunny grabs, the unlikable characters - why on earth would I watch the damned thing?
The answer, natch, is that I would watch it because it is actually a winning combination of hilarious and poignant - not that you'd know from the promos Ten have been pumping out.
Likewise, I've previously been vocal in my hatred of Ten's Glee promos. This one, for the season return a few months back, would have me punching drywall every time it appeared on the tele:
"Great idea, Scooter! People have been waiting ages for the show to return (little do they know we're going to turf it so there's another interminable wait for the season finale, muah ha ha ha!), so let's just tease them some more with split-second edits of singing!"
KILL ME, KILL ALL HUMANS.
It's not as though Ten has no idea how to put together a great promo - it's just that it seems more and more obvious that when they have a terrible show on hand, they'll work harder than ever to promo it in a way that makes the show look watchable, even exciting.
Witness the last two rounds of
Australian Idol promos:
2008:
(James Spargo, we hardly knew ye...)
2009:
The
Emotions promo in particular was so good I found myself lobbying Ten to release it as a single. I
still get goosebumps when I watch it!
As we all know, the quality of the show went down like a lead turd the past few years, so the quality of those promos was bordering on false advertising. But didn't they make you want to watch? My god, did they ever!
And yet, when Ten have a good show to work with, it's like they have to trash the brand. If someone I respect hadn't recommended I watch
Modern Family, I certainly wouldn't have been moved to by the promos.
Indeed, that
Glee promo was almost enough to turn me off the show for life.
Does that make me highly fickle? Sure, but that's what the channel surfing game is all about.
No matter how bad Ten get with the promo game, though, they are at least better than Nine. As
Mumbrella found, team Nine are happy just to raid the imaginations of those more creative than they are.