As of late WWE has fallen back into the routine of providing the audience with what can only be described as hilarious attempts to provide humour within an already fun product. There is nothing wrong with this and it's something that has been going on for years. Look back and you will see segments with Moppy, Mr.Socko, Cheese from the infamous team of Head and Cheese. The list goes on but people seem to forget that wrestling is meant to have a fun element to it. This is something that more than likely will be pushed a little harder in the current product due to the age ratings. I will be the first to say that I am not fond of it but I understand why it is there so I do my best not to moan or bitch about it.
In the last year WWE have provided us with a 6 foot bunny rabbit, a miniature version of Manataur and a leprechaun in a Gator suit (which I argue looks more like a crocodile). Now while these attempts at entertainment "humour" have been less than interesting there is a market for them. While many of us may have grown up watching wrestling we forget that there are children who now watch the product. Yes, before you say it I know we had the attitude era and everything was chairshot this and "bah gawd King" that but WWE have created an audience that is now dying for more violence and more innovation by doing that. So now they have the opportunity to ensure that the younger generation can grow up and appreciate when something hardcore happens rather than saying "well when i was a kid he would have been bleeding everywhere". The best part is that by doing this they are also ensuring that children pander their parents into letting them watch the show. This brings me to the problem.
Having children friendly segments is fine and they are needed to break up the serious segments. They can add humour and sometimes light heartedness into a show that can have too many serious promos and heavy hitting matches. However, with RAW now being a three hour show is it wise to put the child friendly segments in the final hour? Look back at last week and you will find at least 2 child friendly moments in the last hour of the show. For me, I feel there is no way that if I was still 5 or 6 that I would have been allowed to stay up to watch TV at 10pm. According to the "british sleep council" (yes its a real thing) over a third of British people go to bed between the hours of 10-11pm and that out of those aged 6-15, 65% go to bed before 10pm.
With this in mind is it wise that WWE place their child friendly segments in the final hour and risk losing viewer ship from the older generation? I would think that in order to keep in line with deals with sponsorship they have to include at least one child friendly segment per each hour of the show. So why not put a small segment at the beginning of the third hour just after the break? These segments last between 5-7 minutes on average. That would mean that the last hour could be generally edgier and not have to worry about appealing the younger generation and that they can spend some time completely focused on the older generation. I mean it is a family based show after all.
Im all for the bunnies and gators and bulls but there needs to be a good balance. Last nights show (6/10/14) was a good example of this. They had serious moments, they had funny moments and hell they even had creepy moments. WWE are trying to cater to everyones needs and they can't always manage that but we, as fans, can try and recognize what they are trying to do for us. So lets not moan about the "kids stuff" or whinge about the stuff that makes Vince giggle (you all know what I'm talking about and if you don't please speak to Farting Natalya). Lets try and appreciate the show as a rounded product. If needs be why not look back at the ridiculous stuff in the attitude era and remid yoursefl of just how stupid some of WWEs ideas can really be. *cough* NAKED MIDEON *cough*
So what do you think? Is WWE too child friendly or do you want more fluffy animals? Let us know on twitter at @LevellerLOW
No comments:
Post a Comment