Filed under: Video, Cult of Mac, Odds and ends
CBS green lights 'Genius Bar' TV show
Apple's Genius Bar will soon be able to add 'entertainment' to its list of things it does for people, as CBS has given two thumbs up for a show pilot titled Genius Bar. The show apparently follows the employees of a place similar to Apple's Genius Bar and their adventures with "the cool, hip and beautiful" employees of a nearby Ambercrombie & Fitch-like store.Excuse me while I gag.
Ok, and.. we're back from the gagging break. What on earth are these people thinking? Granted, Apple is flying high right now, but hold the phone. If Apple wanted a show to pimp themselves and their products, they could have conjured (or had CBS conjure) anything cooler than this: a Matrix rip-off where all the white and candy blue code looks like AppleScript, and the Agent Smiths look more like clones of Bill Gates, or a CSI spin-off where all the lab machines are Xserves and Mac Pros, and all the camera work in the field is done with MacBooks and iSights.
Knowing CBS, the hip but slightly-too-arrogant Johnny from the Kinda-Genius Bar will have to cancel his date with Electra from Kimbercrombie & Fitch because he has to fix Heath Ledger's iPod. Ugh.
But who knows - maybe the saving grace of the show might be that its straight-from-radio pop soundtrack will be available from the iTunes Store.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jonathan said 9:08PM on 9-29-2006
Maybe it will be a funny Office-like comedy? And don't be dissing on A&F :-p.
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Mike said 9:16PM on 9-29-2006
Are they for serious?
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Grant Guthrie said 9:16PM on 9-29-2006
I'm trying to figure out why you think Apple has anything to do with this.
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Ryan said 9:23PM on 9-29-2006
I completely agree with Grant; it's not like Apple created, wrote, directed, and shot the series... right?
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David Chartier said 9:37PM on 9-29-2006
I'm sure Apple doesn't have anything to do directly with writing the show, but c'mon - I would wager (granted it's an assumption) they have the patent or at least some sort of trademark on 'Genius Bar,' which means (if true) they're at least signing away the concept to the jackals at CBS.
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Dave Anderson said 9:46PM on 9-29-2006
Ok, maybe it's a bad idea, maybe it will be a total flop. But the real question is: will the pilot be free on iTunes?
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Will said 10:24PM on 9-29-2006
Don't be so sure that this will flop. NBC, ABC, and CBS all bid on this pilot. So if nothing more they all saw potential.
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Jon said 10:49PM on 9-29-2006
"Don't be so sure that this will flop. NBC, ABC, and CBS all bid on this pilot. So if nothing more they all saw potential."
It doesn't mean that the public will like it though. I really hope it does flop because if it is successful, they'll just make more shows like this. It's the same in the movie industry as well. Look how well Jackass 2 is doing, and I'm sure Employee of the Month will do well as well, despite the fact that it looks terrible. And don't even get me started on Santa Clause 3...
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Ed said 11:00PM on 9-29-2006
I've been commenting on here for ever, and I'm fed up with the emails after each comment - where is the login page for the password?
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Drew said 11:00PM on 9-29-2006
Sitcoms are dead, but this definitely isn't the worst premise I've seen.
Most people would probably never make the Apple connection though.
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John C. Randolph said 12:25AM on 9-30-2006
I'm pretty sure Apple has a trademark on the phrase "Genius Bar".
-jcr
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d vatran said 5:03AM on 9-30-2006
just to place it in a context of some sort, the Pasadena apple store on colorado in old town IS literally next door to an Abercrombie, and the whole area IS a fun, "cool" area to hang out, and the people who populate the registers, at both stores, for the most part, are "cool, hip, beautiful", and considering that Televison City(Burbank) is only 15 min down The 101 its not TOO farfetched... eh?
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brian said 8:33AM on 9-30-2006
"CBS green lights 'Genius Bar' TV show"
i think i just threw up a little in my mouth...
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Kelmon said 6:59AM on 9-30-2006
Well, I've noticed that Macs do show up in CSI, although they tend to be the old G4 iMac which still looks really cool.
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JeffWasHere said 8:44AM on 9-30-2006
Just for the record Apple does NOT pay for ANY product placement. Apple does,, from time to time, provide demo or discounted product, but they do not pay any placement fees and often are just as surprised when an Apple laptop shows up in a show. Apple does however frown on the use of any Apple product in a harmful way.. Which may be why you always see the bad guys with a Dell and the Good Guys with a Mac.. ;-)
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jopari said 10:15AM on 9-30-2006
@ 15
I'm pretty sure that the reason so many films have apple product placements is bscause apple gives the filmmakers a discount on production equipment (final cut, macpros, ect) if they stick an iMac or Powerbook in a shot somewhere.
if you don't believe me, just watch the credits if you see a apple product placement-there's almost always a nod to apple (usually the final cut logo, i think), as opposed to movies that feature, say, dells (jeeze, the last one i can think of is x3), which usually have the avid logo.
there is, however, a few exceptions; snakes on a plane, for instance, had both a macbook and a dell (but then again, i think SoaP whored itself out to as many companies as possible).
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bert said 11:15AM on 9-30-2006
Is Genius Bar the final name or just a working title? Knowing how most TV execs are, I'd guess this gets stupidified some and renamed something like "Help Desk."
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Alex said 11:36AM on 9-30-2006
"I'm pretty sure that the reason so many films have apple product placements is bscause apple gives the filmmakers a discount on production equipment (final cut, macpros, ect) if they stick an iMac or Powerbook in a shot somewhere."
Actually jopari you will see that for films editing on an Avid suite too. Crediting your tools has just become tradition for filmmaking credits, it's just like when you "COLOR BY DELUXE" in older films.
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David Chartier said 12:35PM on 9-30-2006
#16 and #18: Yea, I'm working my way into the video biz and while obviously not everyone uses Macs or a 100% Mac workflow, many in the pro industry roll on the Apple side of the fence. They usually love their tools and like to give Apple props in their production work.
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shawn said 1:10PM on 9-30-2006
The Las Vegas 'Fashion Show' mall has an Apple store right next door to an Abercrombie as well.
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