Media: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Makes The News!

[femmefan1946]

6 hours ago, theatremouse said:

In general when a low-rated but critically-admired show gets dumped on Friday, it implies the network is OK with current numbers, and assumes the following it has is strong enough that they'll follow it, or continue by watching via streaming, DVR, etc, and thus even while low, it's more immune to a move than something else whose success may actually be dependent on what it's up against.

May have been on the losing side.

Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

[Rinaldo]

6 hours ago, nosleepforme said:

Firefly was on at a different time when Nielsen ratings were the only thing that mattered.

Indeed, 2002 may as well be a century ago, so different was the TV landscape then. These days, admittedly everyone is still figuring things out, but Friday primetime for some commercial networks has become the landscape of "OK, it's clear you'll never get many fans, but they're loyal and vocal and include most of the critics who write about TV, so you might as well last a few seasons here on Friday night where nothing gets high ratings anyway."

Edited November 3, 2016 by Rinaldo

[theatremouse]

7 hours ago, nosleepforme said:

Firefly was on at a different time when Nielsen ratings were the only thing that mattered.

Nielsen is still very nearly the only thing that matters. But Nielsen tracks streaming and DVR use now. Whereas when Firefly was on, if someone say, recorded a show on VHS and watched later...they couldn't track that. Now the "later" is accounted for (unless you don't watch within a week in which case Nielsen doesn't count it because they figure you wait that long, it's not that important to you so it doesn't count).

[stillshimpy]

Nielsen is still very nearly the only thing that matters.

The way to change that is to have a revenue stream from a show that they can prove, in an online setting.  So if you download CBS or NBC's app, they also have commercials you HAVE to watch if you are watching via their app.  So if you have to watch ads on the CW ad, and they are repeating two sets of them, so as to essentially make sure they are going to get you to put eyeballs on that ad, that's a provable source of revenue for that show....and that's the only reason that ratings ever mattered, because eyeballs on a screen are also the people who see the ads, buy the stuff, etc.   

It's a really positive sign that they are creating ad content, specific to that platform because that is the stuff that will make Neilsen ratings stop mattering.  It's not the game-changer itself, it's just cool to see they are building that framework. 

[Eeksquire]

I also think this show is really good at handling product placements - not every show has 'meta' moments, but this one does and I like the way they weave in the product placement in a winking, self-referential way.  If that's what it takes to keep this show around, I'm here for it.

[angora]

I wasn't sure whether to put this here or in the Cast in Other Roles thread.  Anyway... Rachel made a "We Are the World"-style song called "Holy Shit (You've Got to Vote.)"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGGACRwYDo8

[Rinaldo]

The CW and Rachel announced yesterday that sheet music for songs from season 1 is now available! And it's free to download! 14 of the songs (one of them in both clean and dirty versions, so 15 downloads). Those who read music, enjoy.

[AmandaPanda]

On November 2, 2016 at 3:34 PM, stillshimpy said:

In terms of streaming the cw has done something really pretty darned smart: the only way I've found to watch the show's current season  via a streaming platform is through the CW app and the app forces you to watch the same set of commercials over and over.  I think there are actually two sets but it's kind of a brilliant structure because you can kind of count on people to get up and do things during commercials that can only be paused, so the advertiser is pretty much guaranteeing that the ads will be watched.  

I don't have cable tv any longer and have several Amazon Fire TV boxes but I also have a hulu subscription and the show isn't showing up there.  

I'd wondered why they moved the show to Friday night after it got so much critical buzz.  It was almost as if they wanted to make people view it via a DVR, On-Demand...or that app.   It's still far fewer commercials than broadcasts would have but  as pretty much no one watches those any longer, I guess it would still equal better saturation with the actual audience.  

No CW shows are available on Hulu anymore. As far as I know, the only way to watch shows on streaming is if you download the CW app. But they also have the deal with Netflix, so the entire season will be available on Netflix within a week of the season finale. 

[Trini]

You can also watch the latest 5 episodes at the CW website: http://cwtv.com/shows/crazy-ex-girlfriend/

[theatremouse]

Such is youtube.

[aradia22]

Quote

Will Greg ever pop back to West Covina for a visit? “This season, it doesn’t look like it,” McKenna said. “It’s definitely something we’re open to. Greg the character doesn’t disappear down the line — he’s still a part of their life. It’s not something that’s part of the immediate plan of her arc, but never say never.”

I guess this Vulture article should go here? I'm a little sad that I won't get to hear Santino sing every week but I'm looking forward to what he does in theatre and maybe film and TV going forward and I do think the door is open for him to come back. They put him on a bus but as Rebecca said, he's in a better place... but not dead. I'm pleased at how adaptable they are but there are of course practical concerns in having a long running show. 

[jjjmoss]

Based on the 15 critics' t10 lists collected at Metacritic, this is the only one of the 16 most acclaimed shows to be on network TV. It's on 7 lists; Good Place on 3, This is Us on 2.

Hopefully the Globes nominate Bloom again to give it that extra boost. I mean, NBC didn't renew Hannibal despite its critical love, but that couldn't even translate to the Television Critics Association awards, let alone the major ones.

Edited December 10, 2016 by jjjmoss

[jjjmoss]

13 different winners in the last 14 years, yeah. And this doesn't seem like a 30 Rock Tina Fey situation. Presumably they'll go with yet another freshman lead.

Edited December 10, 2016 by jjjmoss

[Trini]

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ Producer Marc Webb on Cable v. Network TV and Being Jealous of ‘La La Land’

Quote

You’ve been with the show since the beginning. Is it fun to be in Season 2?

Definitely. Getting a show on the air was quite a feat. We started at Showtime and ended up at the CW; we narrowly escaped the jaws of death. I thought there’d be a bigger tonal shift from cable to network TV, but the CW was pretty forgiving in terms of what they’d show. Like in the pilot, I’m surprised this one joke made it through. It was a visual gag where she’s waxing, that carried through from Showtime. There was some pretty graphic imagery, but it managed to stay on board.

How much time do you have to dedicate to the show when you have a busy movie career?

I start at the beginning of the season with Aline and Rachel and after I do my edit I let it go, I don’t have as much time to focus on them. But I talk to them —basically texting them how much I love them and how impressed I am with everything they do. It’s really a wonderful group of people. Morale can go down in TV shows really quickly because they have to operate at such a fast pace. I’m always impressed when I go to set, it’s such a well-oiled machine. The fact that they do this on a weekly basis is a really impressive feat. I don’t think people realize how difficult it is to achieve that.

[possibilities]

Someone needs to send flowers to the execs who make these decisions!

[Serena]

I think at this point they're committed to renewing it through Rachel's 4-year plan, and I'm so glad!

[kieyra]

Season 1 is on Netflix, guys. Get your friends on it while most of the other network shows are still off for the winter. Take advantage of their lack of options.

Edited January 8, 2017 by kieyra

[Eeksquire]

I wonder if the show isn't doing a lot better on Netflix and the revenue from that is how they can justify renewal.  I hope so, because I am evangelizing HARD for my friends to watch Season 1 to catch up (and all of them have loved it).  I missed it in the original season myself.

[taragel]

Love Pedowitz's comments. More execs should follow that line of thought. (I recently became a CBS employee and their recent internal newsletter was full of pride over the Golden Globe nods and previous years' wins. Nice to see it wasn't just PR copy but truly felt.)

And now I'm getting really excited that we'll actually get to see the whole 4-year plan!! I really cynically thought there was no way it'd get another season. Four for you, CW (and hopefully 4 for us!) 

[kieyra]

30 minutes ago, Eeksquire said:

I wonder if the show isn't doing a lot better on Netflix and the revenue from that is how they can justify renewal.  I hope so, because I am evangelizing HARD for my friends to watch Season 1 to catch up (and all of them have loved it).  I missed it in the original season myself.

Now that you mention it, it was the one-two punch of my favorite TV podcasts pushing it repeatedly AND the first season being on Netflix that got me, back in October or so. I just heard Rachel Bloom on the Vulture TV podcast (which I recommend), so critics are still loving the show. 

http://podbay.fm/show/969523266/e/1482796800

[possibilities]

Rachel will be interviewed-- for almost an hour!-- on this week's edition of Off Camera with Sam Jones. DirecTV airs it for the first time at 8pm EST Monday 1/9 on their "Audience Network" channel, then repeats it several times over the course of the week.

I *think* it's also available via the Off Camera website (www.offcamera.com) and via podcast subscription, and possibly other venues, but there might be a delay (I'm not sure if DirecTV gets first looks or what the deal is precisely).

Past seasons of the show are on Netflix-- it's a really great show, just Sam talking with one guest per show, in depth, about life and their career. He does his research and asks thoughtful questions, and I highly recommend the show even when Rachel isn't the guest, but I'm especially looking forward to hearing what the marvelous Ms. Rachel has to say.

Edited January 8, 2017 by possibilities

[Trini]

I'm kinda surprised at the renewal. I think Season 2 is almost as good as Season 1 (I miss Santino), but I'm hoping that the show doesn't go on so long that it loses quality /ruins characters.

[Rinaldo]

It's been a 4-season plan from the start.

[cailinoBAC]

I watch this on Irish Netflix. The 1st season was added in the summer. Now each episode is added the day after it's shown in the US. I don't know anybody else who watches it but I've noticed a steady increase in the mentions on Twitter, I mean from Irish people who have a lot of followers. The more popular US series will probably be picked up by networks over here and make them more difficult to watch if you don't want to follow a schedule. (Sky online is so cumbersome). If they are added to Netflix it might be over a year later. I'd say for Netflix it's handy to pick up low rated but high quality shows it can offer as next day viewing internationally.

[Babalu]

I just saw this on Twitter. CExG is the most popular Netflix show in California, New York, Washington, and Massachusetts.

[Irlandesa]

Netflix doesn't release their numbers so color me skeptical.

[Babalu]

I didn't know that, so looked at the article again and it said somebody cross-referenced Netflix's Top 75 shows with Google trends. I guess that would make this list a very loose approximation of what's popular in various states. Even if not very reliable, it seems like a good sign that a lot of people, especially in high-population states, are talking about the show.

[kieyra]

I'm side-eyeing that map pretty hard, but at the same time I can see CxG being a Netflix guilty pleasure for a lot of people.

Mystified by the Scandal domination. 

[paulvdb]

I checked the link that was posted in that article to the top 75 Netflix shows and it looks like it is a (subjective) list of the best 75 shows on Netflix, not the most popular ones. That makes that whole map even less reliable than it already was.

[possibilities]

Usually I would side-eye that kind of article, but the show needs all the publicity it can get, and if it causes more people to hear of it and try it out, I'm grateful.

Also, the possibility that it's very popular with Netflix would help explain the renewals despite the very low broadcast ratings.

[taragel]

This is an interesting article about the show's direction and the groundbreaking absence of straight, white males on the show:

https://www.bustle.com/p/crazy-ex-girlfriend-star-rachel-bloom-says-rebeccas-relationship-with-josh-wont-be-smooth-sailing-29211

[jjjmoss]

Huh, that made me realize that none of the shows I watch right now have a straight white male regular - the others being The Good Place and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

[aradia22]

Quote

 The executive noted the renewal had "nothing to do with numbers," and stressed that Crazy has helped "alter the perception of what The CW has become."

Quote

This is an interesting article about the show's direction and the groundbreaking absence of straight, white males on the show:

I'm sure there are fans of all kinds for all the shows I'm going to mention, but from a marketing standpoint, it's interesting that the cw has gone for such a targeted approach. They're courting female viewers with shows like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Jane the Virgin. And they're courting male viewers with Arrow and the Flash. (Again, speaking in a general way. I'm sure there are guys who like the first two and plenty of women who love the superhero shows.) I don't know if many other networks do that... maybe HBO. As for straight while males leading shows, on my part, I think it's been a conscious and unconscious decision to gravitate away from those shows. I used to be all about that typical "genius" character (House, Psych, Burn Notice, etc.). But I don't especially feel like rewarding shows that don't care about other perspectives and frankly... a lot of them are just uninteresting to me. I don't think it's necessarily because of who was cast as the protagonist but because those shows are more likely conceived as being "accessible" or "marketable." And they're blander. They don't take the same risks and end up being less creative. Diverse shows can also be complete messes (HTGAWM, Quantico) but I think I'm more inclined to give them a shot.

[Rinaldo]

The special one-night Lincoln Center concert presentation of the Gershwin-songbook musical Crazy for You has just announced that Rachel Bloom will be part of the cast, as Irene Roth (the role originally played by Michele Pawk, whose main song is "Naughty Baby").

[wonderwoman]

This might be just a bit TMI:

Rachel Bloom's toilet training...

[kathe5133]

Yeah.....  TMI.  That pretty much sums up Rachel Bloom.

Edited January 21, 2017 by kathe5133

[taragel]

On 1/17/2017 at 3:19 PM, Rinaldo said:

The special one-night Lincoln Center concert presentation of the Gershwin-songbook musical Crazy for You has just announced that Rachel Bloom will be part of the cast, as Irene Roth (the role originally played by Michele Pawk, whose main song is "Naughty Baby").

I bought tickets the moment I heard! Very excited for her to be living out some Broadway dreams. Hope she'll do more in the future.

[Trini]

Award from the Casting Society of America:

Quote

TELEVISION PILOT AND FIRST SEASON – COMEDY
“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”
Felicia Fasano, Bernard Telsey, Tim Payne, Tara Nostramo (Associate), Conrad Woolfe (Associate), Abbie Brady-Dalton (Associate)

Quote

The criteria are originality, creativity and the contribution of casting to the overall quality of a project. Nominees and winners are voted on by members in good standing of the Casting Society of America.

[paramitch]

Yep, here it is -- it's finally happened. Rachel Bloom has at long last released the song "Period Sex."  

(Although, for me, nothing will beat Tovah as Rebecca's Mom singing it out of the blue a few episodes back in front of both Rebecca and Josh. Because that was so wrong. And so awesome.)

Edited January 28, 2017 by paramitch

[Trini]

I wanted either Galavant or CXG crew to work on the musical, and it actually happened!

[Bruinsfan]

18 hours ago, nosleepforme said:

Guess, I have to check into those shows for the episode.

The crossovers between those two shows are the best episodes either turns out, so odds are it'll be a lot of fun.

[Empress1]

Creators discuss the finale.

[Jesse]

A Rigorously Objective Ranking Of The 28 Songs Of 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' Season Two

[allonsyalice]

Among everything, Rachel Bloom seems like one heck of an interview.

[dubbel zout]

2 hours ago, DianeDobbler said:

I wonder if the titles of two CW shows - Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - deterred anybody from checking it out.

First impressions count, and like it or not, a title can make or break a show. It's got to be frustrating for creators and networks, but do people keep watching a show just because it has a great title? Also, I don't see how bland titles like Friends are so much better. 

(I'm not arguing with you, DianeDobbler; I agree with you.)

[DianeDobbler]

I'm just wondering if anybody makes a snap judgment about the show from hearing the title, that's all. It's happened a couple of times with Jane the Virgin, three times, if I include  myself (and I made a snap judgment without knowing anything about the show except the title). Somebody even said to me, about JTV -  "With that title alone, no thanks." and I had to go on and explain the premise and that the show was great. The title, though, seemed to suggest to some people that "I know what this is about, I've seen it - pass." *I* had the same experience with Crazy Ex Girlfriend from the title and the cover art on Netflix. I was scrolling through Netflix, saw it and thought - "Nah." I thought it was a quirky girl comedy.

Just wondering if certain titles might make people think they already know what the show will deliver, because the title and maybe poster evokes shows they've seen and weren't impressed by, or similar. IOW, initially serve as a barrier. In retrospect, both titles suit the shows really well, but I had to hurdle the title in order to be motivated to check out either one. In the case of Jane, I ran across a positive review of an episode that made me realize I didn't actually have the right idea about it, and with CEG a post on some TV forum said Rachel Bloom was brilliant and CEG great. Otherwise, based no the title and premise, I'd never have looked at it.

[possibilities]

I definitely wouldn't have watched either show if I hadn't seen reviews. The titles are very off-putting if you don't know more. Same problem happened with "Cougar Town" in my opinion. Probably other shows, too.

[Rinaldo]

There's a kind of title that the creators think is clever because they're "subverting" or "deconstructing" the title, and it's really going to be the opposite of what the title suggests. Cougar Town is certainly one -- in fact, throughout all its later season the title card would include some remark in small print admitting what a lousy title it was, or making fun of it. (Also in the case of that show, they made a major shift in its focus after just a few episodes. But they probably wouldn't have had to jump from network to cable if so many hadn't decided, just from hearing the title, never to try it.) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is another, and voices were definitely to be heard (including in this forum) declaring it to be an inherently sexist, unredeemable title, and that they would never watch anything with such a tone-deaf title. Trophy Wife had a similar "ironic" take on its title -- she was not in fact a trophy wife, though other characters might write her off as one -- and the title seemed to turn off enough viewers that few tried it, and it expired after one season. Black-ish and Fresh Off the Boat had negative initial reactions to their titles, but they seem to have survived them successfully.

[Domestic Assassin]

I've definitely passed on shows due to their titles.  I almost skipped this show due to it's title.  If not for the positive reviews, I wouldn't have given it a chance.

[Irlandesa]

I definitely think a title can hurt a show.  I've heard Terriers mentioned as well.  

That said, I think a musical comedy centered on a woman struggling with mental illness was always going to be a niche show regardless of what it was called.