Simmons and Hayes did some wraparounds on AMC's presentation of "Elf" Monday night that I was super excited for because a.) I love Elf, b.) I love The Rewatchables, and c.) I'm always trying to figure out creative fun new ways to present movies on TV, and actually had pitched the same idea, using The Rewatchables, to my own network.
It was a massive disappointment.
Rule 1 of presenting hosted movies on TV is the wraparounds had goddamned better well be brief (15-20 seconds) because most people come for the movie, not the wraps. And the Elf presentation accomplished that. But it was about the only thing they did right.
It was clear the wraparounds were (sloppily) edited lifts from a longer conversation between Hayes and Simmons about Elf, and not specifically written or produced to fill the 15-second chunks they were asked to fill on TV. Somebody should've put in the time to create properly customized content.
While I like Hayes and Simmons both just fine, they weren't the right two to sit alone for this. Desperately needed a female co-host to balance out Simmons' bro-ness as a presentation of a family movie. Didn't need a third voice -- to do short segments properly two is more than enough -- but one of The Ringer's strong women should've sat in for either Simmons or Hayes.
Finally, product placements took up a substantial part of the segments. I don't object to that on principle -- AMC is a commercial business and, done right, host segments can be a great way to deliver (and receive) an advertiser message. But the IHOP support here was too prevalent and too ham-fisted.
So... thanks for killing my idea AMC!
It was a massive disappointment.
Rule 1 of presenting hosted movies on TV is the wraparounds had goddamned better well be brief (15-20 seconds) because most people come for the movie, not the wraps. And the Elf presentation accomplished that. But it was about the only thing they did right.
It was clear the wraparounds were (sloppily) edited lifts from a longer conversation between Hayes and Simmons about Elf, and not specifically written or produced to fill the 15-second chunks they were asked to fill on TV. Somebody should've put in the time to create properly customized content.
While I like Hayes and Simmons both just fine, they weren't the right two to sit alone for this. Desperately needed a female co-host to balance out Simmons' bro-ness as a presentation of a family movie. Didn't need a third voice -- to do short segments properly two is more than enough -- but one of The Ringer's strong women should've sat in for either Simmons or Hayes.
Finally, product placements took up a substantial part of the segments. I don't object to that on principle -- AMC is a commercial business and, done right, host segments can be a great way to deliver (and receive) an advertiser message. But the IHOP support here was too prevalent and too ham-fisted.
So... thanks for killing my idea AMC!