Who is the Puppet Master Eric Doyle?

I was out for drinks with my buddy, radio show host turned actor David H. Lawrence XVII who plays the villain, The Puppet Master Eric Doyle, an Owner of a marionette theater / escaped prisoner from Level 5 on NBC's hit TV show Heroes. Doyle can control people with the snap of his fingers just like a puppeteer. I asked David a few questions about coming to Hollywood and advice for other actors, online video producers and Internet people.

David worked as a radio show host then came to Los Angeles to break into Hollywood as an actor. It looks like all the acting auditions, casting calls, talent searches, self promotion and studying that David did on how to become an actor has finally paid off.

After his creepy role on Heroes I’m expecting David to become a movie star. Maybe we’ll soon be reading celebrity news and Hollywood gossip about him and Hayden Panettiere or he could just wind up as a regular on Heroes, 24 or LOST.

Who knows maybe we will all be walking around snapping our fingers the way Eric Doyle snaps his fingers closed to shut someone's mouth. It will be like Bewitched and the nose twinkle.


Add Heroes to Your iTunes, iPod or iPhone

TV Marketing Guru Vince Manze Leaves NBC to start New Media Company!

According to The Hollywood Reporter NBC Promo Wizard Vince Maze is leaving NBC after 18 years to start his own New Media Company.

That's nice Tim. Why should I care about some old guy leaving NBC?

Cause this is a guy that understands short form and long form media better than anyone else on the planet and if Vince Manze is leaving the comfort of NBC in the middle of a recession to start a new media company you know he has something good and worst yet he's going to stir the pot for everyone else.

I recently ragged on StrikeTV for having 40 Shows and no promo department. Vince Manze is a guy that can create 40 Internet Shows overnight and have the promos done and posted before Midnight.

Look out kids, there's a new professional on the new media playing field who is going to raise the bar for all of us.

Will NBC Serve Ads in Their Embeddable Videos?

NBC posted the SNL skit of Tina Fey as Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton and they have made it embeddable. It's gone viral.

Will it and future videos stay that way and will NBC deliver ads to these embeddable videos? More importantly, will they ever rev share with bloggers who post their videos?

Radio, TV, Internet and Live Event - Know your Audience

So NBC has partnered with LA Radio Station 97.1 KLSX in a promotion for the resurrection of the TV Show Night Rider. To do this they are running a contest to win tickets to the Playboy Mansion.

The cool thing is that they are using a YouTube Video with a PROMO Code at the end of the video that you need to enter and they are promoting it on the radio and on the KLSX website.

"Register to win your chance to attend the hottest party of the year - NBC's Knight Rider Launch Party on February 12th at the world-famous Playboy Mansion...

Hosted by 97.1 FREE FM, this star-studded event will feature a live 4-hour broadcast with The Adam Carolla Show and guest appearances by Danny Bonaduce and of course, the beautiful Playboy Bunnies.

Watch the Knight Rider trailer to find out the secret code - then register to win your spot at the Knight Rider Launch Party!

This television debut is powered by Knight Rider, premiering 9 P.M. February 17th on NBC, and the Mustang GT 500 KR Secret Agents here at 97.1 - The FM Talk Station."

I think this event will be a success and the word will get out about Knight Rider but I'm not sure that the people who will be tuning in to the new Knight Rider will sign up for this contest because they won't be old enough to get in to the Playboy Mansion.

The Office: Top 10 Pranks On Dwight

Now I never got into The Office when it first launched on NBC because I was a big fan of the original British series of The Office but over time I have come to enjoy the American version.

That said, I found the above video of The Office: Top 10 Pranks On Dwight and I thought it was a good example of Old Media making good use of new media. What I don't understand is why it only has 100,000 views but I have a theory.

I think this video may have been posted and then turned off for the announcement of the Joint YouTube killer Hulu and then turned back on.

That, or maybe the fans of NBC's The Office don't use YouTube and the users of YouTube don't care about The Office.

In either case this little "Top Ten" recap idea is something you could use to create an additional episode of your own web series without having to shoot a new episode.

And if you have your advertising inventory sold that could mean more profit for you.

NBC picks up Quarterlife

According to Cynthia Turner's Cynopsis: DIGITAL email news letter, "It looks as though Quarterlife creators Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick have managed to get their show on the air after all. NBC picked up the rights to broadcast, sell on DVD and stream the show in the U.S. and internationally, planning to premier it on air sometime in February or March after it completes its initial 36 webisode run on Yahoo TV. The deal breaks mold in various ways. It is the first primetime show to debut online then secure a network spot. (Herskovitz and Zwick first pitched Quarterlife to ABC 3 years ago, but the network ultimately passed on it.) Although NBC will contribute to production and development costs, the two producers will retain ownership and creative control of the show, according to reports. Finally, the show may be strike proof as it's primarily an independently-financed online venture not subject to the strike embargo."

Now I'm not sure how that falls under "strike proof" but it will be interesting to see how this one plays out both on and off TV and what happens when it eventualy gets canceled on NBC. Will it go back to the Internet? Or stop production for good?

If You Missed SNL You Might catch it on YouTube

I've noticed since Dick in Box the SNL Digital Short and other fair to great SNL skits keep getting posted by NBC on Youtube after they air on NBC with no advertising attached. That's great for viewers cause you don't have to stay up late to watch SNL, you don't have to eat up space on your TiVo and you only get to see the best skits without watching any commercials.

NBC must know what they are doing. They are a business with shareholders. Right?