Boring Future Generations

So... how scared are people about this?

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:07:00 +0000

A friend sent me this from an informational meeting on the ABC Disney Fellowship:

ARE THERE ANY SPECS THE ABC/DISNEY FELLOWSHIP PREFERS?

You don’t have to write a spec for an ABC show to be considered. You should spec a primetime network or cable show that’s been on at least three years (3 seasons) that is well known. It’s important to not only capture the voice of the show, but to really reflect your point of view. Bring something new to the table, something unique, while still working within the framework of the show.

Story Timeline: Your spec should be where the show is as of July 1st, 2009.

It's really that last one that is the kicker. Do you seriously need a spec that's current as of ... well, as of two weeks from today?

Comic-Con TV Panels!

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 01:07:00 +0000

This may be common knowledge, but Watch With Kristin over at E! Online is compiling an ever-updating list of TV panels as this year's San Diego Comic-Con.

Click here to make your nerd sense tingle.

Alive

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:58:00 +0000

In fact, not only alive, but reading, writing, rewriting, calling, emailing, faxing, resume-ing, working, and trying really hard to grow one of my toenails back.

Free tip: don't be effing clumsy.

Free tip numero dos: set up a reminder to pay your car registration on time and GO TO THE DMV to do it. Apparently, they aren't required to send you those little reminders to register, despite the fact the those reminders are the ONLY PLACE where you get your registration number, which you need to have if you want to register by mail or online. So I repeat -- if you don't want a fee that nearly doubles your registration, set up a reminder and block off time to just go to the frigging DMV.

I read lots of picked up pilots, so I'll be back with thoughts soon.

Break It Down - The Tower pilot

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 23:00:00 +0000

The Tower, you say, what's that? Well, my friends, it's a pilot from Cold Case creator Meredith Stiehm about newspaper reporters. It was written and shot last year, but has yet to air. And since I've heard nothing about it, I'm guessing it probably never will. Which is a shame, because it's well-written and intriguing, if not something that knocked my socks off. But anyway, you know the drill by now. I read, I dissect so that I'll learn something, I post for you to enjoy.

Thus far (that I can remember) I've done breakdowns on Harper's Island, Kings, Castle, Grey's, Gossip Girl, Chuck, Dexter and very possibly a few more that are here... somewhere. Wanna read them? Look for "Break It Down" WAAAAY down on the right side under LABELS and then click it. It's like Staples' EASY button, only real and not as easy.

Now for The Tower.

Episode 101 - Pilot

Short Description

Two newspaper reporters, each with their own demons, try to break real news stories in an age of rampant cutbacks and tabloidism.

Story Threads

A-story - Mayor Investigation
B-story - Olivia and the groom
C-story - William Valentine's murder
D-story - Olivia's problem
E-story - Zoe Cafritz

Lots of overlap and long scenes servicing multiple stories.

Length and Breakdown

Teaser - 8 pages, 7 scenes
Act I - 7 pages, 4 scenes
Act II - 19 pages, 9 scenes
Act III - 9 pages, 5 scenes
Act IV - 16 pages, 8 scenes

(Only 4 acts and a teaser? Hello, old friend, been awhile since I've seen your kind...)

33 scenes in 59 pages, but a lot of those scenes are servicing 2, 3, even 4 stories at a time. And I barely noticed the LOOONG second and fourth act while reading, but... man.

The scenes are organized as follows:

A-story - Mayor Investigation (11 beats/scenes)
B-story - Olivia and the groom (11 beats/scenes)
C-story - William Valentine's murder (14 beats/scenes)
D-story - Olivia's problem (9 beats/scenes)
E-story - Zoe Cafritz (6 beats/scenes)

As you can might surmise, I didn't bother to organize for importance, just labeled each new thread as it appeared. The C- and A-stories would likely switch places if we were doing this for real, since the C-story really seems like it will be the season arc. Everything else I'm more or less comfortable with.

Teaser - A, B, A, B, A, B, C
Act I - A/D, C, C, B
Act II - D/C, B/A/D, B/E, C, B/A, C, E, C, D/B
Act III - D, C/D/E, C/E/A, B/D, C
Act IV - C, E/B, C, C/D/A, A/E/D/B, E, A, C/A

(Note: where beats include a / mark, this means that the scene has elements of both stories. When this happens, I'm listing the beats in the order that they occur in the scene. In the scene/beat count above, every appearance of A, B, C and so on is counted as one full beat rather than a half, even if there is a slash mark.)

51 story beats. In 33 scenes. Efficiency or overcrowding?

(Shrug) It worked for me.

The first rule of the Magic Castle is: Do not talk about the Magic Castle

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 00:22:00 +0000

Yeah, I went for the clam.

Tonight, because we know people who know people who know people, Jul and I are headed to the ultra-exclusive Magic Castle in Hollywood with some friends. How exclusive? Check out their page of rules for guests to get in:

Before you come to the Magic Castle, we would like you to know about our club rules:

The Magic Castle is a private club. You must be a member or have a guest card from a member. You must have your guest card with you when you arrive at the Magic Castle!
Dress Code is STRICTLY ENFORCED and NO ONE UNDER 21 is admitted. Photo ID is required.

NO ONE UNDER 21 will be admitted to the club at any time except for Sunday Brunch.

Please be sure that every member of your party has a legal picture ID (drivers license or State issued ID card) with them.

The Magic Castle has a strict dress code for evening guests:

Men

Men must be in coat and tie (standard or bow tie)
Exceptions to the "tie rule" are: turtlenecks, bolo ties, ascots, jeweled collars, ruffled collars and banded collars.
Military Dress, ethnic and/or religious attire will also be allowed.
No zippered jackets, outdoor jackets, polo shirts, t-shirts, denim (or colored denim), shorts, sandals, flip flops, sneakers or sneaker-like shoes are allowed.
Leather jackets (with buttons) and leather pants are allowed.
No casual attire will be allowed. Think business attire!

Women

Women must be in a dress, cocktail dress, elegant skirt & blouse combination, pant suit with a matching jacket (think business suit), or evening pant suit ensemble.
Military Dress, ethnic and/or religious attire will also be allowed.
No outdoor or zippered jackets, polo shirts, denim (or colored denim), Capri pants, shorts, skorts, flip flops, sneakers or sneaker-like shoes are allowed.
No casual or inappropriate attire will be allowed. Think elegant attire!

Dresscode for Friday Lunch, Saturday & Sunday Brunch:

Men, Women & Children

Think "Smart Casual"!
No shorts, tank tops, sandals, or flip flops are allowed.
No inappropriate attire will be allowed.

If you have any questions about the dress code, please call the Castle before you make your visit. Guests who do not meet the dress code or minimum age requirement will not be admitted to the club.

Of course, the fact that we're getting in should tell you that it's not that exclusive, but that post isn't nearly as interesting.

Cop Rock from Cincinnati - A Joss Interview

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:17:00 +0000

Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune has a great interview up right now with Whedon. I love this snippet:

...there is no such thing as a track record. You toil and you toil and you argue and argue and you tear your hair out and go nuts and eventually you either retire, go mad or become powerful enough to make your own show. You say, 'I am going to show them how it's done!' And that's when you make 'Cop Rock From Cincinnati.'

For the record, Joss, even you could not make me watch Cop Rock from Cincinnati... Okay, okay, maybe you could...

Here's the rest of the story.

Michael Patrick Sullivan Is My Master(mind) Now

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 05:26:00 +0000

Because last night I watched his awesome one-act, Mastermind, at the cool and cozy Black Box Theatre in Santa Monica.

And I do mean awesome. With a twisty "am-I-a-supervillain?" story and rapid-fire dialogue that plays like a strange, cool marriage between Joss Whedon and Aaron Sorkin (which would have actually been legal here not too long ago), Sullivan's play is equal parts tense and funny, with wit and creativity to spare.

Luckily, his cast is more than up to the task. J. Claude Deering plays J.D., the man who might have been arch-villain Mastermind (amnesia, you see -- nasty business) with droll charm that masks the horror and guilt he feels about his possible previous identity. Deering is ably matched by the talents of Katharine Brandt as Liz, his reporter girlfriend who has a history with Mastermind and just wants to get the hell out of Dodge. (Not the real Dodge, mind you, but, you know...)

Why does she want out? Well, because the play begins with a recorded message from Mastermind letting the people know that there may or may not be a bomb planted somewhere in the city and it may or may not go off before midnight that night. Which is in about twenty-something minutes. Something -- either in that message or the research he's been doing -- convinces J.D. that he's Mastermind. Or he was. Maybe. But if there's even a chance that he used to be Mastermind and could save people from the bomb by remembering, he feels like he has to try. Liz, isn't so keen on the possibility of exploding, but very reluctantly agrees to tell him about her run-ins with Mastermind to see if it jogs his memory.

To say any more would spoil it, but suffice it to say that Mastermind is an exciting, surprising, laugh-out-loud way to spend an hour.

Now here's the bad news: it was a one-night-only engagement. So what's the point of writing a review of something you can't even see anymore? Well, because maybe, just maybe you can. Buh-wha?

I know Michael's keen to put the show on again. If you're interested in seeing it, harass him -- you've got the link to his website above. Call Black Box in Santa Monica and say you heard about this great play and want them to run it again. Do... something. You're kind of in the same predicament as J.D. You don't know if trying is really going to help, but you damn well know that not trying isn't going to help anything.

True Gibberish

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:50:00 +0000

See, this is what happens when I try to branch out.

Last night Jul and I attended the True Blood panel at Paleyfest. You know, the one that was supposed to happen about five months ago and got canceled and rescheduled and then re-rescheduled. Yeah.

So I thought I'd actually use my Twitter account and attempt a whole live update thing while I was there... The results are on the right side of the page, though I'd be hard-pressed to tell you exactly what I said.

Hey. Wait. Perhaps through the magic of saved SENT messages in my phone... Yes. Got it.

Wow. Things that seem important while you're texting are decidedly less so in the light of day. Ah well.

Here's a cleaned up version of what I wrote:

First, they showed a clip reel from season 1 that had the audience laughing and cheering. Then the screen went dark for a few seconds and a new clip started playing from season 2 -- which apparently begins airing in June! Who knew? In the clip, Sookie, Bill, and the female vamp he sired (don't remember her name) are arguing in a car. Apparently Sookie did something for the female vamp that Bill felt put all of them in danger, and possibly some other people. Also, she undermined his authority as sire, which is a big no-no. Bill keeps yelling at Sookie until she finally gets out of the car and does the whole "fine, I'll walk home" routine. The sired vamp tells Bill that Sookie wants him to follow her and apologize, but he gets pouty and refuses. Cut to Sookie walking down an empty road and starting to get nervous because she keeps hearing things. Things which turn out to be a weird-looking horned demon thing that chases her and rakes her back with giant, nasty claws... and then the screen went to black and more cheering ensued.

After the cheering finally died down, they introduced the cast (really; almost everyone was there) and Alan Ball and did the usual Q&A stuff. What do you like most? What do you dislike most? Blahblahblah.

Some random tidbits that I did find interesting:

Ryan Kwanten, who I'd never seen in anything before this, is a really smart, well-spoken Aussie -- a far cry from the dumb-but-lovable (and very, very horny) Jason he plays. He also said he sees Jason as the redneck Casanova, and all the oxymoronity that implies.

When asked his favorite scene, Sam Trammell, who plays bar owner Sam Merlotte, gave his least favorite one: running naked through the woods in tan-colored jazz shoes.

Anna Paquin seemed shocked (and a bit offended) that so many people were worried about where all the dirt went... in, you know, that one scene. Apparently it never crossed her mind or became even a bit of a problem in the hours it took them to film it, though she did admit that perhaps things would have been different if she and Stephen Moyer were as... natural as their characters are in the scene.

Overall I'm as engaged as I ever was by this series. It's an enjoyable romp that's meant to be over-the-top and silly, but still (I think) manages to deal with interesting issues from time to time. Inasmuch as season 1 followed the story of the first Sookie Stackhouse book -- with sometimes large embellishments and fleshing-out of characters -- it looks like season 2 will largely follow the second book.

Sci-Friday: Take 9 (the final take...)

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 22:51:00 +0000

Happy Holiday.

Looks like this is it, kids. No one's holding out hope for Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Dollhouse -- after an initial episode 6 uptick in ratings -- has slid downward the last few weeks. I'd cheer if even one of them got picked up for another season, but I have to be honest... seeing them go won't make me as sad as I wish it would. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be?

Tonight's episodes:

(Auto) Pilot: A review of the Harper's Island pilot script

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:12:00 +0000

On Pink Raygun. Yup, I'm too lazy to copy and paste.

TV Writers Meetup... in a half hour!

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:01:00 +0000

So, this is totally last minute, but it's been a busy day, so get over it:

Reminder from: tvwriters Yahoo! Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tvwriters/cal

West-side Meet-up
Monday April 6, 2009
5:30 pm - 10:00 pm
Location: 9546 Washington Blvd. Culver City, CA

Notes:
Come talk writing while enjoying $3 bottles/well drinks or $5 drafts/premium drinks. The food's excellent as well- hope to see all you creatives there!

Sci-Friday - Take 8

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:37:00 +0000

Unforeseen circumstances kept us from watching anything last weekend, so... What did you think? (I won't be reading responses until I watch the episodes, but don't let that stop you.)

For tonight:

Two more seasons

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:07:00 +0000

Gotta attribute this to Amanda, but FNL is gonna get seasons 4 AND 5.

Clear eyes, full hearts, CAN'T LOSE!

Sci-Friday - Take 7

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:09:00 +0000

We're nearing the end, people. Battlestar is gone, Sarah Connor is likely on the way out, and Dollhouse... well, that's still up in the air. Fingers crossed.

Mini-reviews for last week's episodes:

Sarah Connor Chronicles -- And the recorded episodes just keep piling up. I know, I know, I suck...

Dollhouse -- There was a lot to like about this episode, but it wasn't the slam dunk for me that it seems like it was for many other people. I thought the interviews were hit-or-miss, and the episode itself was a pretty slow build... though when it started clicking, it really started clicking. The biggest thing I'm actually worried about for the future of this show as it pertains to the Whedon-ness we all love: one thing all past Joss shows have had in common is actors that can handle his dialogue and shifts in tone. After last week, I'm not at all confident that some of the actors here are up to that task, and I'm not talking about Eliza...

Battlestar -- .... The moment where Baltar and Caprica Six realize they both see "head" versions of each other was inspired. And Tigh's drunken "YEEEEEAAAAHHH!"s made my night -- and a fun drinking game. Yup. And... uh... well... um....

Let's look at previews for tonight!

Piloting

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:58:00 +0000

Creating a television pilot is one of the most interesting -- and deceptively daunting -- writing tasks I can imagine. Or maybe that should be "deceptively easy." Basically, I'm trying to say that it's harder than it looks.

At first glance, a pilot simply seems like a feature screenplay that's half as long. You're doing the same thing, right? Set up the characters and the world - check. Tell an engaging story and plot (they're different, damnit) - check.

But in a pilot there's more. Your ending must also be a clear beginning. You have to show (or at least hint at) The Franchise. The week-to-week. Episode 6.

Wait, what?

As I've previously mentioned, right now Jul and I are smack dab in the middle of our own little pilot season. We just more or less finished the first draft of our comedic action pilot last week/last night (we keep having "oh, yeah, we forgot that" moments that require us to add, subtract, and rethink things) and are about to transition into writing our historic drama pilot over the next few weeks (already we're doing crazy things like "research" and "reading" and "learning").

Writing both of these back-to-back has given me an interesting perspective on pilot structure and the different types of pilots out there, as described by the instructor in the pilot course we're currently taking. He lists three kinds of pilots:

1. Premise pilots -- which take up most if not all of the entire first episode setting up the world and the characters, and basically getting things into the places where they will be for the remainder of the series. Kings -- or any number of sci-fi/fantasy shows -- are a great example of this.

2. Prototypical pilots -- which drop you into the middle of a story without any real set up and follow the basic structure of a typical episode of your series. Also known as "Episode 6." My favorite example of this is West Wing, but that's an interesting study because it's also very much in the style of the show -- any episode of the show -- to drop you into a situation with no idea what's going on and slowly dole out answers while you watch. That's just the way they do things in Sorkin-land.

3. Hybrid pilots -- 1+2 = 3. Spend about a quarter of your script setting things up and then use the rest of the pages to tell a typical story in the world you've created. Good recent examples of this model are Pushing Daisies and Castle. (Although Daisies is interesting because every episode was kind of like a hybrid pilot -- the flashbacks at the beginning of each episode restate the premise of the show.) I was going to include Chuck on this list until I realized that the first episode largely deals with Casey and Sarah fighting each other -- over him -- and then coming together at the end to form the team that will then work together for the rest of the series. Which makes me think it falls more under the premise category.

I bring all this up because we've been struggling to make our current pilot as much of a hybrid as possible, and it's made me start to wonder if certain kinds of shows are predisposed to having premise pilots. Our idea, though largely rooted in fairly immediately gettable stories and surroundings, has one big sci-fi/fantasy conceit, which seems to necessitate some set up. In contrast, I think our upcoming historic drama pilot might very easily fit into the hybrid -- or even prototypical -- mold. But does that really mean that certain types of shows have to have premise pilots?

Thinking about sci-fi/fantasy shows in general, I'm hard-pressed to think of many whose pilots don't work this way. The pilots for Fringe, Kings, Firefly, Buffy, Lost, Sarah Connor Chronicles, Battlestar -- all premise pilots, right? Unless I'm not understanding something...

And one of the few non-premise pilots in recent memory -- Dollhouse -- felt baffling and lifeless as what I would term a hybrid because it just dropped you into the middle of the action without taking much time to set up the rather complicated premise. Even Pushing Daisies, which I mentioned above as a hybrid example, could arguably be considered a premise pilot because, like Chuck, the component parts are not in place until the end. The whole first act or so sets up how Ned brings Chuck back and she joins in the investigation into her own death.

According to what we've been hearing, the Pushing Daisies or Chuck-style structure isn't enough of a hybrid. A true hybrid would have things in place by the end of the teaser. Or, since Daisies didn't have a teaser, maybe halfway through the first act? Or not, I don't know. Maybe they get a pass because of the lack of teaser, despite the fact that their first act is quite long...

At this point, I think we're hoping for somewhere halfway between premise and hybrid pilot -- a Prembrid, if you will (Hymise just sounds dirty).

Because as important as I think it is to make your pilot a true example of what the show's structure will look like on a week-to-week basis, it seems far more important to tell a good story that orients your audience properly into the world you've created.

Then again, what do I know?

How have you guys approached writing your pilots?

How Joss pitched Dollhouse

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 02:01:00 +0000

"Alias meets Quantum Leap."

I've pitched it to people as the inverse of Quantum Leap. Instead of having Sam Beckett as himself every episode, trying to figure out whose body he's leapt into and what he needs to do, you have Echo know which new personality she is each week and what that personality is there for, but not who she herself is.

Wow, that was a complicated sentence.

I should work on my pitching skills.

Break It Down - Harper's Island pilot

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 21:17:00 +0000

It's been awhile since we've had a successful horror series on the air, and I can't think of the last time -- if ever -- there was a successful horror series that wasn't an anthology show. Nevertheless, that's just what Ari Schlossberg's Harper's Island attempts to be, and today I'm going to break down the pilot script into its component parts. Wee!!!

Thus far (that I can remember) I've done breakdowns on Kings, Castle, Grey's, Gossip Girl, Chuck, Dexter and very possibly a few more that are here... somewhere. Wanna read them? Look for "Break It Down" WAAAAY down on the right side under LABELS and then click it. It's like Staples' EASY button, only real and not as easy.

Now for Harper's Island.

Episode 101 - Harper's Island (there's no episode title, not even "Pilot" so I'm assuming it's just "Harper's Island")

Short Description

First, the usual spiel: This is premiering in a few weeks -- April 9 -- so I'm going to try not to give too much away.

In a nutshell, some really bad things happened on Harper's Island years ago, and that has kept our main protagonist, Abby, away for a long time. As the script opens, she's returning to the island for the wedding of Trish Wellington and Henry Dunn... and it seems like those bad things are starting to happen again.

Story Threads

This is one of those "every character has story thread" pilots, so bear with me...

A-story - Abby's return
B-story - The Wedding
C-story - Where's Cousin Ben?
D-story - Hunter Jennings
E-story - Uncle Marty
F-story - Madison is creepy
G-story - Cal and Chloe
H-story - J.D.

(I-story - Killer?)

No, the I-story in parentheses isn't a typo, I'm just not sure exactly how to fit it in. Several of the above stories have "killer" moments in them where something bad happens or you watch part of a scene from the "somebody's stalking them" POV you so often get in horror movies, but it's not exactly it's own story, so... I just wanted to mention it, but nothing is actually going to be marked as part of the I-story, so... hopefully I just confused you. :)

Other than that... lots of overlap and long scenes servicing multiple stories by moving around, say, a party, to check in with different groups of people. I tried to call everything a single scene unless the script had a slugline or cut away.

Length and Breakdown

Teaser - 11 pages, 7 scenes
Act I - 11 pages, 9 scenes
Act II - 11 pages, 12 scenes
Act III - 11 pages, 5 scenes
Act IV - 8 pages, 6 scenes
Act V - 7 pages, 9 scenes

48 scenes in 59 pages. It's hard to tell from the numbers, but this actually has quite a few long scenes; they're just evened out by lots of really short scenes that drive up the scene count. Acts II and V in particular have several little "check-in" scenes, which largely serve just to show us where characters are (in terms of location, mostly) so that we as an audience see their alibis -- or lack thereof -- when the metaphorical shit hits the fan. Because yes, this looks like it will be a mystery as much as it is a horror show.

The scenes are organized as follows:

A-story - Abby's return (16 beats/scenes)
B-story - The Wedding (10 beats/scenes)
C-story - Where's Cousin Ben? (6 beats/scenes)
D-story - Hunter Jennings (10 beats/scenes)
E-story - Uncle Marty (8 beats/scenes)
F-story - Madison is creepy (5 beats/scenes)
G-story - Cal and Chloe (6 beats/scenes)
H-story - J.D. (5 beats/scenes)

Teaser - A, B/C/D/H, A, D/E/A, B/C, C, C
Act I - E, F, A, G, F/A/B, D, B, B/A, A
Act II - B, F, H, E, G, D, A, G/E/B/C, C, B, A/F, B/D
Act III - G, A/H, A, H, A
Act IV - A, D, E/A/D, G, E, D
Act V - A, D, G, H, F, A, D/B, E, E

(Note: where beats include a / mark, this means that the scene has elements of both stories. When this happens, I'm listing the beats in the order that they occur in the scene. In the scene/beat count above, every appearance of A, B, C and so on is counted as one full beat rather than a half, even if there is a slash mark.)

Wow, right? 66 beats in 48 scenes. And that's not counting the ever-present "killer" I-story, which plays a modest to large role in the C, G, and the the end of the E-stories. And, arguably, the A-story as well, although that's almost more like a J-story since it's the history of the killer/island.

Surprisingly, for how complicated it sounds, the script doesn't feel complex or confusing. Everything flows quite nicely. It's only when you try to pull apart the disparate strands that it starts to feel unwieldy. Overall, it's a fun read and I'll be interested to see how it comes out. Definitely highly serialized, though -- for a while they weren't even calling it a show, but something like a 13-episode event. Check back in a few weeks and I'll put up my actual review of the pilot script.

Sci-Friday - Take 6

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:51:00 +0000

Mini-reviews for last week's episodes:

Sarah Connor - I'm not sure how, but we missed it again. So now there are two episodes to catch up on. My DVR is not happy with me right now.

Dollhouse - Another "not bad, not great" episode. My third favorite, I guess? I do enjoy the conversation it's engendered over in The A.V. Club comments about whether or not the "move your ass" line was kind of silly writing or Echo's personality (Caroline's personality?) asserting itself. Tonight is where things supposedly start to get good. In Joss I trust... "for a little while."

Battlestar - Flashbacks. Caprica. A call-to-action scene reminiscent of Adama's "let's find Earth" speech at the end of the miniseries. I liked the Baltar-Six stuff, but most of the rest of it didn't really move me. Ah, well. I've come to accept that it's all about the 18-hour finale tonight.

And speaking of tonight:

Two years of my life

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:08:00 +0000

Hope you enjoy them.

For better video quality, check it out on Yahoo! or, you know, anywhere not YouTube. Unfortunately the higher quality videos took forever to load, so YouTube it is.

The parts that best convey the tone: Joe Towne (yes, his name is actually Joe Towne) removing his beard in the gasp shot and Flint showing off his failed inventions.

Boozy Writer Types -- Tonight at 8

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:30:00 +0000

Tonight's the monthly TV Writers Meetup. I don't think Jul and I will make it, but if you're interested in commiserating with like-minded folks, here's the info:

Title:		TV Writers Meet-Up

Date:		Wednesday March 18, 2009
Time:		8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Repeats:		This event repeats every month on the third Wednesday.
Location:		The Falcon, 7213 W Sunset Blvd
Notes:		A chance to hang out with other people who are as passionate about TV as you are. Come alone, bring friends, whatever, just come.

Script to Screen: Kings pilot

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:45:00 +0000

Last week I reviewed the Kings pilot script and did a breakdown of the structure.

On Sunday I watched the premiere... and I kind of think I love it. I'm not sure what show those critics were watching that brought the Metacritic score below 60, but the episode I watched deserved at least an extra 20 points.

But that's not the point of this post. Today I'm going to talk about the differences from the written script and the aired pilot.

This shouldn't take long.

What few changes I noticed seemed mostly to deal with cleaning the script up for network TV. The version I read had more than a few of the late George Carlin's favorite words, not to mention public sex between David and Michelle. Not that we see that sex, but it's blatantly referenced.

Let's see, what else? The opening scenes with Silas making his speech and David meeting the reverend are entirely new. And because David meets the reverend here, it also alters their scene at the banquet later, but only slightly.

Also, in the script, Princess Michelle tells David about her sickly childhood to explain why the press treats her with kid gloves (no one wanted to be the one to "break her"). Naturally, this occurs right before their public lovemaking session caught on camera.

And, as written, Dylan Thomas' character (the king's slimy brother-in-law) offers Michelle money from the pharmaceutical company to help pay for her health reform act... only to later take it back when Silas pisses him off with his actions on the war. Because of this, we learn, the 6-year-old for whom Michelle was trying to get a heart transplant dies at the end of the episode. I don't think I saw either of those things in the aired pilot.

Besides that, the script is largely verbatim.

Wait, let me say that again:

The 63-page pilot that I read and the two hour premiere that I watched are almost exactly the same script. Even the action.

How is that possible?!

Sure, the premiere "breathed," as they say, but that much? I didn't think so. In fact -- while I know others felt differently -- I thought it moved at a nice pace for a sweeping story such as this, especially considering the fact that we're being shown an entirely new and often complicated world.

Did anyone else notice more changes that I didn't catch? Were there just a metric ton of commercials I fast forwarded past? I'm curious to watch the premiere again and see just what's taking up all that extra time.

And the reverse: how do other 60-ish page TV shows stuff everything into an hour?

(Auto) Pilot: A Review of the Kings Pilot Script

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:38:00 +0000

*Simulposted on Pink Raygun.

Again and again you hear people complaining: “There’s nothing smart on TV. Shows talk down to their audiences. They don’t think we can handle nuance and complexity.” Okay, probably not those words exactly, but you know what I’m talking about. Well, people of the world, I present to you Michael Green’s ambitious Kings pilot script. And wish you good luck. Part West Wing, part Dirty Sexy Money, part Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, part Biblical/Arthurian/Carnivale-style grand mythology, Kings is a lot to digest on the page, so I can only imagine what it will be like to watch. But if you can absorb the complexity, wow, what a rich world you’re rewarded with.

Kings has the feel of a grand legend made gritty, realistic and modern. We begin with David Sheperd, a young soldier on the frontlines of the stalled war between Gilboa and Gath. His platoon occupies one hill; the armies of Gath, with their monstrous Goliath tanks, occupy the hill facing them. And so it has been for apparently quite a while. The Gilboans don’t attack the Gathans for fear of the tanks, and the Gathans seem content to hold their ground. Until a separate Gilboan platoon is overrun and soldiers are taken hostage.

Acting on feelings he doesn’t really understand, David disobeys orders and crosses enemy lines to rescue them. He succeeds, and the hostages make it back safely, but one of the Goliaths spots David and pins him down in the valley between the hills. What follows is not really an epic battle–call it luck, fate, whatever–but suffice it to say that David manages to take down the Goliath (get it?!) and return to his comrades a hero. Then fate really deals David the high card, as we learn that one of the soldiers he rescued is none other than Prince Jack, the only son of Silas, the Gilboan king.

From there David is whisked off to the capitol city of Shiloh, and the formal banquet in his honor is only the beginning of his meteoric rise. He treats with the king, wins the attention of the princess, generally annoys Prince Jack, and becomes the C.J. Cregg of Silas’ administration. Yes, crafty King Silas decides to make David the Military Liaison to the Press Corps and use his popularity and cute “aw, shucks” yokelism to deflect their scrutiny.

What follows involves a missing Blackberry, health care reform, an all-powerful pharmaceutical company, an all-knowing Reverend, hidden sexuality, war, sacrifice, and butterflies. Can’t forget the butterflies. You see, they serve as more than just the symbol of Gilboa–the same symbol you’ve been seeing on all the promos for the show–butterflies here are like The Sword in the Stone. The Lady in the Lake. They gave Silas the God-granted right to be king by alighting on his head in the shape of a crown many years ago… at least, that’s the story he likes to tell at parties. The exploration of this story’s validity–and whether Silas is still the chosen-by-God ruler–appears to be one of the central questions of the show.

So how is it to read? Fascinating. Page-turning. Amazing. And, by the end, a little overwritten and novel-like in the description. But those are problems that won’t show up on the screen unless they translate the action into dialogue. Instead, you’ll see an incredibly dense and beautifully crafted world being laid open to you, bit by bit. No one doles out the rules, you figure things out scene by scene, line by line. You want smart, complex, nuanced television? Look no further. But be careful what you wish for; this is one show that seems like it’s going to ask as much from its audience as that audience will ask from it.

Sci-Friday - Take 5

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:11:00 +0000

Mini-reviews for last week:

Sarah Connor Chronicles - Didn't watch. Will have to double up tonight.

Dollhouse - Liked it, didn't love it. Second best episode by far, but that's out of four, so... you know.

Battlestar - Dragged. Maybe I just want a momentum from these last few episodes that I'm not going to get, but did we really need a whole episode to get Hera from the Galactica to the Cylon colony?

Here's what's happening tonight:

Eat it, biotches

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:31:00 +0000

Cuz I've got words in a movie. And probably a lot of words in the video games. And come to think of it, potentially more words in another movie...

Benefits of being a writer's assistant, my friends. Especially when your bosses are really, really busy with stuff like, you know, directing the movie.

I've pitched dialogue that's made it in before, but dialogue has a way of... what's the phrase again? Changing a billion times. And then changing again. (Okay, so that's not really a phrase except in the sense that I just wrote it which kind of makes it a phrase. You know what I mean.) These words are different, because they're going in as actual text to be read in the movie, so once it's all digitalized (as opposed to digitized), it can't be taken out and rerecorded and mangled like dialogue. Once it's in, it's in.

Unless they, you know, just cut those shots completely. But that'll never happen. Right? Hmm...

Break It Down - Kings pilot

joshroessler@gmail.com (Josh) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 02:04:00 +0000

Today for your reading pleasure, I'm going to break down the structure of Michael Green's Kings, the ambitious new show debuting this Sunday on NBC.

Thus far (that I can remember) I've done breakdowns on Castle, Grey's, Gossip Girl, Chuck, Dexter and very possibly a few more that are here... somewhere. Wanna read them? Look for "Break It Down" WAAAAY down on the right side under LABELS and then click it. It's like Staples' EASY button, only real and not as easy.

Anyway... Kings.

Episode 101 - Goliath

Short Description

Again, with the pilot airing this Sunday, I'm going to try not to give too much away. In general, this pilot has the extremely daunting task of setting up the fictional monarchy of Galboa (which seems to exist in an alternative version of our present day real world), their war with the also-fictional country of Gath, a seemingly diabolical pharmaceutical company and its relationship to the monarchy, and roughly a dozen characters fairly central to the plot.

Story Threads

Wow, there's a lot going on here, and I'm having difficulty pulling out the disparate threads that make up each story, but here's what I think we have:

A-story - David's rise to glory.
B-story - The Gath-Gilboan War
C-story - What's going on with Jack?
D-story - Health care
E-story - The lost Blackberry

Overlap and scenes servicing multiple stories at once abound, as you'll see when I break down the organization.

Length and Breakdown

Teaser (the script calls it a "Prologue") - 10 pages, 8 scenes
Act I - 15 pages, 10 scenes
Act II - 12 pages, 7 scenes
Act III - 9 pages, 7 scenes
Act IV - 10 pages, 7 scenes
Act V - 7 pages, 11 scenes

42 scenes in 63 pages. But trust me, that does not begin to describe how full this script really is. As I said above, many, many scenes pull double and even triple duty in terms of advancing multiple storylines. The teaser is mostly one big action sequence, the resolution of which sets up the story of the rest of the episode. And the series, really. The interesting thing about this teaser is that it sets up a world that we don't see again for much of the episode. Instead, we are transported to a completely new place in Act I and have to set up that world. I think that's the reason for the long scenes in the first two Acts -- long, at least, when compared to Acts III-V.

The scenes are organized as follows:

A-story - David's rise to glory. (29 beats/scenes)
B-story - The Gath-Gilboan War (20 beats/scenes)
C-story - What's going on with Jack? (7 beats/scenes)
D-story - Health care (5 beats/scenes)
E-story - The lost Blackberry (4 beats/scenes)

Teaser - B, B, A, A, A, A, A, A
Act I - A, A, C, A, B/D, E, A/C, A, B/A, A/D
Act II - A, E/A/C, E/C, A, D, A, B
Act III - B/A, D/B/A, B/A, A, B, B, B
Act IV - B, B/A, B, B/A, B/A, C, B/A,
Act V - B, A, B, B, A, E/C, C, A, B/D, A

(Note: where beats include a / mark, this means that the scene has elements of both stories. When this happens, I'm listing the beats in the order that they occur in the scene. In the scene/beat count above, every appearance of A, B, C and so on is counted as one full beat rather than a half, even if there is a slash mark.)

65 beats. In 42 scenes! Yes, there's a lot going on here. In trying to figure out what a "typical" episode might look like, I think you can remove the teaser or "prologue." I could be wrong. Perhaps every episode will have such an event that the rest of the episode then revolves around. That makes a kind of sense, right? Except that here the larger duty it's serving is to place the protagonist where he will ostensibly be for the remainder of the series. Can't see that happening again. In general: lots of overlapping storylines that not only share scenes, but effect each other and probably often come into conflict. An overarching narrative backed by at least a semblance of an Of-the-Week story. From this script, I'd have to say the A-story is the overarching narrative, and will likely be featured less prominently in future episodes. Kind of like the season-long mysteries of Veronica Mars. The B-story here is the big weekly plot, as it's introduced and (in theory) resolved by episode's end.

Storywise, I'm extremely interested in this show, but in terms of spec prospects... well, I'd wait till it gets a few episodes under its belt before even trying to think up ideas. There's a sense here that this show could kind of go anywhere, which is both thrilling and incredibly daunting.