7th Heaven VS. WIGS: Blue
Television as we
knew it as kids is ever evolving and changing each and every day in this
technological savvy world that we live in. When TV was first introduced at the
state fair in 1939 no one would ever have thought that something could top this
kind of technology at this point in time. However in 2005 when YouTube was
introduced it began as a site for people to upload their prized video
possessions for the rest of the world to see and share. YouTube’s mission is to provide fast, and easy video access
and the ability to share videos frequently,” (Top 10 np). In November 2008,
YouTube reached an agreement with MGM, Lion-Gate Entertainment, and CBS allowing
the companies to post full-length films and television episodes on the site.
What came out of this was YouTube subscribers actually begin to create their
own series. With more than 4 Billion videos being watched daily on YouTube,
which is up 50% from 2010, the possibilities for TV are endless, especially
with more and more people cutting the cord to cable and going to online
services like Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube. Regulations have limited what can be
said on TV during different times of the day by safe harbor hours, which being aired
at 8PM limited how 7th heaven could go about filming the different
scenes. With WIGS: Blue, it is a premium service since you are paying for the
Internet. WIGS: Blue was able to display many things that you may not see on
broadcasting television due to indecency rules.
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| Julia Stiles in her role as Blue. A YouTube Series |
WIGS:
Blue is a YouTube series that aired exclusively on YouTube. It’s about a mother
who solicits herself to prostitution. The main character is Julia Stiles and
she is a mother, and works in an office. This show deals with family life
problems with relationships, and sex. In the first episode of the series we see
“Blue” walk in on her son watching porn. This was right after she was “working”
at night. What Blue doesn’t realize is that she has hooked up with this guy already
and he brings back the memories of the night they met. Blue is her street name
and her son calls her Blue as well. Julia Stiles was not keen on shooting as a
sexy prostitute at first. In episode 5 we see Blue sucking the thumb of a man
in a diaper, making his fantasy come true with her (Salamone np). We would not see something
this “scandalous” on broadcasting television as people may get offended, and
children may be watching. Blue lives a double life. In episode 4 we see Blue
see one of her clients during daylight and she asks him why he is paying for
sex. This is not something that we would see on 7th Heaven, a show
dealing with the same kind of family issues.
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| 7th Heaven Cast |
7th
Heaven is a show that originally aired on the WB, now the CW, where it touched
on many of the problems teenagers are faced to deal with on a daily basis. The
father of the show is a reverend at a local church, the mother is a housewife
of originally 5, then 7 as the seasons went on and Annie had twins. Some of the
problems they deal with include, abuse, sex, drugs, relationships, marriage,
etc. In season 7 of 7th
heaven episode 11, Simon and Celia discuss having sex for the first time (TV.com,
np). It was handled much differently than in WIGS: Blue as Simon and Celia tell
both their parents. Annie and Eric Camden said that they are too young to be
having sex and instead educated them on the benefits of waiting to have sex.
Simon decides to ignore what his parents say and goes to the drug store to buy
condoms. Simon then freaks out and decides to buy juicy fruit gum instead. Most
teenagers, when first having sex are shy when it comes to buying condoms due to
embarrassment.
The
United States, though we have a freedom of speech, still censors what we are
able to watch. The FCC, The Federal Communications Commission, was established
in 1934 and the duty of this commission is to monitor what is being said, and
done on the air of broadcasting networks. If someone files a complaint with the
FCC, they will investigate what the complaint was and then if necessary fine
the station responsible for airing the episode. With YouTube it is a lot harder
to limit what is being put on the Internet since people are paying for the
service. On YouTube you can swear, talk about anything you want, and even put
some nudity on there. However, some countries including the United States are
limiting the rights of users to view content posted on YouTube. Educational
services are putting firewalls on sites like YouTube. China has a countrywide
ban on YouTube.
The
way the shows are distributed and shot are different yet the same. In WIGS, we
have a lot of close up shots to show emotion, and because of the way the
content is being presented to us. Anyone can create a series on the Internet,
but it takes Millions of dollars to create a TV show on broadcasting TV. The
show takes place in relatively 3 distinct locations (The bedroom of her clients,
Blue’s house, and her day job). The way the show is mostly from eye level, at a
close up, or a medium close up (The grammar of Television and film, np). WIGS:
Blue is a show that is not known among novice viewers of YouTube series. There
seems to be awareness issues that YouTube even has series of its own. Dr.
Sodano talked about a studio on his trip that is 40,000 square feet and is
solely for videos on the YouTube platform. Most recently, DVR usage is up 24
minutes a day (Sodano, np). This means more and more people want to watch
television at their own convenience and not at a specific time due to busy
lives. YouTube is a channel into that kind of medium.
7th
Heaven is shot mostly from a long shot because it has more areas to cover. It
takes place in the small town of Glen Oak (a fictional town) and doesn’t have a central point for the story line
aside from the house and the church. Aside from that they can be anywhere in
the town. Because of the timeslot that 7th
heaven was in for most of its seasons, it had to be careful with the content it
talked about in its show and how they went about wording it. When 7th
heaven was on the air, DVR was relatively new to the market. Most people did
not have DVR (until the last season), and would have to watch it when it aired
on Sunday evenings at 8PM. The show would get most of its ratings and shares
from the people who were tuned into the show. A rating is: the percentage (%)
of households tuned to a particular program from the total available TV
households in a designated area. A share is: the percentage (%) of TV
Households with sets turned on (Watching TV at that moment) that are watching
that particular program.
This show pushed
boundaries with the discussion of many different topics. The benefits of having
the show posted straight on the Internet are that you can get ratings and up to
date information about that show almost instantaneously. The show WIGS: Blue
has more than 1,000,000 views for the first episode (aired in June 2012), and
over 2,000 likes. There is a section for the viewer to post comments, and the
viewer can subscribe to the channel and once a new episode is uploaded, they
can view it at any point and is automatically added to their YouTube homepage.
With TV shows, it takes some time and effort from people to get ratings.
Ratings can be “skewed” because of the process of tracking what people are
watching at any given night. The Internet is the new TV and will be ever
evolving, especially once we are really in depth with Web 3.0. With more and
more people cutting the cord to cable, they need to figure out a better way of
tracking viewers as many viewers are DVRing and watching things on the internet
at a later date due to time constraints and TV shows conflicting with one
another. One way to better track ratings and shares would be to create an
iPhone app that can use Shazam to listen to the content you are listening too. This
is more convenient than having TV viewers fill out a pamphlet with what they
are watching and then send that in. 7th Heaven would have done very
well during the late 2000’s had it been only aired on the Internet. They would
just have had to figure out a way to advertise it to TV viewers. One way they
could gain popularity of the show via YouTube would be to utilize Social Media.
Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest, and smartphone apps are ways that the target
audience of 7th Heaven and WIGS: Blue use everyday of their lives. WIGS:
Blue being a show that was strictly on the Internet and not on any other
platform seems to be popular among viewers that are fans of drama.
Works
Cited:
"7th Heaven: Did you know?" IMDB. IMDB, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. <http://www.imdb.com/title/
tt0115083/trivia>.
"7th Heaven (Season 7)." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
7th_Heaven_(season_7)>.
The 'Grammar' of Television and Film. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. Excerpt from The 'Grammar' of
Television and Film. N.p.: Daniel Chandler, 1994. N. pag.
"Part-time prostitute role's a test for Julia Stiles." NY Daily News. Gina Salamone, 12 June 2012.
Web. 20 Nov. 2012. <http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-06-19/news/
32321443_1_youtube-channel-web-series-stiles-points>.
"Season 7: Episode 11: Sunday." TV.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. <http://www.tv.com/shows/
7th-heaven/sunday-210162/>.
“Sodano, Todd.” np. Nov. 2012.
"Top 10 Company Mission Statements in 2012." Wordpress. Dr. Diane Hamilton, 13 Jan. 2011. Web. 20
Nov. 2012. <http://drdianehamilton.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/
top-10-company-mission-statements-in-2011/>.
