Hollywood Continues to Crash and Burn by Resorting to Focus Groups

[lovelylaura23]

Studios are assembling superfan focus groups to assess various materials for a franchise project to avoid social media backlash.

“They will just tell us, ‘If you do that, fans are going to retaliate’ … If it’s early enough & the movie isn’t finished yet, we can make those kinds… pic.twitter.com/UlSws3kLE0
- DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 3

Comments

[silverstarry]

I did a focus group for a tv show back in ye olden days. A friend and her roommate were going to one, and my friend said that the focus group people told her they still needed more people so she brought me along. I was not vetted at all for anything beforehand. I just showed up. While I understand why focus groups seek out specific demographics (especially when they're trying to get reactions from a diverse group of people), the group I was in was a complete hodgepodge, and in a sense I can see the value in just taking a bunch of randos off the street, showing them a tv show, and asking what they think.

In theory, I understand using fans to be a focus group because there have been times when I was a fan of a show and the continuity errors were obvious, glaring, and annoying. Even small things that don't really affect the plot like changing a character's birthday can be really noticeable to fans who actually pay attention (as opposed to casual viewers who wouldn't notice or care).

But I am not here for fans raging because they want a different plot for their OTP or they don't like POC. It's ridiculous that storylines have been changed because of fan reactions (I still can't believe they made Dan Humphreys Gossip Girl just to thrwart the fans who had reasonably guessed who GG was earlier in the show's run).

[my_moloko]

How was the show and did it ever make it to air?

[silverstarry]

Thankfully, the pilot I watched never aired because it was TERRIBLE. It was supposed to become a network sitcom but it had all the production value of a Nickelodeon show, and not in a fun Double Dare kind of way. The writing was terrible too. The only detail I remember is that John Schneider (from The Dukes of Hazzard) was in it.

[jontargaryen]

Yeah, this is one of those things that makes sense in theory, but in practice, you have to wonder what the end result is going to be. You are playing with fire trying to appease fans. Honestly, if they are that concerned about backlash and want serious input, it would probably be better to hire some kind of "fan consultant," rather than having a focus group.

I would be very curious what platforms they are choosing these fans from because what people are saying on reddit is completely different from what people are saying on tiktok.

[iamkeroberos]

gossip girl was the worst about pandering to chair fans

arrow is another example of ruining your show by only listening to the most vocal, chronically online fans

its so annoying