In May 2018, Showtime launched a “For Your Consideration” campaign for Twin Peaks: The Return. This campaign was designed to appeal to members of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences who would be voting for the Emmy Awards. From a special event held on May 2 with David Lynch, Kyle MacLachlan and Laura Dern to bold advertising, Showtime executives wanted members to see why the third season of this “wonderful and strange” show should win all the awards. In the latter part of May, they mailed a massive DVD set containing preview discs for several Showtime shows up for consideration including Twin Peaks. Here is a closer look at that set focusing primarily on The Return.
BRIEF HISTORY OF “FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION” ADVERTISING
HBO in the mid-1990s was the godfather of “For Your Consideration” advertising. An short blurb by Eileen Fitzpatrick in Billboard Magazine from June 11, 1994 explained how the network appealed to members.
There were incentives for borrowing the video tapes for members – it was free, they received a HBO coffee mug and watching “And the Band Played On” could help an AIDS-related charity. This also helped HBO get more eyes on their programming, especially with people who could influence the outcome of an Emmy nomination or award.
In 2005, Showtime did something no other network had tried – they sent members the full season of Huff two months after it premiered. According to a Reuters article by Kimberly Nordyke on May 19, 2008, their gamble worked, the “low-rated dramatic comedy ended up getting seven Emmy nominations.”
Once other networks caught on to HBO’s original idea, the mailers became more complex and “fancy” as explained by Chad Gervich’s Variety article from May 29, 2007. He spoke with John Leverence, senior VP of awards for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences about the DVD packaging.
“The people who send these things are very creative marketing types,” said Leverence. “It’s a knee-jerk response for them to package these things in the most interesting, engaging way they can.”
Over-the-top or unique packaging, such as ABC sending stone tablets for The Ten Commandments, was once thought to be the key to getting eyeballs on the shows. Yet with the launch of things like YouTube in 2005 and Netflix’s streaming service in 2007, the tide would change.
By 2008, Showtime pushed the boundaries again by putting full seasons of shows online for members viewing pleasure. Other studios had released individual episodes online before, but never entire seasons. Showtime publicist Richard Licata thought this was a winning strategy.
“If the distribution and marketing can be accomplished in an economical and ecological way and also preserves our copyrights — everyone wins,” he explained.
There was another advantage with streaming the episodes according to Nordyke’s article. Companies could “avoid paying the $1,500 per-episode service fee the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences requires on ‘for your consideration’ mailers as well as the DVD replication, postage and packaging costs.”
A year later, Showtime moved to a mobile distribution and a streaming options that could accessed by members using a password. A press release from the time explained what they were attempting:
Beginning this April, voting members of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) will be able to exclusively view full seasons of critically-acclaimed SHOWTIME original series through their iPhones and iPodTouch devices. Building on its innovative and eco-friendly Emmy(R) campaign from last year, this application developed and implemented by Transpera, the largest mobile video delivery and advertising network in North America, will allow voters, upon entering their passcode, the ability to stream full episodes directly to their handheld devices.
SHOWTIME also announced that as of February 28, its password protected website, http://sho.com/foryourconsideration, has launched and will be available to voters throughout the June balloting and final August judging periods.
Begun the streaming wars have. And oh, don’t tell David Lynch about the watching the show on an iPhone thing.
SHOWTIME’S FOR YOUR 2018 EMMY CONSIDERATION DVD MAILER
So how did Showtime go from password protected streaming service for members back to beautifully packaged DVD sets? I believe the rise in streaming services played a big part. As more and more companies turned to streaming, they felt getting physical products into the hands of members would make for more lasting impressions. Funny enough, the streaming option never went away with these mailers as we’ll see with Showtime’s massive set mailed toward the latter half of May 2018.
Goldderby.com first reported that these mailers were being sent to members’ homes in an article published on May 17, 2018. This set was the fourth mailer Showtime had sent. Three individual DVD mailers for the shows The Chi, SMILF, and Twin Peaks: The Return were sent to homes in April (stay tuned for a look at the Twin Peaks set). This larger set contained even more Showtime shows such as Patrick Melrose, Ray Donovan, Billions and other specials and alternate programming.
FOR YOUR 2018 EMMY CONSIDERATION DVD MAILER – OUTSIDE PACKAGING
The outside packaging contains an image collage from Showtime shows included in the set. You’ll spot Kyle MacLachlan and Naomi Watts in their parts as Special Agent Dale Cooper and Janey-E Jones respectively.
The spine contains an image of Cooper with Diane Evans and Gordon Cole. It’s the same photo from Part 17 that appeared on Showtime Network’s “Transcendent” advertising for the show.
The back cover contains two more images from Twin Peaks: The Return – David Lynch as Gordon Cole and Laura Dern as Diane Evans.
FOR YOUR 2018 EMMY CONSIDERATION DVD MAILER – INSIDE COVER
The “For Your Emmy Consideration” logo is found against a black background on the inside cover.
The opposite page contains all the Showtime shows included in the set.
FOR YOUR 2018 EMMY CONSIDERATION DVD MAILER – TWIN PEAKS
On the first page of the Twin Peaks section, you will find a publicity shot by Suzanne Tenner of Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan). It’s the same shot that is seen in a Showtime “For Your Emmy Consideration” advertisement found in IndieWire.
The opposite page contains an image collage of Twin Peaks: The Return long with some critics’ quotes about the third season. This page also lists key actors and producers that Showtime wanted members to consider. They were as follows:
- Lead – Kyle MacLachlan
- Supporting – Laura Dern, Miguel Ferrer, Robert Forster, Michael Horse, David Lynch, Naomi Watts
- Executive Producers – David Lynch, Mark Frost, Sabrina S. Sutherland
- Outstanding Limited Series
These suggestions explain the selection of photos seen inside and out from the series.
This is how the full image looks when the pages are placed side-by-side.
FOR YOUR 2018 EMMY CONSIDERATION DVD MAILER – TWIN PEAKS DVD
The DVD contains an image of Special Agent Dale Cooper and only two episodes – Part 8 and Part 16.
This is how the DVD menu appears when playing the Twin Peaks disc.
Now, imagine you’ve seen no other episodes of Lynch and Frost’s show since it went off the air in June 1991. You pick up with the action in the magnificent Part 8 followed by “I am the FBI” Part 16. What a wild thing for members to experience!
FOR YOUR 2018 EMMY CONSIDERATION DVD MAILER – TWIN PEAKS PART 8
The episodes play just like they were broadcast in summer 2017. The only difference is the lack of clarity as it’s a DVD and not a high-resolution Blu-ray disc. Additionally, every so often “Property of Showtime” appears on the screen. An attempt to curtain bootlegging I’m sure.
The “Property of Showtime” text only appears a handful of time throughout the mind-blowing episode.
FOR YOUR 2018 EMMY CONSIDERATION DVD MAILER – TWIN PEAKS PART 16
Similar to Part 8, the Part 16 episode plays exactly as originally broadcast. The “Property of Showtime” graphic appears sporadically through the episode.
FOR YOUR 2018 EMMY CONSIDERATION DVD MAILER – ONLINE OPTION
The back page inside cover contains this graphic which included a code (I removed it) so members could “enjoy full seasons of Emmy Eligible Showtime Original Series and non-fiction programming at Sho.com/FYC. The access for this code expired on August 31, 2018.
In an depressing epilogue, Twin Peaks: The Return was shut out of any awards during the 70th Emmy Awards in 2018. The series was nominated in several categories including:
- Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special: David Lynch and Mark Frost were nominated, but Charlie Brooker won for Black Mirror: “USS Callister”
- Outstanding Directing: Lynch and Frost
- Production design
- Editing
- Sound editing
- Sound mixing
- Cinematography
- Makeup and hairstyling
And yet, seven years after it aired, Twin Peaks: The Return is still being analyzed, discussed, researched and more. Hell, I feel as if I’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg about the third season on Twin Peaks Blog. Thankfully, the Television Critics Association recognized the importance of Mark Frost and David Lynch’s masterpiece this year.
You can download high-resolution images from this article on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/aloha75/albums/72177720320615869
