“Stay Tuned”
Anyone catch “Stay Tuned: New Orleans’ Classic TV Commercials” on WYES last night? It’s an original WYES production, dragged out just in time for PBS pledge drive week. They had Scramuzza’s Seafood City commercials, the amazing Frankie & Johnnie’s Furniture ads, and plenty of other good stuff.. but I can’t say I enjoyed it. There was too much nostalgic waxing at the hands of aging advertisers and various other talking heads. At times I found myself screaming “JUST SHOW US THE FUCKING COMMERCIAL!!!!” at the TV as these people rambled on about this and that. Their commentary was almost universally uninteresting and trivial. “North Pole Nutrias” had more footage of Seafood City commercials, and they cut a lot of other good stuff short while choosing to play, say, 6 or 7 marginally amusing Jax Beer ads. Come on, WYES, the commercials speak for themselves. Don’t show us a 5 second clip and then 25 seconds of some old guy deconstructing it for us; just show the damn commercial! In short, what could have been a great and fun program was maligned by excessive filler and a lack of good content.
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I remembered some of the Jax ads from growing up in Texas. I was hoping to see some of the old Falstaff ads as well.
I agree with what you’re saying. I get tired of the deconstruction. But I really, REALLY don’t like the yammering on and on for the WYES pledge drive. Things would be much nicer if they’d take 2-3 minutes breaks like commercial TV instead of going on for 10 minutes or more. I know they have to beg for money, but please make it easier on the ear (and eye).
I didn’t think the content was that bad. I mean, yeah, they could’ve played one fewer Jax ad, but then again, those bits were performed by Elaine May and Mike freaking Nichols, fer crissakes…. And of course, there was a lot of stuff they left out–my fave being the New Orleans Hamburger & Seafood Company spot in which Becky wanders over to a table, hollers “Gimme a bite uh dat crab!”, yanks a big ol’ softshell off of an unsuspecting woman’s plate, and rips into it with a smile.
But then, the piece was only an hour long. You gotta cut corners somewhere.
As for the interviews and stuff, if you’ve ever watched one of WYES’s documentaries, you know that’s pretty standard. Sometimes for the Mardi Gras specials, the guests will be a bit more interesting and their comments enlightening, but 9 times outta 10, it’s just “Aw, yeah, dawlin, I remember dat!”
And as for the pitch breaks…alas, as someone who works in a development office, I can tell you, that ain’t gonna change. Viewers have gotten so desensitized to three-minute commercial breaks, Peggy Laborde & Co. have to go twice as long to get attention. Oddly enough, though, I have fantasized about kicking some pledge drive butt of my own:
http://www.sturtle.com/julia.html
I’d love to see a current commercial about this …. Louisiana Church Booted for Supporting Gay Unions
Aug 12, 2005 at 2:00 AM
by Russell Wilcox
New Orleans, LA - A Louisiana church serving LGBT members was given the boot from its temporary home Tuesday by the Archdiocese of New Orleans for supporting gay marriage.
The Metropolitan Community Church of Greater New Orleans had a 12-month lease within the Project Lazarus complex, a facility owned by the archdiocese that provides hospice services to AIDS patients, many of whom are gay.
But after three months, the archdiocese made the decision to terminate the lease.
HEY THE OLD COMMERICALS WERE GREAT! A LITTLE TO LONG WINDED FOR THE PLEDGE DRIVE! BUT UNTILL YOU DONATE TO THEIR CAUSE, S H U T U P! DID YOU DONATE OR DID YOU JUST WATCH ALL THE GOOD PROGRAMS THAT WYES HAS TO OFFER FOR FREE THEN SIT BACK AND COMPLAIN!!!! AND WHAT FOUL LANGUAGE SOME PEOPLE USE!!!! HEY WYES I THINK YALL DID A EXCELLENT JOB!!!!