Edit: For the record, it’s Miranda Doerfler, even though I said Miranda Saico. Also, the formatting gets really weird towards the end. I’m sorry if it’s hard to read for anyone. It shows up normal on my screen, so I have no idea what’s going on with that. Hopefully I’ll get that fixed soon. Sorry!
I’m a chicken-shit.
It’s true. When it comes to horror, I’m a big chicken-shit. I’m squeamish, I get freaked out very easily, and I will scream like a 13-year-old girl (which shouldn’t be much of a surprise since I am a girl..) and I will grab the hand of whoever’s next to me, or the arm of my chair if I’m alone. I’ll sleep with the lights on for a week after and check under my bed for whatever monster was in the movie.
It is for these reasons I refused to even consider seeing The Devil Inside after I saw part of the trailer (I couldn’t watch the full thing when that girl on the bed started contorting and breaking her bones, it was just too much. See? Chicken-shit).
From what I’ve been hearing about it, however, it seems like the film was one big million-dollar joke.
Horror writer Miranda Saico, author of Modern Day Horrors, refuses to see it because, “1. Exorcism/possession stuff does not scare/interest me at all, 2. It doesn’t sound like all that strong or original a premise to begin with, and 3. I heard it was a disgustingly bad movie and that people who got to see it for free booed it.”
If the reviews are anything to go by, film critics agree that it was “a disgustingly bad movie.”
The question is then, how did it become such a big Box Office hit?
According to this article on “The Wrap,” The Devil Inside was such a big hit because of, ”a combination of targeted marketing, lucky timing and the hands-on involvement of one of the biggest producers in Hollywood turned The Devil Inside from a super-low-budget orphan into the No. 1 movie in America.”
I completely agree with Doc (Miranda); I also will never see this obvious waste of time. But apparently the marketing people know what they’re doing. This reminds me of Fringe’s constant struggle to survive, which I was just thinking and writing about last night. Whoever so succefully promoted The Devil Inside should give some much needed advice to Fox, because Fox has never had a clue. Their talents would also not go wasted at ABC, who cancel great but ill-advertised shows (see Man Up) before giving them a chance to find an audience.
I wanted to scream when Fox moved Fringe to the “Friday Death Slot.” Networks have a nasty habit of doing that to shows they a) Don’t know what to do with and/or b) are going to cancel (eg: Dollhouse). It’s all a numbers game though, so I’m not surprised some great shows are cancelled before they find an audience or because they only have a small (but consistent and loyal!) fanbase. If it’s not paying out, then they won’t keep it. I’m taking a media industry class right now, so hopefully I’ll learn more about how networks base programming off of ratings and how they (don’t) promote shows.
Oops! I forgot to click the “notify me” box and didn’t know I had a response. Sorry.
I think I actually did scream. So many shows don’t last on Friday, except those on non-major networks that are advertised at least once in a while. Hello, Supernatural.
Fringe is very unfortunate to be on Fox. I knew this from the beginning. Because I was so used to shows I liked being cancelled, I almost didn’t even watch Fringe. ABC would have rid themselves of Fringe in the first year, and maybe that would have been better, because the fans would not be so attached to it now. I expect Fox to unceremoniously drop it at any moment. The writers have said they have an end game they can implement in time, but I think that will not be satisfying seeing as there’s only half a season left to get back, hopefully, to the original timline and have a satisfying goodbye. There’s small hope that someone else will pick it up for another season. I would be so ecstatic about that. Fringe is one of my all-time favorites.
I wish it wasn’t just about numbers. I wish they would realize they need to have a little patience. I wish they would realize that, yes, they may lose money on an amazing show with a tiny fan base, but that their other profit generators make up for that. Keeping a show like this on and giving it a proper ending in time would generate good will and show that they’re a place for intelligently-written and incredibly well-acted television. All networks that wonder why a great show is doing so badly really needs to learn marketing skills. They know a show like Fringe is a hard sell to the mainstream, so why don’t they try something different? If they were half as creative as the show then it wouldn’t be in such a dire situation. Well, I would probably lose all my money if I owned a network, but at least I would have a good time doing it.
Hopefully, you can get into this business and make some changes somewhere for the better. Maybe people will follow your example. Crossing my fingers.
Haha, don’t worry, I do that all the time.
I didn’t start watching Fringe at first because my first thought was, “Oh look…another Firefly.” When it didn’t get cancelled halfway through the first season, I started watching.
I think that if the networks learned how to successfully promote shows like Fringe, Firefly, etc… they’d actually have a bigger audience. There are a lot of people who didn’t know Firefly even existed until it was off the air and people were complaining. Then they watch it on DVD/online and they’re huge fans. Sad, but true. One of the biggest problems with this though is that audiences are so fragmented these days, it’s hard to target the right people in promos because you don’t know where or what they’re watching really. I think if the networks could learn how to advertise to an increasingly fragmented and online audience, they’d do a whole helluva lot better.
I started watching Alcatraz for one of my classes and I honestly think they’re going to drop Fringe in favor of Alcatraz. They’re already trying to get people into the new show (which is pretty much a Fringe replacement from the first episode…watch “Alcatraz Dubbed” on Hulu). If they do end it after this season, at least we’ll have the satisfaction of this season’s finale also working as a series finale. No loose ends that way, I suppose.
Hopefully if I do get into the business side of things, I can shake things up a little (and hopefully not disappoint!). It might take a while though, so don’t hold your breath, haha.