With more and more TV shows on the air every year, it becomes harder and harder for marketing teams to grab potential viewers’ attention.
As we get nearer to the fall 2015-16 TV season, you’ve likely been bombarded by ads – on TV, in magazine, on billboards and on the internet. It’s mostly annoying white noise, but from time to time, truly innovative and refreshing entertainment can be found in 30-second servings.
From ABC showing off its now iconic TGIT Thursday night lineup of Shonda Rhimes‘ dramas, joining its “Muppets”-themed takeover of Tuesday night sitcoms, to Fox going with an all-animated promo to explain its new shows, image campaigns are getting more creative than ever.
Then there’s just the trailers that are plain great, and make us want to tune in to a show we may not have had interest in before. Looking at you “Supergirl,” “Limitless” and “Quantico.”
Below, 15 of TheWrap’s favorite ads of the fall TV season.
“Limitless”
CBS wisely led off the trailer for this fall series with Bradley Cooper, who starred in the film on which the movie is based. Cooper also executive produced the series and handpicked Jake McDorman to star.
“Empire”
The hit Fox series didn’t need to do much, but the ads have focused on the relationship between Cookie and Lucious. We also get to see how Lucious has been faring behind bars.
“Scream Queens”
We get a good look at all the campy fun of this Ryan Murphy Fox series. There are thrills, chills, and plenty of laughs to be had in this bloody good looking series.
Fox:
Taking advantage of Instagram’s new 30-second videos, Fox hired Ross Bollinger, a well-known “pencilmation” artist, to animate an overview of each of their new fall shows – “Scream Queens,” “Minority Report,” “Rosewood,” “Grandfathered” and “The Grinder” – just a couple of seconds each. Eschewing utilizing the familiar faces of such big stars as John Stamos, Rob Lowe, Morris Chestnut and Emma Roberts, the ad is not only funny and refreshing, it’s downright revolutionary.
The CW:
Showing off its tagline – Dare to Defy – the youth-skewing network brought together the hot young stars of its various returning and new fall shows, illustrating how each of them, be it superhero dramas like “Arrow” or “The Flash,” or quirky dramedies like “Jane The Virgin” or “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” are defiant, fearless and different from everyone else.
“Arrow”
There’s a lot of new stuff coming in Season 4 of “Arrow,” and this trailer gives the best look yet at things fans are most looking forward to. Oliver proposing to Felicity. The introduction of Damien Darhk. Each of Team Arrow fulfilling their destinies as superheroes in their own right. Bright green arrows! This season seems to have it all, and this trailer gives just enough of a taste to get people wanting to tune in for more.
TGIT
Shondaland owns ABC’s Thursday nights with the hugely popular TGIT line-up of “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” and “How to Get Away With Murder.” The network is touting their three dramas with cross-show promos featuring enough wine and popcorn to last all night.
ABC’s Tuesday Line-up
ABC brought out its entire cast of stars to help promote their new series “The Muppets.” “Agent’s of SHIELD’s” Clark Gregg and “Fresh off the Boat’s” Randall Park are just two of the many actors to make an appearance in the promos.
“Heroes Reborn”
NBC’s promos for the limited series reboot of their 2006 superhero series teased a mix of new characters and familiar faces, giving both old and new fans something to get excited about.
“The Grinder”
After cutting “The Mindy Project” loose, Fox had better hope that new comedies “The Grinder” and “Grandfathered” live up to the network’s own hype. The Rob Lowe–Fred Savage vehicle looks like it has the best chance to deliver consistent laughs — even if it has to rely on “Silicon Valley” star Kumail Nanjiani for a few of the home runs.
“The Goldbergs: ‘Risky Business’” Teaser
Every season “The Goldbergs” takes on a nostalgic ’80s movie remake, and this year’s “Risky Business” remake has all the potential in the world to live up to the sitcom’s epic “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” adaptation. At the very least it already has these hilarious 17-seconds, capped off by the titular exclaim “I’m going again.”
“The Last Man on Earth”
Who cares which Season 2 promo we selected? “Last Man” was the funniest new series on TV last season; Phil (Will Forte) and Carol (Kristen Schaal) hitting the reset button and heading towards the White House is the perfect setup up for an incredible sophomore run.
“Supergirl”
In case you were worried that CBS’ Greg Berlanti-produced “Supergirl” would have the same dour tone of of Zach Snyder’s frowny “Man of Steel,” worry no more. When, one minute into the series’ trailer the John Williams theme from Richar Donner’s original “Superman” movie kicks in, you will believe a girl can fly.
“The Daily Show With Trevor Noah”
The first ad for for Comedy Central’s rebooted “The Daily Show” makes new host Trevor Noah seem both cool (thanks, Kanye) and funny. That the kicker is a joke about Jon Stewart being short is a nice hat tip to the man Noah is succeeding.
“Quantico”
Oh, hey, Priyanka.