Showtime ‘George & Tammy’ Ad Snafu Sees NYT Promotion Full Of Fake Review Quotes
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Despite what you may read in the New York Times today, I nor anyone at Deadline ever wrote a review declaring that Showtime’s George & Tammy had an “intense storyline.”
However, in a production mix-up, that is what you will see on page 24 of the today’s Arts & Leisure section in the Grey Lady. In fact, the full-page ad for the Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain starring limited series on the Paramount-owned cabler is full of over-the-top fake quotes from various top tier outlets.
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A reality acknowledged by the Times on page 8 of the Sunday Edition’s A-section where it says: “Due to an error, the version of the George & Tammy ad printed in the Dec 11 issue of the Arts & Leisure section ran with incorrect quotes. The below ad is correct.”
That error was actually the result of a communications breakdown of sorts, I have discovered. In a standard practice for putting promotions in print publications, Showtime’s marketing team sent a mock-up ad over to the New York Times to serve as a place-holder. Unfortunately, that fake ad ended up being incorrectly slotted for today’s paper.
As many will know from visiting the Times bulging website, the fact is almost every section of the venerated Sunday NYT is published and printed several days before the paper lands on doorsteps and newsstands. With a few exceptions, only the breaking news packed A-section comes off the printing presses on Saturday night.
Hence, the notice of error on page 8 of the after mentioned A-section today.
Contacted by Deadline, Showtime did not respond to request for comment on the mistake. But we hear people over there were pretty red faced and P.O.’d when told of the mix-up on December 9.
Based on the turbulent marriage and collaborations of Country music legends George Jones and Tammy Wynette, the six-part series created by The Eyes of Tammy Faye’s Abe Sylvia and directed by John Hillcoat has actually received pretty good review overall.
In one of the first programming moves by newly minted Showtime boss Chris McCarthy, it was unveiled in early November that George & Tammy would be salvaged from the wreckage of Charter pulling the plug earlier this summer on the Spectrum Originals unit. With Oscars winners Chastain, who fronted Tammy Faye, and Shannon installed as the leads, the co-production between Spectrum Originals and Paramount Network found a premiere home after highly watched Yellowstone on December 4. Subsequent weekly episodes will be found on Showtime and streaming and on-demand.
Earlier this week, Paramount bragged that the MTV Entertainment Studios’ produced George & Tammy’s viewership shattered Showtime debut records. However, in a distinct blurring of the platform and outlet lines, that boast was based on the audience of 3.3 million the series got out of the combined viewership on Showtime, Paramount Network and CMT. Viewership for Showtime alone was never made public.
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