Month: September 2013

Caution: Your favorite – or least favorite – TV show just may live forever (yikes!)

dead-tvOnce upon a time, TV shows were disposable. They appeared on our parents’ little boxes at the appointed time, thrilled and delighted those who’d remembered to sit down and watch, and then vanished forever.

But now it can truly be said that old TV series never die. Instead they just zombified on the interwebs, bringing back wonderful – or horrible – memories whether we’re ready…or not.

The other day we found a dandy little infographic showing where 25 of our faves have ended up. Well, okay, the infographic isn’t all that little. But it sure is…graphic. Yeah:

Ken Levine: A Handy Writing Tip

Everybody’s favorite TV comedy pundit does his, um, TV comedy pundit thing…and as usual it’s helpful as all hell!

the-dick-van-dyke-showby Ken Levine

Just saw one of my favorite DICK VAN DYKE SHOW episodes, “100 Terrible Hours”. It’s the one where Rob was a disc jockey and had to stay on the air for 100 straight hours just before interviewing with Alan Brady for a writing job. I love that episode for many reasons but first and foremost is the structure. I imagine Carl Reiner and the staff thought it would be fun to see Rob’s initial job interview and of course it had to be a disaster. But how?

The obvious ways: he was drunk, he got in an accident and was all disheveled, he spilled something on his crotch, he had laryngitis, he had a bad cold and Alan Brady was a germ freak, he barged in at the wrong time, etc. You get the idea. read article

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 9/23/13

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are

‘Tis the season for deals, deals, everywhere. But not a drop for…alack!…the poor minions slaving at TVWriter™:

  • Ali Rushfield (PARKS & RECREATION) is writing the ABC pilot about a middle-aged woman who finally starts to grow up when she moves in with a couple of 21-year-olds. (Oh well, maybe that idea sounds funny to 21 year old ABC D-girls?)
  • Kristin Newman (THE NEIGHBORS) is also doing an ABC comedy pilot. This one’s called WOMEN & GIRLS and is about a middle-aged woman who moves in with her 20-something half sister. (Quick, somebody sell this one-note network another variation of the theme so we can all collect on the trifecta!)
  • Jordon Nardino (SMASH) is also developing an ABC project, this one a drama called PRINCESS – and, thankfully, not about different generations of women moving in together. Nosirree, instead it’s about a contemporary version of Princess Di. (Oh well, look at the bright side. At least we all know how it’s going to end. After all, nobody watches TV to be surprised, right?)
  • Michael Alaimo (MAJOR CRIMES) has sold a spec pilot called SPEC (how coincidental is that) to NBC. It’s a science fictiony drama based on something guru Deepak Chopra once said. (Which was along the lines that the universe is really a speck that can fit under a person’s fingernail. Get it? “Speck” got turned into “spec,” maybe because the execs were worried that nobody would know what to do with the extra K? Who says development isn’t stranger than the shows it develops?)
  • Casey Wilson & June Diane Raphael (HAPPY ENDINGS, BRIDE WARS) are writing DINKS, another comedy for ABC. (We could swear that we reported on another show with the exact same name and premise – “Double Income No Kids” a few months ago. Guess ABC wasn’t reading this column…then.)

Bob Tinsley: Adventures in Audio Dra – We Mean Theater – 5

Suspense

What does it cost to produce a 40-minute episode of audio theater?

That’s right, Virginia. Audio theater episodes don’t just grow on trees the way money does. Wait. That didn’t come out right, somehow. read article

We’ll probably never see infinity. But soon we’ll be able to watch INFINITE

infiniteSpaceship-tvwriter.comby Team TVWriter™ Press Service

We’ve just heard from UK filmmaker Paul Cotrulia about his new series, INFINITE, which he describes as “a new British live action spaceship series being made in partnership with Youtube.”

According to Paul, “the series will have the budget and production values of a broadcast television series.” Which TVWriter™ is more than happy to report on…and applaud.

Paul also gave us a little rundown on the cast. The show will star Nicholas Briggs, known to Whovians as the voice of the Daleks and Cybermen in DOCTOR WHO. Briggs will be playing the commander of a mission into a black hole, which sounds pretty cool, no? read article