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Why doesn't Jericho have an online storyline?
When Jericho debuted on CBS earlier this fall, one of the big selling points was the plan to have a separate storyline on the network's web site. It would be actual scenes shot with the cast but shown online only, and they would beef up the subplots. This hasn't happened yet. There is a lot of online-only content at the site (including video about what would happen if a real attack happened, interviews, etc), but the additional storyline idea was canceled.
CBS public relations spokesman Chris Ender tells The Washington Post that they had planned to do the online content but had to pull back because of "ongoing media issues" with the Guilds, including the Writer's Guild. This has been a problem for a few years now, as writers and producers and directors want additional money and/or rights for stuff that is put on the web.
They could have put the stuff online at the Jericho site, but writers and producers decided not to go against the union. But I wonder how this would change the way stories are told. What about people who watch the show but don't go online? Sure, "what they don't know can't hurt them," but I wonder if writers and producers and directors will start putting more and more time and energy and ideas into online-only content and taking it away from the TV storyline. I mean, if you're going to write the story, have it all on television. The fact that there are additional scenes and plots online that aren't just "extras" but part of the story seems like the story itself isn't the important thing, it's the cool cross-promotion that the nets can now do online and elsewhere.
[via TV Tattle]
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