http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/showbiz/2007/11/05/sot.fey.writers.strike.cnn
This specific example of Tina Fey and the 30 Rock writers complaining about their Internet residuals is more than a little frustrating.
Update: I’ll clarify it a bit more for the new people just coming in.
The Chappelle Theory was posted in December of 2005 and received a decent amount of traffic. It was even written up in the NY Times on 7/22/2006. Then, this episode of 30 Rock aired 4/19/2007. Decide for yourself how much sympathy you should have about these particular readers, I mean writers… 
5 responses so far ↓
1 Andrew // Nov 12, 2007 at 8:16 am
Some say that “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” and yet you’re basically saying, “rot and die you copycats.” The “Dancing Babies” didn’t even cry as much as you are.
2 jhill // Nov 12, 2007 at 9:32 am
You’re wrong on both sides of your assumption. This went a bit further than imitation. Rot and die isn’t something I’m saying either, it’s just fun to poke at them.
FYI, the dancing baby started as a royalty free animation sample. http://www.paweekly.com/weekly/morgue/monthly/1998_May_27.BABY.html
3 Andrew // Nov 12, 2007 at 10:27 am
How did it go _any_ farther than imitation?
Thanks for the dancing baby info. I’ll be sure to pick my comparison internet memes more carefully next time, despite the fact that there was an obvious connection to “crying” and “dancing babies,” but whatever.
4 jhill // Nov 12, 2007 at 11:46 am
An imitation, to me, would have used similar themes, not the exact theme and details. They added Gordon and changed the name of the group.
Sorry for assigning actual meaning to your example, I had assumed that you intended more context, i.e. Ally McBeal, other than your crying / dancing thought. An Internet meme that got picked up by network TV, seemingly with no regard to the author / animators, that would have been a good comparison.
5 Andrew // Nov 13, 2007 at 8:45 am
Well, imitation really isn’t the act of half assing something is it? It’s normally a forgery, a copy, something that is intended to seem like the original. Seems to fit what 30 Rock did.
But, as I’m sure you are aware, network shows do tend to take themes from pop culture. It _should_ be flattering that they felt The Chappelle Theory was “pop culture enough” to include, though I guess it would have been nice if they would have put a message in the credits (that you wouldn’t have been able to see anyway).
You’re probably aware that “Peanut Butter Jelly Time[1],” the song from the Dancing Banana appeared in Family Guy. I’m sure that little more than half of their 8.2 million viewers[2] didn’t realize it was an Internet meme, just as I’m sure nearly 90% of 30 Rock’s 5.8 million viewers didn’t see the connection. I’m sure that’s probably why you’re bitter about it.
But, not every meme can become as big as the Dancing Banana and you can certainly try again (you can always create one about a Dancing Kung-Fu fighting Chuck Norris’ mom). It was pretty successful, a NY Times article (more about viral marketing), an _imitation_ (yep, there’s that word again) episode on 30 Rock, a couple million hits and some blog postings, but come on now, be serious—it doesn’t even have a WikiPedia page[3].
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut_Butter_Jelly_Time
[2]: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/features/e3ifbfdd1bcb53266ad8d9a71cad261604f
[3]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=chappelle+theory&go=Go
Leave a Comment