Hollywood Focus Groups Choose Fake Show Over Woke Show

By Published On: November 4, 2022

Hollywood Focus Groups Choose Fake Show Over Woke Show

By Published On: November 4, 2022

Audience tastes were never deeply entrenched with the coastal elite attitudes. Now, Hollywood focus groups are finding a sea change against them.

A diversity of stories, people, characters, settings and genres are important for the vitality of the entertainment industry. But attempts to push a particular brand of identity politics-driven storytelling have been less than successful. Now, a Hollywood insider is reaching out to That Park Place to share an interesting story that reflects how audiences are actively turning against material perceived as “woke”. While I’m not taking any particular angle on the the merit of such storytelling, I do find it interesting that the marketplace of “normies” is growing tired of tropes circled around tribalism, politics, geo-elitism, etc. It’s not shocking — when economic hard times arise, people often turn to entertainment to cheer them up, not for being further divided from neighbors, family members and citizens.

The following content is a direct message from someone working on Hollywood focus groups to determine viability of content for streaming and network platforms. The source’s identity is known by writers at That Park Place but we are keeping the name anonymous in order to protect their career. The website takes no position as to which shows should be selected, or even which narrative types, but is simply relaying information from this purported leak:

 

In regards to two shows presented to focus groups in the past two years… one being a real show with a budget and team behind it, the other a “dummy” show used as a reference for the purpose of the focus group (i.e. not really in development):

Cop show A: 

A young POC policewoman gets dumped by her girlfriend and transfers to a new precinct in a Southern town where she is shocked by the racism, sexism and abuse of power of her new colleagues as well as their poor relations with the communities they serve. With few friends, she doesn’t know who are the good guys and who are the bad guys anymore and has to watch her back on and off duty while she tries to initiate change both in her department and in her community.

Cop show B:

Two young detectives (two white guys, one Ivy League and the other a good o’l boy) are partnered in Vegas where they cultivate informants, recurring girlfriends, every episode includes a fistfight with chairs and bottles flying, every second episode has a car chase, alleys with blowing newspapers, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, unnecessarily overpowered firearms, muscle cars on the strip, Vegas location used to the hilt – from grungy and run down to full on glam, an explosion per episode, tough police chief who supposedly hates the two rookies but he really has a heart of gold, good natured camaraderie among officers, helicopter unit heavily featured along with a K9 as a semi regular. Vegas is Vegas, cops are good, bad guys are the bad guys and they either get shot, blown up or caught and go to jail.

Ok, so we tested three episodes for each. These were partial animatics with an audio accompaniment with limited voice cast (different for each). No music. Which do you think tested better with all groups, no matter age, sex or race? Please say you said show B..

The production house went on to pitch show A to a couple of streamers (one was Netflix) with a few modifications. It was always their intent to pitch show A, show B was only there as a control, an assemblage of classic cop show beats to learn from. Here’s the kicker: While episodes for show A where adapted outlines done by the real writers of the proposed show, show B episodes where quickly hacked up adapted old episodes of Starsky & Hutch, with the car swapped out for a Dodge Challenger. Very little effort was put on the audio and the animatics (we objected at the discrepancy in quality of the presentation materials)… but it didn’t matter…. Show B popped huge, just huge! The leads, the chief, Vegas, the women, explosions, the helicopter, the Car, the Dog! All!

Conclusion: Man, somebody is going to get real rich putting a 1970s/1980s style cop show on the air on of these days. Just buy up the rights to some old Starsky & Hutch episodes and give them a very slight polish and you’d be golden. Clichés? Maybe, but are they still clichés if you don’t see them anymore? Oh, and streamers apparently passed on show A, though it’s been re-reworked – i think it’s now a military setting – and is still being shopped around. … “People don’t want to watch cop shows anymore.” Sigh …

 

It seems to the individual who sent us this leak, along with what we’re seeing at large, the market is speaking loud and clear. Entertainment content that seamlessly blends in races, backgrounds, opinions, etc, in a way that accurately reflects society is primed for success. Shows that divide and castigate people groups are bound to struggle. Actors and writers that subscribe to the latter ideology are poison to the well that is public good will. It’s a lesson corporations should be keenly learning.

For all the latest news that should be fun, keep reading That Park Place. As always, drop a comment down below and let us know your thoughts!

About the Author: WDW Pro
Avatar photo
WDW Pro is an opinionated commentator on all things Disney and Entertainment. First becoming well-known on WDWMagic.com, the author was brought on to work at Pirates and Princesses. Pro has previously released exclusive details on a variety of rumors and leaks before they were made public. Some exclusives have included breaking info on new Epcot attractions, detailing the light saber experience at the Star Wars hotel, reporting a Harrison Ford injury severity before anyone else, revealing Hugh Jackman was coming to the MCU, Storm would be linked with Wakanda and more. WDW Pro has written articles viewed by millions of readers while maintaining an 87% accuracy rating for revealing "insider" information in 2020. In 2021, the author had a better than 90% accuracy on reported leaks and rumors. Pro joined That Park Place on June 22nd, 2021. The author's accolades include being featured on The Daily Wire, cited by Timcast, numerous references by YouTube personalities, as well as having material tweeted by Dr. Jordan Peterson. WDW Pro is honored, and grateful, while hoping to make the world a better place. In 2023, a third party audit found Pro's accuracy for rumors and scoops to be 92.5%.

Audience tastes were never deeply entrenched with the coastal elite attitudes. Now, Hollywood focus groups are finding a sea change against them.

A diversity of stories, people, characters, settings and genres are important for the vitality of the entertainment industry. But attempts to push a particular brand of identity politics-driven storytelling have been less than successful. Now, a Hollywood insider is reaching out to That Park Place to share an interesting story that reflects how audiences are actively turning against material perceived as “woke”. While I’m not taking any particular angle on the the merit of such storytelling, I do find it interesting that the marketplace of “normies” is growing tired of tropes circled around tribalism, politics, geo-elitism, etc. It’s not shocking — when economic hard times arise, people often turn to entertainment to cheer them up, not for being further divided from neighbors, family members and citizens.

The following content is a direct message from someone working on Hollywood focus groups to determine viability of content for streaming and network platforms. The source’s identity is known by writers at That Park Place but we are keeping the name anonymous in order to protect their career. The website takes no position as to which shows should be selected, or even which narrative types, but is simply relaying information from this purported leak:

 

In regards to two shows presented to focus groups in the past two years… one being a real show with a budget and team behind it, the other a “dummy” show used as a reference for the purpose of the focus group (i.e. not really in development):

Cop show A: 

A young POC policewoman gets dumped by her girlfriend and transfers to a new precinct in a Southern town where she is shocked by the racism, sexism and abuse of power of her new colleagues as well as their poor relations with the communities they serve. With few friends, she doesn’t know who are the good guys and who are the bad guys anymore and has to watch her back on and off duty while she tries to initiate change both in her department and in her community.

Cop show B:

Two young detectives (two white guys, one Ivy League and the other a good o’l boy) are partnered in Vegas where they cultivate informants, recurring girlfriends, every episode includes a fistfight with chairs and bottles flying, every second episode has a car chase, alleys with blowing newspapers, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, unnecessarily overpowered firearms, muscle cars on the strip, Vegas location used to the hilt – from grungy and run down to full on glam, an explosion per episode, tough police chief who supposedly hates the two rookies but he really has a heart of gold, good natured camaraderie among officers, helicopter unit heavily featured along with a K9 as a semi regular. Vegas is Vegas, cops are good, bad guys are the bad guys and they either get shot, blown up or caught and go to jail.

Ok, so we tested three episodes for each. These were partial animatics with an audio accompaniment with limited voice cast (different for each). No music. Which do you think tested better with all groups, no matter age, sex or race? Please say you said show B..

The production house went on to pitch show A to a couple of streamers (one was Netflix) with a few modifications. It was always their intent to pitch show A, show B was only there as a control, an assemblage of classic cop show beats to learn from. Here’s the kicker: While episodes for show A where adapted outlines done by the real writers of the proposed show, show B episodes where quickly hacked up adapted old episodes of Starsky & Hutch, with the car swapped out for a Dodge Challenger. Very little effort was put on the audio and the animatics (we objected at the discrepancy in quality of the presentation materials)… but it didn’t matter…. Show B popped huge, just huge! The leads, the chief, Vegas, the women, explosions, the helicopter, the Car, the Dog! All!

Conclusion: Man, somebody is going to get real rich putting a 1970s/1980s style cop show on the air on of these days. Just buy up the rights to some old Starsky & Hutch episodes and give them a very slight polish and you’d be golden. Clichés? Maybe, but are they still clichés if you don’t see them anymore? Oh, and streamers apparently passed on show A, though it’s been re-reworked – i think it’s now a military setting – and is still being shopped around. … “People don’t want to watch cop shows anymore.” Sigh …

 

It seems to the individual who sent us this leak, along with what we’re seeing at large, the market is speaking loud and clear. Entertainment content that seamlessly blends in races, backgrounds, opinions, etc, in a way that accurately reflects society is primed for success. Shows that divide and castigate people groups are bound to struggle. Actors and writers that subscribe to the latter ideology are poison to the well that is public good will. It’s a lesson corporations should be keenly learning.

For all the latest news that should be fun, keep reading That Park Place. As always, drop a comment down below and let us know your thoughts!

About the Author: WDW Pro
Avatar photo
WDW Pro is an opinionated commentator on all things Disney and Entertainment. First becoming well-known on WDWMagic.com, the author was brought on to work at Pirates and Princesses. Pro has previously released exclusive details on a variety of rumors and leaks before they were made public. Some exclusives have included breaking info on new Epcot attractions, detailing the light saber experience at the Star Wars hotel, reporting a Harrison Ford injury severity before anyone else, revealing Hugh Jackman was coming to the MCU, Storm would be linked with Wakanda and more. WDW Pro has written articles viewed by millions of readers while maintaining an 87% accuracy rating for revealing "insider" information in 2020. In 2021, the author had a better than 90% accuracy on reported leaks and rumors. Pro joined That Park Place on June 22nd, 2021. The author's accolades include being featured on The Daily Wire, cited by Timcast, numerous references by YouTube personalities, as well as having material tweeted by Dr. Jordan Peterson. WDW Pro is honored, and grateful, while hoping to make the world a better place. In 2023, a third party audit found Pro's accuracy for rumors and scoops to be 92.5%.
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pucstpr39
pucstpr39
1 year ago

Cop show A could be reconfigured into a rom-com movie. Just make all of the beats her assumptions about being transferred to a middle America town. She gets there and finds out she has been mislead about people outside LA and it is nothing like she thought. She could meet a man who is actually masculine and find that what attracted her about her ex girlfriend was that she was masculine when the men around her were not. Now she has feelings for a man and has to question her life up to that point while falling in love with life outside of LA.

Corvinus
Corvinus
Reply to  pucstpr39
1 year ago

That premise would be the social equivalent of dropping a nuke on LA to the coastal elite cinemaratti. I love it!

J.R.R.
J.R.R.
1 year ago

The market may be sounding off but where are all the writers and actors strikes over racist hiring and firing practices in Hollywood? You would think enough of them have been told “Your script isn’t diverse enough” or “You’re just not diverse enough.” How is everyone in Hollywood not fighting it! Sure it might be trendy, to put stamp down scripts penned by white authors or pass on respected actors/actresses because they don’t have enough melanin/the right body parts, at the moment but give it time. Hollywood will effectively bring back a working environment of segregation (if it’s not already there) for the sake of “Social Justice” at the expense of social harmony… and yet the working class of Hollywood refuse to strike.

TimQ
TimQ
1 year ago

Escapism means exactly not seeing yourself represented and likely not making a spectacle out of lesbians and fixing perceived societal wrongs. They want justice for sure, but with blonds, boobs, and bombs.

Rumba
Rumba
1 year ago

So people wanted to entertained vs. lectured for an hour? Hollywood needs to purge all it’s Wokees. It’ll come in time as the money dries-up. Look at what is happening at Warner Discovery and Twitter. Actual adults, not agenda-children, take over, immediate lay-offs, and concentrate on profitable business.

As for me, I barely watch any films/shows made in the last few years. There are a few exceptions. But I really enjoy simple things like MeTV. Quality TV shows from the past, Saturday night Svengoolie, Star Trek, Buck Rogers, etc. And the Tubi app and on YouTube you can watch old quality series, movies and cartoons too. With these old shows, I know I won’t get lectured or angered. With new shows, there is a big chance I will be.

Richard
Richard
1 year ago

Hollywood is doomed.

Joebacca
Joebacca
1 year ago

WOW Cop Show B sounds AMAZING!!! I wanna know more about the dog!