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Post a Comment On: Steve Sailer: iSteve

"The Final Word on the "Kid Whisperer""

22 Comments -

1 – 22 of 22
Anonymous Bill said...

The strangest thing is that Disney is using middle-aged women to try to understand what adolescent boys like.

MSNBC has been trying to enhance men's interest by setting up a sort of men's "lifestyle" feature. Guess who they put in charge. A woman, of course.

4/14/09, 1:58 PM

Anonymous testing99 said...

That's because entertainment is a gay-female ghetto. They can't even begin to figure out what men and boys like. It would be like asking them to understand Kalahari Bushmen.

No, scratch that. Kalahari Bushmen are SWPL. Primitive tribesmen dancing around "authentically" are ground zero for gay/female SWPL status games.

4/14/09, 2:36 PM

Blogger Danindc said...

Steve, I have always maintained this was the best Simpson's episode ever....scary....I always knew we were on the same comedic wavelength. How about Homer at the end where he talks about how it all went wrong because he lost "creative control"- for a brief moment you think Homer said something insightful and self aware but then he follows it up with "and then I forgot to ask them for any money....well; live and learn"....pure genius

4/14/09, 2:56 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is great, though so dead-on accurate in its portrayal of focus group and marketing buzzword-driven entertainment executives that it's not really parody. The Monorail episode is slightly better, though, IMO.

Also, Disney TV is kind of hosed because their brand identity is so completely girly. They spun off Jetix from Toon Disney a few years back to carve out a more boy-friendly space, but it hasn't really taken off.

Rival Cartoon Network is much more a boy destination with its superhero shows and Adult Swim block for hip older brothers and dads.

And Nickelodeon has managed to have girly shows like iCarly without tainting the whole brand by running powerhouse animated comedies like Spongebob that appeal to both genders and a smattering of boy-oriented action adventures and anime imports.

Steve is right, though, that it's no big secret what Disney needs to do to lure boys back-- greenlight a couple of good action or superhero shows that aren't girl-oriented like Kim Possible. This is a little more difficult for Disney because most of their properties that they could spin off (Little Mermaid, et al) are themselves pretty girly. I don't know-- maybe an animated Pirates of the Caribbean?

4/14/09, 3:55 PM

Anonymous anony-mouse said...

Er, wasn't it a female-led Mattel that created 'GI Joe', the first ever 'action figure' (ie doll for boys).

4/14/09, 4:22 PM

Blogger michael farris said...

I love Poochie .... there! I said it!!!!!! And I'm not ashamed. I keep hoping they'll explain what the crisis on his homeworld was....

Anyway, in the current political climate I don't think a pirate show is a good bet. In fact the current political climate means they're trying to attract boy viewers without having any of the things that traditionally US boys enjoy. I was pretty far from a typical little boy but my favorite kids shows revolved around monsters, adventures and kids having adventures (I hated kid sidekicks though).

They're trying to attract boy viewers with shows that don't have anything that most boys (and some girls) traditionally enjoy watching .... rotsa ruck.

4/14/09, 4:41 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

That was a good episode, but not as good as The Father, The Son and The Holy Guest Star.

4/14/09, 4:59 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anony-mouse, GI Joe was Hasbro, not Mattel, and he was created by Stan Weston. Weston was trying to make a male version of Barbie--something military that boys would like. Creative director at Hasbro Don Levine approved the doll; Hasbro was owned by the Hassenfeld brothers.

4/14/09, 6:18 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

My three boys, ages 6-10, watch Cartoon Network almost exclusively except when they migrate to Nicktoons to watch Spongebob, Avatar, and a few others. They consider shows on Disney either for babies or girls.

They also love to watch various Discovery Channel shows such as Destroyed in Seconds, Deadliest Catch, Dirty Jobs, and Mythbusters.

Disney should look into making shows with talking animals if they want to score with young boys - my kids love the Buddies movies and Cats and Dogs is a family favorite.

4/14/09, 6:23 PM

Anonymous silver said...

Er, wasn't it a female-led Mattel that created 'GI Joe', the first ever 'action figure' (ie doll for boys).There's a difference. Action figures aren't just dolls. They can only exist in context. Take the context away and the action figure gets binned. That's why you could never pass off a Ken doll in a military outfit as an 'action figure' -- no kid would ever buy into it. Trust me, an elderly aunt tried to pull this stunt on me once with some no name "android" thing. Who the hell is this guy supposed to be, I wondered, and never touched it again.

"Dolls," on the other hand, can come without any context, because the girls that play with them provide the context themselves. The difference, then, is what boys and girls imagine themselves to be doing when playing with 'dolls'/'action figures'. If you doubt it, try shifting from 'action figures' to 'army men' (the little figurines) to 'table-top gaming' etc.

4/14/09, 7:10 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Steve-O,

Why do you keep censoring my suggestion that Ms. Pena simply give her Powerpoint on the Disney Channel without her shirt? Guaranteed market dominance in the 12-year old male demographic.

You can't HANDLE the truth, Steve!

--Senor Doug

4/14/09, 7:34 PM

Anonymous David Davenport said...

What's strange to me is that the bosses at a big firm such as Disney let their personal tastes override more venal but clever and Machiavellian business judgment.

It confirms my suspicion that much of American business, as well as academia and government, really is run by fools.

4/14/09, 7:47 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Outer space, dinosaurs, aggressive sports, crime fighting heroes, and big shiny metal things that make loud noises. Jesus, it's that simple.

4/14/09, 8:03 PM

OpenID ironrailsironweights said...

Disney actually may have done the right thing in selecting a woman to lead the research project. Women are perceived as less threatening than men, so a woman will have an easier time convincing parents to give her access to their children. Perhaps a male researcher would have fairly easy access if he presented Disney company credentials to parents, but that's not an option because the research is not identified as being conducted for Disney.

Peter

4/14/09, 8:10 PM

Anonymous i am the walrus said...

The Simpsons was a great show, but the current king of comedy is The Onion.

Disney Geneticists Debut New Child StarsMedia Having Trouble Finding Right Angle On Obama's Double-Homicide

4/14/09, 8:19 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

"RALPH: (with knob in mouth) My knob tastes funny.

MAN: Please refrain from tasting the knob."

These lines make the scence doubly funny if your British. I have no idea if Americans use knob for a certain part of the male anatomy.

I love this episode, it probably ranks alongside the chilli/space coyote episode.

"doll for boys"

I would suggest that action figures are sort of upgraded toy soldiers so a doll for boys.

4/14/09, 8:31 PM

Anonymous Lucius Vorenus said...

Anonymous: Outer space, dinosaurs, aggressive sports, crime fighting heroes, and big shiny metal things that make loud noises. Jesus, it's that simple.Uh, for the older boys, you might wanna throw in some smokin' hot lesbian vampires.

Although, in a pinch, Julie Newmar as Catwoman would do the trick - and I certainly wouldn't object to an afternoon with Diana Rigg as Emma Peel.

Heck, for that matter, I wouldn't object to Ginger & Mary Ann, either.

4/14/09, 9:07 PM

Anonymous Lucius Vorenus said...

i am the walrus: Media Having Trouble Finding Right Angle On Obama's Double-Homicide
That one wasn't funny - it cut a little too close to the bone [no pun intended].

4/14/09, 9:14 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

If someone wanted to create the perfect show for boys I imagine it would look a lot like Army of Darkness.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_of_Darkness

4/14/09, 9:26 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
"If someone wanted to create the perfect show for boys I imagine it would look a lot like Army of Darkness."

Spot on. I would've LOVED an Army of Darkness TV show when I was 10.

4/14/09, 10:15 PM

Blogger Slampo said...

Poochie the Dog With Attitude ... exactly who came to mind when reading the NYT article. You're on the ball, man---got your finer right on it!

4/15/09, 11:40 AM

Anonymous Epicurean said...

Bill:
The strangest thing is that Disney is using middle-aged women to try to understand what adolescent boys like.It's much the same problem the comics industry had in the 1970s, when it nearly tanked. It was run by (male) 45-year-old New Yorkers who were wondering why they were losing young readership. The fact that Kansas kids didn't use words like "swell", "groovy", or "meshugginah" was only part of the problem.

4/17/09, 11:21 AM

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