{"id":263,"date":"2012-02-09T00:16:33","date_gmt":"2012-02-09T05:16:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/?p=263"},"modified":"2012-02-09T00:16:33","modified_gmt":"2012-02-09T05:16:33","slug":"could-niche-audience-could-find-love-in-a-hopeless-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/?p=263","title":{"rendered":"Could Niche Audience Could Find Love in a Hopeless Place?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Could Rev <\/em>survive on American television? It\u2019s a completely valid question because the series features a Reverend unlike any might see in the states. In the unique episode we viewed, the Reverend digresses into somewhat of a gross character, becoming a man who smokes, drinks, and seems to lack a faith in God.\u00a0 In class, we discussed the possible lack of success the show would find if aired in America, but I would beg to differ. While it may be a stretch and advertisers might not love it, I think American television is the place where niche audiences are served in every realm.<\/p>\n

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One claim is that the character of the Reverend is too off-putting, but I counter this argument with the character of Frank on It\u2019s Always Sunny in Philadelphia<\/em>. If you are unfamiliar, Frank may currently be one of the grossest characters on cable television. If he was only short and stout, I would find nothing too alarming about him, but it is the fact that his physical shape is played up to a character where one can seem to smell his natural body odor from the television. Yet, I love him and a small audience across the country love him as well.\u00a0 He makes us cringe and he lacks any and all morals, yet because he is so bizarre we cannot help but watch to see what he does next. I found the exact same feeling arise in me when I watched the Reverends character progress on screen. Initially, he is a man of God- a seemingly likeable character, but then he transitions to a man where, like Frank, by the end of the episode one may be able to smell his apparent lack of hygiene just from watching the episode. But I believe it is wild and different characters like Frank and the Reverend that hook niche (and weird) audiences into shows like Rev <\/em>which is one reason I believe the show would garner a fan base.<\/p>\n

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Another valid point brought up in class was the idea that British television, and Rev<\/em> in particular, could really make a viewer feel uncomfortable. I agree with this statement, but at the same time I also think this is why the show would find an audience in America. Again, It\u2019s Always Sunny in Philadelphia <\/em>makes a viewer feel uncomfortable at times because of the crude content, but shows such as The League<\/em>, Shameless, <\/em>and Eastbound and Down <\/em>also have a tendency to make a viewer watch something outrageous they would not otherwise tune into. Once again, these shows have all found success amongst smaller audiences in America, which is why I believe Rev <\/em>could join the league of shows like these.<\/p>\n

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Rev <\/em>will not air on broadcast anytime soon, but I think that some cable network, or perhaps a pay-cable station, would accept the challenge Rev <\/em>offers and find a particular fan club. It is a risky show with risky characters, but I think that is why some Americans like shows like that- it is out of the ordinary. Anyone can turn on The Big Bang Theory <\/em>(which I love, this is not a slant), but it takes someone ready for a bizarre change to embrace Rev <\/em>and the craziness of some British television.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Could Rev survive on American television? It\u2019s a completely valid question because the series features a Reverend unlike any might see in the states. In the unique episode we viewed, the Reverend digresses into somewhat of a gross character, becoming … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":579,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/579"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=263"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263\/revisions\/264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}