The Doctor Who cast.
That song.
Put the two together and you have Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, and Arthur Darvill being serenaded by fans singing Rebecca Black’s “Friday” at their Barnes and Noble signing in New York last Friday.
Yes, that happened.
HT: BBC America
I was in line right behind them, so what you see in the video was probably about the seventh or eighth time I heard the song. The girl who did most of the singing had written it, and she taught it to the others in line shortly before we started going in. When the guy filming the line for BBC America got to our section, he liked the song so much he made four attempts at filming it outside (two of which were messed up by store employees trying to keep everyone moving) before we got inside the store. As we were leaving, he had them out in front of the store singing it again.
I think — I’m not 100% on this part — that four of the group were college friends who came together. I do know that the last two were younger and had just come up from Maryland that morning, parents in tow, and only met the others in the line. So say what you will, it brought Who fans together.
@Hayley — You’re right…what I should have said was they’re going after the younger AMERICAN audience and that worries me. Look at any foreign film that’s remade for American audiences: it’s almost always dumbed down with more sex appeal than the original.
Have you watched basic cable lately??
Oh look, a troll got out of Gallifrey Base forums!
@Lokey – Worried that Doctor Who are going after the younger audience? Uh!!?! Have you ever been to England? How about you go into an English toy store and take a look around. Right beside the Thomas pop up books you can find Doctor Who ones. Get over it. TV is for everyone.
Oh and, loved the fans song. 🙂
Eh…I’m probably just grumpy because I didn’t get to drive up for the premiere. Grumpy and mean or not, it’s pretty obvious the higher-ups at Doctor Who are going after the younger audience and that does worry me.
I lined up for that screening. Trust me, while the females outnumbered the males, though not by much, the face of Doctor Who fandom remains pretty diverse. The series is as sophisticated as ever, if the first two episodes are anything to go by.
That song is FAR better than the original, well done ladies!
I hope my comment didn’t come off as snarky. I think the very fact that these young girls are geeking out over Doctor Who gives me hope in the human race.
@Lokey – waxlion already put it very well. I only have to add that it’s ALWAYS better to be accepting and overall nice about things despite the unintended consequences. Being closed minded and mean is never ideal. Even if it does affect Doctor Who, it’s just entertainment. I appreciate the passion of fandom, but we get whiny and possessive about the silliest things.
Hey guys, after actually reading my comment I feel as if I should apologize. I didn’t mean to come off as a dick or anything. It just felt like they didn’t enjoy it and then the studio forced them to say things that they didn’t mean. I can’t honestly believe that Karen Gillan “loves” Rebecca Black.
I really didn’t mean for my comment to be mean, I don’t know why I put it that way.
This is the one that was being sung in line on Sunday/Monday before the showing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ISPfQXHCjMM
It appears that Doctor Who has reached the elusive teenage girl fan base. Perhaps they will bring along the even more elusive Older Sister Fan Base, and we can have sex with them.
Get on it, Steven Moffat
Yeah they’re of older pop vintage, but keep in mind the relaunch has already had Kylie “Do the Locomotion” Minogue, Billie “Whyugottaplaythatsongsoloud? [because we want to, because we want to!]” Piper., and a short cameo by McFly who are quite possibly one of the frequently-nakedest boybands ever.
Plus one of the best uses of Britney Spears for that Toxic end of the world montage, not to mention other pop music usages like how DW Confidential is exceedingly hip indie, one of the kinkier Scissor Sister songs is actually used within the show, and even The Beatles back in the black and white days.
Oh, or Craig Ferguson’s likewise nerdy Doctor Who themed song for his TV show being pretty celebrated. Granted that was on its merits, but the point still being yay fannish enthusiasm and what not.
Gospel X — Keep that thought in mind if Doctor Who begins to look more and more like something MTV or Disney produced. Stuff like this goes viral, next thing you know stars like Justin Beiber or Miley Cyrus are doin’ cameos on Doctor Who. Sounds absurd, but money talks and producers are greedy.
@Lokey — Unfortunately, speaking out too harshly about this group of Whovians means that the face of Doctor Who fandom is a bunch of jerks. I’d rather have youngsters who are having fun than curmudgeons who say you can only enjoy things their way.
I’m sure the cast found it cute.
The person who looked most unimpressed was the security guard.
@Beeznitchio — It’s kinda like if Brittney Spears played Ripley in an Alien remake. Nobody wants moronic poptarts becoming the face of Doctor Who fandom.
I thought it was kind of cute, and furthermore found it cool that they took the time to rework the lyrics to match Dr. Who. Not sure why, at a site called Nerdist, that so far, everyone is being dicks in the comments. Way better than reworking the lyrics to be about One Tree Hill or Gossip Girl.
So much for Doctor Who in America being a recurring thing…
Well…looks like the BBC got that younger audience they were going after. Knowing that these asshats got to meet the cast of Doctor Who makes me want to throw up.
So are we going to get an announcement that the cast of Doctor Who will never ever ever return to the U.S. again? 😀