tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post4782707306483654146..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: Who was the last customer on CHEERS?By Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-35169077725414681192009-07-09T14:58:39.744-07:002009-07-09T14:58:39.744-07:00Hi Ken. My question: why is Coupling funny? It'...Hi Ken. My question: why is Coupling funny? It's all a bit clunky - the acting's not too hot, the timing doesn't have good rhythm and even the script can be a bit awkward. But it's really, really funny. Why? What makes it work?<br /><br />Cheers<br />MattMatt Ellisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-35550042301109806862009-07-07T12:21:01.588-07:002009-07-07T12:21:01.588-07:00To further add to gottacook's and Cedric's...To further add to gottacook's and Cedric's point, I've noticed the tag endings in later seasons had both loud theme music AND a freeze frame, whereas the earlier seasons had a much more subtle "fade to black". Was a freeze frame considered more commercial or high-tech or something?Kirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02155991693956178030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-76097836890230717242009-07-06T10:12:41.849-07:002009-07-06T10:12:41.849-07:00While unsold pilots may not be burned off in summe...While unsold pilots may not be burned off in summer anymore, unaired episodes of cancelled shows still appear then. Right now ABC has been burning off the final episodes of Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone and Dirty Sexy Money at 10 p.m. on Sturdays, which is like running them when nobody is watching anyway.<br /><br />ABC is also burning off the last episodes of Samantha Who? Thursdays at 8 p.m. I suspect Lawrence Fechtenberger is correct unbought pilots are now seen as too risky versus unaired episodes of cancelled series.<br /><br />BTW, I though that Samantha Who? and Pushing Daisies has premises that were not well suited to being ongoing series. Not that you can't milk a limited idea for a while -- 3rd Rock from the Sun went six seasons. And you can always tweak the premise (Rockford Files quickly dopped the idea he only took old "dead" cases).<br /><br />Picking up on Craig M's question, I wonder is it now standard to include scenes intended to be bonuses in the DVD release? Maybe a joke you know the networks would never allow but that can then be touted as previously unseen footage when the DVD is marketed?Dana Gabbardhttp://socata.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-50625702407540717352009-07-03T16:03:44.175-07:002009-07-03T16:03:44.175-07:00Thanks to Bob Broder, then, and anybody else who h...Thanks to Bob Broder, then, and anybody else who helped keep Cheers on the air when nobody seemed to think a "comedy about drunks" or whatever would work. I believe Grant Tinker had a lot to do with the show's survival, too, but I forget the details that I never knew. Cheers is my all-time favorite television comedy.Max Clarkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07706524941272103444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-48442980269785147642009-07-03T16:01:04.368-07:002009-07-03T16:01:04.368-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Max Clarkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07706524941272103444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-24937308573432876532009-07-03T14:57:32.665-07:002009-07-03T14:57:32.665-07:00As I infer that you're not much on science fic...As I infer that you're not much on science fiction, I'm curious as to what you might consider doing if, hypothetically:<br /><br />J. Michael Straczynski were doing another <i>Babylon 5</i> spinoff;<br /><br />Ronald D. Moore found himself for whatever reason with a hole in his writer's room for his <i>Battlestar Galactica</i> prequel <i>Caprica</i>;<br /><br />Chuck Lorre found himself with the same hole in his writer's room for <i>The Big Bang Theory</i>;<br /><br />(I've thought of more examples, Bryce Zabel, Joss Whedon, <i>etc</i>., but I'm refraining as I'm sure you get the idea.)<br /><br />...and called you and said, "I need you and David Isaacs to write for my show." Would you decline as none of them are the sort of show you do (except for <i>Big Bang Theory</i> being a three-camera sitcom, of course), would you have to give it a lot of consideration first, or would you say "yes" and step up to the plate and take a crack at it?<br /><br />I know you're happy doing sports-radio right now and aren't looking for an assignment, I'm just curious as to how you might react to trying something outside what you've written in the past?<br /><br /><br />WV: "equarth", equal-opportunity Earth.David K. M. Klaushttp://davidkevin.livejournal.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-33904157569909372172009-07-03T13:24:35.583-07:002009-07-03T13:24:35.583-07:00I'm curious, what's more difficult for you...I'm curious, what's more difficult for you, putting up with a writer or actor that is difficult, obnoxious, needs hand held through the whole process, but really delivers, or actor/writer who is a nice person, shows up on time and/or meets deadlines, is pleasant to be around, never gives you trouble but, for whatever reason, can't quite cut it or deliver what you want. They aren't terrible but aren't good either?Jim Stickfordnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-89339100657180191062009-07-03T11:02:00.001-07:002009-07-03T11:02:00.001-07:00KL said: So the short answer is I knew somebody an...KL said: <i>So the short answer is I knew somebody and caught a good break.<br /><br />What's your question??</i><br /><br />How does one know somebody and catch a good break?<br /><br />I thank you.<br /><br />Oh, and my word thingy is "cabbithe" which is a Wiccan soup vegetable.Jub Jub The Frumious Bandersnatchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-84877424926711501682009-07-03T09:23:09.565-07:002009-07-03T09:23:09.565-07:00A corollary to Cedric's first question above: ...A corollary to Cedric's first question above: <br /><br />In the later seasons of MASH, at the very end of the episode proper (that is, when the new credits including "creative consultant: Alan Alda" appear), the music at this point is <i>always the same</i> (with very rare exceptions): a 10-second compression of the opening theme. <br /><br />I don't know why anyone associated with the show would choose to do this. It added to the predictability of the series, and although predictability can be a comfort, this wasn't the case here - it just became boring as hell.gottacooknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-68623084970676922532009-07-03T07:00:12.705-07:002009-07-03T07:00:12.705-07:00When writing a script, do you plan for the time wh...When writing a script, do you plan for the time when the show will be rerun in syndication? Do do write a scene thinking, This is the one they can cut without harming the story?Craig Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-71123484836055206402009-07-03T06:49:23.203-07:002009-07-03T06:49:23.203-07:00I, too, have wondered about the disappearance of u...I, too, have wondered about the disappearance of unsold pilots from the summer landscape. A couple of possible reasons occurred to me, but I have no idea if they are right.<br /><br />One is simply that the environment has changed too much for this. Back when there were only three broadcast networks, and cable was something you got (if you lived in the small number of areas where it was available) to improve your reception, not to add channels--then, a network could run a failed pilot at 10:30 in the dead of summer, and still be sure of getting millions of viewers. Now, with lots more competition, the networks feel it's safer to fill the spare hours with LAW & ORDER and CSI re-runs.<br /><br />The other relates to an interview with Carroll O'Connor that I once read. He said that he shot several pilots in between ALL IN THE FAMILY and IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, but they were never shown because he forbade it. He had a condition in his contract that allowed a pilot to be shown only if the series sold. As far as he was concerned, an unsold pilot was a failure, and he saw no point in making his failures public. (That presumably explains why he spent two pages of his autobiography insisting that the TV movie BRASS was not a pilot.) Perhaps other stars have begun to insist on the same condition. If the only pilots available for airing are the ones without big names, I can understand why the networks would not care about showing them.<br /><br />But these are just guesses. I do not really know anything about how television works.Lawrence Fechtenbergernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-83808923327903403722009-07-03T00:33:57.648-07:002009-07-03T00:33:57.648-07:00Hey Ken, are there any writers around town who hav...Hey Ken, are there any writers around town who have a reputation for accidentally "borrowing" or outright stealing from other shows or writers? How does a room deal with them? And have you ever discovered after the fact that you accidentally lifted something from another source?Scott B.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-42300315430609581142009-07-02T22:25:58.354-07:002009-07-02T22:25:58.354-07:00Why don't the networks burn off unsold pilots ...Why don't the networks burn off unsold pilots as summer anthology as was common practice during the '60s, especially on CBS? Often Lucy or Andy or Danny's slot wasn't filled by reruns or a short-run series, but 13 or so pilots that just didn't make the grade. One in particular, I still remember more than 40 years after its one and only airing. Joan Blondell was cast as the gal Friday of a Hollywood Mogul in the "golden age of the movies." Seemed like a great premise. Maybe it was too difficult to pull off week after week.<br /><br />Anyway, where do films like that go now? At least if they aired once, fees were paid and someone recouped some of the money laid out to write and shoot the pilot.Mike McCannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06369457898152250682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-52019988243906566862009-07-02T21:41:10.604-07:002009-07-02T21:41:10.604-07:00Love your blog, especially the Friday questions. H...Love your blog, especially the Friday questions. Here's one more for you:<br /><br />You've written about the ways MASH evolved and about the controversies over whether or not to use a laugh track on the series. Along similar lines I'm wondering about the use of background music on MASH. I've noticed that in the early seasons music was used often, especially leading into and out of commercial breaks. In the later seasons the practice seems to have been dropped. Was the music considered too heavy-handed or "talking down" to the audience (like the laugh track)? Or was it simply a matter of tone as the series evolved?<br /><br />Thanks for all the great insights and info.Cedric Hohnstadthttp://cedrichohnstadt.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com