The new season of ALARM FOR COBRA 11 is beginning next month in Germany and my friends at Action Concept pack more action into one hour than most U.S. series do in an entire season... and for half the budget. Here are two ads for the season opener: All that action was just in the first ten minutes.
Wired magazine thinks so. Last season, the three major networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) combined attracted their smallest audience since the advent of television. But the cable networks, which target a niche audience rather than aiming for the broadest possible reach, now claim more than half of total viewers.
It may be time to perform an autopsy on network TV, which some have pronounced officially dead at age 60, the victim of a lifetime of big spending, hard living, and bad planning. Here's the coroner's report: The evening newscasts have been mowed down by cable's heat, spin, and round-the-clock immediacy. In prime time, nobody watches reruns anymore—and reruns, along with syndication, used to be the only way comedy and drama series, the heart of a network's prime-time business, made money. (The way they make money now is...well, the networks will get back to you as soon as they figure that out.)
Speaking of old-school, half-hour sitcoms: Once, 50 of them were on the air at a time. Today, they're all but gone. Suddenly, people just stopped liking them. Prime-time news magazines? Barely holding on. "Protected" time slots? Viewers accustomed to Web surfing and channel flipping at hyperspeed aren't going to watch a new show just because they're too lazy to change the channel after The Biggest Loser. The audience for daytime soaps, a profitable staple since TV's infancy, has shrunk so dramatically that the form may vanish within a few years. This is all very bad news for a medium that hasn't come up with a fresh format since 2000, when CBS launched Survivor, the gold rush in reality-TV competitions. (P.S.: Survivor isn’t what it used to be either.)
It's unlikely that a broadcast network is ever again going to create a megahit like The Cosby Show, which at its mid-’80s peak drew as many as 50 million viewers an episode. For several years now, TV's top event has been Fox's American Idol. Last season, it drew 28.8 million viewers a week.
I'm going in to a major studio next week to pitch a TV series. In advance of the meeting, the studio wants you to send them a very short log line of the concept, sort of the equivalent of a TV Guide listing. Assuming that they like the log-line, a few days before the meeting they will send you the "Drama Series Pitch" format that they expect you to follow for your verbal presentation. Here it is:
THE TEASER—Pitch out a tease that grabs your audience, that is visual, gives a sense of the world, tone and set up of our show.
THE WORLD—After you have grabbed our listener, tell us what the world is and why you want to do a show about it.
THE CHARACTERS-Outline our characters in order of importance, allowing what makes each one distinct to shine through (quirks, traits, backstory). Also discuss character dynamics, how each character relates to each other and what their point of views are about each other. Tell us about triangles, rivals, love interests, etc.
THE PILOT—Broad stroke the rest of the pilot. Do not go beat by beat or act by act. This should really just be broad strokes and key plot points which help establish character and set up. Also, your pilot needs to serve as an example of what a typical episode would look like (i.e. an example of a closed-ended story and examples of character conflicts).
THE SERIES—discuss what an episode of your show looks like, where you want to go in series, potential storylines and character arcs and entanglements.
THE TONE—You want to make sure you have clearly established the tone of your show and may want to hit it again in the wrap up at the end. It is often helpful to use shows that people are familiar with.
I've been in the TV business for a while, and I have done hundreds of pitches, but this is the first time anyone has ever given me a required format. I guess that the studio has been hearing a lot of meandering, unfocused, boring pitches lately.
In general, I have no problem with their format, and would certainly have included most of what they want in my pitch anyway, though perhaps not in that order.
Doing it their way is fine for me and has actually helped us focus our pitch and tighten it up. But I think there are some cases where rigid adherence to their format could kill a pitch. Not all series ideas are best told with a teaser and the pilot story...nor do all ideas lend themselves to comparisons to previous series ("It's HANNAH MONTANA meets THE SHIELD with a touch of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA").
Also some writers just have a natural, entertaining way of pitching that suits their personality and thinking that might not follow a template...but still gets the key points across that the studio is looking or. Asking those writers to adjust to a particular template might throw them off and undermine what otherwise would have been a great pitch.
My friend Javier Grillo Marxuach gives Star-Ledger reporter Alan Sepinwall the skinny on the past, present, and endangered future of his ABC Family madcap sci-fi/retro-spy series THE MIDDLEMAN, which has been having a hard time ratings-wise. Javi and the network mutually agreed to cut the show's 13-episode order down to twelve and to pump a few more dollars into the budget of the unintended season finale. The future of the show, at least on ABC Family, is in doubt but Javi remains enthusiastic, optimistic, and realistic.
Over the last few weeks I've been watching the first two seasons of LEWIS, the sequel series to INSPECTOR MORSE, one of my all-time favorite mystery series.
Lewis was Morse's long-suffering sidekick in the original series. Now Lewis is the Inspector and he has a suffering side-kick of his own, former seminary student Sgt. Hathaway. The series features many of the same production team as MORSE, as well as the same Oxford locations and the Hitchcockian cameos by author Colin Dexter, who wrote the books that the series was based on. The commonalities end there.
The MORSE mysteries were rich, complex, surprising and intelligent...and were enlivened by Morse's wonderfully irascible, embittered and brilliant bachelor and his strained, father-son relationship with Lewis, a simple-minded family man. The writer/directors of MORSE included Danny Boyle and Anthony Minghella...there are no comparable talents on the new show.
The mysteries in LEWIS are plodding, padded and obvious...and worst of all, they are mostly the same story told again and again (a group of current students or former classmates share a dark secret that sparks a series of killings). Lewis and Hathaway end up solving the crime through coincidence and luck rather than deduction or cleverness. The suspects are all one-dimensional cliches.
The absence of John Thaw's Morse is keenly felt...even more so by the unnecessary references to his character that are sprinkled heavy-handedly and awkwardly through many of the episodes. One of the biggest mistakes was trying to turn Lewis into Morse...by killing off his wife and sending away his kids. So now he is the lonely bachelor butting heads with his bosses...almost forcing the audience to compare him to Morse. Unfortunately, his loneliness isn't nearly as interesting and revealing as Morse's. It's just dull.
And while Morse's ill-fated crushes were sad reminders of his lonely life...and his inability to fit in...the gimmick in LEWIS of having a female suspect in just about every episode wanting to drag him into bed is ridiculous and embarrassing.
And yet...I enjoy the show and pretty much devoured the episodes. I find it oddly soothing...like a cup of hot tea. The primary attraction of LEWIS is the relationship between Lewis and Hathaway (who is, by far, the more interesting character of the two) which sort of plays like "MORSE light." Hathaway is a fascinating character and actor Lawrence Fox brings far more depth to his performance than there appears to be on the page. Their gentle banter lacks the bite of MORSE, but it has its pleasures all the same.
Maybe it's more nostalgia for MORSE than any real love of LEWIS that keeps me watching...
LEWIS would clearly like to be the successor to MORSE...and if ratings in the UK are any indication, they've achieved their goal...but in my mind, REBUS wins that honor hands-down.
I've been enjoying a REBUS marathon over the last few days -- not the Ian Rankin books, but the terrific TV movie adaptations starring Ken Stott as D.I. John Rebus, taking the role from the woefully miss-cast John Hannah. They are simply terrific...and in some cases, even better than the novels they are based on (in that respect they are akin to the JESSE STONE movies based on the Robert B. Parker novels). Stott is pitch-perfect as Rebus, and the writing is tight, sharp, and true to the spirit, if not every plot move, of the books. Some of the movies, in fact, could serve as a lesson in adaptation for aspiring screenwriters -- the writers get to the heart of what makes each novel work, cutting away the fat, focusing the plot, and amping up the character conflicts. REBUS is the best new traditional British detective series since the late, great INSPECTOR MORSE (though I've got a couple seasons worth of LEWIS, the sequel series with Morse's sidekick, to watch so I may have to revise that opinion). I've got two more movies to watch and then it's over...apparently for good, since Stott doesn't want to do any more of them and, without him, neither does the network. I hope they can lure him back to do an adaption of "Exit Music," the final Rebus novel.
Actually, the best day was when they had the Harrier jet here. They had like half a jet in the stage and we were climbing in it and doing all that. Yes, it was good. I’m sure that there are other shows where people have a ton of fun and all that, but I’m sure that they don’t have this kind of fun on Law & Order, you know; I can tell you that right now.
I finally caught up with the final episode of PRIME SUSPECT. Helen Mirren's performance was exceptional, as always...even more so when you consider what little she had to work with. The mystery was ineptly constructed, the solution glaringly obvious within the first five minutes of the three-hour, outrageously padded, cliche-ridden bore. PRIME SUSPECT 7: THE FINAL ACT was far from a triumphant end to the once-great series.
Next up for me -- the return of CRACKER in what was also touted as his final case.
I published the post below on this blog in July 2006...and forgot all about what I said I'd do at the end. Now I am following through...
Ken Levine writes today about the worst script he and his partner ever wrote.
In 1993 my writing partner, David Isaacs and I did a short run series for CBS called BIG WAVE DAVE’S starring Adam Arkin and David Morse. It ran that summer, got 19 shares, kept 100% of MURPHY BROWN’S audience and was cancelled. At the time CBS had starring vehicles in the wings for Peter Scolari, Bronson Pinchot, and the always hilarious Faye Dunaway so they didn’t need us.
We were given a production order of six with three back-up scripts. We assigned the first two back-ups to our staff and planned on writing the third ourselves. When the show was cancelled we put in to CBS to get paid for the additional scripts. They said fine, but we had to turn in the completed scripts. Gulp!
Bill Rabkin and I had almost the exact same experience on SEAQUEST. We'd already turned in the outline for episode 14 when we got canceled. But in order to get paid for the teleplay, we had to write it. We did it in one day, while we were packing up our office. I still live in fear that some sf fan will stumble on a bootleg draft at a scifi convention, post it on the net, and people will think we actually write that bad. I'm in Germany now, or I'd post an excerpt. I'll try to remember to do it when I return.
UPDATE March 8, 2007: Okay, here's an excerpt from "About Face," the script Bill and I wrote in a day to get our script fee. We knew no one would ever read it. All you need to know to follow along is that Piccolo a man with gills and Darwin is a talking dolphin (I'm not kidding).
The Archive of American Television has begun posting on YouTube some of their 500 incredible interviews with the pioneers of television. Interviewees include Fred Silverman, Alan Alda, Sherwood Schwartz, James Arness, Dick Van Dyke, Roy Huggins, Sid Caesar, Quincy Jones, Carroll O'Connor, Bob Carroll & Madelyn Pugh Davis, Andy Griffith, Leslie Moonves, Hershel Burke Gilbert, Everett Greenbaum , Bob Mackie, Leonard Stern, Milton Berle, William Shatner, Carl Reiner and many, many more. The interviews are in-depth -- typically three to six hours long -- and are a master class in television. It's truly a remarkable resource. I won't admit how many hours I've spent today watching the interviews when I should have been working...
I love this clip. Everybody has seen it, it has three million hits on YouTube, but I couldn't resist posting it anyway.
I used to be a big fan of LAW & ORDER, but over the last five years, the show has been going steadily down-hill (even with the addition of Dennis Farina, who I have liked ever since MANHUNTER and CRIME STORY). The 2006-2007 season was an all-time low. The last thing I expected was to fall back in love with it, especially after this seasons flat premiere. But each episode since then has been dramatic, surprising, compelling...and even funny.
I don't know whether it's the return of Rene Balcer as showrunner/head writer, or the new cast members, or the revamped sets & lighting & camera angles that have re-energized the franchise, but it doesn't really matter. LAW & ORDER is back and as good as it ever was.
Oddly enough GUNSMOKE, the only show that's lasted longer than LAW & ORDER, also had a resurgence in quality in it's 17th-19th seasons...though that's not to say LAW & ORDER is on its way out.
(LAW & ORDER may someday match, or beat, GUNSMOKE's 20 year reign....but it's not a fair contest. There's nobody on the cast of L&O today that was on the show it's first season. By comparison, three of the GUNSMOKE's four stars... James Arness, Amanda Blake and Milburn Stone... stayed with it for 19 seasons, Arness and Stone to the very end. By that measure, GUNSMOKE will always have L&O beat.)
The Los Angeles Times reports today that DR. WHO executive producer Russell T. Davies is taking a new approach to fans. He's completely ignoring them.
"I think we're an unusual science-fiction franchise in taking a very big step back from fandom and having nothing to do with them. . . . Every program on the BBC has a message board on the website. I forbid it to happen on 'Doctor Who.' I'm sorry to say this, all the science fiction producers making stuff in America, they are way too engaged with their fandom. They all need to step back."
His policy of ignoring the fans doesn't seem to be hurting his show at all. In fact, it may be helping by making his show more accessible to mainstream audiences worldwide.
It falls to Davies "to keep balancing how much continuity there is, how many stand-alone elements there are." Ever mindful of the shows' "mainstream audience" (meaning, not just sci-fi enthusiasts) and put off by "exclusivity" in general, he said he is reticent of creating overly inclusive stories dependent on viewers' in-depth knowledge of ornate histories. This job is made easier by Davies' policy of ignoring the voices of those most vigilant.
Is there a lesson to be learned here for showrunners?
My friend Javi has been a working TV writer/producer for a dozen years, has an Emmy award on his shelf, and even did a stint as a network executive. Nobody would blame him if he'd become just a little cynical and jaded about the business. But I'm pleased to report that he's got the same enthusiasm for TV that he had when he was just starting out...and I love it about him. Don't take my word for it, read this and decide for yourself.
Writer/producer Lisa Klink regularly posts great advice for aspiring TV writers on her blog. Today she's talking about writing the episodic spec script:
Your first spec or two should demonstrate that you know how to follow the rules, and imitate the format and voice of a show. Your “why not” script should show off your voice.
She also shares a very instructive anecdote:
I heard a great story from a fellow drama/sci-fi writer: she wrote a “Lost” spec about Vincent. Yes, Vincent, the dog - complete with a flashback to his life before the crash. Wouldn’t you immediately grab that off the pile and read it? A lot of people did. My friend got a slew of meetings off her spec and, more importantly, a job. She also had a “West Wing” spec, but it was the “Lost” which really launched her. As we were talking about this, she said something particularly smart about sending out a spec: “You don’t need everyone to like it. You need someone to love it.” Exactly.
Lisa is also a recent JEOPARDY champion, surviving for a full week before getting bounced on a question about....writers. That had to hurt.
On Tuesday December 18th , the Writers Guild of America is holding a bicoastal “Scene of the Crime” Rally for writers of crime and cop shows. Writers
and stars of over 35 current and past crime/cop/law shows will be in
attendance in Los Angeles and New York.
This is a great opportunity for
fans of TV crime dramas to show their support for the writers who bring them shows like CSI, MONK, LAW AND ORDER, DEXTER and many more.
Los Angeles: December 18th, 10 am to 12 pm PSTAMPTP HQ, 15503 Ventura Blvd., Encino, a few blockswest of the 405 at the corner of Firmament.New York: December 18th, 12 pm to 2 pm ESTFoley Square, Downtown NYC
Here's a true story from the writers room. We were helping a freelancer, a first-timer to crime shows, plot her story. We needed a subtle clue to link two killings that previously seemed unrelated.
"I've got it," the freelancer said. "What if there is a tiny hole in the victim's head and we discover his brain has been drained out of his skull and replaced with dog shit."
"I don't think that's subtle enough," I said.
"Why not?" she said. "It's a small hole."
Needless to say, she ended up backing out of the assignment.
My friend Dan Bodenheimer of the Official Saint Club reports that James Purefoy has been signed to play Simon Templar in TNT's pilot for a new SAINT series. Purefoy is probably best known these days for his work on ROME, which was produced by the same folks behind this pilot.
The Los Angeles Times published a lengthy appreciation of MANNIX today:
Somewhere out there, in the weird, quivering underbelly of the American dream, "Mannix" still lives.
Somewhere, there's a place where a sportcoat-clad private eye can whip around L.A. in a convertible, get beaten down by goons, shake it off with a scotch on the rocks, then solve the case of the week with an assist from his leggy secretary.
Somewhere out there, but not on DVD.
"Mannix," one of the longest-running, most violent (for its time), most popular television detective shows in the medium's history, has been left out of the DVD trade. It's fading into the forgotten realm of old television shows nobody remembers.
I do. What the reporter didn't mention was that two decades after the show was canceled, Bill Rabkin and I brought MANNIX back in highest rated DIAGNOSIS MURDER episode ever. The LA Times was one of the many newspapers and magazines that wrote about it back in 1997:
Mike Connors acknowledges that it's been "kind of strange" to step back into private investigator Joe Mannix's well-worn shoes after 22 years for Thursday's episode of CBS' "Diagnosis Murder."
"I'm really enjoying it," says the very fit 71-year-old actor. "Once they start calling you Mannix and Joe, of course, it becomes a little easier."
Connors played the strong and suave shamus on the CBS action series "Mannix" from 1967 to 1975, receiving four Emmy nominations.
This unique episode of "Diagnosis Murder" cleverly teams Mannix with his old friend Dr. Mark Sloan (Dick Van Dyke) to solve a murder case that the detective was unable to crack on his own series 24 years ago.
Scenes from the 1973 "Mannix" episode "Little Girl Lost" are used in flashback sequences. Pernell Roberts, Beverly Garland and Julie Adams, who were guest stars on the original episode, also appear.
"It's such a good idea," the jovial Van Dyke says between takes on the "Diagnosis Murder" hospital set in Van Nuys. "We weave the old show in so well with the flashbacks."
The program marks the first time these two TV icons have worked together. "I have known Mike for a long time," Van Dyke says. "We are really having a good time."
Watching the filming with great delight are supervising producers Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin, who came up with the idea of weaving the two series together over lunch one day.
"We talked about one of our favorite shows, which was 'Mannix,' and we couldn't believe no one had brought back the show," says Goldberg. "When we were kids we used to pretend we were Mannix. He drove the coolest car. He never got his hair mussed. I wanted to be as self-assured and as confident as he was."
After coming up with the idea of combining an old "Mannix" show with "Diagnosis Murder," Goldberg and Rabkin, who describe themselves as "TV geeks," began their search for the perfect "Mannix" episode.
"I had a book called 'Television Detective Shows of the 1970s,' which lists every episode of every single detective show of the 1970s," Goldberg says. "So we started looking through eight seasons of 'Mannix' and making a list of episodes where the guest stars were alive, affordable and the story sounded interesting. We must have pulled 30 of them and watched them."
"Little Girl Lost," Goldberg says, "had enough emotional resonance that it would carry over 20 years. What is great about this episode is that Mannix promised this little girl he would find her father's killer. In the episode, he actually discovers this whole mob plot, but he never actually nails the killer."
Goldberg then had to get up enough nerve to call his idol. "We couldn't write the episode until we got him on board. So essentially I spent an hour on the phone assuring him this wouldn't be a 'Naked Gun' spoof. We wouldn't be making fun of him and this would be a genuine continuation and it would be a real meaty part."
Though his hair is still perfect, time has caught up with Mannix after too many years of hard living. While in the emergency room, Dr. Sloan discovers Mannix has a potentially deadly heart condition. Being the ultimate tough guy, the private eye refuses to listen to his old friend's warnings.
"We knew we couldn't have him be the man he was 20 years ago," Goldberg says. "But we also had to be true to that man and we got a kick pairing him up with Dr. Sloan, who is soft-spoken and tries to get answers out of people being roundabout and clever, and Mannix is in your face."
Beverly Garland, who is reprising her role as a tough cookie named Stella, quips that doing this show was like "coming back from the grave!"
"It was the best," says Garland, who first worked with Connors in the low-budget 1955 Roger Corman flick "Swamp Women." "It's going to be fun to see all of us the way we were. It's going to be an interesting show. It works."
Like a white knight
strong and hopeful
lives by his code
proud and noble
Spenser For Hire
Rough and Tumble
He'd gladly risk his life to save humanity
he still believes in chivalry
on ABC
Those are just some of the cringe-inducing lyrics of this inane song cooked up by ABC to promote the premiere of SPENSER FOR HIRE...
I liked Ken Levine's observation about the Los Angeles Times' coverage of the WGA Strike:
Good news! The LA TIMES has begun its Oscar coverage with a weekly special section called THE ENVELOPE. Meanwhile, strike coverage has been relegated to the Business Section. I somehow can’t see THE DETROIT FREE-PRESS not running stories about an auto strike on page one. But then again GM doesn’t own the DETROIT FREE-PRESS.
The Times is owned by Tribune, which also owns KTLA, one of the major affiliates of CW, one of the TV networks hit by the strike.
I just watched TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES and it's one of the most entertaining pilots I have ever seen. It totally captures the feel of the first two movies on a dramatically lower budget. It picks up where TERMINATOR 2 left off and goes in a new direction that's consistent with the dramatic line of the movies. It was a fun hour -- everything BIONIC WOMAN wants to be and isn't -- but I don't kn0w what they are going to do week-to-week. I'll certainly be tuning in to see.
As much as I enjoyed it, there was one false, truly unbearable cliche: apparently Sarah and her son are going to be relentlessly pursued by the FBI agent obsessed with their capture (yet another rehash of Inspector Gerard. Why is it TV can't resist ripping off THE FUGITIVE again and again and again and again???)
Genevieve Bujold was supposed to be the star of STAR TREK VOYAGER, but a week into shooting, she was fired...or she quit... and was replaced with Kate Mulgrew. I've always wondered why. Thanks to the miracle of YouTube, the mystery is solved. You can see how uncomfortable she was in the role. Here is a scene with Bujold and then the same scene re-shot with Mulgrew (catch it now before it's inevitably yanked).
Here is another scene with Bujold.
I've been so busy over the last few months that I've missed a lot of TV crime shows. Today I indulged myself and caught up on the first four episodes of DEXTER. Wow. What a great series. It's wonderfully directed, well-written, and pitch-perfect in tone.
That's not to say there aren't problems (the mean, overly political lieutenant, the angry black cop, and the Asian lab guy are drawn way too broadly, past cliche and into caricature), but the pluses far outweigh the minuses. Michael Hall is amazing in the role, walking a very delicate balance and pulling it off every time.
I've read DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER, the book that inspired the series, and I admire showrunner Clyde Phillips' shrewd decision to stretch the novel's central plot over the entire first season while still doing nearly standalone episodes. You'll notice I said nearly. Although there's a strong, narrative arc, the individual episodes are still satisfying on their own, while still largely open-ended story-wise. (The series is very loyal to the book and yet its one of the rare cases in which the TV series is far better than the original work that inspired it).
Although DEXTER is on Showtime, it could easily be mistaken for a USA Network series..if it wasn't so bloody and dark. It's got the quirky, socially-awkward, single-lead detective with psychological problems and a keen eye for detail (MONK, PSYCH) who had a strange childhood (MONK, PSYCH) that strongly shaped who he is...memories of which are revealed in flashbacks with his father (PSYCH). It's also got a sunny, beachy locale (MONK, PSYCH, BURN NOTICE).
I hope the rest of the episodes are as great as the first four. If the first season ends the way the book did, I'll be curious to see if they can find their creative footing again in the second season.
TELL ME YOU LOVE ME is supposed to be oh-so-racy, raw and edgy...but the show is so ponderously dull and heavy-handed that even the sex scenes are boring. A very clever friend of mine had the best comment about the sex scenes:
They're so bad I can watch them with my wife.
I am ashamed to admit it, but my favorite new show of the season is Gordon Ramsey's KITCHEN NIGHTMARES (though I was already a fan of the BBC version). Every episode of the American version is the same -- a loud-mouthed, arrogant imbecile is running a failing restaurant with an incompetent staff serving lousy food. Gordon Ramsey comes in and, using as many expletives as possible and rubbing his chin constantly, tells the loud-mouthed arrogant imbecile that he is running a failing restaurant with an incompetent staff serving lousy food. The arrogant imbecile gets offended and yells at his staff some more. Gordon Ramsey redecorates the restaurant, comes up with a new menu, and teaches the chefs how to make good food. The restaurant pulls in a crowd and succeeds...at least for the few days that the film crew is there. The arrogant imbecile promises to be less arrogant and a lot smarter and thanks Gordon for changing his life. And yet, as formulaic and repetitive as this show is, I find it addictive and ridiculously entertaining...more so than his HELL'S KITCHEN gameshow, which I got tired of after one full season and one episode of season two, and any episode of THE BIONIC WOMAN.
In "Population Zero," the first regular episode of THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, Steve Austin has to go into a town where everybody has been killed by a strange virus.
In "Paradise Lost," the first regular episode of the "re-imagined" BIONIC WOMAN, Jaime Sommers has to go into a town where everybody has been killed by a strange virus.
I guess it won't be long before the Bigfoot shows up on BIONIC WOMAN, too.
Remember the clueless morons at the Colonial Fan Force? Well, this is even better. Now that NBC has announced they're developing a new KNIGHTRIDER -- although I suspect the 30% dropoff in week two of BIONIC WOMAN might put a little damper on that -- a team of fans has sprung up to defend the Glen Larson/Weinstein feature version that's been in development. The best part of their idiotic campaign has got to be their logo:
I have noticed that recently fans have been asking what they can do to show their support for Glen especially now that Universal is intended on competing with his vision of what Knight Rider should be. I have designed an emblem so you too can show your support for his movie and his vision that one man (and his car) can make a difference.
You may post this image anywhere you like, in fact I encourage you to do so and tell your friends and family if they wish to support the movie to post it as well.
Put it on myspace, fan forums, blogs, websites, anywhere you wish to display it. You have carte blanch to do with it as you like (as long as it’s respectful).
I deeply respect the logo and plan to wear it on my chest until the network suits, studio bean-counters, and the world at large realize that "one man and his car can make a difference."
(Thanks to Bill Rabkin for tipping me off!)
I mentioned here that I spoke last week at the Cologne Conference and that my topic was what the German TV industry could learn from the American methods of writing and producing episodic drama. In a comment to that post, Richard Cooper asked:
I was wondering if you could write about how the Germans are doing it, and what the American method would change if adopted over there.
The five highest rated hour-long shows in Germany are DR. HOUSE, CSI MIAMI, MONK, CSI and ALARM FOR COBRA 11. The only German show in the bunch is COBRA 11, which is going into it's 13th season. COBRA 11, as successful as it is, is still a distant fifth at half the audience of CSI. The nearest German show is ranked eighth, and that is TATORT, which has been on the air there even longer than COBRA 11. The new German shows are simply tanking.
American shows dominate there -- and all over Europe -- even though they are dubbed, set in different places with different cultures, languages, and political, legal and health care systems. The audiences don't care about those differences. They love the shows anyway.
I believe the American shows are succeeding not because they have higher budgets and bigger stars or brighter sunshine...it’s because they have instantly identifiable franchises with sharply drawn characters that transcend cultural differences. They work because they are the same show every week, year in and year out, only different. That last part sounds like a contradiction, but it’s not. They are consistent. People know exactly what they are going to get.
What I told them is that they can just continue to sit back and air American shows in German…which would be a tragedy for German writers and audiences… or they can make shows that can compete. How do they do that? I said the key to American success is franchise, consistency, and the showrunner/writers room system. I then went on to explain what franchise is, what I mean by "consistency," and how the showrunner system works.
The problem with cop/drama shows in Germany is that the shows are indistinquishable from one another. They all look and sound the same (it's like color TV hasn't been invented here). They aren't distinct. They also aren't consistent. And the story telling is insanely dull.
The German viewing audience doesn’t know about franchise and the four act structure, but they have watched enough American TV to internalize it…to feel that it is missing from German shows. And they don't like it.
The franchise problem aside (and it's a big one), German shows aren't run by writers and have no writing staffs...they are run by line producers and network program "editors" and are freelance written. To make matters worse, every week a different director comes in...and he brings his own director of photography, assistant director, and film editor. And the director is free to rewrite the script himself. The director also is in charge of the post-production of his episode...from the cut to the mix. So there's no one looking out for the show...there is no one maintaining and protecting the franchise...not that there is usually a clear franchise to protect. (I believe that one big reason that COBRA 11 has done so well is that it's the one German show with a distinct, unmistakeable look and franchise)
American shows kick ass there because of how they are conceived, written and the produced. It's the way the scripts/stories are structure (the four act structure, conflict, etc.). They don't the four-act structure...in fact, they have no consistent dramatic structure to how TV stories are told.
The conception and writing part doesn't cost more money...it's just a philosophical and creative change in how they approach developing shows and telling stories. That can easily be taught. The producing aspect does cost more money...it means paying writers salaries for their exclusive services for the run of the series (and doing the same for the DPs, ADs and editors)....and it means limiting the power and influence of episodic directors. It means making a major paradigm shift in how episodic dramas are made there...and that can't be done overnight. They also argue they don't
Recent Comments