Yikes. While I’m one of the biggest fans of the commercials, and I never judge something until I see it or at least a clip, Cavemen looks like it may be yanked halfway through the first show. Especially if this clip is indicative of the writing. (It loads slow.) This comes off to me as dumbed-down with mostly different actors than the original commercials, and sorry, but they come off as buffoons in a way. That’s why the spots work though. Clever, understated dialogue and situations with modern cavemen playing against the inherent stereotype of a cavemen.Yes it’s pretend, get that, but people already believe cavemen are dumb, why take two steps back on the evolutionary scale and reinforce that notion with Everyone Loves Raymond broadstroke bullshit? Not to mention, the driver sounds like John Travolta. Losing the actors from the spots may have hurt as it was the only equity they had. Move it to cable where the writing can have the same edge the spots had. There you go. I’ll still wait for the final death roll until I see the actual pilot though.
(And if you have a sec, watch the series about Carpoolers. Worse than Cavemen, even though I couldn’t tell the difference. So bad it looks like they planted this show just to throw off the other networks as to just what their real show schedule will be. Jerry O’Connell’s in it so you know it’s doomed.)
(UPDATE: Tim at AdFreak points me to an SNL clip in a comment that’s actually funnier than the Cavemen trailer.)
(ANOTHER UPDATE: After our trip to Martin today, I think some of what’s been said about the show in the press is definitely at odds with what I heard, so I’m waiting until it airs. Can’t trust bloggers, can ya.)
Tags: Geico cavemen
5 comments:
I want my 38 seconds back.
They tried to ruin on of my favorite songs.
The copywriters at Martin must be pissed. See what happens when you do production by committee? PURE CRAP.
Jerry O'Connell. Man, I really don't like that guy one bit.
wow, what a waste of a perfectly good idea. They need to make them seem more upper-class/popped-collar. That was why their interactions with the rest of society that made the commercials so funny. This ruins that, its just a bunch of duechebags that need to shave.
it's a garbage idea sorry. the basic premise is that a group of people being offended is inherently funny. but the only group you can hold up to a group for ridicule and get away with it is if the group (a) has no clout to fight back (b) is fictional (c) approves of it.
cavemen were basically all three.
it worked for 30 secs. but it was a stretch. this was just always a bad idea.
Disagree right back at ya. ;-p
I need to reference SNL and Phil Hartman's Caveman lawyer character in general. SNL has the same problem many times going from their skits to feature-length. Sometimes they work, sometimes not.
Phil Hartman's original Caveman concept worked because it was taken for granted that cavemen just existed. As did the Conehead skit and eventual movie. So did the Geico spots. This trailer though keeps hammering home how people don't know cavemen are smart, etc. They shoulda played it like the spots. Hartman's skit worked well beyond a :30 format for this reason.
(I also don't see c) above that the Geico cavemen ever approved of their treatment, seems like that was one thing they were always sensitive about.)
This coulda worked too, but the execution did it in if the whole show ends up looking like that trailer.
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