Kevin Smith’s ‘Spoilers’ to give airtime to fanboys, test your patience
Perhaps no other facet of this generation’s technology boom is more indicative of the concept of ‘unwashed masses’ than that of online opinion. Simultaneously liberating and maddening, the power to assail the trendy arthouse film or Hollywood blockbuster in the comfort of your Cheetos-stained Barcalounger has the 21st century written all over it. Although the majority of said opinions are launched from the safety of anonymity, strong internet conjecture does have its figureheads. In fact, it could be argued that no established filmmaker better encapsulates both the angry fanboy and famous Hollywood director in one hockey jersey-ensconced package than View Askew creator Kevin Smith.
In that vein, Smith is now planning to use his impressive pop-culture clout to prod film fans out of their parents’ basements and into your living room. In a newly-published interview with Wired Magazine, the CLERKS director has announced that his new show, Spoilers, has been picked up by Hulu for a minimum of 10 episodes. The program will involve an audience of roughly 50 moviegoers watching a film and then participating in a gab session, led by Smith.
The half-hour show will be broken into several segments, lest the idea of listening to 30 straight minutes of bespectacled awkward types feverishly trying to convince their fellow audience members that MATRIX REVOLUTIONS was a misunderstood triumph won’t make you excitedly limber up your TiVo finger. Some of Smith’s ideas including filmmaker appearances and co-hosts, including (unsurprisingly) Smith’s old friend Jason Mewes of JAY AND SILENT BOB fame.
Hey @ThatKevinSmith, please consider renaming the "Criterion Corner" segment on your show SPOILERS. a Google search will reveal why. Thanks!
— Criterion Corner (@CriterionCorner) May 21, 2012
Ironically, one of Smith’s segment ideas led to a brief internet dust-up this morning, when he mentioned that a ‘classic movie discussion’ portion of the program would be named "Criterion Corner". David Ehrlich of Movies.com, who runs an offshoot Tumblr account titled (you guessed it) Criterion Corner, was forced to lob an online ‘tut tut’ towards Smith for the name lifting. Shortly thereafter, Smith apologized and promised to change the name before Spoilers' debut. Smith’s newest brainchild has apparently been a long time in the making. The debut broadcast is a mere two weeks away (June 4). What remains to be seen is whether the concept will generate enough interest for the long haul. While the idea of special filmmaker guests and discussion of the classics from Smith (who, love him or hate him, does boast fairly widespread film knowledge) is an interesting one, the show’s main conceit has the potential to either become enormously popular or bomb in spectacular fashion.
Oops: There's already a @CriterionCorner. We'll call the Criterion segment something else now. Read all about SPOILERS: silentbobspeaks.com/?p=432
— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) May 21, 2012
At its barest bones, Spoilers will be an experiment of what viewers will tolerate. The marrying of two of today’s more popular amusements in a ‘reality show’ format – arguing about things and watching movies – was probably inevitable. But watching strangers watching a film and then talking about it has the potential to be voyeurism at its dullest. A good possibility exists that Smith may eventually be forced to act on his most Kevin Smithiest of personality quirks, including his infamous propensity towards irritability and argumentativeness, to gain long-term attention from viewers.
Much of his targeted demographic will undoubtedly give Spoilers a look, but for the show to have any chance at mainstream success, an audience of fifty John Q. Publics poring over celluloid minutiae may not be enough. Considering Smith’s propensity for reactionary and sometimes very public feuding, it’s not outside the realm of reason to wonder if the Spoilers creator may eventually become its biggest liability.
Source Wired Magazine
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