TBS's bold marketing moves with 'Angie Tribeca' explained

TBS aired the comedy's first season of 10 half-hour episodes several times in a row January 17 and 18 without traditional commercial breaks. It also included two-minute scenes hosted by "Angie Tribeca" actor Deon Cole after each episode resembling old-school fundraising telethons and embedded advertising references by the likes of Dunkin' Donuts and Turbo Tax.

TBS has since begun airing episodes of "Tribeca" in traditional weekly style on Mondays at 9 p.m. between "American Dad" and "Family Guy" repeats. In essence, TBS is serving two different audiences: those who want to see everything at once and those who like their shows portioned out over time.

The network did not release viewership numbers from its experimental 25-hour marathon but then again, it was such an unusual idea, TBS execs didn't rely on traditional ratings in this case to gauge success.

"It's more about social relevance," said Brett Weitz, executive vice president for original programming, based in Los Angeles. The show, he noted, trended on Twitter for several hours. "Ratings have been actually pretty good but it's not a metric that means much."

Indeed, TBS had enough confidence in the show to renew it for a second season even before its debut. (Season two will air later this year.)

"What we want to do is reshape how people think of TBS," said Weitz. That means edgier fare - or at least more absurdist fare.

In case you haven't seen "Angie Tribeca," it's very much in the style of the classic "Airplane" and "Naked Gun" movies as well as the short-lived TV series "Police Squad." That means Jones' character, a cop, and her co-stars take everything literally and take things with a straight face, no matter how bizarre. The jokes come rapid fire and almost willy nilly. There are also blatant ads captured in the show itself by the likes of Ford and Snickers.

Weitz, who had worked on the TNT side with "Rizzoli & Isles," said, "If you add a little wink and nod at the camera, it would be a comedy. These police procedurals are just a moment away from being ridiculous... Steve and Nancy wanted to fill a gap: the spoofy cop show hadn't been around in many years."

Indeed, "Police Squad" goes back to 1982. Here's a sample if you missed it (and many people did because ABC nixed the show after just six episodes.)

The closest cousin on air right now is Fox's "Brooklyn Nine Nine," but Weitz said that show isn't really a spoof given that everyone is self aware that they are living in a goofy world. "In 'Angie Tribeca,' " he said, "no one is having fun. Everyone thinks they are living in the most dramatic world ever."

The Carells also nabbed some big-name guest appearances (though Steve himself refrained from showing up season one). Among the names: Bill Murray, Keegan-Michael Key, Gary Cole, Jeff Dunham, Sarah Chalke, Adam Scott, Lisa Kudrow and James Franco.

TBS is well aware that CBS's "The Big Bang Theory" is the last big-tent sitcom out there and any future acquisitions won't be able to draw the audiences the way that show has for TBS in recent years. So original content is key to the network's future, Weitz said.

TBS over the past decade has been very successful as the "Very Funny" network but its ratings success has largely relied on acquired content from broadcast networks such as "Friends," "Seinfeld" and "The Big Bang Theory." It has also kept shows cancelled by broadcast alive such as "American Dad" and "Cougar Town."

Night talk show host Conan O'Brien has been the face of the network for the past five years but the network hasn't been able to fully populate prime-time with original content to suit him.

Over the years, original scripted programming has been a bit of a mish mosh. TBS had a run of success with Tyler Perry's broad, low-budget sitcoms ("Meet the Browns," "House of Payne") before he moved to OWN. It has tried traditional three-camera fare such as "The Bill Engvall Show" (2007-2009, an early vehicle for Jennifer Lawrence) and most recently "Clipped," which starred Ashley Tisdale and George Wendt. None were a real hit. Its longest-running original scripted comedy was the under-rated "My Boys" from 2006 to 2010.

The commonality of the six original comedies debuting this year, Weitz said, "is authenticity of the storytelling. We're not trying to be mean-spirited or snarky. We want people to laugh."

Among other upcoming shows: