LOS ANGELES – When taped remarks from Roy Horn were played for a recent gathering in New York, the Las Vegas magician recovering from a near-fatal tiger mauling was met with respectful silence.
Silence, too, greeted what followed in the NBC sales presentation to Madison Avenue: Clips of “Father of the Pride,” an animated comedy based on Horn and partner Siegfried Fischbacher’s act, failed to draw laughs.
In a New York minute, bad buzz had started humming for one of NBC’s highest-profile fall series.
“‘King of the Pride’ is DOA,” was the headline (getting the show’s name wrong) the following day (May 18) in an online newsletter distributed by industry analyst Jack Myers.
“The animated series was in far worse shape” than Horn, Myers wrote, “and the reaction of NBC’s advertising clients was so negative that it’s unlikely the program will last on NBC’s schedule.”
In assessing advertiser response to new series, USA Today reported last week that “Joey,” NBC’s “Friends” spinoff, could strike gold but that several unidentified media buyers had doubts about “Father of the Pride.”
The comedy represents a high-stakes gamble as part of the prime-time animation genre that, aside from a few Fox shows like “The Simpsons,” has largely flopped. It’s also costly, at up to a reported $2.5 million per episode.
NBC isn’t conceding any weakness in the series or its chances of success, according to Jeff Zucker, president of the NBC Universal Television Group.
But he acknowledged a marketing misstep at the annual “upfront” presentation, which allows media-buying firms and advertisers to peek at new series before placing preseason orders for ad time.
“I think we did a very poor job of putting the clips together at the upfront, and I think that didn’t work, and that was our fault,” he told The Associated Press. “But the fact is that anyone who has seen the show as a whole … the reaction is fantastic.”
“Father of the Pride” has been touted by NBC and producer DreamWorks SKG as a breakthrough in computer-generated animation for TV and a key part of NBC’s fall schedule. It’s taking over the 9 p.m. Tuesday time slot vacated by the recently ended “Frasier.”
The pedigree for “Father of the Pride” is impeccable: DreamWorks is the studio behind “Shrek 2,” the animated film setting box-office records as it more than repeats the success of the original.
The TV comedy is an edgy, satirical take on Siegfried and Roy, their Las Vegas stage act and the notion that their show animals lead routine domestic lives with a touch of Vegas kitsch.
The “stars” are easygoing Larry the white lion, voiced by John Goodman; his sensible mate Kate (Cheryl Hines of “Curb Your Enthusiasm”), their two offspring and Kate’s overbearing dad (Carl Reiner). Siegfried and Roy are voiced by Julian Holloway and Dave Herman.
On a recent visit to DreamWorks, a reporter was shown laugh-provoking snippets of the show, which hopes to capture advertiser-favored 18-to-49-year-old viewers more than youngsters.
When Larry and Kate confront their teenage daughter after finding drugs – catnip – in her room, she claims innocence and snaps angrily: “Maybe it’s Siegfried and Roy’s. That would definitely explain the outfits.”
Segments of the animated TV comedy shown to the media, to ad buyers at early development sessions and to the public for research have been well-received, Zucker said.
Whatever the advertising community’s perspective may be, the final decision is made by a larger and more influential group, Zucker maintained.
“At the end of the day, it’s the viewers that matter,” he said. “It’s the viewers who ultimately make the decision.”
Associated Press
Sierra (left) Sarmoti and Kate are characters in “Father of the Pride.”
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