• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, July 2, 2010

Can one network show make fun of another series on the same network, or sister network?  Bring it on.

For years, NBC's "Saturday Night Live" did this at the expense of its weekday prime-time shows. That's "SNL"'s business; it does parodies. 

Acording to reports, TBS' Tyler Perry is pissed because a sister network's animated show, "The Boondocks," (on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block) offered up a spin on Perry's over-the-top character, Madea, the big eccentric grandmother. 

To be fair, I haven't seen the comedy bit. But apparently all this didn't come at Turner senior executives unaware, as the idea for the episode originated more than a year ago. The only mistake executives may have made was in not telling Perry, who produces two important comedies airing on TBS: "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" and "Meet the Browns." 

As with anything else in TV marketing, there isn't much downside when you have people or TV producers talking about your show. It just adds awareness levels for those viewers --  in this case, Adult Swim's mostly younger male viewers, the 12-24 18-24, demos. That might be a plus since TBS viewers are older: 18-49 and 25-54.  

TV producers and moguls can be a sensitive bunch. But when it comes to marketing/promotion, they are typically open to all sorts of ideas. Comedy Central's "South Park" does a great job of skewering topical TV content and celebrities. Before "South Park,"  Fox's "The Simpsons" had been doing the same -- albeit with lesser sting -- for almost two decades. 

It all comes down to not taking yourself so seriously. Smart TV talent, producers, and network executives understand this. TBS needs to lighten up a bit if it wants to play in the big leagues.

And by the way, doesn't TBS also have this little show hosted by Conan O'Brien coming out in the fall? 

Hmmm... O'Brien has been known to offer up a parody of two. Expect him (maybe, not on the first night) to have a laugh or two at TBS' expense -- or perhaps that of TNT, CNN, or Adult Swim. 

Viewers like the inside stuff. It gets them closer to the action. And they'll remember it.