Month: October 2015

You May Not Have Heard of Writer Joe Keenan, But He’s Doing Pretty Damn Well

Anybody reading the various tales of woe about how Hollywood – especially TV – treats writers can’t be blamed for wondering, “Why do TV writers put up with that shit? Why don’t they move to another medium, where their rights as creators are respected?”

Here now is the answer. The inspiring tale of Joe Keenan, who may not be a household name – or even a cult figure – but when it comes to $$$ is doing mighty fine:

Joe Keenan Net Worth: Writer Producer to Sell Off Property at Studio City
by Reality Today Staff

Award winning writer and producer Joe Keenan listed his expansive property in the hills, above Studio City, for $6.75 million. read article

An American’s guide to British television on Netflix

This particular TVWriter™ minion doesn’t mind admitting it: I’m addicted to UK television. But with BBC and ITV, Britain’s two largest networks (well, BBC really is 4 networks, but that’s another story) refusing to let anyone browsing with a non-UK IP address stream or download their shows it isn’t all that easy for me to find satisfaction.

Which is where our old pal Netflix comes in:

blackmirraby Joey Keeton

Trying to keep up with all the quality television being produced in America is downright Sisyphean. But there’s another whole country producing amazing shows across the pond, and—sorry to say it—you’re going to need to watch all of those, too. read article

Why superhero TV shows are so reluctant to include romance

Alice Walker wows us with this insightful analysis of the sad love lives of TV superheroes:

RomanceSuperheroesby Alice Walker

It’s been nearly 15 years since superheroes first conquered the big screen — and the small screen is next. Today, almost every major network has a comic book superhero, from Netflix’s critically acclaimed Daredevil to Fox’s shaky Gotham.

Like their movie counterparts, the broad outline of each of these shows is the same: do-gooders trying to save humankind from megalomaniacal villains. Since that’s what the entire genre is based on, that’s pretty much expected. But there’s another, much stranger quality that these shows share, one at odds with the rest of television’s current trends: They have eschewed romance to the point of near non-existence. read article

Favorite TVWriter™ Posts During the Week Ending Oct. 2, 2015

Thumbs-Up

The most clicked-on posts by TVWriter™ visitors during the last week were:

What Popular TV/Film Trope Makes You Want to Never Watch Anything Again? read article

Leesa Dean Gives Thumbs Down to ‘Thumbs Down’

Middle-Finger-Button

Adventures in Digital Series Land – #112
by Leesa Dean

Been so so busy I haven’t had time to do anything, which is why this post is late. Aside from everything else going on (animating/production work on new series, promos and writing a pilot), I just signed a deal with fledgling streaming VOD company Kweli TV.  They fell in love with Chilltown and now it will be on their platform in HD!! So I’ve been redoing all the episodes in preparation for the launch. A ton of work.

But something really big is brewing in the digital media world and I felt I had to address it.  That’s right, Facebook is planning on adding a dislike button (thumbs down) and people are going berserk.  And for a good reason. Given all the trolls, schadenfreude-mongers, ill-wishers and general sh*theads that populate an average timeline, people are bracing themselves for their videos to get tons of thumbs down. To make things worse, Facebook says it’s planning on DELETING any video that has more than 10 dislikes.  Talk about pressure.

When I first read about this I had, what can only be described as, a social-media take on the classic comedian’s nightmare: I dreamed I posted my latest radio show segment and all the hosts from one of the radio stations that carries the segment gave it a thumbs down.  Not only by clicking the button, but also by posting a huge image of the FB thumbs down.  To be fair, that joke did kind of suck. read article