Glenn’s abortive porn link from yesterday reminded me of two stories I recently read.
The first one is from the LA times concerning hard times in the porn industry.
The adult entertainment business, which was previously in the vanguard of home video, satellite and cable television and digital distribution, now finds itself leading the rest of the entertainment industry in losses from them.
“The death of the DVD business has been more accelerated in the adult business than mainstream,” said Bill Asher, co-chairman of adult industry giant Vivid Entertainment, who estimates that his company’s revenue is down more than 20% this year.
“We always said that once the Internet took off, we’d be OK,” he added. “It never crossed our minds that we’d be competing with people who just give it away for free.”
Apparently there is however one genre that IS making money according to Variety:
Over the last year, Hustler Video Group has without much fanfare trotted out a parade of titles derived from classic TV shows, including the recently released parody “This Ain’t Star Trek XXX.” All the meticulous little details are there, with the exception of moments (spoiler alert!) like the one where Kirk, Spock and Uhura engage in three-way stress-relieving exercise on the bridge, which for whatever reason wasn’t included in J.J. Abrams’ franchise reboot.
The idea of a porn parody of stuff isn’t quite new but the results in sales are:
Nevertheless, Thill says the TV-inspired titles are outselling more conventional counterparts. “It’s actually kind of revitalized the DVD market in the adult world,” he said — a genre deflated, like everything else, by the ready access of free material on the Web
The reporter for Variety couldn’t be more confused by the result if he was describing the failure of an anti troops movie. However I think I understand the appeal.
I was a teenager when I watched those shows and a lot of the comedy came from sexual tension, Gilligan’s Island joked about it, Three Company thrived on it, and Happy days celebrated it. Guys didn’t want to be the Fonz because he was cool, they wanted to be the Fonz because he scored at will. That’s where the cool came from. I can’t speak for the girls but I’ll wager David Cassidy and Scott Baio weren’t on those Tiger Beat covers for their musical talent.
If you don’t get it, check out the audience reaction to this blooper reel from the show:
Now take a look at this still from the parody This Ain’t Happy Days:
Every person in that audience who laughed at that blooper reel had that still in their mind decades before it was produced. Those people are now the target audience and apparently they are buying. And it’s not just the porn.
“More adults, ages 18 to 49, watch the Cartoon Network than watch CNN.” Allow me to unleash my inner Brent Bozell for a moment, and ask: Isn’t this a sign of intellectual maturity?
Guys never really stop being boys inside. That’s just the way it is.
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