tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post2745403748737645576..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: Some thoughts on rewritingBy Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-49189980193105905682012-01-31T06:45:06.685-08:002012-01-31T06:45:06.685-08:00"The Wizard of Oz" had quite a few more ..."The Wizard of Oz" had quite a few more writers than appeared on screen (as well as several directors). Irving Brecher was hired to write gags so the movie would be funnier.<br /><br />One gag that well may be Brecher's is one of my favorite lines, when the Lion asks the Tin Man, "How long can you stay fresh in that can?"<br /><br />When "The Flintstones" was released, I thought the rumored number of writers was ONLY 32. Maybe it just takes more labor to chisle scripts into stone tablets [rim shot].Greg Ehrbarhttp://www.mousetracksonline.com/blog.phpnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-31027469552496450822012-01-31T06:41:37.927-08:002012-01-31T06:41:37.927-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Greg Ehrbarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00511170206511889246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-90247289317981303742012-01-30T21:43:36.745-08:002012-01-30T21:43:36.745-08:00There's a "best sitcom episode" tour...There's a "best sitcom episode" tournament over at split slider: http://splitsider.com/2012/01/the-best-sitcom-episode-ever-tournament<br /><br />Of course it's missing "Arcade" and "Racial Sensitivity", so it can't be definitive...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-46898098174261617932012-01-30T21:33:22.682-08:002012-01-30T21:33:22.682-08:00There is actually a wacky and unfinished Wikipedia...There is actually a wacky and unfinished Wikipedia entry for "script doctor" <br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Script_doctor<br /><br />It tries to log many scripts doctored and and whom. (Carrie Fisher notes that she is actually a "script nurse")<br /><br />Ben Hecht should have a statue if he really did doctor all the scripts claimed for him here - Monkey Business, A Star is Born, Guys and Dolls, Mutiny on the Bounty and Cleopatra among many others. <br /><br />But it clearly doesn't always work - the site claims that Quentin Tarantino was called in to help with the script for It's Pat...Phillip Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08498595633633248863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-88199677205307504952012-01-30T14:53:54.881-08:002012-01-30T14:53:54.881-08:00I thought JEWEL OF THE NILE had a lot of good joke...I thought JEWEL OF THE NILE had a lot of good jokes, but it was filmed in this impressionistic manner that muted the humor quite a bit. Same thing was true with another movie made around the same time, Neil Simon's THE SLUGGER'S WIFE. I think where comedy is concerned, they should worry less about re-writing and more about getting the right director.Kirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02155991693956178030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-8088562803394683192012-01-30T13:52:05.274-08:002012-01-30T13:52:05.274-08:00After picking myself off the floor I realized my c...After picking myself off the floor I realized my carpet needs a real good vacuum.Franknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-10196494101317829802012-01-30T13:41:24.724-08:002012-01-30T13:41:24.724-08:00With respect to the topic at hand, possibly the be...With respect to the topic at hand, possibly the best-known case of a TV writer being outraged over his script being rewritten by the producer and story editor was that of Harlan Ellison and his original "City on the Edge of Forever" script for the first season of Star Trek. He went so far as to write a whole book <i>thirty years later</i> (1996) about what happened to his script, which is included in the book and (in its original form) won a WGA award for best dramatic script of the year.<br /><br />Ellison was no TV novice when he wrote his precious Trek script, and he's known for being more or less permanently outraged - heck, by this point he might be better known for that than for his stories - but I've read the original script and in my opinion it really could not have fit well into the series format as written.gottacooknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-22225882173955107202012-01-30T13:39:38.098-08:002012-01-30T13:39:38.098-08:00Here's a Friday question: When you watch the D...Here's a Friday question: When you watch the DVD extras of any current movie, they often show multiple takes of the same scene, with many different punchlines being tried. <br /><br />How long as this been the accepted way that comedies are filmed? Does this mean that nobody liked the original punch line in the script, or that improvising is more accepted these days?<br /><br />It's hard to imagine a comedy of the 1960's being done this way. As a classic example, I'll bet the script to "The Apartment" was completely finalized before filming, and it was shot exactly as written, with no alternate line readings or ad-libbing. <br /><br />Does the approach depend on the director, or are the multiple punchlines just a symptom of sloppy writing?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-67354620411259582442012-01-30T11:04:50.897-08:002012-01-30T11:04:50.897-08:00Ken Levine est un scénariste extraordinaire.Ken Levine est un scénariste extraordinaire.King of Morocconoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-75045228176222553192012-01-30T09:36:43.742-08:002012-01-30T09:36:43.742-08:00The labor of 60 writers resulted in The Flintstone...The labor of 60 writers resulted in The Flintstones? This doesn't make sense.RCPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04251247613686669877noreply@blogger.com