4 posts tagged “tv”

So i have done almost a full year of not blogging.  I have to admit that my last blog kinda put me off the whole thing.  I still miss Rory.

Enough about that, though. 

So nowadays I have a crazy 2 year old.  I am writing pitches

Wait. 

I was writing pitches.  Then some d00d busted my car window at high noon and stole all my writing notes and my laptop.  I am sad to lose the laptop but it is devastating to lose my writing notes.  i had one of those 3 subject spiral binders with notes about everything from learning basic japanese to scheduling and producing TV movies to sketched out ideas for animated and kids shows.  No back ups for handwriting.  I guess I could start scanning pages after I write on them and then i would have backups in iPhoto.

I have gotten into some other pretty cool music, mostly thanks to NPR's All Songs Considered and My man Han

St Vincent's "Actor" is getting good play on my iPod as is Silversun Pickups and Autolux which inspired me to write two different tv show ideas.

Writing is weird.  Trying to see if I can really write for comics.  Working up some pitches now.  Then throwing out some emails and see if I can land me some of those fancy meetings at San Diego Comicon.  Taking a class at UCLA by Nunzio Defilippis on how to write comics.  I never felt comfortable with the format and I hope this helps me out. I haven't forgotten my TV writing but I hate talking about TV ideas on the Internerd.

Guess that is a good start.  Going to Vegas this weekend, which should be full of stories I will never re-tell until my deathbed.  heh.

Check out:
MUSIC
"The Strangers" - St Vincent
"God Is Love"  - Eleni mandell
"TIA" - K'Naan
"Here Comes Everybody" - Autolux ( I know this is an old track but I just got to it.)

TV
Southland - NBC - I can't sayitis great but I am surprised how much I love following the stories of the beat cops.  If the detectives disappeared (maybe not Regina King) I would not be sad.

The Unusuals - Argh more cops.  I think ABC felt burned by all their quirky shows and are hammering out the weirdness of this show.  But dammit the cast is so good I have to give it a chance.

Harper's Island. - CBS - I have no idea how this got on but it is such a faithful homage to 80s slasher movies and so goofy it is fun that I can't stop watching.  It's either the mother or everyone is killing everyone.

Reading
getting Things Done - I am all unorganized.  I find that when i follwo a chapters advice I feel a sense of relief.  then I mess everything up again and the anxiety returns.

the Road, No 1 Ladies Detective and Audacity of Hope - Books that have been sitting on my beloved Kindle for a while that i thought I should finally read.  Weirdly they all kinda flow together into a big meta story...

 

I am reposting this to go along with the start of the new fall season.  Cuz you know it is important to understand the process.

I was roaming the Internerd, and ran across a conversation that I see a lot about how the networks are keeping the good shows off the air for the purpose of the big hit.

While that is sorta true, I mean who doesn't want a big hit, people don't take into account the whole process of TV. For one, it isn't free. It is paid for by the commercials you don't watch. Because of that economic restriction you have to play pretend. Pretend that the audience IS watching the commercial, we the network will guarantee that so many 18-35 year old eyes will watch it during the Wacky Adventures of "Soon To Be In Rehab". Of course when the audience sees thru the "talents" of the star of STBIR, then the network has to make up for the lack of audience for those commercials. Hence it is cheaper to rerun the show "That Put Her in Therapy", then to show even 3 episodes of STBIR

So you are saying that it is impossible for anything new to get a chance?

Yeah but here's the thing you are forgetting:

Heather Graham is perceived as a huge star draw. SO the ad sales (not to mention the endless promotion) were huge. then it comes back with a number that makes the WB look like it is running new episodes of "ER vs CSI" SUPA INSTANT FLOPU! As much as people complain, smaller shows will get given more of a chance if they are:

1. Cheap, like Seinfeld and Cheers. those were easy to produce set shows with a cast of largely unknown or "don't care abouts"
2. Show some kinda growth from episode to episode...All I can think of at the moment is Dawson's but that is a bad example. OH! 24 and The OC!
3. do HUGE numbers demographically. Buffy was never a true ratings winner but it had great teen girl numbers. this is actually the case for most of the WB shows. So from there the network could guarantee specific marketing and charge bigger ad money.

Once you start screwing around with lots of stars or expensive producers (Arrested Development I am looking at youuuu) or huge casts and lots of OUTSIDE locations (Still looking at you AD and EYES, you can't hide either) then the only thing that will save a show is if it gets a high placed exec behind it to champion the show (and risk her/his career).

Huh, that was kinda informative...

I actually wrote this three years ago.  Apparently my rage did not change the industry one bit...

Looking over the New Fall Season is usually like sneaking a peek at Xmas presents for me. So imagine my surprise when I looked into the back of the closet to find that i am getting the same presents that I got last year!

I can't believe I am saying this but WHAT HAPPENED TO MAKING SITCOMS???

Used to be that networks knew what a sitcom was. It was a COMEDY derived from a SITUATION. Now I know the pendants among you will bristle at my next comment but BEING AT WORK OR HOME WITH  FAMILY IS NOT A SITUATION...unless one of the family is a robot, monkey or alien.

We used to watch shows about martians and witches and genies living among us. We would stand around the water cooler discuss the folly of liberals living in peace with bigots and how similar the slob on TV was to the husband of the neat freak we know. I admit I never knew any hillbillies that hit it rich nor reading about the leading scientist of coconut technology being stranded on an island with the 3rd richest man in the world but it was fun to watch.  Now we have gotten to uppity to enjoy the weekly antics of one ethnicity living with another richer ethnicity.

Personally I blame the Bradys for blurring the line. I mean, yeah it is crazy bananas to see kids and a maid in a house with one bathroom and four bedrooms, but beyond that nothing was really happening that you couldn't do with just two or three kids. I mean look at Diff'rent Strokes, which continued to erode the comedy barrier while setting a record for the damage an innocent entertainment could do to the lives of children.  You have to admit it was life changing.  At least for some kids who had nothing but a dream.  Meanwhile the rest of us learned to NEVER GO NEAR A BICYCLE SHOP!  But the next thing you know we are watching Cosby and Seinfeld and people forgot that people really want to see folks put into wacky, yet slightly plausible situation to comfort them in their own grey lives.

How do I know this? Because the oneline for every  reality show is frighteningly similar to a sitcom description. Dammit stop wasting all the good set ups on Paris Hilton and people named Fantasia and let's get back to answering the question of how to live with talking animals or inanimate objects!!!

With the impending doom of the OC coming I thought it would be interesting to repost this old Blog from the New Fall Season of the OC.  Also of note are my feelings on Cult Favorite Arrested Development.  I really haven't changed my mind much but I do have to admit that it did get a litte more funny.:

August 23, 2003

Who Knew?

Man I got a lot of feedback on what should have been a throwaway blog.

-Rachel Krinsky and I communicated for the first time in um...18 years (!!!).
-Rachel Galanter also had some comments
-Several people pointed out that the smart move is never to mention ex-crushes and ex-girlfriends in my blog ever again.

Anyway moving on:

Network Fall Preview! It is my favorite time of year. I need to get my TV Guide or I am lost! The Academy of TV Arts & Sciences was kindly (or dumb) enough to actually show me previews of what to expect from this fall, so I will share my thoughts with you.

Overall:

Apparently this year is the year of Hot Chick Detectives in Impractical Shoes. Although Teens who Love Each Other Despite Incredibly Stupid Odds is coming in strong. Radically idiotic Sitcoms are still evergreen but I have hope.

FOX -
Skin-Romeo & Juliet as seen thru porn. An interesting twist as white people are cast as Ethnic Characters. It was so bold I couldn't really hate but there is a character who says OUT LOUD, that he is half Mexican and half Irish. It was like watching one of those plays you see in high school where the really cute black girl is playing Sandra Dee in Grease. You just kinda go with it because you realize that the people who made the thing really couldn't find an alternative. The female RomLead is as shocked as the audience to find out she is Jewish which is actually a funnier scene. My wife hit me to make me stop laughing.

OC-When I first saw this I thought, 8mile meets fresh prince. Having watched two episodes and the preview for the next I now believe that it is the Prisoner meets 90210. This poor kid from the mean streets of Chino is kidnapped by a likeminded lawyer and taken to this secluded "paradise" which on the surface seems ok but underneath are deeply puzzling political games being played. So of course he tries to leave, yet every time he tries to go Plastic creatures drag him back to his fishbowl home. Oh and while they claim that is how they do it in the OC my wife who actually is from Newport doesn't know how she missed all of that growing up there. I am addicted to this show as long as it doesn't air against anything I really want to see.

Stan Hooper-norm MacDonald in a sitcom similar to Newhart. He is this news guy that finds a small town and decides to do his show segments there explore real life in a small town. The big laugh comes when he interviews the owners of the central coffee shop, thinking they are brothers only to have them admit IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BROADCAST (GASP!) that they are a married gay couple. I won't spoil the bigger joke of that scene as it actually got a laugh out of me. If the casting remains consistent this could actually be a decent show

Tru Calling - Eliza Dushku (Faith from Buffy/Angel and the hot rebel Cheerleader in Bring it On) as a psychic morgue attendant who solves crimes, groundhog day style. I am tempted to leave it just like that. I can't decide if this is a good show or not...I am thinking no but Crossing Jordan has an appeal so maybe?

Luis-Guzman (you will know him the second you see him) Blandly offensive comedy about a Latin guy who is the Donut King of Brooklyn. It tries to be South Park but ends up being Tom Arnold.

Ortegas- Mexican family with talk show in house-live improv. I swear I have seen this concept before. I think that kids shows do it a lot. The twist is that the Ortegas are a casted family of funny actors and they are completely improving. To the point that the celebs look a little terrified about not knowing what is coming next. It could be funny with A list or at least b+ celebs as the guest. Kinda a nicer punk'd

Arrested Develoment-rich people poor. I can't even explain this show. Imagine the Carringtons got arrested for all the crap they did and then had to file bankruptcy. I think that is what this show is going for, but it doesn't really seem funny...

Still life - I wrote this down but I don't remember the show. I think it is a midseason replacement, so don't sweat it.

more coming in a bit