Saving Chuck: Don't Applaud, Throw Money
NBC
It has come to the point where I should probably write an open letter explaining why I have not written an open letter pleading with NBC not to cancel Chuck. It's that time of year, and this spring TV critics and fans are weighing in with arguments to save Josh Schwartz's funny, sweet, computer-sales-geek-turns-spy caper.
I love Chuck, I do; or at least I like it intensely. If I'm to be honest, its being canceled would not leave the truck-sized hole in my heart that the loss of Freaks and Geeks did, or that Friday Night Lights would have. But it would be a loss if it got canned, and I have occasionally done the save-this-show thing in the past.
Mostly, though, I just have my cynical doubts about the efficacy of save-this-show columns. Let's face it; by the time critics are begging to spare a favorite show the axe, we have already failed. We praise good shows when they debut; we flog them when they are having great runs in the middle of a season; and either we move enough viewers to watch or we do not.
But come April or May: well, I'm not going to say that saying, "No, seriously, we really love this one" makes no difference, but it doesn't make nearly the difference that a million or two more pairs of eyeballs three months earlier would have. Nor am I going to change NBC's minds about ledgers of numbers that they have studied far more closely than I have.
And fan protests? They matter—I don't think they matter as much as fans hope they do, but CBS paid attention to all those bags of peanuts and brought back Jericho. Which suffered even worse ratings and got killed again, so any network is going to take that experience into consideration. The sad fact of advertising-supported television is that, unlike cable, it still rewards breadth, not depth, of viewership. Four million people who watch a show really hard are still just four million people to an ad buyer.
Unless they spend money. Which is the impetus behind what may be the best fan idea out there to save Chuck.
This coming Monday—when the season finale of Chuck airs—fans of the show have reportedly hatched a plan to eat at Subway en masse. Why Subway? The show is an advertiser whose sandwiches have been effectively product-placed into Chuck. This, it strikes me, is a far more effective way to argue for a show than mailing in Nerds candy, unless there is a Nerds sponsorship for Chuck I'm unaware of.
There are today more ways for networks to make money off shows other than advertising. There are downloads and DVDs. (One reader of my Twitter feed suggested yesterday that Chuck fans buy paid downloads of episodes they miss rather than watching them for free, and while this may not change the world, money talks louder than Nerds.) I still hope and pray that NBC might be able to work out a cost-sharing arrangement for Chuck, as it did with FNL and DirecTV, although the potential partners are still few.
But network TV is still largely an advertising game. Plead as lyrically as you want; you ultimately keep a show on the air by assuring the network it will make money. And it does that by assuring its advertisers that they will make money—that an ad or placement on Chuck will result in real people spending real cash dollars. As Alan Sepinwall smartly points out in his own open letter to save Chuck, the show, being set in a big-box electronics store—in a wonderful fantasy world where Americans still purchase home electronics—is a haven for product placement. You want to get NBC to listen, make those product placements pay off, at least symbolically.
So here is what I am going to do for Chuck. There is a Subway three blocks away from my home. I despise Subway. I have never stepped foot in this Subway franchise. At more than one deli even closer to my house, I can get a better deal on a giant mouthwatering sub with mortadella, capicolla and roasted peppers made on crusty bread by a crusty Italian guy. And that's what I usually do.
But on Monday—God help me—I will go to Subway, and I will buy a sandwich. I cannot promise you that I will eat that sandwich. But I will buy it. And if I can persuade you to do the same, it may just be more effective than my trying to recruit your friends who have not decided to watch Chuck in two years.
Then I'll go home and start working on my review for Glee, and hope that if I do a good enough job, I will not someday be forced to buy a crappy sub to keep it on the air.
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1
I'm not a big Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki fan myself, but I'm definitely going to eat Subway at least once. I'm trying to recruit my non-Chuck watching friends to get Subway on Monday too (and, of course, watch the show).
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What else have they openly advertised on Chuck other than Wii and Dell? -
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Why Monday? The show is on on Monday, so wouldn't it be more effective to do it on Tuesday to prove that Monday's advertising worked?
I'll buy one either way. I like Chuck more than I like Subway--I like Chuck enough to buy Subway.
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I think they picked Monday just as a matter of showing solidarity for Chuck. Will Subway notice a huge difference? I have no idea. But I do know a lot of people who don't normally eat much Subway making a point to go out of their way for it at least once on Monday.
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@James -- Amen. I have plenty of nearby sandwich options to bypass Subway, but I'm going there on Monday regardless to support Chuck, which quite simply has been amazing. Last Monday's offering (Chuck v. the Colonel) was the high point of the series, and one of the best hours I've seen on television this year.
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One additional note: when you're in Subway buying your $5 footlong, be SURE to fill out a comment card quickly saying that you're buying the sub because you LOVE NBC's Chuck, and wanted to thank Subway for sponsoring it.
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As for cost-sharing, couldn't they subtly add "DirecTV satellite dish installation agent" to Chuck's Nerd Herd responsibilities? It would totally fit with the show.....and be free advertising for DirecTV....
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By the way, in the tragic event that Chuck were to get cancelled (perish the thought!) watch out for Yvonne Strahovski and Zachary Levi -- they're both poised for MEGA-stardom (particularly Yvonne, who is as excellent an actress as she is beautiful, which is almost impossible to believe....but true) -
5
@Dave: I don't recall about placement, but Zachary Levi has done those Honda Insight ads. So, you know, if you're feeling particularly flush...
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6
@Dave - Chuck's iPhone has been pretty prominent, so you could go that route. I suppose you could buy a Tron poster, but that's probably more difficult to find....
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Another route would be to buy "Chuck" featured music on iTunes or Amazon -- Bon Iver's "Creature Fear" was the song played during (SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO DID NOT SEE LAST MONDAY'S EPISODE) Chuck and Sarah's coitus interruptus moment (which was hysterical in and of itself), and I noticed it had climbed the Amazon charts in the days after Monday's episode. I'm sure there is a site out there with Chuck's unofficial soundtrack, and buying music played on Chuck could be a good ancilliary way to support the show. -
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@Chad, there is indeed a fansite with Chuck's unofficial soundtrack, chucktv.net
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And even though I'm going to be at a conference on Monday, I will be stepping away from whatever nightime activity they have for us to run up to my hotel room and watch Chuck. And I'll join the "forcing down a Subway is worth it" crowd, if that's what it takes. -
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Hey y'all, I am sitting at my desk eating a 5 dollar footlong from Subway for lunch (oven roasted chicken breast with onion, lettuce, and ranch). I tried to fill out a comment card, but the local subway DOES NOT HAVE ANY. I left a verbal comment but don't know what good that will do. There are other Subways in town, I'll try them over the next few days. Buying the music is a good idea too.
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i created an account just to leave a comment. i too will buy subway on monday although it's not likely to help. chuck just works... the music, great acting, wonderful characters, nice plots and sub-plots, comedy, action, romance... it's all there and they work together beautifully. i hope someone from nbc with decision making power reads this article/comments.
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JP said: "...The sad fact of advertising-supported television is that, unlike cable, it still rewards breadth, not depth, of viewership. Four million people who watch a show really hard are still just four million people to an ad buyer."
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Brilliant. This kind of commentary is why I smile when I see a pending 'Tuned-In' (and Huff-Po's Jason Linkin) post on my Google reader
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In the same vein, do I sense an encrouching ABC backlash from/among TV critics--or I'm I overreaching on their blog subtext? Seems like the alphabet can do no right these days, what with complaints that their show music sucks, their new series suck, their scheduling sucks etc. Did we tire of flogging the NBC horse already?
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ps: I'm totally digging 'The Unusuals'.
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OK, back to waxing hyperbolic... -
11
I have never seen Chuck, but I'll buy a few subs this week if someone will buy at least one... um... living person that can take the personality and memories of other people? Look, we can trade is what I'm saying...
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12
@bzdesk: my guess? ABC might take heat, but there is a kind of personal offense some critics seem to take over bad programming by NBC. I remember a similar phenomenon back when Zucker was loading up the network with Fear Factor et al. I guess its a sense of affection for the old days of Cheers, Seinfeld, what have you... I dunno, because I've never quite gotten it personally. I hate bad shows, but I don't have a feeling of personal sentimental investment in a particular network. It's just a business.
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Anyway, amid all the genuine outpouring for Chuck, I have a sneaking suspicion part of it grows from hostility over the Jay Leno decision. Whereas people may knock ABC shows, but few are the critics who will say it is betraying the heritage of Three's Company and The Love Boat.
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Related note: that Sepinwall column on ABC's music was one of those thought-of-it-wished-I'd-written-it things for me--a great observation.-
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You know James, I am suddenly pretty excited about the return of Chuck, and have been sort of scanning through some of the stuff on the internet about it. It's fun to look back now and see things that were said back before the show was renewed.
Leno backlash? Hmm... It seems like, of all things, Chuck ended up being put in the role of Leno mouthwash. At least that's my theory on how the barely loved show (by the network) ended up picking up 6 more episodes and getting it's 2010 debut moved up to January.
I just saw a combination Honda/Chuck/NBC Olympics advertisement, which is exactly the sort of thing I thought would be a great way for NBC to use this great show to make some money a different way.
Also, just in case you wanted to see the exact moment in time where Wendy came up with the idea to make you go eat a crappy sandwich, here it is: http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=3159109&view=findpost&p=11591664
She took that idea and relentlessly worked it and spread the word to all of the right people. It was really awesome to watch.
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@James -- the music is a bit obnoxious, but it bothers me FAR less than static cameras (HIMYM is the only show employing such a device that I watch), or canned laughter (see prior note) do. Although I do appreciate Sepinwall's point more generally -- musical montages (in ALL shows) are getting excessive, and if a show as amazing as The Wire can succeed virtually without musical montages, so can the rest of these shows (or, at minimum, with far fewer music montages).
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Then again, a show like Lost SOARS because of Giancionne's (sp?) score, and I love Chuck's use of music....so I guess I have no point. -
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My heart still bleeds for Pushing Daisies, and I wish we had something we could have done to at least show our love for that show. I think that this plan to save Chuck will be great, even if it just ends up a futile attempt, because it will at least give viewers hope, and just might give us a way to save these shows in the future.
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Chuck is hands-down the best show on TV. Smart, funny, sexy, exciting - it all applies. Don't let NBC cancel it! Show your support at SaveChuckBartowski.com
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I"ll be at Subway. I love this show, and If a show like The Bachelor can be renewed for a 10th Season then I really hope that we can see a quality original show like Chuck make it to it's 3rd.
I also think that there could be SO many product placement oppertunities in the Buy-More.DON'T CANCEL CHUCK!!!
joeonthetube.com
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You can go to subway.com and leave a comment there. At the bottom of their homepage is a link called "Ask Us". I used that link to submit a big Thank You for sponsoring Chuck and telling them how much my family enjoys going to Subway...
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Or you could try this: http://preview.tinyurl.com/dzfqnm
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Have to agree with all the Chuck-musical comments. They really do have the best music/story alignment of any show I've ever seen. Two examples come to mind: the sad "Christmas and Me Are Through" by Your Vegas from Chuck vs. the Santa Claus, and the need for two different stripper songs that have completely opposite meanings within two minutes on the Chuck vs the Mean Agent epi a few weeks back (don't know the real name).
So yeah...buy the music too!
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i really love watching chuck. this is the most beautiful tv series i've ever.fighting scenes, romance, comedy. i hope this would not come to an end.its time to be awesome!!!! we support subway!!!
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[...] as I implied before, I would go FNL. But I am also glad it's already been saved, and thus the TV-land save-our-show [...]
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22
Look, several friends have expressed and asked how Chuck is awesome? My answer is I don't care if you don't like it. I love it. From the geek references, the characters, cast chemistry etc... I too don't want to see Chuck get shelved especially now that Scott Bakela is on the scene battling Chevy Chase, who knew. If fans can bring back Family Guy, which was better after the return than before, then Chuck can survive. Jericho had a limited setting and was more meant for Sci-Fi, so perhaps if Chuck is canned, USA or Sci-Fi will pick it up and it will thrive. Worked for Stargate, Sliders, MST3K etc... it can work for Chuck.
Crusty Italian made sandwiches....ewwwww
Better than my friend who makes excellent pizzas and calzones, a greasy Italian...no he really is.
Product placement: iPhones are everywhere, Chuck, Sarah, the Uncle that had a heart attack chasing him a couple of weeks ago. Apple is everywhere.
@bzdesk I concur on the statement of cable v. network. But I have found there are exceptions. Lost anyone?
I don't affiliate with any station. I don't care. I watch shows not networks. There was a time that I was recording on TiVo at least two shows a day from each network. Each network has it great shows, and since I am adverse to reality TV, I am searching all options.
@zsmorgan: I agree vehemently that Pushing Daises shouldn't have been canned. It was quirky, fast quick wit, and I loved the dialogue coming at you in rapid succession. It felt like a Tim Burton-esque world. -
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[...] this series. While most “save our show” campaigns are useless, this one might be more effective. Have faith fellow Nerd Herders. Viva [...]
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[...] Read the full article … [...]
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[...] Saving Chuck: Don’t Applaud, Throw Money It has come to the point where I should probably write an open letter explaining why I have not written an open [...] [...]
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