jml@ihlts.UUCP (Joe LeClercq) (05/22/84)
While watching the Video Awards last week I couldn't help but notice that every time the video "Thriller" by Michael Jackson was mentioned as a nominee for an award, 2 things always happened: (1) NO clips from the video were shown; and (2) it was always mentioned last. As for (2), I realize that the nominees are shown in alphabetical order, but it still seemed like "Thriller" was kind of thrown in haphazardly. Anyone have any idea why this happened? Does it have anything to do with Thriller's director John Landis going to jail for the deaths in "Twilight Zone: The Movie"? -- Joe LeClercq AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, Il. ..!ihlts!jml (312) 979-2165
merchant@dartvax.UUCP (Peter Merchant) (05/23/84)
{ Rubber Ducky? I hardly know 'er! }
Well, I noticed that in most cases, they didn't show clips from the last
video mentioned. I don't think it was Thriller's fault. Even clips take
time. They also do it with grammy's from time to time. They play pieces
of all the music except for the last one. Also, Thriller had many nominations.
Possibly they dinged it just because it had been shown so often.
I doubt it had anything to do with Landis and "Twilight Zone: The Massacre."ee163aie@sdccs7.UUCP (ee163aie) (05/25/84)
[] Thriller wasn't shown for the same reason it wasn't shown in its entirety on any "free" TV station. Because of the high cost of the production, the record company (RCA?) tried to recoup the cost by selling Thriller to MTV and releasing a Thriller video tape. As far as I know, only one clip from Thriller was ever released for "free" TV consumption. In it, Jackson tells his girlfriend, "I'm not like the other guys ...", then his eyes change color, and he looks like he is about to undergo some sort of transformation, and the clip abruptly ends. I'm sure it would have been rather boring to see the same clip over and over again in the awards show, so they just left it out. Paul "I still haven't seen Thriller yet!" van de Graaf @ U. C. San Diego
hxe@rayssd.UUCP (05/30/84)
This is in response to the response to the... well, anyway, someone said that "Thriller" wasn't shown on the Awards show because it was never released for 'free' consumption on any television station. Not so. I saw it on Friday Night Videos. (Of course, in our area it was interrupted for a storm warning, but it was there nonetheless.)
as@brunix.UUCP (05/31/84)
>Thriller wasn't shown for the same reason it wasn't shown in its >entirety on any "free" TV station. Because of the high cost of the production, >the record company (RCA?) tried to recoup the cost by selling Thriller to MTV >and releasing a Thriller video tape. > >Paul "I still haven't seen Thriller yet!" van de Graaf @ U. C. San Diego Wrong. "Thriller" was shown on "Friday Night Videos" right before Christmas, about a week after its world premiere on MTV. Although "Thriller" was the first video that wasn't provided free to video shows, the record company did not make the decision to charge for it. In fact, the record company had no say in the matter at all; unlike most other "artists," Jackson has financed his own videos, rather than allowing the record companies to pay for them. As a result, he has rather shrewdly retained the rights to those videos (and can do things like release them on videotape and make lots of money). Alex Stein Brown University ...brunix!as