Friday, June 10, 2022

Friday Questions

Back with you with Friday Questions.  What’s yours?

Cedricstudio is up first with a MASH FQ:

Why was it decided Colonel Potter would be an artist in his spare time? I would assume that writing an art session into the script would be time consuming and expensive since it required the prop department to paint an entire portrait each time. Also, wouldn't there be very limited story points you can build around sitting for a portrait? (Although the writers did knock out some good scripts around that premise). Why turn this military man into an artist, and did it ever create production problems to paint all those portraits?

To add dimension to the character.  

We didn’t want to just make him a military martinet.   Having him be interested in art and painting also allowed us a hobby that was visual.  Same with his love of horses.  You could see him ride or paint.  It’s not like he collected stamps.

TBaughman queries:

Do you and your writing partner still work on creating new shows/pilots (or write episodes on existing shows)? That would be terrific— you’ve done such great work on some iconic shows, it would be wonderful to see more.

No on writing episodes for current shows. The 200 or so we’ve already written will suffice.

We’re also not actively developing pilots.  David is the Chairman of the TV writing department at USC, which keeps him more than a little busy.  And I have my various projects.   But if one of us does come up with something the other sparks to we’re not averse to writing it and seeing where it goes.  Stay tuned.

From Powerhouse Salter:

Who auditions and chooses the voice actors when an American sitcom gets dubbed into another language for a non-English viewing audience? Do the original actors have any say in the choice?

I can’t say for sure, but I assume foreign distributors are in charge of hiring the actors, usually from the various countries. 

I do know this — the originals actors have absolutely no say in this.  And to be honest, I can’t think of a single original actor who has expressed anything more than idle curiosity in what they sound like in Urdu. 

And finally, from Daniel:


Lots of TV series have segued into movies with their original casts (Star Trek, Sex in the City, The Simpsons, The X-Files). During its peak (maybe during the summer hiatus of any of its first seven seasons), do you think Frasier (my favorite series) could have worked as a movie? Could the premise sustain itself as a 90-minute farce? Or was it designed so specifically to be seen in concentrated 22-minute segments? As someone who was once charged with crafting stories for these characters, do you think the extra time would open up new storytelling possibilities? Or would it just feel narratively flabby?

I think the half-hour format was ideal for FRASIER.  

That said…

I don’t think adapting it into a movie would work.  But I could definitely see a stage play.   The only thing is you would have to get the original cast.  Otherwise, it’s dinner theatre.   And I don’t think that will ever happen.  

When Tony Randall and Jack Klugman were starring in THE ODD COUPLE back in the ‘70s, Tony, Jack, and the rest of the TV cast did the Neil Simon stage play at the Shubert Theatre in Los Angeles.  I saw it.  It felt like the best written ODD COUPLE episode ever made.  

24 comments :

Joseph Scarbrough said...

The Tony Randall and Jack Klugman version of THE ODD COUPLE did that reunion movie in the early 90s, but aside from them (and Gary Wahlberg as Oscar's poker buddy Speed), every other character from the series were recast . . . even Murray the Cop! And that was one of the reasons why, unlike the rest of Oscar's poker buddies, Murray was added to the roster of recurring, supporting characters, because Al Molinaro worked so well with Tony and Jack . . . I have no idea why Al didn't reprise Murray in that reunion movie, but that was quite a handicap (not to mention, the movie as a whole was pretty weak anyway).

Buttermilk Sky said...

General Eisenhower also painted. He wasn't just a golfer.

https://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/comments/dwight_eisenhower_artist

Sean from Liverpool said...

Weirdly, in the 1970s in the UK pretty much every sitcom got turned into a movie (Fawlty Towers being the only notable exception). And being shot on film and on location rather than on tape under bright studio lights, they're a bit miserable looking.

Brian Phillips said...

For those of you who have the Mary Tyler Moore show DVD set of the first season, look at the end of the "The Snow Must Go On" episode, when *spoiler* Chuckles announces the election results.

Watch the end again in French and Spanish. It's hilarious!

maxdebryn said...

@Sean from Liverpool - not a fan on the On The Buses films, eh ?

That was one shitty 70s British sitcom said...

The best description I ever read of On the Buses is that you could imagine it smelling of stale biscuits and farts.

Wendy M. Grossman said...

Sean from Liverpool: THE GOOD LIFE wasn't.

Ken: I have read that Jimmy Stewart, when accepting an acting award in France, called up to join him on stage the French actor who dubbed his voice there, on the basis that he contributed half the performance.


wg

Wendy M. Grossman said...

PS: The weirdest dubbing job I've ever heard was on German TV, which I used to get in London via satellite. The show? HOGAN'S HEROES.

wg

Randy @ WCG Comics said...

Some actors in other countries have received a small measure of fame for being the regular dubber in their native language for Hollywood film stars; their voices are likely very closely tied to the actor in their home countries as is the actor's voice to their U.S. audience. (Along similar lines, I know this is the case for the voice actors who do Homer Simpson in other markets). I've heard that some actors who are fluent in other languages--like Kristen Scott Thomas who is fluent in French or Diane Krueger who is multi-lingual--often dub themselves for overseas markets!

Breadbaker said...

Not so much a Friday question as a suggestion for a podcast interview. Ben Lindbergh at Effectively Wild interviewed this guy who has made a podcast of a fictional baseball broadcast as a sleeping aid. He's actually quite interesting and it seemed like something where you and he would likely enjoy one another's perspectives on broadcasting. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/effectively-wild-episode-1860-start-them-young/id545919715?i=1000565920757

Spike de Beauvoir said...

The Carol Burnett Show did a nice tribute to the Spanish-speaking actors who dubbed the show for Spanish-language audiences. She interviewed them about their work and they explained the dubbing process.

A while back I was trying to learn basic French and started watching all the shows I could find captioned in French. On the Three Stooges, Moe insulted Curly by calling him an "Andouille."

B Smith said...

My partner is German, and explained to me that the reason the Tony Curtis/Roger Moore TV show "The Persuaders" was so popular in Germany (where it was titled "Die Zwei") was because the fellows dubbing their roles went right off-script and threw in plenty of topical asides and adlibs pertaining to local matters.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the reason for Jerry Lewis's popularity in France was along similar lines.

Joseph Scarbrough said...

@Wendy A lot of that is because some of Germany's old politics are illegal in their country today, hence why they had to take some incredibly far-fetched creative liberties with their dubs . . . for example, instead of any of the Germans saying, "Heil Hitler!" they say, "How high is your corn?" The German dub also somehow invented an invisible naked housekeeper that Klink has an affair with.

DyHrdMET said...

I can totally see FRASIER as a stage play. Especially one of the farce episodes. You're right that the original cast would have to be part of it (could you get away with it not having Martin in the play?). And Bebe Neuwirth. Gotta have her involved in a stage production of FRASIER.

Anonymous said...

A Washington Post reporter was suspended for a month for tweeting this joke: "“Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if it’s polar or sexual.” Is it me? Am I a knuckle-dragging sexist who doesn't see anything but a simple harmless joke or do people at the Post need to go the hospital and have the sticks removed from their rectums? It seems to me a lot of people are eager for the chance to be offended. Your thoughts, please.

-30-

Leighton said...

Ok, Ken, you may delete this. But there is one episode of "Frasier" that I absolutely DESPISE. "Wheels of Fortune." Everyone "acts out of character." I have watched every episode of that series 100 times. But I skip that one, every time. It's just WEIRD.

I think that you wrote it?

It just makes me cringe, and not in a good way.

Leighton said...

To Anonymous

YES, that post is idiotic. GOD.

Joseph Scarbrough said...

I'm not going to lie, I see where THE WASHINGTON POST is coming from . . . almost every single female friend of mine I know of in my life is either bisexual or even pansexual . . . I mean, I don't know what, exactly, they were going for with such an article or report, but from my observation, yes, I see what they are implying.

Millicent Coke-Norris said...

@Leighton - The episode of FRASIER that you DESPISE was one of more than a hundred episodes. They can't all be gems.

Leighton said...

@ Millicent

I am aware of the number of episodes. I have seen them all about 100 times. I just found that one quite odd, as the characters behave...against their established personalities. I don't expect all episodes to be "gems."

JS said...

Friday Personal Question - what is the best concert you have been to? I saw the Blues Brothers at Merriwether Post Pavion in the day. I'll never forget it- Belushi did cartwheels off the stage at the end. They played so long I think there was an intermission. Elvis Costello never disappoints. David Bowie was okay. I saw Johnny Cash at a small club in DC. He played for hours and his son and his son and wife took the stage while he rested.

Max Shenk said...

A friend of mine whose wife is a native French speaker, and who lived in France for a while, said that the best French language dub he ever came across while over there was the French version of HOGAN'S HEROES. The French dialogue makes the Germans sound and look even more ridiculous, inept, etc than in the original US version, if that is at all possible, although there was no "Klink's unseen naked mistress." Pity.

Kendall Rivers said...

FQ: I just have to say the casting of David Ogden Stiers as the potential true father of Frasier and Niles in Fathers and Sons was a stroke of genius! I don't remember if you were still involved with the show at that point but do you have any idea how that came about?

Wendy M. Grossman said...

Joseph Scarborough: I didn't watch enough of the German HOGAN'S HEROES to discover that! That's amazing (but I did know that Nazi stuff is banned in Germany. Also France).

wg