Local TV channels and shows (with the exception of SABC3) are hardly doing anything to promote their channel line-ups, programming and show,s while international TV channels from Disney to Discovery and several in-between who have much smaller audiences actually pro-actively care and are constantly working incredibly hard to get the attention of TV critics and writers in South Africa covering television.
Will the big channels one day suddenly realize that the viewers they took for granted are mostly gone as channel fragmentation continues at a rapid pace?
The early bird (thanks ACT couriers) just dropped by my pad, and how awesome: Another publicity thingey kinda thingey for some TV show which wasn't immediately self-evident when the box marked "Evidence" dropped at my door. I like these things because it shows effort. It makes me engage as a TV critic. It's not just one more default press release out of the hundreds I get daily, riddled with spelling mistakes.
So, what kind of "evidence" is this?
Open the "Evidence" box and ta-da: The Disney Channel (DStv 303) is excited to tell me about Gravity Falls, a quirky new animated comedy premiering on The Disney Channel tomorrow, Saturday 10 November at 10:00 - a new show following the twins Dipper and Mabel.
Oh look. Disney send a TV critic a preview episode. Why Disney knows that TV critics want to and need to see television in order to write and tell people about it, is magnificent. Sadly most TV channels, production companies and publicists working in television, don't. Besides the screener disk? A full on comprehensive press kit disk with info, high res images and everything I need to be able to do my job. Well done, and thanks Disney!
Gravity Falls sees Dipper and Mabel who are sent to spend the summer with the eccentric Great Uncle Stan in a remote town. Everything is not what it seems. So quickly they start to investigate various mysteries. Get ready for creatures lurking in the forest, monsters in the lake, and even time-travelling adventures in this quirky comedy animation.
How cool that in keeping with the theme, Disney couriered over a playful "spy set" as part of the evidence kit. There's an "evidence collection sheet" with all the useful details about Gravity Falls which instantly pops out: when it's on and starting, what channel number and what genre.
My most favourite kids in the world of my best mate will be getting the spy glass, measuring tape, little torch and powder to dust for finger prints (I'll keep the special grey Moleskine notebook!) when I go watch the first episode with them later this afternoon to review Gravity Falls - and secretly check their response and reaction to this new animation show.
