Month: November 2014

Leesa Dean: Adventures of a Web Series Newbie #82

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The Politically Correct Police or…The Death of Comedy?
by Leesa Dean

I originally posted this last week, was really busy, and realized today…it didn’t post.  So here it is:

As a writer, I’m pretty politically incorrect.  It’s all about the jokes. The comedy. And yeah, the narrative. My biggest comedic influences are Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Patrice O’Neal, Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappelle, Joan Rivers and even Howard Stern (though, at times, his politics and attitude drive me nuts/piss me off). read article

One Writer’s Diary for Television Pitch Season

That writer is Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, and her experience definitely has inspired the TVWriter™ minions. Read and learn, gang. Read and learn:

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Hatching a Pilot
by Lisa Takeuchi Cullen

You with your feet up, remote in one hand and beverage in the other, being all judge-y about this fall’s new network dramas and sitcoms. Just take a moment, will you, and think of us writers gutting ourselves trying to create them. Think of us lumbering from lot to Hollywood lot, fingernails in our teeth and oil in our bowels, pitching what we hope you’ll be criticizing next fall.

The Big Four — ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC — have recently wrapped two months of listening to about 350 series pitches each. (I know what you’re thinking: Someone out there has to sit through five or six television pitch meetings a day, and there is no Nobel Prize in that category.) Each broadcast network will buy up to 60 pitches. Hallelujah for those lucky pitchers, who will then write their scripts for the pilots. At year’s end, each network will pick a dozen or so to produce. Those pilots will shoot in the spring. Next May in New York, in the ad-buying extravaganza called the upfronts, the networks will announce the precious few that will become full series. read article

Web Series: THE LOUISE LOG

Earlier this year we ran an article about THE LOUISE LOG, one of our favorite web series. Since then, it’s gotten better and better. So today we thought we’d share what Anne Flournoy, the creator of THE LOUISE LOG has told us about the series, in the hope that it’ll prove inspirational to other peer producers.

Take it away, Anne:

THE LOUISE LOG Capture

by Anne Flournoy

LA Web Series WinnerHow did I get this going? read article

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 11/19/14

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Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are=&0=& (DADS, but the network is trying to position him as a newbie) has sold his spec comedy, JUSTIN AND ABBY AND OH YEA ZACK TOO, to CBS. (I like the premise, though: “The ensemble comedy centers on platonic best friends Justin and Abby — and Abby’s boyfriend, who feels like a third wheel.” Maybe cuz I’ve – uh-oh – been there.) =&1=& (yer muncher is tired of citing credits from shows he never heard of so I’m leaving this space blank, well, sorta) is writing the pilot for the Fox family comedy LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON, about a dad who’s trying to keep his son from being as screwed up as he is. (Hey, I’m liking that premise too, even though my experience as a Typical Millennial tells me it’ll be impossible for the daddy to succeed.)

That’s it for now. Write in and tell munchilito what you’ve sold today. TVWriter™ can’t wait to brag to all your friends. (And, more importantly, enemies. Hehehe….)

Cassandra Hennessey: The Meaning of “Too Many Cooks”…?

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by Cassandra Hennessey

Adult Swim has always been known for its innovative and out-of-left-field programming such as Metalocalypse, The Squidbillies, Robot Chicken, The Venture Brothers, Tim and Eric, among many, many more shows.

For a week at the end of October at 4:00 a.m., Adult Swim aired this 11-minute alleged cheesy homage to 70’s/80s TV shows that soon morphs into something… well, even if you see it, you won’t believe it. On the surface, “Too Many Cooks” sucks the viewer into a friendly vortex of old-school TV nostalgia with seemingly familiar characters and premises but soon thereafter the warm fuzzies are gradually replaced by a deepening dread and general feeling of “What did I just watch?!” that will linger long after watching. (Even longer than the diabolically catchy earworm of a theme song!)

I won’t spoil it for you if you haven’t seen it. read article