Skip to main content

CW's "90210" Premiere to Be Screener-Less for Press

Everyone is all abuzz about the fact that the CW and studio CBS Paramount Television have opted to not send out press screeners of the new fall drama 90210, which launches September 2nd.

Like many of my entertainment writer brethren, I too was puzzled by the email I received yesterday from a CW publicist which read:

"The CW and our studio partner CBS Paramount Network Television have made the strategic marketing decision not to screen 90210 for any media in advance of its premiere. We're not hiding anything . . . simply keeping a lid on 90210 until 9.02, riding the curiosity and anticipation into premiere night, and letting all our constituents see it at the same time."

While this move may be a "strategic marketing decision" designed to amp up anticipation for the Beverly Hills 90210 update, it's a risk that could easily backfire as many are now just assuming that the decision is based on the fact that the launch itself is a dud. (Studios oftentimes don't screen feature films in advance for critics when they know it will be harshly reviewed and don't want to harm opening weekend figures.)

Personally, I fall into the latter camp... if this were the very best series that the CW had ever made, the network and the studio would want every critic, entertainment writer, and blogger to be shouting from the rooftops about it.

Curious.

Comments

Anonymous said…
"Strategic marketing decision," (i.e. not letting anyone know we have a real stinker).
Anonymous said…
hmmmmm.....

Something like this would normally make me worry, but I have spies who tell me it's pretty good, so fingers crossed this is the one time that this isn't what we think it is.
Mark McKay said…
They don't want it to end up on the internet weeks before the actual air date.
Anonymous said…
I agree with Mark. I think they're mainly afraid of it getting leaked, like "Fringe". I think the show is going to be just as good as, or better than, "Gossip Girl" (if you like that kind of thing). And there's probably enough buzz already that reviews aren't going to make that big of a difference.

Kind of like with horror movies. People are going to see them if they want to see them, regardless of the reviews.

Teen soap fans are gonna tune in.
Anonymous said…
I don't think you can conclude anything into the fact that they are not screening this early for the press. I'm hoping that it's good.

I agree with Mark...they probably don't want it to leak.

I can't w8 for Sept 2nd.

Popular posts from this blog

What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread. It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off. With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost , should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry. Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815 ? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season

The Daily Beast: "How The Killing Went Wrong"

While the uproar over the U.S. version of The Killing has quieted, the show is still a pale imitation of the Danish series on which it is based. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "How The Killing Went Wrong," in which I look at how The Killing has handled itself during its second season, and compare it to the stunning and electrifying original Danish series, Forbrydelsen , on which it is based. (I recently watched all 20 episodes of Forbrydelsen over a few evenings.) The original is a mind-blowing and gut-wrenching work of genius. It’s not necessary to rehash the anger that followed in the wake of the conclusion last June of the first season of AMC’s mystery drama The Killing, based on Søren Sveistrup’s landmark Danish show Forbrydelsen, which follows the murder of a schoolgirl and its impact on the people whose lives the investigation touches upon. What followed were irate reviews, burnished with the “burning intensity of 10,000 white-hot suns

Pilot Inspektor: CBS' "Smith"

I may just have to change my original "What I'll Be Watching This Fall" post, as I sat down and finally watched CBS' new crime drama Smith this weekend. (What? It's taken me a long time to make my way through the stack of pilot DVDs.) While it's on following Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars on Tuesday nights (10 pm ET/PT, to be exact), I'm going to be sure to leave enough room on my TiVo to make sure that I catch this compelling, amoral drama. While one can't help but be impressed by what might just be the most marquee-friendly cast in primetime--Ray Liotta, Virginia Madsen, Jonny Lee Miller, Amy Smart, Simon Baker, and Franky G all star and Shohreh Aghdashloo has a recurring role--the pilot's premise alone earned major points in my book: it's a crime drama from the point of view of the criminals, who engage in high-stakes heists. But don't be alarmed; it's nothing like NBC's short-lived Heist . Instead, think of it as The Italian