More crankiness

[giandujakiss]

See if you can spot the most important person in the room:
















(via ide_cyan)


(via rivkat)















Apparently, the going rate of exchange is something like this:





To be fair, I do realize that these examples are somewhat skewed; most of these shows have alternative promotional images, and there are counterexamples like:



But then again, when it comes to ads for The Closer, this is actually what I see most often:



Sigh.

Comments

[ide_cyan]

I've been trying to find good counterexamples to make me feel better, but it's hard -- plain old examples are so much easier. (And so many missed opportunities. Could you please make it look less like Mary is Marshall's sidekick, In Plain Sight? Sure, she's more to the center, but it doesn't help if you then shoot with a wide-angle lens that makes him look even bigger.)

Best I've found so far are Veronica Mars promos / DVD covers:

http://backseatcuddler.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/promo_tempo1_veronica_mars_23small.jpg

http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/blog/Veronica%2520Mars%2520Cast_NEW.jpg

http://www.covershut.com/cd_covers/Veronica-Mars-Seasons-1-3-Cd-Cover-46675.jpg

http://www.aceshowbiz.com/images/news/00021898.jpg

And a whole bunch of wallpapers here:
http://www.serieslive.com/serie/veronica-mars/307/galerie.html

(They could teach Saving Grace a thing or two about emphasising a lead played by an actor with more force of personality than physical stature. It can happen to Tim Roth, too, accidentally I'm sure -- and that picture makes me wistful for a better show that wasn't, even if the women are doing twisted-spine posing: the white men are to the side!)

(There are pretty good promos for Hawthorne and Nurse Jackie, but nursing isn't a prestige high-powered job, and medical show promos make me think of Nip/Tuck and Human Target accessorising theirs with women's bodies and/or disembodied limbs.)

And, to conclude: Rookie Blue, I <3 you!
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8ZR3RtzcG9A/S70KhPUiumI/AAAAAAAABug/ls4R1WHCQqY/s1600/rookie-blue.jpg
But I <3 you even more in this Canadian promo:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8ZR3RtzcG9A/TCAHi4I06UI/AAAAAAAACSA/PZ-CbFSxOTo/s1600/rookie-blue_promo002.jpeg

[ide_cyan]

...and much as I like The Good Wife lots and lots, there's a huge difference in the kind of group promotional material it offers:
http://seat42f.com/images/stories/tvshows/TheGoodWife/Season2/the-good-wife-season-2.jpg
vs. Julianna Margulies's previous project, Canterbury's Law:
http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl0/1/13839/10_2008/fox_12-group-hallway_30C31.preview.jpg
http://www.zap2it.com/media/photo/2007-12/34328044.jpg

(Well, okay, this one is better:
http://seat42f.com/images/stories/tvshows/TheGoodWife/Season2/cast-photo-good-wife-season-2.jpg but even though Alicia Florrick is the lead, she's not the *leader*.)

[giandujakiss]

Yeah, that second one doesn't make her seem like she's in charge of a team at all - the opposite, it makes it look like she's going her own way.

[giandujakiss]

Yeah, there are counterexamples- but not many. I saw the Rookie Blue ones when I was searching, actually, and they made me happy. But I was saying upthread that when a woman is in front, she's usually posted a bit differently - for example, in Weeds and Desperate Housewives, she's either barely dressed or wearing a smile/smirk, or both. And that's actually the case with the first couple in Veronica Mars example - in at least some of those photos, she's not doing that stern/intimidating thing that the male leads get to do. Interesting how it got better for S3, which is when the show went downhill seriously on all fronts including gender.

[monanotlisa]

Oh, oh, Veronica Mars!

Show had its issues, especially in later seasons - or rather, Rob Thomas had them? - but it's still very very close to The Perfect Show Ever for me.