Hook, Line and Sinker

The Mrs. and I were watching TV one night and this commercial came on. In unison, the Mrs. and I exclaim, "I love that song!" Much to the chagrin of the advertiser, the only thing I remember about the ad is the song.

This did work out for Andrew Clark and Allison Moyet, as well as for the members of ABC, I'm sure. Before the show was back on I was logged into iTunes and in my basket were Upstairs at Eric's, Look of Love -- The Very Best of ABC, as well as several other Yaz tunes from a best of compilation. Before the show was over, I had downloaded 30 songs- talk about impulse buying. The commercial got me to iTunes, then the "others who bought this also bought..." section made me go "OH YEAH..."

I've noticed a lot of good music in commercials lately, New Order in The New AT&T (sucks), the Cure for HP just to name a few. I'm wondering if there is really a dual intent here? Are they selling the music as well as the product or service? For me, Hearing "Only You" in that ad was very nostalgic. It had been years since I listened to Yaz, but there was a point in my life when Upstairs at Eric's was the only thing I listened to. Same for ABC. I loved those songs, and they took me back to some really great days! I was compelled to buy, and then buy more.

Remember the Volkswagen commercial back in the '90's? The one where it is just the car driving through the mountains and Clannad's "Harry's Game" playing in the background. When I went to buy Anam it had a sticker on it that said "Contains that music from the Volkswagen commercial." Certainly they experienced a boost in album sales from the national ads.

So I like to think that it was just a coincidence that the music was great for an ad and I went to buy it, and wow, the Internet makes it convenient to do so. The advertising guys are much smarter than I am, and planned every penny I spent that night.

What Will They re-Think of Next?

The first time it happened I was so very excited. SciFi Channel was going to air a "re-imagining" of Battlestar Galactica. As a child of the '70's I loved Battlestar Galactica and was so let down when the series was canceled. The idea that there were humans in a great convoy searching through the universe for Earth really sparked my imagination. This show was cutting edge for it's time as well, and the most expensive production on television at the time.

At its core, the story of Battlestar Galactica is brilliant. What would humanity look like if it were decimated and was placed in the position of needing to find a new home? The journey can be an amazing one with practically limitless stories of conflict; not only with external forces, but within the human community as well; and heroism. This makes for great drama. I can see the need to "re-imagine" this story; limited technology and budget in the '70's never were really able to give the idea the treatment it deserved -- the epic feel that we now get to thanks to David Eicks and Ronald Moore. They have done a tremendous job of breathing new life into this story. What is brilliant with what they have done is that they have stayed true to the central tenant of the story... the human race (as our characters know it) is practically destroyed and they are running for their lives. The show has an almost operatic feel that is worthy of the weight of the story.

Next we have a "re-imaging" applied to none other than Miss Jamie Sommers as the Bionic Woman. Again, as a child of the '70's, I watched this show pretty religiously, as well as the predecessor, The Six Million Dollar Man. As a SciFi fan, I'm obliged to give this new Bionic Woman a shot. The ads make the show seem much darker the special FX look out of this world, never-mind the fact that Michelle Ryan is flat out HOT, as is Katee Sackhoff (aka Starbuck on Battlestar Galactica).

Still, I wouldn't call this a a "re-imagining" of the show as much as a reinvention of it. '70's Jamie Sommers: school teacher, girl friend of Steve Austin - the six million dollar man- gets bionic because she is nearly killed in a parachuting accident and is the girl friend of the six million dollar man, bionic leg, arm and ear. 21st Century Jamie Sommers: Bartender, gets bionic because she is nearly killed in a care accident and is the girl friend of the scientist developing bionics, two bionic legs, bionic arm, bionic ear, and bionic eye. They only thing that didn't change is that she now owes the government her life and must work for them. She isn't terribly happy about this.

Ultimately, this show is about the character, Jamie Sommers, and such fundamental changes to the character's back story really make this an entirely different show. Why not simply pick up a bionic story where it left off. Calling this character Jamie Sommers is really just a way to get people who loved the original to tune in. I will, but I reserve the right to resent these tactics.

Next we have a modernized Flash Gordon, thanks again to the SciFi Channel. Flash Gordon is a venerated oldie that must see a revival in every time, and apparently now is the time. My own experience with flash is limited to the '80's movie-- "Flash, Flash, I love you, but we only have 14 hours to save the Earth!", and the more important derivative work, Queen's soundtrack. I watched the premier of the "re-imagined" version the other night and found a watchable 1.5 hours of television. I'll make space on my DVR, but really this brings me to the real question at hand: where has all the creativity gone? Have all the good ideas been taken? This goes way beyond my three examples here on television, but music and movies are victims of this as well.

I really believe that that are some stories that deserve a fresh and updated look, Battlestar, in my opinion is one of those. It's epic nature, and the fact that the story wasn't told as well as it could have been before make it a perfect example. Bionic Woman is somewhat of a cheat. The bionics are a plot device and the character isn't really who they say she is. This one was probably better left alone.

I can see where a step in the creative process might be to re-evaluate an old idea, take it along some new line that the creator may not have envisioned, it just seems like there is too much reliance on old stories. What will be the next great epic? I wonder.