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03/05/2007: "Programming a TV Network - So Easy a Caveman Could Do It"

Much as we hate to admit it, stereotypes happen for a reason. Whatever the stereotype, enough people have seen examples of it to accept the stereotype as fact. Try as we may to delete the stereotype, the perpetual reinforcement we see in our daily lives is sufficient for it to live on.

So it is for major TV networks. Branded as a "vast wasteland" by pundits, their leaders counter with stories about the intelligent, gripping dramas, amusing comedies and insightful specials that they provide. They do such a good job, we almost forget the stereotype. Then, one of their brethren pulls a stunt like this, and it's the boob tube all over again.

Variety is reporting that ABC has greelit a pilot for a series based on - wait for it - GEICO Insurance's pitchmen, the Easily Irritated Cavemen. Supposedly living among us and perpetually incensed at the ads that state "So Easy a Caveman Could Do It," the popularity of the neanderthalic stars is such that they just might get their own show.

"Although the project is at a nascent stage -- there's no script and no cast -- plans call for the comedy to be titled "Cavemen" and focus on a trio of prehistoric characters who battle prejudice in modern-day Atlanta. Walt Disney Co.'s ABC will pay for the pilot and show, if one eventually materializes. Geico, a unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., will have no creative control but will receive a royalty payment for the use of the character.

"We sell car insurance; we don't make TV shows," says Ted Ward, Geico's vice president of marketing. "We are excited to have an opportunity to do brand extension."

That sound you just heard? That was the other shoe dropping from your purchase of a TiVo unit. It was inevitable that as we learn how to avoid commercials, the admen find ways to so integrate the message with the medium that any attempt to remove it would kill the host. First it was the product placements, which become more blatant with each passing season. Now this. You can almost see the next step ... "Lost sponsored by Find.com". Ironically, that's just how it was in the dawn of television. Remember "The Jello Show starring Jack Benny"?

Leave it to TV to rip off itself as its busy ripping off someone else. The sad part is the willingness to be a patsy in such an crassly commercial venture. I guess no one really cares about quality, or the audience, any more. Not sure why I'm surprised ...

Here's hoping they're at least better than "Baby Bob" ...