Monday, March 06, 2006

Oh, man... OK, someone get Teddy on the phone, I guess

When life gives you lemons, you're supposed to make lemonade and I'm sure that life is a lot better when you see the glass half full, but this situation would try the patience of even the biggest happy-go-lucky sucker.

I mean, really, what do you do when there's n lemon, lemonade or even a glass to put it in? What then? You're pretty boned at that point.

First, how many people saw Love Monkey. OK, how many people who don't live with me? Uh-huh... and who aren't Jason Priestly? OK, I think I've isolated the problem, here...

Well for those who saw the show (and isn't it kinda funny when the show's web site has lasted roughly twice as long - and counting - as the show itself?) you couldn't have missed the young guy playing Wayne.

In real life, Wayne is Teddy Geiger and has a real song out from a real dead show. I cannot imagine how frustrating this has to be for his management team. You end 2005 gearing up for a heavily hyped show featuring a small stable of known stars, including Tom Cavanagh, who brings plenty of goodwill from Ed. You begin 2006 with that show going in the tank and you're left trying to keep Geiger's career afloat in the middle of this mess.

(A side note, here - I was a big fan of Ed and really wanted this show to do well. In practice, I cared for four characters in the entire cast - Cavanagh, the kid and both love interests. Priestly, the gay ex-jock, the other dude and everyone else can go to hell. This is not what you want from your fan base, especially those who are behind you and the show).

As far as emo-pop goes, I like Geiger. He had snappy little numbers on Love Monkey and because you actually felt for his character, you were pulling for these songs to do well. They hold up as pop songs on their own, but again, I wouldn't wish what his management is going through on anyone.

It must feel like you'd been planning to go on vacation for four months and the day before you do, your boss drops a ton of work on your desk and tells you he's called the airline and released your ticket. While you were planning to do the work eventually, you expected a little easier road on this one. Now, they have to hustle to get this all done quickly, put marketing plans into place and try to capitalize on any existing momentum.

No buzz, dying momentum and the fact that 99 percent the people who have seen you perform think you're an actor? Fuck lemonade, we got any of the hard stuff on hand?

(Photo from teddygeigermusic.com)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Remember "The Heights" back in the day? The exact same thing happened - the show was cancelled, but "How Do You Talk to an Angel" endured as a hit on the radio, so the producers of the show had to keep pushing the album to get something out of their television investment.