'Genius Bar' TV Pilot

[JoshH]

I hate abrecombrie & Fritch.

Agreed. That place turns my stomach.

I'll be surprised if Apple lets this working title through. Wouldn't they have some trademarks registered for the name "Genius Bar." It's not like the title of the show is a sly nod and wink to the Apple stores... they copied it straight.

And as a huge fan of "The Office," that's the show I first thought of, too. I think that without that show leading the way, they're be no "Genius Bar."

 

[sparks9]

Why is this on macrumors?

 

[kingtj]

They'll learn soon enough....

When they go to the local CompUSA customer service counter and try to ask questions about their applications or computer they bought a year or two earlier - they'll quickly resort to calling it the "idiot bar".

Using the phrase, "Genius Bar" will make it a household word, (like iPod). People who do not know that the Genius Bar is a unique part of the Apple experience may get the idea that every peece store in every mall has a genius bar. The same way I hear people calling their generic MP3 player an iPod. For the most part, they don't know there is a difference, and aren't willing to learn about why the real thing is better.

 

[bobbyuggles]

6...

... episodes.... tops.

It's a good concept for a movie, but after you have exhausted the obvious jokes, you're left with (at best) another relationship show... i.e. lovecom.

 

[extraextra]

The co-founder of Apple was on the Colbert Report last night but that isn't front page news.

?! Was this a rerun? Because new episodes of the Colbert Report only come on Mon-Thurs.

It could work, you never know. Friends was basically, ""6 friends living in New York," and it did spectacularly well. As others have said, it all depends on the writing.

 

[ThunderLounge]

Interesting concept idea, but zelmo said it best. It will have to create an interest in the characters.

Everyone is looking for the next "Friends", "Seinfeld", etc, and it could be possible with this type of set-up. Not to say it wouldn't flop, it does indeed come down to writing. If it was something that blended together an "Office Space" type humor, with a "Seinfeld" character/life interest, it might work. However, they will definitely have an interesting time plots.

Since "Genius Bar" is the working pilot title, I would expect it to change. The downside is if it spoofs on Apple, and tries to make it a running joke. The upside would be if they purchased the rights to use Apple's TM's in a positive, yet subtle, product push.

After all, they're going to have to have some kind of machines in the "store". However it might be a high price to pull off the usage of Apple's TM's. Then again, maybe not as expensive as one would think if it would translate into a subtle 30 minutes of positive product exposure.

Time will tell I guess, but here's to a hope of it being done right. Else if they want to make fun of a computer, there's plenty of PC's to choose from and their "OS" provides an almost endless supply of jokes.

 

[nemaslov]

commerical free?

I for one would find it interesting and funny to watch someone trying to restore a frozen iPod for thirty minutes. Also another episode of a plethora of iPod purchasers returning their iPods because "Apple" just released a newer and better one.

Every one could wear black turtlenecks

 

[Doctor Q]

We've seen over and over again that you can't predict the success of a TV show from a brief synopsis. It depends more on the talent of the writers, the actors, the production values, the timeslot, the amount of good/bad publicity it gets, and plain old-fashioned luck.

I predict this show will have a running gag where people come into the "Apple" store saying their laptop case is too big, and the geniuses will say "just cinch it!"

 

[edcrosay]

They should put the pilot on ITMS (or is it ITS now?) to give it some pre-publicity.
This actually sounds like an alright concept. I liked That 70s Show (except for the last season) and, although it's not the smartest comedy in the world, its a show you can just pick up and watch whenever.

 

[sonnys]

This is SO doomed to fail. I'm certain that Apple was approached in the early stages to underwrite some part of the effort in order to put its name out there, and no doubt Apple saw nothing redeaming about having its name associated with this series. 'Nuff said.

 

[pianoman]

i'd watch it to see if it's any good. CBS has a few good comedies (i'll admit i like "two and a half men") and this seems like an interesting idea. as said earlier, though, it'll all depend on the writing.

 

[risc]

<cough>rip off of the BBCs The IT Crowd</cough>

This just sounds like it will be an Americanised version of The IT Crowd. Lets move the story from the IT Dept to a retail store and we can just copy the scripts like we did with The Office...

 

[WCat]

OK, bring on the "computer geek" stereotypes!

I'll also bet you all 50 cents there will be a "Kelso" good-looking-idiot-type character featured prominently.

MoronTV

 

[Doctor Q]

OK, bring on the "computer geek" stereotypes!

Some of us computer geeks don't mind our image (smart but clueless, badly dressed, poor at romance, inept at sports, etc.). We spread those jokes ourselves and laugh along with everyone else.

In fact, the time I feel most comfortable making fun of people as a group is when I'm part of the group (men, programmers, Californians, etc.). A show that exaggerates the stereotype wouldn't bother me at all.

I like the show "Monk" because I have some of the same bad habits that the series pokes fun at. They exaggerate and that makes it all the more fun

 

[kadajawi]

one thing we know for sure is that if it is successful FOX will cancel it after one season as it does with all its other decent shows..... they need to make room for shows like "When Goldfish Attack"

Yeah, if FOX would show the show, then yes. *cough* Firefly *cough*

I think it has some potential...

 

[alec]

did anyone read the synopsis? this is a show based on the interaction of people at a computer store and the people at an A&F. which means gary the nerd falls hard for the cheerleader babe but is unaware that someone of such pathetic social stature should be picking his fruit from the bottom of the tree!

ps i hope someone gets caught masturbating on an isight

 

[CEAbiscuit]

Why is this on macrumors?

Great question. Why?

 

[Doctor Q]

Great question. Why?

It should be obvious. It is of interest to some in the Apple community. If it's not of interest to you, we have plenty of other threads you can post in.

 

[macb]

Using the phrase, "Genius Bar" will make it a household word, (like iPod). People who do not know that the Genius Bar is a unique part of the Apple experience may get the idea that every peece store in every mall has a genius bar. The same way I hear people calling their generic MP3 player an iPod. For the most part, they don't know there is a difference, and aren't willing to learn about why the real thing is better.

Right.

So the smart thing for Apple to do is to sue the network. Cause the last thing they want is free publicity.

(Don't ask me why, I'm just basing this on recent behavior.)

 

[mackiwi]

casting

It would be cool if they get that guy from the apple TV ads to be in it. Maybe get the guy that plays PC too.

could be funny.

 

[technicolor]

His last name is menon, must mean meroms tuesday!

 

[SiliconAddict]

Stupid. Very stupid. I'd sooner watch reality TV.

 

[winmacguy]

are you kidding?

This show is going to suck. We all love apple here, but are we big enough dorks that we'll actually enjoy a tv show thats about the amazingly interesting happenings that go on at either abercrombie or the apple store. No. It's a stupid as hell idea. First episode Plot: What happens when Josh, the dorky apple store manager catches 2 of the abercrombie sales people making out in the stock room. He can't tell anyone, but he captures them on his isight and sends a capture of it to the store manager. Bla bla, damn that would be boring.

Agreed. That sort of thing would only really be funny to Mac users, even then it would be a bit of a stretch.

Some of us computer geeks don't mind our image (smart but clueless, badly dressed, poor at romance, inept at sports, etc.). We spread those jokes ourselves and laugh along with everyone else.

In fact, the time I feel most comfortable making fun of people as a group is when I'm part of the group (men, programmers, Californians, etc.). A show that exaggerates the stereotype wouldn't bother me at all.

I like the show "Monk" because I have some of the same bad habits that the series pokes fun at. They exaggerate and that makes it all the more fun

Monk is a very well written and acted show, as was the English version of 'The Office"

 

[winmacguy]

Why is this on macrumors?

Do you understand the meaning of the words "Mac" and "Rumor" ?

 

[mac-er]

Maybe, but CBS is the one pursuing it. Unless they sell it to Time Warner (which owns CW) it wouldn't end up there. I guess it could end up on MTV though, since Viacom owns CBS (and Paramount Pictures).

Ah, the joys of media ownership.

Viacom doesn't own CBS anymore.

CBS Corporation now owns the CBS Radio network, CBS-TV, Paramount TV and half of the CW network.

Viacom owns CMT, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, MTV, Paramount Pictures, VH1, etc.

Viacom was originally founded in 1971 (split from the original CBS Corporation), it was reincorporated in 1986, and the current Viacom was spun off (re-founded) from CBS Corporation (which is, formally, the 1986 Viacom renamed) on January 1, 2006. (from Wikipedia)