PopGoesTheNews.com >> CTV is promoting the return of its prime time drama Flashpoint with favourable reviews from two publications that don't exist.In a commercial airing on the network and in a recent CTV press release, the blurb "Flashpoint is no flash in the pan" is attributed to the "New York Daily Post" -- even though there is no such newspaper. The quote actually comes from the headline of a review by David Hinkley published in the July 11, 2008 edition of the New York Daily News. (In the rival New York Post, critic Linda Stasi wrote: "the plot comes undone" in the first episode and added "[it's] too bad the writing isn't ... on target.")
The network's commercial for Flashpoint also displays the words "Striking originality" and attributes them to the non-existent "McLeans Magazine." Presumably, CTV is referring to Maclean's (owned by rival media company Rogers). The quote is taken from a July 7, 2008 article by Patricia Treble. (A July 24 review of the show by Jaime Weinman in Maclean's read: "The premise doesn’t necessarily lend itself to bigger and splashier stories" and "it seems to rely a bit heavily on ... the idea that nobody can solve a case unless at least one member of the team has a personal emotional connection to the circumstances of the case.")
CTV is also relying on a positive blurb from a review in The Globe and Mail, which is owned by CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc. Not surprisingly, the network did not use quotes from reviews that appeared in some major U.S. publications. Some examples:
"Flashpoint lingers when it ought to speed up. It is a show about crisis that refuses to make you anxious." - New York Times
"It's not terrible, not great, just sort of so-so." - The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Flashpoint is actually rather formulaic." - Miami Herald
"Dramatically dull." - Newsday
"It is ... merely re-creating crime-series moves we've all seen many times before, with only the faintest afterimage of originality." - Boston Globe
"It isn't particularly fresh or inventive." - Hollywood Reporter
"An hour of dull wisecracks and predictable plotting." - Entertainment Weekly
"The show is another victory for style over substance, slickly visual but essentially empty." - Washington Post
"The series is far from flashy, mostly generic and breaks no new ground at all." - Palm Beach Post
"A pretty nondescript hour ... the series itself possesses so little flash, finally, that it's difficult to see the point." - Variety
(Photo courtesy CTV)
UPDATE: Shortly after this story was posted, CTV corrected the publication names in the commercials.
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