According to TeeVee, Easy to Assemble has signed
a deal for a one-week exclusive on each of the remaining nine episodes of the show’s first season, to be released every Monday as [CBS’s TV.com]’s first original scripted series.TV.com is not paying a licensing fee, but rather offering promotion to a television-loving audience who Bannister hopes will understand the show’s I Love Lucy jokes and like the show enough to prompt IKEA to pay for a second season. Bannister said it’s worth giving up that window in order to get away from “fighting for exposure on YouTube.” (You can find the series on TV.com here where it is (sniff) not embeddable and preceeded by a pre-roll ad.)
What intestest me in this article is the question of whether the series is actually advertising.
It does sound a bit odd, right? TV.com running what is basically an IKEA ad?“I don’t think this is advertising,” is Bannister’s explanation. “For branded entertainment to succeed, it has to get away from overly controlled, overly shilling thing.” The ultimate goal for Easy to Assemble, he said, is to make more episodes — but not to get on TV, where the show’s offbeat storytelling might be constrained.
I don't believe Easy to Assemble is advertising. Although I have problems with the series creatively, I don’t mind that IKEA is funding it all. In fact, if IKEA’s intention is to make me think they are cool brand, I do. I like any brand that provides resources and creative freedom. And I think Illeana Douglas is a genius. She can serve her theme with integrity even though it is set inside an IKEA store. In fact, she's been noodling with this story for years; what happens when a famous woman goes to work in a retail setting. Now, IKEA is helping her do it, but letting her have creative control. Is there an artist out there who can imagine a better setup?
I did criticize that first episode. I wish Illeana had assembled her thoughts a little more before turning the camera on. The episode is aimless, it has no structure, no discipline and very little comedy. Not to mention that there was a total lack of that fame theme that I'd been expecting. What it needed most was a script.
But Illeana took the time to comment, asking for some patience and I realized that I am too harsh. My expectations are high and few web series are living up to them. I think I am asking too much.
This is a medium in its infancy. We have so little experience creating scripted drama on the net. No one knows how to do it yet, we're all guessing, all experimenting.
In the early days of TV, we pointed a camera at stage plays and called it television. It may not have been what we now think of as great television, but people came and watched and enjoyed. Eventually, we learned. But the truth is that the true genius we've watched on tv is all experimental: Larry Sanders, The Wire, Sopranos, Mad Men. And most of it the result of trusting creative people to do their thing.
We've got a ways to go with digital media. But we’ll get there.
Especially with friends like IKEA, PEAK FREANS, BURGER KING, ACURA and all the other brands supporting innovative creative on the web. You rock.
