Speechless Campaign

SpeechlessWithoutWriters has launched an online video ad campaign that shows what movies and TV would be like were it not for the vital pens of writers. A lot of celebrities participated and most of the spots are really good.

My favorite, though, has to be this one from Ed Asner...


Damn, that guy can act!!

Leopard Attack and TV Pilots

My Thanksgiving present arrived today. (I know...who the hell gets presents at Thanksgiving anyway?) My copy of OSX 10.5 (A.K.A. Leopard) landed on my desk so, like any other pathetic Mac-head, I'm installing it right away.

So far, everything seems to be chugging along happily as I write this from a nearby Windows PC. I've taken great care to back up everything, especially my photos and screenplays, the latter of which are also saved in my Gmail account.

On the screenwriting front, everything is going well. I'm set to work on a third round of rewrites over the holiday weekend. This should be the final big rewrite, with a spit and polish round to follow this one. After that, if all looks solid, I'll pass it around to some people for comments and any notes they feel like giving.

Then it's back to work on the BBC TV pilot. My plan is to simply write the pilot and synopses of some following episodes, just to give the reader an idea of the intended story direction.

That having been said, my question is this: What's the proper procedure for setting up a new TV drama pilot? Just the first episode? Should I write more full episodes? Should I include synopses?

If you've done a TV pilot, how'd the process go for you?

Tripping on Daisies

I just finished watching Pushing Daisies and I'm happy to say it absolutely exceeded my expectations. Visually, it's very Tim Burton-esque...a slightly odd but brightly colorful world. Kinda like a Claritin commercial on acid.

The story unfolds like a sort of magical fable, with allusions to both Sleeping Beauty and Forrest Gump, but with a bit of procedural crime drama thrown in.

In short, Ned, who runs a pie shop, has a remarkable gift. With a touch, he can resurrect the dead. However, as with any magical gift, there are stipulations. One, if he touches the person (or dog, or plant) again, they die again and cannot be brought back. Two, if he keeps them alive for more than one minute, they will remain alive (as long as he never touches them again). And three, if he chooses to keep someone alive past the 60-second mark, someone else has to die to take that person's place. With the help of a streetwise cop, Ned realizes the profitable potential of his ability. He awakens murder victims, asks who killed them, then after putting them back to "sleep", collects the reward.

It's this conundrum that creates the interesting relationship between Ned and his childhood sweetheart, Chuck. (Chuck is a girl, in case you were curious.) When Ned finds out that Chuck has been killed, he revives her with the initial purpose of reward money, but when they realize that they both still have feelings for one another, he decides to keep her alive past the minute mark, invariably causing the death of the nefarious funeral home director.

Ned and Chuck, though very much in love, can never touch. No kisses, hugs...nothing. But through some inspiringly clever writing, this limitation is overcome, at least emotionally.

The writing on this show is fantastic. There are too many cleverly crafted bits of dialogue and story turns to mention. I can't wait to see how future episodes play out. If tonight was any indication, consider me hooked.

Monday Night = TV Heaven

Welcome back, Heroes. It's so good to see you again looking so fit and ready for action. And thanks for bringing your new friends, Chuck and Journeyman. Now I don't have to touch the remote for a whole three hours...until 11:00 when I hit the power button.

...And then hit it again Wednesday night and switch it to ABC for Pushing Daisies. I'm really looking forward to this show. Great premise, interesting relationship between the male and female leads and enough eye candy to send Augustus Gloop into a diabetic coma.

Kill Your Television!

I just can't turn it on anymore. Someone else in my house has to do it. It's usually the children or my wife. This works out logically since the cat is unable to push the button.

But I personally can't turn on my TV. Why?

Reality.

No, I'm not being existential or esoteric. Reality on TV is sucking all the joy out of watching it. I remember a time when primetime meant great stories, action packed drama; even the mindless sitcom or two was entertaining. But now, flipping the switch gets me any of the following:

Game shows
These have just gotten ridiculous. I'm not talking about the "put a bunch of people in a house and the last one there gets the money" game shows (that's another category)...I'm talking about real game shows, on a stage in front of an audience with lots of flashing lights. And these aren't anything like the ones from back in the day, like Match Game or Hollywood Squares or the all-time boss of all game shows, Jeopardy. Here's the basic premise: Let's put an incredibly greedy/annoying/spastic moron on stage and put them through the emotional ringer while we raise the jackpot (and the stakes), making said moron convulse in fits of emotional agony. I think that sums up most of them.

(Un)Social Game Shows
Box up a bunch of people together with the same goal (i.e. to be hired/married/funny/thin/beautiful/whatever) and sit back and watch them fight over it. Survivor started this one and every incarnation of the basic idea gets more and more insipid.

Talent Shows
America's Idol Got Talent. If I wanted to watch a talent show, I'd visit my local junior high school.

Real Life Shows
Every goober with a camera phone, right there on my TV. People falling over the dog, the Christmas tree falling on grandma, grandma falling on the baby...

Let me know when the second season of Heroes starts. Until then, I'll be reading a book.

The Best Shows (that were) on Television

I don't watch a lot of TV. In fact, most of what I watch is limited to news, CSI/Law & Order: Whatever and the rare peek at the underbelly of human existence on daytime chat shows. Apart from these and a few other choice pieces of programming (Lost, Heroes, House), there's really just not much that floats my boat on TV these days.

But some of the shows that were on TV...ahh. Now there's some quality storytelling. Too bad they're no longer around to grow and prosper like they used to.

Homicide: Life on the Street - This had to be the best crime drama on TV in a long, long time. Hell, the best show on TV period! Great well-developed characters put into always interesting situations. Granted, the steam started to run out when some of the cast did, but when it was hot, it was hot!

Arrested Development - The darling of critics and viewers; the red-headed stepchild of Fox. The funniest show I never saw (until it came to DVD).

The first couple of seasons of Law and Order (the original) - Grainy and edgy, it set the standard for procedural drama, but in the midst of getting slick and eventually switching out its entire cast, it lost its wonderfully gritty essence. Catch the first few seasons - pure gold.

Seinfeld - Hell, who isn't a Seinfeld fan? No new shows, but long live syndication!

Firefly - Every inch a great show. Fantastic writing.

Twin Peaks - This freak show was so good it still gives me the heebie-jeebies. In the words of Agent Cooper, "Damn fine!"