The Partnership for a Logo-Free America
Jan Brown, a reader, sent Your Mayor the following Email:
“At a Television Academy event the other night for ‘Mad Men,’ a number of us were enjoying the after-show munchies when I brought up the subject of how irritating it has become to have to watch all TV shows with some giant network logo always in the picture. Everyone within earshot immediately chimed in – everyone is sick and tired of having to try to focus on a program with some obtrusive logo superimposed over up to 1/4 of the screen, made even more obnoxious by the recent addition of animated figures and little people and titles and messages jumping in and out of the picture.
“What can be done about this? Can you run a poll or something or see if others are as bothered by this as we all are??”
Clearly, Jan struck a nerve amongst her (or, maybe, his; I neglected to ask) fellow Television aficionados. I explained that the logos “are for the benefit of those who are channel-surfing but to the detriment of those actually watching the show. And don't get me started on those promos that take up the bottom third of the screen. The only good thing about those is that ‘The Simpsons’ has done some funny parodies of them.”
Contemplating this further, it occurs to me that it would behoove some networks to not run their logo at the bottom of the screen, as it would serve as an automatic warning to viewers to flee immediately: The CW, for example, or A&E or, for straight males at least, Bravo. Ditch the logo and you might sucker a viewer or two in until the next commercial break.
Conversely, there are shows that one would think that networks really wouldn’t want to splash their logos across, as they really shouldn’t want to take credit (or blame) for them: NBC’s “My Dad is Better than Your Dad,” CBS’s “Big Brother,” Fox’s “The Return of Jezebel James” and, of course, ABC’s “According to Jim.”
So: What do you think? Do networks owe viewers respect and logo-free programming? Or do they not bother you because you’ve learned to ignore them?
And: What other TV irritants really bother you? As that logo (oops, sorry) above declares, we’re here to solve every problem in Television, but we can’t until we know what they are. Leave a comment and if the blog server gives you grief, don’t be offended – it does it to me all the time. Just let me know at david.kronke@dailynews.com.
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About this blog
David Kronke was appointed Mayor of Television after a bloodless coup in 2000. Since then, he has improved infrastructure, championed greater educational opportunities and fought for reforms that have utterly erased corruption and incompetence from the television industry. Since Mr. Kronke has ascended to power, Television is a far better place.
Fuck these networks and their endless self-promotion. As if We, the Little People, give a rat's ass which network is on our TVs. Stop the insanity with the annoying logos and messages, already!
Also, cable TV is too expensive. I'm lookin' at you, Comcast.
I hate anything on the screen that distracts me from being able to concentrate on the show.
I also hate having any ads or promos shoved down my throat. My response to that is to purposely not support the sponsor.
I especially like FanGirl's opening line. Succinct.
It is also good that print media is not yet dead. I repeat, I have no idea what an Url is.
Yrs, AP.
I agree with FanGirl. Because of the onslaught on all of the pop-ups, there is an upside for me. I've gone back to reading!!!!!!!!
What else bothers me: The bad grammar used on shows, especially when its news people, weather people. The news is bad enough on a daily basis, but to have to listen to the bad grammar of News Anchors goes beyond the pale. We say that this country is an english speaking country? Want to bet?