Month: September 2016

munchman: Some Observations at the Start of the Fall 2016 Season

love & money
Yeppers, kids, muncho likes this pic from his old Love & $$$ column that here it is again. Waste not, want not. Hugs!

by munchman

Hold onto your valuables, gang, its trenchant observation time!

  1. Have you watched Fox’s new drama, Pitch, yet? Yer Friendly Neighborhood muncharino asks because he has – and has to tell you that this probably is the best bad TV show he’s ever seen. The premise is pure corn, the structure is solid soap, and absolutely nothing unexpected happens anywhere (although, lordy! how they try for that in the pilot), but the dialog is absolutely the best possible talk of any new series anywhere this season. A perfect example of good writers massaging the hell out of network-abused narrative. munchito suggest you all watch it – once.
  2. How about this for a stopper? NBC has announced that it’s going to bring us a “sexy” contemporary version of Dickens’ Oliver Twist, featuring a young female lead who “finally finds a true sense of family in a strange group of talented outcasts who use their unique skills to take down wealthy criminals.” Jesus Fucking Christ, NBC, we know Dickens wrote for the masses, but this concept is pure messiness. Please, please, give el munchero the answer to the key question your announcement brings to mind: What the fuck are you smoking, dudes? (Which brings up a second query: Hope ya saved some for me.
  3. Just watched the premiere ep of something called This is Us, a sample of what NBC is sending out into the galaxy right now. Sorry, Executive Sweeters, but this ain’t about any “us” munchikins knows. And if this show does in fact reflect your own pasts, presents, and futures, well, now methinks I understand why you think your new take on Oliver Twist sounds okay.
  4. And then there’s Fox’s new TV version of Lethal Weapon. Did anybody involved in the development of this actually watch the original Shane Black-written film? Did I just hear somebody say, “Yes?” Okay – didja watch it with your eyes open and your ears unplugged? Didn’t think so.
  5.  So far, the munchman Cheesy TV Award for the new season goes to – Notorious. Hey, stars and crew of this botched bit of plastic script and production surgery, how does it feel to be so totally and irredeemably betrayed by whatever moron writes your checks?

Ah, nuthin’ like spreadin’ the joy. Seeya next week with more TV joy!

munchmanavatarsm read article

Posts TVWriter™ Wishes We’d Published (We mean it!)

This week’s collection of recent articles from other websites about TV, TV writing, etc., etc., etc. The plan here is for you to click on their headlines and visit the sites and read the posts in full…and is anybody asks, tell ’em TVWriter™ sentcha, okay?

Stories vs. Situations: How to Know Your Story Will Work
by Jeff Lyons

tell your story phrase handwritten on the school blackboard

To appreciate the power of what I am about to describe, we must first begin with two obvious questions: what do I mean when I use the term ‘a story’ and if something is not a story, then what is that ‘something else?’ read article

CON MAN: THE GAME

This video about Con Man: The Game, based on Alan Tudyk’s crowdfunded TV series of almost the same name (except, you know, without the “The Game” thing) is irresistible.

Unless you don’t like Con Man and Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion. But feeling that way isn’t something you can admit to in the current social clime. So best to buy the game, stay with the in-crowd and live happily ever after, right?

Right? read article

Dennis O’Neil: Defy! We Dare Ya!

cw-dare-to-defy

by Dennis O’Neil

Done any daring to defy lately?

If you’re a fan of the television versions of superheroes, you know what I’m talking/typing about. The network that calls itself The CW has, for a while now, been advocating such daring and this is the very same the go-to corporate entity that has made itself the go-to bandwidth for costumed do-gooders. They already have, in Arrow and The Flash, a couple of established hits (provided your definition of “hit” is modest) and in Legends of Tomorrow a show that has at least enough watchers to warrant renewal for another season. And the biggie…Supergirl has, with much hype, migrated from the kind of old-folkish CBS to the youthier CW and we Maid of Might mavens are allowed a happy sigh.

But about that youthiness and that “daring to defy” business: Really? Can they possibly mean it? Since they don’t specify exactly what they want us to defy, I have to guess that what we’re asked to defy is what we children of the Sixties might refer to as “the Man.” You know – the Establishment. The necktie wearers. Wall Street. Politics. Corporate America. The military-industrial complex (a term coined by no less an Establishment icon than President Dwight D. Eisenhower.) read article

John Ostrander: For What It’s Worth

captain-america-civil-war

by John Ostrander

 “Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.” – For What It’s Worth, 1967, written by Stephen Stills, performed by Buffalo Springfield

SPOILERS! Warning! Danger! I’m going to discuss some questions raised in Captain America: Civil War, which means some plot points will get spilled. If you haven’t yet seen the film – it’s just out on Blu-Ray – you may not want to proceed.

There are a lot of things I enjoyed about Captain America: Civil War but what I liked best was the question that was at the center of the narrative. During an action in Legos involving Cap and some members of the Avengers, there is a mistake and an explosion and innocent bystanders get killed. This, coupled with the human collateral damage witnessed in previous Marvel films, causes members of the United Nations to create The Slovenia Accords – named after the site of the massive destruction in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Now the Avengers must submit to an oversight panel. If they don’t, they will be disbanded. read article