Making the show barely watchable

Sep 5, 2009 08:40 GMT  ·  By

Despite all the enthusiasm, maybe Twitter and TV don't really mix that well. What sounded like a potentially good, or at least innovative, way to use the microblogging platform to add value to a TV show rerun while also harnessing the social nature of the medium turned out to be a miserable failure. Earlier this week, Fox announced that two episodes of Fringe and Glee would get additional Twitter commentary from the creators but also from the fans. But, in the way it was implemented, the Twitter overlay took up a huge portion of the screen, making the show unwatchable.

Zatz Not Funny managed to grab a couple of photos of the broadcast in all its screen-covering glory. Everything just screams bad design, from the huge font used, no doubt a compromise for the particularities of a TV screen, to the barely transparent background, it all served to make the experience unwatchable for many. And the fans were vocal about their disliking especially, where else, on Twitter itself. But it looks like Fox was listening and decided to make some changes for the Glee airing while also making sure to underline that this was just an experiment and was only for repeat episodes.

“Thank you to everyone who participated in last night’s FRINGE Tweet- peat special event! We’ve read through all the fan feedback. While many people were thrilled with the opportunity to interact with the FRINGE cast and producers, others felt the on-screen graphics made it difficult to follow the broadcast. We’ve listened and have used these comments and suggestions to help us make a few adjustments to tonight’s GLEE Tweet-peat special,” Fox said in a blog post.

The idea behind the experiment had some potential, it still does, and could change the way users engage with the shows while also getting an extra incentive to watch the repeat episodes. With tweets from the cast, producers and others involved, the “tweet-peat” is more of a poor man's DVD commentary but the really compelling feature is the possibility for fans to get their questions aired and answered live by those working on the show. And Fox had another chance with the Glee airing but we'll have to see if the fans respond better.

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Fox's Fringe experiment was mostly a failure
Fringe Twitter screengrab
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