The Baywatch Effect

I learned an interesting fact today in my T101 class. The Baywatch effect. Mark explained it better than I will be able to in this entry, but I will attempt. I took away from today's class that the Baywatch effect means that when a certain hit becomes a hit to a majority of viewers most media creators then take that hit and make it their own to make an optimum profit (I hope that sums it up well enough for you Mark). Baywatch was the beginning of this effect, hence "The Baywatch Effect". Now it has come to a more diverse medium that appeals to viewers.

A good example came to my head during Mark's lecture. Cop shows. My dear lovable critical boyfriend brings this topic up a bunch. He complains to me often that all cop shows on t.v. today are the same. I love watching all these cop shows and he makes fun of me for it because he claims that even with their minor differences they are one and all alike. Who would have thought my boyfriend was discussing an actual theory when he complained about his contempt?

It is completely true what he complains about though. Just off of my head I can name these current cop shows: CSI, CSI: NY, CSI: MIAMI, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: SVU, Cold Case, Saving Grace, Cops, TRU t.v., Discovery's Case Files Shows, etc. All these shows start out with someone dying mysteriously (often times including sexual abuse, but I will get to that later) and then follows the investigators until the crime is solved. So why is it such a hype to watch all these variations? The answer is really simple: Money. The creators of the shows want to make money so they look at what is already popular.
Ever since the days of Dragnet and Cagney and Lacey cop shows have been of interest to many viewers. Since then they have evolved to fit the time period they premiere in and to peek on the interests of the new curiosities within the viewers minds. Cop shows may never come to an end as more technological advances are produced and can be brought into the shows meaning continuous money flow for the creators.

Now onto a flip view of what most people appreciate. The cop show parodies. Recently people have taken notice to the abundance of cop shows on the air and have decided to use that with a completely different twist than what has been seen before. Reno 911, according to it's Wikipedia page, was created by Comedy Central in 2003 and is a "mockumentary" parodying the show Cops. It takes situations just like seen on Cops, but almost seems to make them even more real. It is almost completely improvised so it makes it feel realer that what most cop shows are. It makes fun of what cops must do to protect the law. In Cops, there are a lot of drug busts and chases. In Reno 911, there are ridiculous sexual offenders and calls made that show the cops not having any actual authority. It takes Cops and makes it so much more out there.

Another parody I have seen recently was in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. One of the main characters is an actress for a television cop show. In the movie, there are shots taken of the show she is on and it parodies how so many of the cases in the cop shows in real life revolve around sex offenders. It is obvious that the filming of her show is a lot like the filming of the CSI shows. There is emphasis put on the one liners that the actors say and the fact that each murder is somehow connected through sexual intentions. There may be pubic hair found on the victim, or evidence of rape, or some kind of dominatrix act. It completely parodies real investigation shows.

Anyway, I went on a long rant and most likely lost my main topic. This all connects back to the Baywatch effect because people are making money even off of a hit b making fun of the hit. It's a different angle of the Baywatch effect that I feel will be seen much more in the future. I must say, I do love my cop shows, but I also love a good parody as well. Yet again, my optimistic pessimism is coming out. I'll be back soon to reflect on something more that Mark made me think about!

Sincerely,
The Ern