It was bound to happen: The increasing depletion of TV ad dollars as a result of digital video recorders has led one network to commit murder.
ABC has recruited Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry to produce a series of eight commercials for Sprint that will unfold as a weekly soap opera. The goal? Pausing the fast-forward phenomenon.
“They’re kind of like the old Taster’s Choice commercials, but we added a lot of wicked dark humor, murder and adultery and betrayal,” explains Cherry of the 35-second spots, which will air once a week during Housewives beginning with the Sept. 27 premiere.
“It’s very Desperate Housewives,” adds exec producer Sabrina Wind. “It was shot on our set, with our crew, and written by our writers.”
None of the show’s regulars will appear in the ads, but Cherry has found a way to connect the marketing experiment with the ABC hit. Soap stars Rebecca Staab and David Chisum — who play the couple at the center of what Cherry calls the “murderous love triangle” — will cross over to Housewives “as background extras.”
Your move, TiVo.
IMAGE CREDIT: Florian Schneider/ABC
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boring
dumb
i don’t know. Lost has been doing kind of thing for ages. and everyone applauded it as cool and inventive.
I will not cry foul until I see one of them. then i’ll decide if they are dumb.
DUMB!
They have to do something to bring in the money. It sounds like a creative solution. Nobody _wants_ to watch ads. Might as well make them entertaining.
what a bunch of suckage!
ehh,whatever.
Man, these comments are boring. Where’s the publicist who’s supposed to shill for this on here and call it a great idea?
What about the real DH spin-off? The one featuring Kathyrn Joosten and Lily Tomlin?
That’s not confirmed to be actually happening and that’s not a DH spinoff. Joosten and Tomlin would be playing sisters but they’re NOT playing their characters from Desperate Housewives.
Why are you just now reporting something that’s already in the magazine?
I’m gonna guess that he wants to keep at least a few of the articles new. I like it b/c I subscribe to EW, and I hate it when I read it first on the site before reading it on print. It’s like you pay for nothing.
And I guess it’s online for people to discuss and for non-subscribers.
This has potential…
If it works, expect to see more of the same on different ABC shows.
could care less about the commercials my thing is why does the four original ladies look gorgeous and super fab and Dana Delany look like, well, THAT??? For lack of a better word she looks so dowdy, glum!?
I think Dana herself looks good. But you’re right; I feel like her “presentation” is totally off: she’s the only one not in a full length gown and her dress goes to her chin! No cleavage, shoulders or even neck visible. And she’s holding a toaster… Granted Felicity has a teddy bear and Eva has a vacuum, but you can look sexy and/or ironic with those. A toaster is so… solid and static. Boring… it makes her look like she’s selling it.
But I’m glad they’re putting her in the promotional photos though.
After a really good first season, the show really roughed up Katherine but good. I hope this means she’ll be a foil for some of other housewives (like she was with Bree two seasons ago). I’m sure Katherine and Susan won’t get along from here on out – whoever winds up with Mike.
How is this dumb, to the idiotic posters before me? Moves like this may help to include DVR numbers in ratings and may help some shows that don’t fare too well in initial viewings but do well through DVR and online viewing. Ideas like this may help save your next favourite yet doomed show. But seriously, “this is dumb” as a comment is dumb in itself, the comment aspect of any forum it to share your opinion and expand on it, to promote a forum of discussion. Not just to get your name on it… sigh.
I’m all for innovation, but perhaps Cherry should focus on making the ACTUAL show better.
Lame.
I don’t watch DH but if it was tied into a show I watch I’d probably check it out. This is a very good business move.
This is all you have for us on this wonderful holiday. You still almost 4 hours to make up for it.
i think it’s a good idea..very creative and the two actors will be on the show as extras and maybe be tied in more later to the show
Bring back the frogs damnit!
So much better that they’re trying to make ads more entertaining rather then adding product placement into the shows in mostly incredibly annoying ways.
How is it a spin-off if it features none of the characters? Because it’s on Wysteria Lane? So in essence you’re spinning off…the street?
If Cherry has any good ideas left, he should maybe, I dunno, save them for the show -it could really use a storytelling boost right now.
So either no one will care (from the looks of these comments) and keep FF, or they’ll find them on the internet the next morning. Probably from EW
uh, dumb. all you do is fast forward and stop when this commercial comes on. (if you want to watch it.) then fast forward again. it isn’t like fast forward is some super fast speed that you can’t tell what you’re passing!
Who cares! And grossly misplaced title of article!
That’s not a spinoff, Ausiello – you moron.
Why can’t the networks offer “Premium” versions of themselves like an HBO and we can pay and skip the ads altogether…would be well worth it.
Desparate Housewives is so five years ago.
If I was Dana Delany, I’d be mad about the new DH CAST PHOTO.
“Groundbreaking”? wow…talk about misleading article!
Not sure how compelled one will want to see these commercials week after week. Give ‘em credit for trying something new. We’ll soon see if they are dumb.
The advertisers did it to themselves. In the early days of television, a sixty-minute show was allowed a maximum of six minutes of commercials. No one minded. Now we can expect 18-20 minutes of commerical in the same hour show. Everyone minds, at least those of us who remember when it was better. And, at the same time, a season produced 39 weeks of new shows with a 13-week rerun in the summer. That was before the M.B.A.’s took over the entertainment industry. I’m not interested in the current attempt at manipulation, thank you.