This is my first post where I don’t feature an on-air promo that I haven’t recorded myself off the air. Michael Schneider, Variety’s TV editor and blogger, tweeted about the teaser promo for the return of FX’s Justified (which I love by the way.)

The spot is in sharp contrast to the darker, more mysterious cross-network promo that ran during Daytona back in February on Fox. We now know more about Raylan Givens, what he loves, and what he hates; both of which seem to drive him equally and is at the center of his internal conflicts.

Thanks, Mike!

I have to admit, I’ve just recently started getting into FX since they debuted Justified back in March. That’s probably why I’d never heard of Archer (that’s when its first season wrapped) until I saw this promo run during Terriers this week (which, by the way, is another great show on FX! Thanks, Televisionary.)

The :10 on-air promo works wonders in presenting the quirkiness and obvious TV-MA rating of the animated series; along with the vulnerability, yet coolness, of the lead character. The unusual choice of voice-over adds a level of mystery to it as well.

Aside from wanting to watch the show, it makes me want to see a :30 or :20 spot. Well done.

The purpose of this blog is to focus on on-air promos and pay tribute to an art-form that requires more creatives to bring to life than the seconds it lives for during a commercial pod. I have yet to highlight a promo with my voice on it (I have my voiceover website to do that,) but this promo was born out of a spot (Meet the Garcias) that was part of a campaign I proudly narrated last year for CNN’s Latino in America and I happen to have caught it this morning (they’re re-running the two-part special this weekend.)

The original promo won several PromaxBDA awards this year and is now nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Promotional Announcement – Episodic category. Well deserved; I’m just honored to have been a small part of it.

Extended clips and extended trailers are all the rage nowadays; But extended on-air promos? 30′s aren’t as common as they once were and 60′s are practically unheard of, so a 1:20 is like Sasquatch. Ladies and gentleman, I present you… Big Foot! A pretty damn cool, extended promo (that’s what I’m calling it) for Showtime’s upcoming season premiere of Dexter.

This promo hints at turning more than the main character’s world upside down. Now, normally I don’t feature promos that aren’t narrated by voice-over talent, but – if you’ve seen the show – Michael C Hall is brilliant. ‘Love it!

And you thought I was going to talk about Inception.