StartUp Podcast: Ask Alex (Season 5, Episode 9)
July 4, 2017 9:09 PM - Subscribe

You called with your questions. Alex Blumberg has your answers—about growth, diversity at Gimlet and, oh yeah, that ABC sitcom that's currently being made about the first season of StartUp.

Here's the trailer for 'Alex, Inc'.
posted by bq (7 comments total)
 
I LOL'd when Alex revealed he would be played by Zach Braff.
posted by bq at 9:10 PM on July 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


Is it just me or is that trailer terrible?
posted by primethyme at 9:39 PM on July 4, 2017


It's not great, to be honest, especially considering the multitude of ways hat Alex bobbles his pitch.
posted by bq at 10:44 PM on July 4, 2017


I think the "Alex, Inc" trailer is terrible enough that I've been showing it to people as an example of something that is remarkably terrible.

Surprisingly, they didn't seem to take that tone on the podcast. Though they did mention something about not having much editorial control.
posted by tjgrathwell at 10:02 PM on July 5, 2017


Alex and Chris discuss licensing deals as what could make Gimlet a success, and cite Marvel. But the example that makes sense to me would be The Onion, another online content company that tried TV and movie projects without much success. Gimlet might do better just because its content has much more depth than The Onion's. Alex Inc looks terrible, though.

That TV show looks like a case of a broadcast network wanting their own version of a cool show on cable, in this case Silicon Valley. They're both, broadly, about a tech startup. It's like when ABC and NBC attempted to follow Mad Men with their own retro 60s dramas. ABC, I believe, produced one about flight attendants; NBC one about the Playboy club. The Big Bang Theory's success might be a factor, as well.

It's also out of place at ABC, which mostly does hip family comedies (Modern Family, Blackish, and the like). It might have fit better at NBC. I assume Braff had a development deal with Disney or ABC due to Scrubs. The podcast makes it clear ABC wouldn't have picked this up were it not for his involvement.
posted by riruro at 9:02 AM on July 6, 2017


I'm hoping that Alex, Inc is better than the trailer. I agree that the tone seems totally off. I wonder if they were trying to be diplomatic by not bashing the trailer on this episode.

I'm interested to see if a TV deal happens for Homecoming. Part of what I think makes it great is that it *is* an audio format. It's just *so* immersive. I find myself really impressed at how much goes into the voice acting.
posted by radioamy at 2:36 PM on July 6, 2017


Is it just me or is that trailer terrible?

It makes the title of the show seem a lot better.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:50 PM on July 6, 2017


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