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To paraphrase a line from the mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap,” you’re about to experience the sights, the sounds — the smells — of a hard-working reality show family.
The July 17 season premiere of TLC’s “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” will be aided (and abetted?) by what the network is calling “Watch ’n Sniff” — in which viewers will be able to experience the Georgia-based Thompson clan in all its olfactory glory.
After all, this is a show whose opening credits feature large-and-in-charge matriarch June “Mama June” Shannon passing wind, so the “Watch ’n Sniff” possibilities are endless — though the gimmick is limited to six smells spread out over the opener’s two half-hour episodes (9-10 p.m.).
Viewers will be prompted to scratch their cards when they see the corresponding number pop up on the screen.
“They’ll have to tune in that night to experience the smells, but they pretty much coordinate with what you expect with the family if you’re a fan of the show,” says series executive producer Howard Lee.
That could involve part of the season opener, in which the family brings home some road kill — a hog, in this case — which is skinned and prepared for that week’s dinner. “They don’t enjoy hunting but June loves this because she can save money,” Lee points out.
“You also find out in the opener what big fans they are of local wrestling events,” he says — so, perhaps, maybe there’s a scent associated with that in the cards.
So how, you might ask, did TLC distribute its “Watch ’n Sniff” cards? Well, it teamed with two magazines, People and Us Weekly, which inserted cards into their current issues — and TLC also had “street teams” giving the cards out in cities across the US.
In all, around 10 million “Watch ’n Sniff’ cards were printed and distributed, Lee says.
“The thinking was to have a big blowout for the season premiere and to do something special or unique,” he says. “We’re past HDTV and 3-D TV, so what’s the next level?
“There’s no more befitting show than this one for ‘Watch ’n Sniff.’ ”
“Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” the “Toddlers & Tiaras” spinoff kicking off its second season, is one of TLC’s most popular shows. Last season, 2.3 million viewers each week watched the antics of sassy, 7-year-old Honey Boo Boo (real name Alana Thompson), Mama June, Alana’s dad Sugar Bear (real name Mike Thompson) and the rest of the Thompson family — including openly gay “Uncle Poodle” (Mike’s brother, Lee Thompson).
“They’re loving it,” Lee says of the family’s reaction to the “Watch ’n Sniff” cards. “They’re having a lot of fun with the concept.”
And, he says, the family doesn’t know what smells will be used in the season premiere.
“We figured it all out afterwards,” he says. “The smells are not equated to family members, but to scenes within the show. They may be doing an activity or event or it may even be an object in the episode.”
Good times.