Fox TV is the first major network to strike a deal with Twitter to follow tweets while viewing two of their popular dramas. This is an innovative tactic by Fox to attract an audience to watch repeats, programming that tends to draw in low numbers on the Nielsen Ratings! Hence the birth of tweet-peats!
Tweet-peats will become part of the on-screen Twitter feeds by producers and actors during the broadcasts of “Fringe” at 9 p.m. Thursday (9/3) and “Glee” at 9 p.m. Friday (9/4).
During the episodes, viewers will be able to follow the cast and producers’ tweets online via Twitter and on the air via a lower-third scroll. The actors and producers will provide commentary, answer questions, and offer insights about the upcoming season.
Online, viewers can follow the "Fringe" event at twitter.com/FRINGEonFOX. For "Glee," go to twitter.com/GLEEonFOX.
The "Fringe" participants will be executive producers Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman and actors Josh Jackson and John Noble.
The "Glee" participants will be cast members: Lea Michele, Kevin McHale, Mark Salling, Cory Monteith, Amber Riley and Chris Colfer.
The participant Twitter Usernames and Profile Links from FRINGE are as follows:
- Jeff Pinkner, Executive Producer (ET/PT) @jpfringe http://twitter.com/jpfringe
- J.H. Wyman, Executive Producer (ET/PT) @jwfringe http://twitter.com/jwfringe
- Josh Jackson, "Peter Bishop" (ET) @peterbishop2 http://twitter.com/peterbishop2
- John Noble, "Walter Bishop" (ET) @labdad1 http://twitter.com/labdad1
Participant Twitter Usernames and User Profile Links from GLEE are as follows:
- Lea Michele, "Rachel Berry" (ET) @msleamichele http://twitter.com/msleamichele
- Kevin McHale, "Artie Abrams" (ET) @druiddude http://twitter.com/druiddude
- Mark Salling, "Puck" (ET) @mark_salling http://twitter.com/mark_salling
- Cory Monteith, "Finn Hudson" (PT) @frankenteen http://twitter.com/frankenteen
- Amber Riley, "Mercedes" (PT) @msamberriley http://twitter.com/msamberriley
- Chris Colfer, "Kurt Hummel" (PT) @chriscolfer http://twitter.com/chriscolfer
You will note that dissimilar to Twitter online, tweet-peats do not allow for a two-way dialogue. Since only the producers and cast members’ tweets will show up on your TV screen, your "this show sucks" tweets will not be visible to the TV viewing audience. My personal opinion is they should run an after-hours "not-for-prime-time" tweet-peat show where everyone is in on the conversation. But that’s a different kind of programming all together, and something I’m sure Fox is not ready for.
UPDATE: In watching Fringe’s tweet-peat 9/3, I must say, it was very ‘unispired.’ The producers and cast members spent more time talking about themselves and how much ‘they loved each other" than adding to the intrigue of the plot. Yes "string theory" is an amazing concept, but tell me more about how it relates to the storyline? Let’s hope Glee learned some lessons from last night’s failed attempt at tweet-peating!!!
