OK, Commercials Have Gone Too Far (TBS)

[Classic Speedy]

I was watching Everybody Loves Raymond tonight and I noticed that towards the end of the episode, a banner appeared at the bottom of the screen, advertising Bill Engvall's new sitcom. Now that would be annoying by itself, but if the image were stretched, I wouldn't make a big fuss. But AFAIK it actually overlapped the picture, and then the actual episode was paused so Bill could say "Don't forget to watch the Bill Engvall Show, and now, back to the show!" And then the episode resumed.

This is highly intrusive, and I definitely don't want to see this become a trend. Anyone else see this?

[sdp]

I remember Drawn Together making fun of CC by having an commercial for the Adam Corolla Show at the bottom blocking Ling-Lings translation and they lash out at how annoying it was.

Mostly funny since I really did think it was CC's advertisement since I had seen it be obnoxious on other shows before.


Sadly like you mentioned they seem to be getting bigger and bigger....I guess a way to get rid of Tivoers skipping commercials...

[SirLemming]

Yes, I just saw it and I was absolutely appalled. And glad to see someone else complaining about it. As my father said, it shows a complete lack of respect for comedy timing. It's hard to think of a way they could have messed up the episode any more than they did. They literally interrupted the final gag, did an advertisement (at least 10 seconds long), and returned to the show.

[Classic Speedy]

Dammit! It happened again! I think this is going to be an occurrence for every single half hour until his show debuts.

Well, forget it, TBS. You wanna be ridiculous? I won't watch your channel. (changes channel)

[Desensitized]

Wow, that's atrocious.

This type of advertising is too much already.

[langden alger]

i fully bellieve by 2012 all programming will be a thin strip atop the screen admist all the ticks, logos and scrolling ads...and i guess if every show on the air by then is either a cheap game show or american idol rip-off maybe it won't be so bad after all....

there really is no excuse for these intrusive ads. i mean, you're talking to a guy who doesn't even approve of credit squashing(i especially hate it with tv broadcasts of films)....i remember during justice leauge cn blocked out a crucial dialouge scene with a tick ad for megas xl with loud sound effects of the robot walking. still mad about that one.

[Michael24]

I saw one of those earlier for the same show during Seinfeld, I think, but it didn't pause or anything. It was just a non-audible animation as usual.

But yeah, I would hate to see those promo things get even worse and more instrusive than they already are.

[Ashton Anchors]

i fully bellieve by 2012 all programming will be a thin strip atop the screen admist all the ticks, logos and scrolling ads...and i guess if every show on the air by then is either a cheap game show or american idol rip-off maybe it won't be so bad after all....


http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/1497/idiocracy002vp6.jpg

This is a scene from Idiocracy, a man watching television 500 years from today.

The center screen is surrounded by advertisements.

[langden alger]

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/1497/idiocracy002vp6.jpg

This is a scene from Idiocracy, a man watching television 500 years from today.

The center screen is surrounded by advertisements.

lol...funny, scary and true.

[Young Justice]

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/1497/idiocracy002vp6.jpg

It reminded me of Minority Report, when the CRM softwares in the future will scan your eyes to id you and deliver 3D advertising when you walk in the streets.

[veemonjosh]

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/1497/idiocracy002vp6.jpg

This is a scene from Idiocracy, a man watching television 500 years from today.

The center screen is surrounded by advertisements.

HAHAHAHA, I was thinking of EXACTLY that movie when I was reading this topic. :lol:

[Bones Justice]

If they must do this sort of thing at all, I wish they would go ahead and build a permanent sidebar for adverts. I hate these animated pop-up adverts that overlap the picture. Cartoon Network used to run these terrible pop-ups with tentacles that would wave almost half-way into the picture during episodes. It's bad enough that we have advert breaks every seven minutes without them blocking the show in-progress.

I suppose a lot of these pop-ups are a response to viewers recording shows with VCR's/DVR's. I'll admit that I do fast-track ahead of most adverts when I'm watching playbacks. But I always ended up stopping for interesting (usually adverts for autos) or entertaining ones (I watch the Skittles rabbit advert every time). Anyways, even if I had a normal work schedule, I'd still need to record at least half of the stuff that I watch. It's not my fault that the networks think there are only a handful of hours each week that are suitable for their best shows and therefore most of the best shows overlap.

[Starsky]

Oh, we're used to that. In fact, around here, almost every TV show aired gets a terrible treatment. The latest trend is to, near the end of an episode, shrink it to about 1/20 of the screen, completely erase the sound, and cover the whole screen with an enormous ad for the next show. Like the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie thing on April Fool's, but each and every time. So basically, we find out what happens at the end of shows like Lost thanks to next's week opening recap. It's sad.

[Lonestarr]

I remember Drawn Together making fun of CC by having an commercial for the Adam Corolla Show at the bottom blocking Ling-Lings translation and they lash out at how annoying it was.



It was for "The Daily Show", IIRC, and I found it hilarious that the characters were commenting about it; they thought that what Ling Ling was saying was the ad for "The Daily Show" (which aired after DT).

And that Idiocracy screen...it (if not the world depicted in the movie) is so happening in a couple of years.

[RedNinja84]

Wow, that sounds as annoying as the Fox ads for Joe Millionare, I even rember even the Simpsons making fun of it by eating the ad itself.

[Mek]

Lonestarr: I think it's a sad fact that we're already heading towards an 'Idiocracy'-esque world, if this thread is any indication.

[Classic Speedy]

Looks like the "pausing the show" nonsense has finally stopped now that Bill's show has begun, so I'm thankful for that. Unfortunately we still have Bill and his family running across the bottom of the screen, twice. It makes no noise and it doesn't pause the show but it's still an annoyance because it obscures a bit of the screen. Ditto for them throwing the frisbee at the screen and it looping back at them.

It's so frustrating because I find TBS's commercials, especially for the movies they air, are usually pretty funny (gay LOTR a big favorite of mine), but they have some annoying in-show stuff.

[purplehairedwonder]

Speaking of the Bill Engvall Show... they brought him into the booth during one of the Braves games that aired on TBS a week or two ago and spent more camera time on him talking about his show than actually showing the game during that half inning. Bill admitted himself he didn't know much about what was going on or who the announcers even were. It's one thing to have a guest in the booth when it's related to baseball, but that was just downright obnoxious. I wanted to watch the game, not in-game advertising for the show.

[SpaceCowboy]

God those things are annoying. I remember watching some movie on TNT that took place in the desert and thought something on the set caught fire. Turns out it was just a pop-up ad for a Nascar event on the channel.

Watching Naruto on Cartoon Network is not a good experience when these intrusive things cover up important action scenes. 3 commercial breaks was bad enough.

[Dark Fact]

Seriously, is this the kind of crap advertisers want to push down our throats? It's already annoying enough to have to put up with commercials as they are. But to intrude on our favorite program to force us to take notice of another show or product is advertising gone too far. Bill Engvall's agressive advertising isn't going to make people watch his show. If anything, the only audience Bill Engvall is going to get from this is a lynch mob.

I, for one, hardly watch much television anymore due to the overwhelming amount of crap that's on it save for the news and the weather channel and my favorite anime programs. If I find these kinds of ads intruding on my favorite anime programs, then I'm quitting television altogether.

[HellCat]

Speaking of the Bill Engvall Show... they brought him into the booth during one of the Braves games that aired on TBS a week or two ago and spent more camera time on him talking about his show than actually showing the game during that half inning. Bill admitted himself he didn't know much about what was going on or who the announcers even were. It's one thing to have a guest in the booth when it's related to baseball, but that was just downright obnoxious. I wanted to watch the game, not in-game advertising for the show.

Go to your happy place...pirate Bloom's in facial hair.

[Kitschensyngk]

The latest trend in television: running ads for shows you're probably not going to watch over shows that you actually want to.

[simpsonsfan]

I know what u mean when I watch Don't Forget the Lyrics on fox last week I saw two annoying advertisements for the simpsons movie one where a naked homer runs accross the screen and another where a giant donuts rolls through and stalling in the middle of the screen and announcing when the movie starts in theaters. This was riddiculous. :zoidberg:

[Draft]

When i saw it, it was right before the credits began

Then, i think its's alright, but i really don't like the practice overall