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Post by -|E|- on Jan 23, 2007 8:50:06 GMT -5
Thanks to murt1987 for posting this link in another thread! I thought it deserved to stand on its own, though...
The Shield Set to Return
FX announces a return date for the series, plus a special mini-episode to premiere online.
by Eric Goldman tv.ign.com/articles/757/757217p1.html
January 22, 2007 - It's been a long wait for fans of The Shield, as the last original episode aired March 21st, 2006. This weekend saw the news Shield fans have been waiting for, as FX used the TCA (Television Critic Association) Winter Press Tour as an occasion to announce that The Shield Season Six will premiere on April 3rd.
However, it turns out there will be some new Shield content sooner than that, thanks to a surprising source: Bud.TV, a new entertainment website being launched by Anheuser-Busch. Television Week has revealed that one of the first pieces of content on Bud.TV will be a brand new 15 minute mini-episode of The Shield. As part of an advertising and promotional deal between FX and Anheuser-Busch, the new site will be the exclusive source of the mini-episode for four weeks. After that, the episode -- which will be preceded by an Anheuser-Busch commercial -- will be available on several other sites, including AOL, as well as certain cable on demand and satellite TV promotional channels. However, it will not air on FX itself.
The mini-episode will bridge the gap between season five and six of the series, picking up with the funeral for Lem (Kenny Johnson), who died in last season's finale. Flashbacks will be shown of Lem, in previously unseen moments, as his colleagues remember him.
Bud.TV will launch February 5th, the day after the Super Bowl. However, the article in Television Week didn't state a specific date for The Shield mini-episode to premiere. Presumably, it will be at least a month before the The Shield Season Six begins.
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You can go to www.bud.tv and register to get email updates on their programming.
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Post by SMOKE-DOG on Jan 23, 2007 9:06:46 GMT -5
January 15, 2007 Beer Bust: 'The Shield' Episode Hits Bud.TV 15-Minute Installment Exclusively on Web BY: Jon Lafayette
The next episode of FX's "The Shield" won't appear on the network. It will be streamed on Bud.TV as part of a multimillion-dollar ad and promotion deal with Anheuser-Busch.
Bud.TV is an entertainment Web site that will be launched the day after the Super Bowl by A-B, which is moving marketing money from TV to the Web to reach young men who are spending more time on the Internet. Ten percent of the beer-maker's $600 million media budget will go online this year.
The site will get the 15-minute mini-episode of "The Shield" exclusively for four weeks.
Bud.TV has commissioned original programs from some well-known outfits, including Warner Bros.' digital production venture Studio 2.0.
It's FX, though, that last year pioneered the idea of creating mini-episodes to promote "Rescue Me." A short episode of that program appeared on AOL, the FX network Web site and cable video-on-demand services, generating millions of impressions. It was also sponsored, which brought in revenue.
FX executives figured their network would benefit in several ways from Bud.TV's four-week exclusive run of the "Shield" episode. A-B is paying the network for use of the show and the innovative nature of the deal enhances FX's relationship with a major advertiser while extending the promotional footprint for the network and its biggest show. A-B also bought a sizeable schedule of commercials on FX.
John Landgraf, president of FX, has embraced the new model rather than viewing his content as ammunition for a rival media platform.
"We've reconciled the idea of producing these things for these other media because it really helps us market," Mr. Landgraf said.
"We get an enormous amount of play for these clips in digital media sites," he said. "We'd put it on AOL or we'd put it on Heavy or we'd put it on YouTube. If you want to look at this as a general entertainment network, AOL is a lot closer to a competitor in many ways than Bud.TV is at this point."
The mini-episode of "The Shield" costs between $500,000 and $1 million to produce, compared to the $2.5 million full-episode cost. The money comes out of the network's marketing budget. The talent gets paid their normal per-episode fee on a pro-rated basis.
It's money well spent, Mr. Landgraf said.
"As it turns out, it is an enormously valuable piece of material to create partnerships of the type we've created with Anheuser-Busch and Bud," Mr. Landgraf said. "Also, it's a gift to the fan. It's a way of not only giving them material that they wouldn't have otherwise gotten, but it's a way of reminding them where the story is and getting them reinvested in the show as we're leading up to the [season] premiere."
As with the "Rescue Me" mini-episode last year, the "Shield" episode bridges the gap between last season and the new one that starts in April.
The episode picks up with the funeral of Det. Curtis Lemansky, who was killed at the end of last season. He is remembered by his colleagues in flashbacks shot specially for this episode. Lemansky is played by actor Kenny Johnson.
"We actually paid Kenny through the entirety of [the upcoming] season six and had the right to use him, but did not. We used him for this," Mr. Landgraf said.
The special episode will never appear on FX, but Mr. Landgraf said that while it will enhance the experience viewers have, you don't have to have watched it to follow the plot.
After the show appears on Bud.TV for four weeks, it will appear on AOL and a variety of digital sites, as well as on cable video on demand and promotional channels on satellite TV. Before it airs, an Anheuser-Busch commercial will air.
Anheuser-Busch declined to comment.
"We're going to throw a lot of audience their way and I think they're going to do a lot to promote our show," Mr. Landgraf said.
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Post by jadedgirl on Jan 23, 2007 15:33:15 GMT -5
Curse my dial-up! I'll try to watch it through the site but I may have to wait until it shows up on my DirecTV VOD. Also, is this going to be the "Season 6 Prequel" on the DVD after all? I hope it is because it would be killer to see it in DVD quality.
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Post by murt1987 on Jan 23, 2007 15:44:25 GMT -5
I hope this thing will be free
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Post by lynch345 on Jan 23, 2007 16:54:11 GMT -5
Well that's a bummer. I guess there won't be any Lem flashbacks in the actual episodes next season. Oh well.
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Post by youngbull on Jan 24, 2007 17:23:37 GMT -5
just b/c he's not shooting any new materials i would hope does not mean that there won't be any Lem flashbacks....there is always previously filmed material, and that is probably why he is getting paid for the whole season, due them using his likness...kind of a royalty thing perhaps...
what do you guys think??
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Post by gardockisbeard on Jan 24, 2007 19:16:23 GMT -5
i dont kno... there might be a few lem flashbacks like there were w/ terry in s1, but those were just to let us get to know terry a little better, where as we already kno lem. but as for the mini-episode i guess thats airing online mid february? ...
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Post by ShootFirst on Jan 25, 2007 12:52:07 GMT -5
I guess anything new that comes out before the actual season starts is better than nothing.
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Post by chemikalman on Jan 25, 2007 13:19:21 GMT -5
The mini-episode of "The Shield" costs between $500,000 and $1 million to produce, compared to the $2.5 million full-episode cost. Dang, E, I told you not to ask for so much $! Good find, Murt. Guess I'll be drinkin' A-B products from now on.
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Post by murt1987 on Jan 26, 2007 11:20:02 GMT -5
I'll take the credit then eh, thanks :lol:
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Post by icy on Jan 26, 2007 18:05:44 GMT -5
I think this is bullshit. THE SHIELD should be aired on FX for all the fans to see with the beer commercials on the break. I have never seen any show or any group of fans jerked around and had their heads yanked so much as I have with this show. I know the cast and crew aren't selling out...it's those greedy fucks that can't get enough buck. WELL f*ck the corporate shit trying to impose this on us. I am not that kinda fan and I see through this crap. FX should make this mini episode available to ALL fans on the FX TV channel regardless of who their sponsor is. Hey, FX: Use one of your new guinea pig shows to mess with and have a little bit more respect for the show who helped make you what you are today. ENUF SAID. (Yes, I am a "Vic enabler". )
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hott
i wonder if they miss me.....
Posts: 29
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Post by hott on Jan 26, 2007 20:14:55 GMT -5
ha ha, this is funny!
Mr. Landgraf said. "Also, it's a gift to the fan. It's a way of not only giving them material that they wouldn't have otherwise gotten, but it's a way of reminding them where the story is and getting them reinvested in the show as we're leading up to the [season] premiere."
AS IF we'd need a reminder! and was anyone here really "uninvested" in the show. it will be more than a year when it comes back on again, and i haven't forgotten one damn thing!
but i'm glad they are doing this webisode..... hott
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Post by dtpollitt on Jan 31, 2007 0:54:51 GMT -5
I think this is bullshit. THE SHIELD should be aired on FX for all the fans to see with the beer commercials on the break. I have never seen any show or any group of fans jerked around and had their heads yanked so much as I have with this show. I know the cast and crew aren't selling out...it's those greedy fucks that can't get enough buck. WELL f*ck the corporate shit trying to impose this on us. I am not that kinda fan and I see through this crap. FX should make this mini episode available to ALL fans on the FX TV channel regardless of who their sponsor is. Hey, FX: Use one of your new guinea pig shows to mess with and have a little bit more respect for the show who helped make you what you are today. ENUF SAID. (Yes, I am a "Vic enabler". ) Oh, how I've missed you, icy. So, so much.
First, THE SHIELD has used Budweiser (paid or unpaid) since 1x01 when the guys were drinking around the pool and Terry's "cherry was popped". So, whether or not it was intentional, the Strike Team HAS drank Bud before and this fits in just fine in the world of THE SHIELD (as opposed to a connection with ZIMA, Absolut Peppar, or other random alcohol connection).
Second, I think this is a fantastic pairing. Marketing exists - deal with it - and luckily AB is smart enough to realize that THE SHIELD + a heavy 18-35 year old MALE fan base + beer = good. I'm no television expert, but I think the 18-35 demographic is amongst the most coveted in all of TV. Not to exclude our female population (icy, .:E:.), but males definitely make up the biggest chunk of this show's viewers.
Third, without this, we would not receive whatever information this episode is going to provide. You know it's going to be a "tight" episode - minimal fillers, lots of Grade A+ quality jokes, and good Lem reminiscing moments - are sure to make this 15 or 30 minute episode of the highest standards. If you did see last year's RESCUE ME's mini-episode, it was fantastic. I don't think of this as a marketing scheme (everything in our world is, face it) as much as I do think of it as another opportunity to see into the world of THE SHIELD a bit more.
Fourth, I would argue fans of THE SOPRANOS or FIREFLY have been jerked around MUCH more than THE SHIELD fans have. The former has waited two years for new episodes, whereas FIREFLY (1) had episodes aired OUT OF ORDER and (2) was canceled way before it should have been.
I just registered for bud.tv.
--Dan
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Post by -|E|- on Feb 1, 2007 10:41:32 GMT -5
Aw, Dan... I've missed ya. I've seen Vic and the guys drink more Corona Extra than anything else, actually.
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Post by dtpollitt on Feb 3, 2007 16:50:51 GMT -5
Aw, Dan... I've missed ya. I've seen Vic and the guys drink more Corona Extra than anything else, actually. Yeah, you're probably right, mostly Corona Extra, but I think they have guzzled quite a bit of Budweiser, too. Ever notice how every premiere/finale of NIP/TUCK is sponsored by Heineken??
Dan
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Post by jenandmike on Feb 14, 2007 19:51:04 GMT -5
i just went to BUD.TV and watched the mini-episode, I loved it. I dont want to give too much away but it goes from present time to flashbacks it was about 15 minutes long, quality wasnt the best but it was still awesome to new Shield!!!!!
Jen
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Post by Jan El Señor on Jun 16, 2008 23:54:19 GMT -5
I've just re-watched all of The Shield since I got the new DVDs. I've seen the Promosode a few times. But on my new setup, E's appearance just popped off the screen! Good stuff....
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Post by -|E|- on Jun 17, 2008 10:26:50 GMT -5
I can't tell you how freakin cool it feels to be "immortalized" on DVD! And in an ep of my favorite show, no less!!! ;D Kurt Sutter will always be my hero for inviting us to be a part of the crowd scene... ::swoon::
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