(no subject)

[shadowkat]

Feel horrid this morning, didn't help that I forgot to turn off my alarm clock so ended up being blasted awake at 6am, after sleeping horridly the night before - stayed up way too late. So have decided to take the day off entirely.

Was listening to a Claudia Black and Ben Browder Q&A and Browder made an interesting point, it was in regards to Farscape S4, but more or less fits all tv series. Should be noted that as well as being an actor, Browder has also been a television writer and worked closely with writers.

"Anyone who tells you that a tv series is planned all the way through is full of it. It's not possible. They can tell what the beginning is, what ending they may have in mind and where they want to go. But most of it is improvised. What you are seeing on-screen is akin to the first draft of a novel."

Well, that certainly would explain a lot. I think comic books not graphic novels, but comic serials are somewhat similar. If you want polished finished works - film and novels are about the closest you are going to get, I suspect.

Comments

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

I think the real trick is being able to write something serialized that, when you get to the end, seems to have been planned out from the beginning in retrospect, something which Farscape pulled off the majority of the time. Actually having trouble at the moment thinking of a show that did it as well.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I agree. This show really works on all levels and the only quibble I have is that they had to cram the last two seasons into one three hour movie. And I sort of wish they'd gotten a big screen version or sequel to wrap up Rygel and Chiana's storylines. Haven't seen many tv shows that feel this tightly plotted and whose plots and themes come organically from the characters and never at the expense of the characters.

I think the only other one that come close may be Bablyon 5 - which got actually more seasons and more opportunity than Farscape, but felt sloppier. I'm on the fence about West Wing - which got sloppy in its latter seasons.

[spikewriter]

J. Michael Strackzynski once had a brilliant comment when someone asked him if he'd planned B5 out to the last detail: "My notes are written in blood on the sand, same as any writer's."