What Exactly Is The Bottom Line?
Lately on the WB, Seinfeld and other shows have seen the introduction of a new feature — the Bottom Line. Basically, trivia related to the show (sometimes very loosely related) pops up at the bottom of the screen from time to time. It's origins lie with shows like VH1′s Pop-Up Video, so the overall concept is nothing really new.
Being the pop culture geek that I am, I enjoy learning about how the real life Kramer became independently wealthy from selling electronic disco jewelry or that the ‘Soup Nazi’ is based on the real life owner of Soup Kitchen International in New York City. However, sometimes the trivia is annoyingly irrelevant, like mentioning pirates used to wear real puffy shirts in combat. Another thing that bothers me are the ‘alerts’ that pop up and tell you what′s about to happen, usually with a 3-2-1 countdown. It′s fine on a show like ‘Blind Date’ where the plot really doesn′t matter since you′re only half-assedly watching it anyway. But in a comedy, timing is everything. So, when you get a 3-second ‘Kramer Alert’, you′re not going to be surprised when he spontaneously bursts into Jerry′s apartment. You know it′s coming. The spontaneity is dead as disco (which, the Bottom Line would tell you, reached it′s peak in 1979 with hits like ‘I Will Survive’ and ‘In The Navy’).
So, what is the bottom line of the Bottom Line? Is it a way to tempt viewers away from other channels showing the same syndicated shows by giving them an extra bay leaf in their mulligatawny? Perhaps. My girlfriend and I, skeptics that we are, think that it′s also to get people used to having crap lingering around the bottom of your TV screen. We′ve all gotten used to station ID perma-logos that infest one of the bottom corners of your screen, even when it blatantly covers up actual TV content. We′ve also gotten used to being rudely interrupted when some actor pops up at the bottom to plug their new show (‘Coming up next at 8:30 -- The Real Gilligan′s Island. Don′t miss it!!!’). With the growing popularity of TiVo and other digital video recorders, ad revenue is dropping as viewers can easily skip commercials with the press of a button. To keep their stuffed pockets overflowing, TV execs are forced to come up with some brilliant new idea to keep their sponsors happy. Why not put a sponsor logo at the bottom of the screen during any given show? Why not put two? Why not fill the entire bottom third of the screen with crap that that the station's trying to peddle? But why stop there? Let′s fill up the top third, too. And the sides. That′s just wasted space for TV content. Pretty soon, viewers will all be watching half-hour segments of full-screen corporate logos broken up by 2 and a half minute intervals of commercials. On the bright side, maybe we′ll at least be treated to fun trivia about the sponsors. Miller Lite′s corporate owner Miller Brewing Company was started in 1855 and is now the second largest brewery in the United States. Wow, how interesting! Look out. It′s a “Viagra Alert.” 3…2…1. Eh. No surprises there.