Friday, June 03, 2005

Out of the Early Majority

As most of you know, I just graduated with a marketing degree. One fundamental concept in marketing is target markets and market segments. People who adopt new products or ideas before most people know about them are innovators, followed by early adopters, early majority, late majority, and finally laggards. I have recently realized that when it comes to good television shows, I tend to stick to the early or late majority while my best friends are all early adopters. They all see a commercial for a new show and immediately start watching it from the first episode. I guess I usually wait a while so I don't waste my time on a show that isn't good, but I find myself dismissing shows that I eventually love and feeling really stupid for mocking the show in the past. Here are a few prime examples:

- America's Next Top Model: I made fun of Lindsey SO much for watching this show until I got the flu and caught the VH1 marathon last february. I now love it so much that I Tivo'd the 1st season marathon that happened yesterday.

- Survivor: Once again, mocked the Weaver's for watching Season 1 until Patty forced me to watch the 1st episode of season 2 after the superbowl. I've been hooked ever since.

- Amazing Race: Never made fun of anyone, but just didn't really desire to watch it. Now I love it.

- Bachelor/Bachelorette: refused to watch the first 2 seasons, then started loving it, now wishing I had stuck with my original evaluation.

- Gilmore Girls: Thought it sounded stupid. Now I know it is one of the best shows on television

- Alias: I know you're probably shocked to see this one on the list, but Patty tried to get me to watch it for a while and it wasn't until last year when my roommates rented the DVDs that I started watching it at all!

- Last Comic Standing: refused to watch season 1, friends got me started on season 2 and now I wish they would keep going with it!

- Grey's Anatomy: I have watched this since the first episode, but I am putting it on the list because there is no way I would have ever watched this on my own if people around me hadn't just turned it on. But I was not excited about watching it.

I think I do this because when just spoken, the premise of ANY show sounds ridiculous and kinda stupid, but when they are actually on screen, they end up being good. The point of all of this is that Entertainment Weekly just listed a line-up of some of the new shows starting next season. Right now not one of them sounds good to me at all. One is about 4400 people that were abducted by aliens coming back to save the world and most of the others follow suit. But I have decided that I am going to start giving new shows a chance to prove themselves (so Lindsey, I will be watching The Cut with you at first....) so that I don't feel so dumb when I end up loving them later. If anyone wants to join me in my new show marathon, give me a call and we'll get together next fall to start my ascent out of the early majority.

3 comments:

Lindsey said...

Yay! You know The Cut is going to rule! I wonder if he will bring on his daughter Allie Hilfiger from the short lived MTV show "Rich Girls" that I absolutely loved!

Jenn said...

i know!!!! i was COMPLETELY in love with the rich girls! i wish they had made up so there could have been more!!!!
p.s. did ya'll ever watch the osbornes? ummm, just, ummmm wondering, i mean, i never did, nope, never watched it, never, just wondering if you did, so, uh, did ya? tee hee hee

Emily said...

Ok, I was a VERY big Osbournes fan...yet another one that I made fun of until my brother made me watch an episode. I think Ozzy and Sharon are really good parents...I was shocked!