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CBS Considers "Genius Bar" TV Series

CBS Considers "Genius Bar" TV Series

by , 9:45 AM EDT, October 2nd, 2006

CBS plans to shoot a pilot episode for a sit-com style show called Genius Bar. According to Reuters, the series centers on the interactions between employees at the customer help bar in an Apple-esque store and the employees at a near by Abercrombie & Fitch-style store.

The show concept comes from two former That 70's Show producers, Josh Sternin and Jeff Ventimilia, and consumer marketing expert Krishnan Menon. ABC and NBC also showed interest in the series, but ultimately the CBS bid won out.

There is no word yet on when filming for the pilot episode will begin, or if CBS has firm plans to add it to its programming line up.

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Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:Edison Carter Posts: 228 Joined: 10 Aug 2006
Subject: pod?

Hmmm, considering how Apple feels about the word "pod" I wonder if this show would fall into the same category.

Close Name:nealg Posts: 123 Joined: 22 Mar 2006
Subject: Good news...

for Apple if it does get made into a series but it isn't anything that I would watch.

Neal

Close Name:Guest
Subject:

The biggest issue with this is that Apple has a registered "service mark" (same thing as a trade mark, but for a service not a product) on "Genius Bar." Therefore, any use by that term by CBS for a show is likely to result in a C&D letter from Apple unless some sort of agreement has already been reached.

If there is no agreement yet, you have to balance the possible bad publicity from C&D'ing this show to the potential damage to Apple's service mark that a show that (possibly) portrays Genius Bar employees in a bad/negative light would do to their "brand".

IF there is an agreement, it probably relates to whether or not there can be "negative" portrayal of Apple or Apple employees in the show.

Close Name:Guest
Subject:

isnt CBS owned by Disney?

Close Name:Substance Posts: 32 Joined: 21 Sep 2004
Subject:

Quote
Guest wrote:
isnt CBS owned by Disney?


That's ABC.

Hmm, a show coming from a "consumer marketing expert". I guess the line between fictional entertainment and infomercials is getting deceptively slim.

Close Name:Bosco Posts: 1002 Joined: 03 Jun 2002
Subject: I've seen the promotional material...

I have a friend in Hollywood who sent me a description from the pitch folder:
----------
Genius Bar will star Ted Danson as a former bar-owner and recovering alcoholic who goes to work as a "genius" at a computer retailer. Woody Harrelson will star opposite Danson as a bald, 45 year old habitual marijuana smoker who has the short term memory of a house fly. Rounding out the cast is Kirsty Alley, who plays the store manager and hangs out in the back room.

Two running gags ensure that viewers will laugh continually during each 30 minute episode. Although Danson is a recovering alcoholic and talks openly about being sober and going to weekly AA meetings, he keeps a bottle of premixed Mudslide in the cabinet below the genius bar, and ducks down for a sip or two after a particularly stressful genius session (which is most every genius session). Meanwhile, Harrelson has a poster of Ellen Fleiss on the wall opposite his genius station, so he can gaze at her throughout the day as he dreams of sparking up at his next break.
-------

Close Name:codebowl Posts: 10 Joined: 28 Aug 2006
Subject: Cheers cast

What is this return of Cheers?

Close Name:Edison Carter Posts: 228 Joined: 10 Aug 2006
Subject: Seeing as this is CBS

They should do a Survivor Island where one group has to use Windows computers and the other Macintosh.

Close Name:Guest
Subject:

Oh yeah. No way in hell is Apple going to let them use Apple's service mark for "Genius Bar" for this one. Portraying their employees as stoners and alcoholics? I expect a C&D any minute now....

Close Name:Brutno Posts: 198 Joined: 28 Aug 2002
Subject: Oops

Quote
Guest wrote:
Oh yeah. No way in hell is Apple going to let them use Apple's service mark for "Genius Bar" for this one. Portraying their employees as stoners and alcoholics? I expect a C&D any minute now....


You've just been "Boscoed".

Close Name:mrmgraphics Posts: 825 Joined: 05 Sep 2003
Subject: "Genius Bar" workers not cool and hip?

+

OK, this is disturbing. Every article I read about this pilot says the following, which was paraphrased in the TMO article:

Quote
Based on an idea by consumer marketing expert Krishnan Menon, the project explores the interactions between people who work at a place similar to the Genius Bar at the Apple stores and the cool, hip and beautiful employees at a nearby Abercrombie & Fitch-type store....


As sitcoms love to compare and contrast different characters, it would seem the premise behind the show is that A&F types are "cool, hip, and beautiful," while the Genius Bar types are...what? Geeky? Nerdy?

The whole point behind Apple stores was to bring hipness and coolness to a computer store. I'm betting, however, that "Genius Bar" will opt for easy laughs with the cool A&F employees contrasted with people working a Genius Bar that belongs far more to a Radio Shack than an Apple Store.

Close Name:hangtown Posts: 112 Joined: 03 Dec 2005
Subject: Re: "Genius Bar" workers not cool and hip?

Quote
mrmgraphics wrote:
+

OK, this is disturbing. Every article I read about this pilot says the following, which was paraphrased in the TMO article:


(snip)

If that's their idea of cool, hip, and beautiful people, then the less apple related people are associated with them, the better. My hatred of self-proclaimed beautiful people knows no bounds.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: No way is Apple gonna let this fly

They will not allow CBS to do a show about computer geeks called Genius Bar- not in a trillion years. There is no other connotation to Genius Bar than Apple's usage.

Close Name:Jonkun227 Posts: 238 Joined: 02 Mar 2004
Subject:

Oh, come on. A&F as the ditzy, "beautiful" people and the Apple Store employees as the intelligent, real people.

Keep in mind that Apple is extremely popular right now. You don't have to look very far to see that the so-called "halo effect" is far reaching and effective. Not everyone likes the iPod, but most do. Especially those in the entertainment business. You know, the people who make TV shows?

CBS will want to sell episodes on iTunes. Think Apple would let them if it was detrimental?

A&F is not that popular anymore. I'm often surprised that their stores are still around. Most attention is now on Buckle and other stores. A&F was popular a decade ago, and into this decade, but their popularity is declining while Apple's is rising exponentially.


Chances of the show portraying Apple in a conventionally negative way: 5%.
Chances of the show being positive toward Apple: 84%.
Chances that the show will be awkward because they want to reference Apple but can't directly: 11%.


- Jon


P.S. All figures were determined by a precise mathematical formula that I retrieved from a magic portal located in the vicinity of my back pocket. So don't buy stock based on my theories. See Bosco for that.

Close Name:iJack Posts: 313 Joined: 13 Jun 2001
Subject:

[quote="Substance"]

Quote
Guest wrote:
isnt CBS owned by Disney?

CBS is owned by General Electric

Close Name:JimWCB Posts: 301 Joined: 29 Aug 2002
Subject:

[quote="iJack"]

Quote
Substance wrote:
Quote
Guest wrote:
isnt CBS owned by Disney?

CBS is owned by General Electric


GE owns NBC.

Viacom owns CBS.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: It all started with the term "geek"

During the dot-com era some of us computer professionals thought it was cool to be called a computer "geek." I said it then and I say it now, if someone's calling you a geek, it's not exactly a compliment.

Close Name:LaurieF -   TMO Forum Mod Posts: 3547 Joined: 15 Jun 2001
Subject:

Geeks are cool. Nerds (sorry, Dave) are geeks without the social skills.

Close Name:burrito Posts: 177 Joined: 07 Aug 2005
Subject:

this pilot will fall on it's big ugly ass, i think.. it just sounds like a retarded concept for a sitcom..

Close Name:WetcoastBob Posts: 83 Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Subject: Sitcoms

ALL sitcoms are retarded.
Cheers:
Bob

Close Name:burreyeann Posts: 1144 Joined: 25 Feb 2005
Subject:

Quote
burrito wrote:
this pilot will fall on it's big ugly ass, i think.. it just sounds like a retarded concept for a sitcom..


I agree 110%

Close Name:Giles Posts: 15 Joined: 08 May 2004
Subject: Garbage

Christ on an effing bicycle!

I was afraid of this the day I learned of Apple selling TV shows on iTunes. It had to come to this, and it opens up every Apple-oriented forum to brainless drivel about brainless TV shows, as if the media wasn't already clogged like a bad sewer-pipe with babble about TV. Feh.

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