Denny's marketing exec John Dillon said the company was fairly comfortable handing over creative control to shows producers and performers because it knew
"Always Open" had to be somewhat edgy and authentic to attract the 18-34 audience it was after. He
admitted there was some negative viewer reaction to Sarah Silverman's discussion of "anal warts" but overall the show has helped raise awareness of Denny's with the target demo. Dillon said the show
so far has attracted 3 million viewers, its original goal, and there's still more episodes to go. Certain shows, like those with Jason Bateman and Will Arnett each drew 1 million viewers. "The
ultimate goal is to get this generation in our restaurants," he added, which each acknowledged will take some time.