TVSquad

So I hate summer and I spend most of the hot and humid days of June, July, and August sitting in front of a fan and drinking Diet Coke (and Diet Pepsi - yes, I like both). And that got me thinking about New Coke.

Remember that? It was the disastrous reformulation of the Coke taste that people didn't really like and it came and went rather quickly in the mid-80s (though you could still get it in some areas as recently as 2002!). Wikipedia has the history of New Coke (long, but very much worth the read), and here are the commercials that introduced it to the world.

(S04E11) Writing Office reviews for TV Squad has certain perils. For instance, if I write a negative review of an episode that the vast majority of our readership enjoyed, I am treated to dozens of emails asking me which kind of poop is it, exactly, that has replaced my brain (for the record, it's lhasa apso poop). When I complain to my wife about these comments -- I handle criticism about as well as Steve Martin's son from Parenthood -- she says I'd be better off just writing a positive review of every episode. For some reason, positive reviews don't seem to warrant the same vitriol as negative ones.

Now, while I might cheat on my taxes or steal from the elderly, I would never sell out my integrity when it comes to television blogging. If an episode is bad, I promise you I'll write a negative review. Unfortunately for my integrity, however, it doesn't seem like the producers of The Office plan on airing a bad episode any time soon...

I get that American Idol is the biggest thing on television besides the Super Bowl, but do people really get that excited about who's going to sponsor the show? Apparently someone does because FOX sent out a press release today, with great fanfare and a ticker-tape parade with Ryan Seacrest as Grand Marshall decked out in a blue and white sequined tux complete with top hat and a monkey on his shoulder, that Ford, Coca-Cola and AT&T would be the official sponsors of Idol this year.

What does this mean for you, the viewer? It means more retarded Ford commercials. It means more awkward Coca-Cola "moments" where Ryan asks a contestant a random, generic question and gets a confused and empty answer. And it means Ryan will get to say the words AT&T twelve times per contestant as he gives out their phone and text numbers.

It's rather comforting, if a little scary, to see that even computerized icons can age a lot.

Britain's Channel 4 has brought back Max Headroom, the 80s TV character that everyone thought was just a computer creation but was actually actor Matt Frewer, for a series of TV commercials. The ads (or are they called adverts or something over there?) will show Max insulting Channel 4 for ignoring his idea of a digital TV world.

I'm sorry, but the line that keeps going through my head is "Oh my nose! Oh my nose!"

Former Brady Bunch star Maureen McCormick (aka Marcia Brady) has admitted that not only was she bulimic after the show ended in 1974 and she went back to high school, but that the guy she was dating at the time introduced her to cocaine. She says that she became an addict because of her addictive personality, and actually went through several relapses before getting clean through "therapy and faith." I sense a book coming from this.

Good for her for getting through it, but she should have listened to mom, because mom always said, don't do coke in the house.

[via TV Tattle]

I like to think of this commercial as Coke does Cocoon. It was an interesting idea. Mr. Hadley's Coke inspired adventure which found him calling the woman he'd always loved, jumping off the high dive, getting "Mi Vida Loco" tattooed on his chest, running with the bulls, and racing a sport bike down the freeway was fun.

It was very well made, but another entry for the good, but not great, pile. I'd put it above Coke's animated "Give a little love" spot, but it still falls short of being included in the best of 2007.

I think I saw this during the trailers down at the local cineplex, but this is the first time I have seen it on TV. At first, it's a pretty convincing video game commercial. I suspected to see something about the latest Grand Theft Auto ripoff for the XBox 360 or PlayStation 3.

The tables quickly turn as it is another in Coke's "make the world a better place" line of ads. It goes right back to buying the world a coke and all that jazz. This one won't reach those classic commercial levels, but it's solid. I like the buildup as things get more and more chaotic right up to the grand finale, complete with dancing mice and motorcycle cop pyramids. Not even in the running for best commercial, but cute.

A lot of people collect things: stamps, baseball cards, snow globes, coffee mugs, T-shirts. I collect old advertisements. Whether it's print, radio or video, I'm fascinated by the ads of yesteryear, especially the 1950s and 60s.

So imagine my delight when Keith sent me a link to this, 25 minutes of TV commercials from the 50s and 60s on Google Video! Some great ads here, from vintage ads for Colt 45 (that's a beer) to cigarettes. A few ads for an oddly creamy shampoo for women, and there's a Coke ad in there too, and I swear the women doesn't just "like" Coke, she's thoroughly addicted (there's even an address to write to her - I wonder if we wrote something it would get to her, assuming she's still with us?). And that Heinz pickle ad with the old lady has instantly become one of my favorite TV commercials of all-time.

Oh, and if you wait til the very end? The last ad features a young Mrs. Garrett (Charlotte Rae) from The Facts of Life...naked in a shower! Woo-hoo!

Take a look at the retro advertising goodness after the jump.