Spontaneous Musings

This is the state of the fandom in 2003. It has changed a little since then. This portion of the essay is an examination on how a fandom can affect the story and plotting of a television series. Also how it can affect how a story is perceived. It is also an examination behind the psychology/sociology of fandom.

( Breaking the Fourth Wall Part B: Fans & Majority Rules )

This is back with the footnotes - where I often insert the actual interview quotes.

( BTVS Actors - Can Actors Really Break or Make the Show )

These essays are full of quotes and interviews regarding the process of making Buffy, specifically the latter seasons. It was written at the end of 2003 and still has the time stamp of what I posted it on the discussion board I was on at the time, it is lj-cut for length and to protect people who aren't interested in such things. There are footnotes or rather endnotes at the end of each section. Note this is the last and only time I've done them online, since I hate footnotes.

Previous post here: http://shadowkat67.livejournal.com/460362.html#cutid1

Also for an in-depth and fairly objective discussion of these posts at the time I posted them - go here: http://www.atpobtvs.com/existentialscoobies/archives/aug03_p12.html

( BTVS and the Pitfalls of TV )

I completely forgot about Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog". Luckily embers_log and my friend Alice reminded me when I forwarded the kitty video to them. Overall? It's actually sort of cute and enjoyable. Keep in mind it is an internet video not a movie, and filmed on a low budget not to mention the sly during the writer's strike. And as embers_log points out in a response to my post on the kitty video - it is in some ways meant as a commentary or rather a means of venting frustration at corporate Hollywood during that strike. Can't say I blame him. There are few things more frustrating than writing for the Film and Television Industry.

This is what writers do when they get creatively frustrated at the powers that be (ie the people preventing them from doing what they want to do or in the case of the writers striking not paying them for what they want and love to do more than anything in the world - geeze some people want everything, don't they?) - they go online and whine about it. In Whedon's case he not only went online and whined (see his whedonesque posts at the time) he also wrote a musical film with his family and friends, and posted it to the internet. (Must be nice to have the bucks to do that. Apparently that comic book gig is far more lucrative than he's led us to believe. Either that or shooting a film and posting it to the net is not as expensive as I think it is.) This is actually if one thinks about it, far more productive than merely whining on one's blog for weeks on end (which I've done repeatedly much to my own shame and regret and your boredom and annoyance).

At any rate - I watched it this morning before taking off to run errands. Currently debating seeing The Dark Knight- but am not sure I want to venture out into the sauna that today has rapidly become. Like a stupid fool, I did venture out to try and see the Dark Knight, which was of course, sold out. Walked 15-20 blocks in under 15 minutes to do it too. Which is no small feat when it's a 97 degrees with 80% humidity outside. 97 degrees at the beach isn't so bad. In a city...with cars, and pavement, and 80% humidity, it feels a bit like you have entered a sauna or steam room. People are walking in slow motion and there's this weird haze. Oh well, I sweated off five pounds, that's something, right? (Especially when I came home and made myself a milkshake spiked with Vanilla Vodka.)
( mostly for spoilers and length, because I appear to be incapable of writing a short review on anything )

An ode to Television Writers - who are currently writing TV shows and/or movies/comic books that I can read. Why TV Writers and why this ode? Ah, because I need a frigging distraction at the moment from my frustrating job search. And two because TV writers have the toughest jobs out there. Novelists have it easy - they get to take as much time as they want to develop their story, revise it, outline it, edit it, tinker with it, and they don't have to worry about some director/head writer/network exec/producer and actor mucking around with it or excuse the lingo, fucking it up. TV writing requires a lot of patience, a bit of negotiation, and a touch of compromise. You have to know when to fight for your art and when to let go - because letting go makes it better. You also have to write fast, on demand, and occassionally for characters and stories you may despise and had no control in creating. TV writers are a bit like actors - they jump from gig to gig, often not knowing how long their work will last. Their jobs are stressfull, fast-paced, and collaborative. They also put up with a lot of crap. And if their work sucks - they get creamed from five places at once. Not a job I envy nor one I'd want, hence the reason I've never tried to be a TV writer. I love to write and I adore TV - but I would not want to be a TV writer.

On my walk today, started thinking about *who* my favorite tv writers were (see here comes the geekiness, told you). Why think this? Ah, while bored and wired last night I wandered about the net and realized that if I were at a convention, I would not be standing in the line around the block for an autograph for James Marsters (*really* not into autographs and ugh, lines - I don't do lines unless absolutely necessary), but rather at one of the writers' tables chatting or listening to a writers panel. (Which may explain why I don't do conventions. That and the crowds. Me and large crowds of people - unmixy things.)

Anywho - My subjective qualifications regarding tv writers are relatively simple: good/snappy dialogue, interesting and prickily characters, unpredictable plot-arcs, and a desire to subvert or change stereotypes and genres - bend them. I also tend to like serials. Always have. Always will. For me you need to give the story time to unfold. The episodic show which lasts no more than an hour - just doesn't have enough time. Again it is a subjective thing. (ie. My opinion.)

Other qualifications - which if you choose to copy this meme you should follow since this is the only objective criteria outside of the number -

1) these are writers who I've seen most of their work and tend to follow around, watching whatever they write for because I know they are writing for that series. (To prove this am listing what they've done in the past.)

2)Each one must be associated with a favorite TV show either currently on or that I've watched in the past and on DVD and is part of reason I am watching said TV show:

In no particular order, just off the top of my head. (Because I'm not bothering to rank. Ranking would be silly, hate ranking. Do far too much ranking in this society in my opinion. Do not need to do more.)

1. Ron Moore - Battle Star Galatica - this third season looks fascinating. According to one of the zines I read: They are playing with Lost's format of doing the flashback to explain why the character is where they currently are. So you get two parrelle stories - A: current plot arc, B:flash-back. Flashback is often self-contained and can be episodic. Current isn't. Both centered on character and the characters propell themes and story-arcs. For example - we'll get flashbacks explaining Starbuck's current relationships with Apollo and Col. Tigh. Prior to BSG - Ron Moore wrote for Star Trek Next Generation, Voyager, Deep Space 9, Carnival, Roswell, Touching Evil, G vs. E, Mission Impossible II, and the screenplay for Star Trek : First Contact. Having seen portions of all of these - can say, fantastic genre writer. [go here for info: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0601822/ and here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_D._Moore]

2. Shonda Rhimes - Grey's Anatomy, and one of the few female head writers in TV right now. It's a wasteland out there. And Rhimes has Whedon and Sorkin's knack for dialogue/slang. She develops catch-words that find their way into pop-culture. va-jay-jay, seriously, mcDreamy...are all examples. Also one of the few writers out there who can do a multi-racial cast without falling into racial stereotypes. Moore does the same. Hasn't written for many tv shows. Did write something for Scrubs and a TV film: Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. Known to be a huge BTVS fan and took a page from Whedon in coming up with her own slang for her show. [Go here for info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shonda_Rhimes]

3. Rob Thomas - Veronica Mars - is able to make a teen drama adult, juggling both the adult and teen storylines simulataneously. Also bends and transforms a tired noir detective genre, making it at times snarky. Pokes fun at it. Does for Private Dick films what Whedon did for slasher horror films. Pop-culture is used sparingly but well. Hasn't written that much for TV - his cred's currently include Dawson's Creek (yes, scoff all you want, I watched and enjoyed Dawson's for quite a while, it's the predecessor to The OC) Snoops - in 1999 (but had a falling out with David E. Kelley - which makes me like him even more, Kelley gets on my nerves - how long and how sappy can we make the mologue today? sigh.),Cupid - short lived but quite wonderful, Space Ghost Coast to Coast - which I didn't catch much of. [For more info - go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Thomas_%28writer%29]

4. Doris Egan - currently with House, but you've seen her work on Smallville, Dark Angel, The Profiler, and Tru Calling. A writer who hunts a way to make the medical mystery explore an internal part of the character. One of her episodes was last year's House and the lawyer lady stuck at the airport.[Go here for more info: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0250668/ and her blog: tightropegirl]

5. Joss Whedon - best dialogue guy out there. Best known as the Creator of Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and has written for Roseanne, also known for writing the screenplays for: Serenity (directed as well), Alien Resurrection, Titan A.E, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film version), and Toy Story. (And I've seen everything he's done, which I suppose makes me a groupie. Ugh.) He's also written the comics Tales of the Vampires, Fray, Astonishing X-men. Knows how to find the humor in just about any dramatic or romantic sappy moment. Also amazing whiz at blending genres. One of the few male writers out there who likes to write strong women, particulary women who save men and not the other way around. (Wish the writers of Smallville and Supernatural would learn from his example.)[For more info, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joss_Whedon]

6. Ryan Murphy - writer of Nip/Tuck and now Running with Scissors. Apparently also wrote an Angel episode? Or is that Shawn Murphy? Interesting writer - again one who knows who to break barriers. Yes, he goes over the top at times, but his characters to me at least remain interesting.And he gives his women bite. They aren't weaklings. Everyone in a Murphy show is messed up yet charmingly so. Hasn't done that much television or not that much that I've seen outside of the snarky teen spoof Popular, and a couple of films. Like Rhimes, an up and comer on the list. [go here for info: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0614682/#writer]

7. Aaron Sorkin - the king of the rapid fire dialogue, possibly better than Whedon at times - since he does straight drama not genre, which has less action and far more talking. Sorkin can do a rapid fire dialogue scene while two people are doing nothing more than walking down a hallway and make it more interesting than a five minute action sequence, and get in more plot and character development. He does occassionally get preachy, but usually when he's at the top of his game, undercuts with humor or a snide remark. His dramas include: The West Wing (up to S4 I think, before he got caught with drugs and went into rehab), Sports Night, and now tonight, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip ( which every tv critic adores - sort of makes me nervous).[Go here for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Sorkin] Like Whedon, Sorkin often plays script-doctor on his off time and has written many screenplays including: A Few Good Men, Malice, and The American President - which gave him the idea for The West Wing.

8. Jane Espenson - knows how to do physical comedy without making me cringe, tough to do. Has a subtle touch. Also understands how it should relate to character. She wrote amazingly well for the male characters in Buffy, specifically Xander, Jonathan and Spike. Will be writing an episode of BSG this year. Her tv credits include Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Gilmore Girls, Tru Calling, The OC, Star Trek Deep Space 9, and this year episode 3 of Battle Star Galatica - entitled The Passage. Jane won a Hugo for an episode of Buffy in Season 7 of the show. [For more info, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Espenson]
Jane, like Doris Egan and Shondra Rhimes, has a weblog, which can be located here:http://www.janeespenson.com/]

9. Alan Ball - the writer and creator of Six Feet Under and the film American Beauty. He started his TV career writing for Cybil ( a great situation comedy based on the Brit hit Absolutely Fabulous and is said to have based Annett Being's character on Shephard), Grace Under Fire (another great sitcom), and Oh Grow Up, he's also a playwrite. And his newest tv series, based on the Charlain Harris Southern Vampire novels and entitled True Blood, is slated to premiere on HBO in Autumn 2007. Until then we got the film Towelhead to look forward to. Interested in the dark underbelly of suburban life. I saw one of his plays when he was writing theater in the 80's I believe. One to watch. (Oh - Six Feet Under is coming to Bravo...for those who missed it on HBO, I only saw the first two seasons, unfortunately.)[Go here for more info on Ball:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Ball_(screenwriter) and here:http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0050332/]

10. Tie : Bryan Fuller - Wonderfalls,Dead Like Me, Deep Space 9 and Voyager. Good at black comedy and has an off-kilter sense of humor. Has also created powerful female characters much like Whedon and Rob Thomas. [Go here for complete list of his works: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0298188/] OR Tim Minear - writer and co-executive producer on Firefly and Angel. Also did Strange World, The X-Files, Lois and Clark and The Inside (a tad too dark for even my sensibilities), and Wonderfalls with Bryan Fuller. Fearless writer who has the ability to delve into the darker areas of characters. (Couldn't decide between these two.) His upcoming stories may be Drive picked up by Fox about the illegal drag racing circuit, and The Spike Movie ( which I'm not holding my breath for, because honestly I think by the time they get around to doing it, Marsters will be 50 and far too old.)He's also writing a screenplay based on a Heinlein novel. [for more info go here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Minear]

Okay, dinner time. And new tv shows...hee.