A Station Eight Fan Web Site

Gargoyles

The Phoenix Gate

Search Ask Greg

Search:
Search type:

Displaying 1 record.


Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

What age group is the target audience of The Spectacular Spider-Man?

I, and a friend who is a professional animator, can't figure it out. While much of the dialogue is quite advanced and the plots are standard, the pacing of the stories is roughly what you would need for a 6-year old with ADD. There is no time to savour any of the depth that could be there as the audience is rushed to the next "cool" scene. The longest story was the Symbiote/Venom introductory story which was crammed into two episodes. Every other major story arc is crammed into one.

Just in case it sounds too negative, we both appreciate what does get shown. It just feels like either too much is left out and should be spread out over more episodes with more exploration, or the story elements have to be shoe-horned into the single episode leading to a kind of story-indigestion. I'm curious as to what led to this.

Greg responds...

Well, it does sound pretty negative, actually. I should point out that I don't agree -- I suppose that's obvious -- with your assessment of the series. But you're entitled to your opinion.

Anyway, the core target is Boys 6-11. But that was true on Gargoyles and even on W.I.T.C.H. True on most shows I've worked on. My shows (at least the ones I produce) are always written to work on multiple levels. Concentric circles like any target. We've got to hit that bullseye in the middle for commercial purposes, but we're not satisfied with only getting that audience. I like to think my shows work for kids, tweens, teens and adults, for boys and girls and men and women, for intense fan-geeks and casual viewers. But mostly -- fundamentally -- I write and edit for a core audience of one, i.e. ME. I produce the show I'd like to see. If you don't like it, all that really means is that our tastes are different.

You're attributing the DENSITY of the show to the target audience, however, and that's just not true. It was my creative choice to make the show as dense as possible. To cram as much in as possible. That has nothing to do with your dismissive and somewhat insulting reference to "a 6-year old with ADD". That's a choice you can blame on me.

Most of our major arcs are three or four episodes long, not one or two, as you stated. But every episode is designed to stand alone and tell it's own story, and yet still be part of both the three or four episode arc and part of the larger arc of the season and the series as a whole. That's important if not essential to the series from both a commercial and a creative standpoint. And we're all pretty darn happy with the results, as both the ratings and the majority of critical and fan response seem to bear out.

Response recorded on April 10, 2009