Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2015 June 19

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June 19

How do test audiences for TV shows work?

Every once in a while, I read about "test audiences" for TV shows. So, just as a hypothetical example, I will read something like this: Actress "A" was cast in the role of the mother, but she did not do well with test audiences, so the network recast Actress "B" as the mother. Or: The character named "Billy" did not do well with test audiences, so he was removed from the show after the pilot episode. Stuff like that. So, what is the story with these test audiences? Who are they? When do they "come into play"? What exactly is their role in the development of a TV show? Does anyone have any information or insight into how this whole process works? Does every show undergo some type of audience test? (I read the Wikipedia article for test screening.) Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 14:34, 19 June 2015 (UTC)

I was in one such test audience. They gave away a free dinner coupon for participating. The TV show was in development, and was called Everwood. We were taken to a conference room where we viewed the would-be pilot, starring Tom Wopat as a single father with a bratty teenage daughter. I didn't like it much, and said so on the questionnaire, along with specific suggestions on how to fix it. Apparently enough people agreed, so they reworked it quite a bit, including replacing Tom Wopat and making the daughter younger. StuRat (talk) 14:55, 19 June 2015 (UTC)

Interesting. How did you get onto that panel? How long was the screening session? What types of questions did they as on the questionnaire? Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 16:55, 19 June 2015 (UTC)

I got an invitation in the mail. Don't know how they got my name, might have just chose me out of the phone book. I had to call them up to sign up for one of the sessions. I believe it was a 1 hour pilot (which means something like 45 minutes without the commercials), and then maybe 10 minutes for the survey, so about an hour. The questions were like "Rate from one to ten how much you enjoyed... 1) The interactions between the father and daughter", etc. But they also had open ended questions where we could give our own ideas for how to make the show better. StuRat (talk) 18:11, 19 June 2015 (UTC)

Thank you! Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 00:46, 22 June 2015 (UTC)