Update January 28, 2009: It's too late to get the glasses mailed to you buy calling the number listed in the press release. Obviously they are being sold on EBay and elsewhere, but if you haven't given up hope of getting your mitts on the glasses for free, here's a separate post with a list of participating retailers per Sobe where you can hopefully obtain a pair.
Finally have your glasses? You don't have to wait for the Super Bowl and Chuck to play with them.
Updated: video of the commercial is below, and here is the official NBC press release on the 3D event and glasses (including info on how to obtain the glasses if your local retailer runs out of them).
There seems to be enough interest in this that I figured I would just do a separate post. I'm not sure if there's anything 3D in the Super Bowl other than the Monsters vs. Aliens trailer, but I finally watched the commercial that's been airing in the playoffs for the 3D glasses. According to the ad they will be available at Pepsi and Sobe displays at your favorite retailer, though all that's displayed in the commercial is a Sobe display that definitely gives Chuck some promotion!
I Snapped a screenshot of the commercial with my iPhone, which is not equipped with the greatest of digital cameras, but if you look closely you can see the Chuck promotion.
maybe Chuck will finally get the attention it deserves…hopefully.
This will not increase the viewers of Chuck.
I hope this boosts Chuck’s ratings for the rest on season 2. It’s an awesome show, my favourite in a long time, and it deserves all that it can get. NBC, please promote this even alot and do Chuck some good!
*event.
That’s actually a really good picture; I’d never guess it was taken with a cell phone.
Nice! Im excited for Chuck on Feb 2!
Thanks. I’d been wondering where to get them since I hadn’t seen any ads (not watching the playoffs–lol) The display isn’t up at my store yet but will keep an eye out now.
Thanks Robert, I was waiting for someone to give info on the 3D glasses…can’t wait. I hope this gives Chuck a boost. It’s my favorite show this year.
lol Don’t Chuck Your Glasses!
They’re clever, those guys.
The 3-D glasses appear to be the standard red-blue 3-D (anaglyph) glasses. You
can get them online for as cheap as $0.40 (paper) or $6.95 or so (plastic, and
IMHO, far better if you plan on actually using them).
Anyways, search online (google) for “3d glasses”.
For any photographers reading this, you can also do your own stereo (3D)
photography. See my stuff at http://www.jstrack.org (see the section on
photography—most are at flickr.com … there’s a link) for examples.
–jim
I love Chuck and have seen all the episodes but worry about the ratings on this.
I think the publicity is minimal, and the burden of having to find/get/buy 3d glasses too much.
No1 is gonna get 3d glasses for that stupid commercial, and if people are just watching tv they cant just watch chuck for the first time w.o the glasses.
If ur not a hardcore Chuckie, you wont watch it.
I think Chuck will set the tone of why there isnt 3D tv episodes.
Or i could be wrong, but i doubt it?
What do you guys think.?.?
Some 150 million 3D glasses will be given away for Super Bowl viewers to watch a 90-second 3D sneak preview of the big-screen animated feature “Monsters vs. Aliens.” While 3D telecasts are nothing new, this marks the first time one has been done for such a large audience.
DreamWorks Animation chief executive Jeffrey Katzenberg called the stunt “perhaps the biggest media-advertising event in history.” He wouldn’t give a hard figure on the cost, but said it “involves tens of millions of dollars.”
Katzenberg promised the quality of the 3D will be superior to what has been done in the past. He said the glasses will use Intel InTru 3D and ColorCode 3-D, which updates the old red-blue Anaglyph system.
The technology will also allow those without the glasses to see an almost ordinary image on the TV screen. But, Katzenberg added, it still doesn’t come close to the 3D quality moviegoers will see in theaters when the film opens stateside March 27.
Ivy, thanks. I’ll embed that in the post. OptiTom, thanks for sharing that as well. While there is some wonderful 3D technology for theaters (including better/much more expensive glasses), I am not optimistic that this will be much of an improvement over thin cardboard glasses based 3D for TV that has been around for years.
As for Chuck, I’m increasingly less optimistic it will see much of a bump:
1.) if you watch the ad, although Chuck is referenced on the Sobe display (Don’t “Chuck” your glasses) it isn’t mentioned in the ad at ALL. Monsters vs. Aliens trailer in 3D, check. New Sobe Lizards commercial in 3D, check. Chuck? Not a peep.
2.) That doesn’t bode well for much in the way of real promotion during the Super Bowl. I hope that’s wrong, because if it’s not…
2.) unless on the advertising/text on the glasses themselves it somewhere specifically says “Don’t Chuck your glasses, watch Chuck in 3D on February 2″, most people will chuck their glasses after the Super Bowl. Realistically, most people will even if Chuck is directly promoted on the glasses.
Robert, while I don’t think the bump is going to be that big anyway, I don’t think you can judge the promotion by this spot. They need everyone to go out and get the glasses for Super Bowl and then they’ll tell everyone to save them. If they start talking about Chuck here, it could just get confusing.
They are actually, Intel InTru 3D and ColorCode 3-D, which updates the old red-blue Anaglyph system. This technology allows for non glasses wearers to see an almost normal picture and makes for a better 3-D effect.
Doc
Julia, I agree completely — it comes down to how much it is promoted during the Super Bowl. No conclusions about that can be drawn from the commercial that aired this weekend, but I’m pessimistic anyway just because, you know, it’s NBC…
Doc, and that still seems a lot closer to the paper glasses of old than what you’d get at an Imax set up for 3D! But I hope I’m wrong and completely blown away with the 3D tech like I was the first time I saw Captain EO at EPCOT twenty years ago.
I hope during the trailer and the new Sobe commercial, they throw in a promo with some scenes in 3D for Chuck. That way it’s one shot thing and most logical thing to do. Then probably show the commercial again later in the night or something. NBC did say they were going to heavily promote their Monday night and new show ‘Kings’, but this is NBC so we’ll see.
I certainly hope they start advertising soon. NBC is showing the Golden Globes (don’t know if they still get good ratings) so maybe they can start advertising then? I’m pessimistic about the promotion, but we’ll see
More about the issue:
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090105005295&newsLang=en
Okay, more and more, this 3D episode is concerning me. I don’t see Chuck getting a huge viewer bump from it, and yet NBC is going to dump millions on the promotion. Right now I think what helps Chuck is that it’s cheap, it gets next to nothing in advertising from NBC, and yet the show is holding it’s own in it’s timeslot. Plus, a sinking Heroes and Knight Rider makes it look good, considering the bucks NBC has dumped on those shows to save them. I think a substantial dollar investment that NBC doesn’t see a payoff from could be a strike against the show when it comes time for renewal.