Social Question

erichw1504's avatar

What's the deal with these TV shows based off of websites?

Asked by erichw1504 (26448points) October 6th, 2010

Seems like $#*! My Dad Says has started a trend. The show based off of the Twitter account, Shit My Dad Says, has TV execs pushing for more series like this. First there was news about the Twitter account shhdonttellsteve becoming a show, now there’s this news about Awkward Family Photos also trying out a TV version.

What is going on with our world? Do you think this will only get worse? Will a TV show based off of something from the internet ever be great?

What website or something on the web do you think would make an amazing TV show?

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13 Answers

GeorgeGee's avatar

The phrase you might be looking for is “if you can’t beat them, join them.”
TV has been losing market share to web surfing and social networking, so they figure if they make TV look more like these, they’ll win their audience back. Similarly Newspapers have lost most of their market share to the web, and so they try things like having interactive bar codes embedded in the newspaper to compete… “You think you’re so special, Mr. Website? Well we have point and click too!”
http://mashable.com/2008/01/29/google-barcode-ads/

mrentropy's avatar

I think there’s an amazing lack of imagination in Hollywood, combined with an amazing lack of guts to try different and new things, unless “new” means copying something else that’s become popular.

Cruiser's avatar

TV as we once knew it is dying a slow death. They have no choice but to try and adapt to this vast media wasteland being pawned off as entertainment.

CMaz's avatar

Just like re mixing and sampling ruined the music industry.

The internet has give everyone their 15 minutes of fame. Crappy fame.

Simone_De_Beauvoir's avatar

I think it’s an inevitable interaction. Besides I enjoy both of those on the websites, why not on TV?

phaedryx's avatar

Which website would make an amazing TV show? Fluther of course!

It would be a situation comedy. The main plot would revolve around the fluther staff and their wacky adventures. The secondary plot would revolve around a question asked on fluther and in the end it would turn out that the two are related!

Example:

Andrew and Ben checking on a friend’s (Janet’s) house who has been on vacation. They notice that the refrigerator is off. Upon inspection they see that it is unplugged, so they plug it back in, not realizing that everything in it has spoiled. They leave a note under a seashell in the kitchen advising her get her swimming pool cleaned. They notice that Janet’s computer is running an old version of Windows and it prompts an argument about file systems.

Tim is out with his girlfriend and gets a phone call from Ben who has a computer question. All the girlfriend overhears is “FAT” and “32”. Because she is about to turn 32, she thinks that Tim is talking about her. She starts worrying about her weight and decides get back in shape by training for a marathon.

Cameron is at the grocery store buying milk. He looks over at a father and son shopping together. He mentions to the father that the son looks familiar, holding up the carton of milk with a picture of the son on it. The father panics and decides to go on the run.

Cameron picks up his girlfriend after shopping. They have a discussion about how much milk a person can drink at a time. She claims she could drink an entire carton without ill-effects; Cameron is doubtful. She decides to prove it by chugging the milk he just bought. For emphasis, she throws the empty carton out the window. It lands in front of Janet’s house.

Cameron’s girlfriend is looking sick. She tries to put on a brave face, but digestion isn’t going well. Eventually she pukes out the window and it hits the father who Cameron met in the grocery store. The father decides that he needs to go home to get showered and different clothes before he goes on the run.

Janet gets home from vacation. She sees the empty milk carton and picks it up to throw it away inside. She listens to her phone messages. A friend is thinking of running a marathon and wonders if Janet will run with her. She almost throws the milk carton away, but then she does a double-take. The missing boy featured on the carton looks like a neighbor child who has been living next door for the last 3 years. Janet calls the police and they arrest her neighbor. She then gets some fermented juice out the fridge and accidentally gets drunk off of it. She then notices the note that Andrew left under the shell. She is about to call them to thank them for house-sitting, but thinks she might wake him up, so decides to PM him on fluther instead, but accidentally asks a question…

erichw1504's avatar

@phaedryx Holy crap, who are you?! That was the most amazing answer I’ve seen in months!

aprilsimnel's avatar

It’s just like movies based off books, or TV shows based off movies. The internet can be just another sources of stories.

Austinlad's avatar

Three words: Dearth of creativity.

phaedryx's avatar

@erichw1504 thanks, I love the frizzer question

Drewseph's avatar

Companies are running out of ideas while us regular people are getting more ideas, so they have to steal ours and ruin them…

phaedryx's avatar

Retcon to earlier answer: @augustlan was also there with them, the whole time

:)

Aesthetic_Mess's avatar

The only way I could see Awkward Family Photos working out is if each episode is based around a photo. The episode would follow the family (or actors of the family) and tell a humorous plot that led up to the photo.

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