Category: News

Every SAILOR MOON Episode Ever is Coming to Hulu!

…And DVD and Blu-Ray, but let’s face it: For most of us these days it’s all about what we can find on the interweb. Which makes Hulu – and Netflix and Amazon Prime – the main places to get our TV fix. 200 eps, uncut – wowee!

by Becky Chambers

Hearken to me, dear readers, and bear witness to the chilling tale of trying to watch subtitledSailor Moon episodes in the late ’90s. These were the days of dial-up, when downloading a single transformation sequence clip could take an hour (provided your parents did not pick up the phone). Obtaining full episodes was an odyssey, often involving VHS bootlegs of dubious legality. We heard whispers of the existence of Sailor Stars, the series’ final season, but alas, a US release was not to be. Most never saw those episodes, and those that did faced a long, arduous quest, in which seekers chased rumors of fansubs through mysterious message boards and the uncharted realm of GeoCities. These were dark times. read article

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 5/23/14

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
by munchman

  • Jonathan Ames (BORED TO DEATH) is adapting the Icelandic sorta serious/sorta not series WORLD’S END for Showtime. (And we think that’s perfect casing cuz if anybody was ever a sorta kinda guy – in the best sorta way – it’s Jonathan, who has been one of Yer Friendly Neighborhood Muncher’s idols, like, forevah.)
  • Robert Orci (You name it and if it’s on TV he’s probably written and produced it) is making the switch to feature film director and will be sitting in the control chair for STAR TREK 3. (Considering how much regard this munchy one has for Orci’s writing, I’d call this pretty damn bad news for TREK lovers. OTOH, there’s one – small – bright spot. Now that Ocri’s a director I’ll never have to put his name in boldface again. Cuz that’s how we roll here at TVWriter™.)
  • In keeping with this site’s luv for peer production, I was going to announce the creators of a new web series based on Mary Shelley‘s immortal icon Frankenstein. But although the info I got names the producers, it simply refers to the writers as “a new team of writers,” so the hell with that. If anybody out there knows whose creativity is jamming on the keys, let us know in the Comments, please.)
  • Speaking of newbies, it looks like the folks at the Lancashire Telegraph newspaper website (who proudly proclaim that they were finalists for something called “Online Media Awards 2013 Best Local/Regional News Website”) are far from ready for primetime. Recently they announced that Chris Lunt, creator-writer of the hit UK series PREY has gotten the gig remaking “’60s spy show The Saint.” Normally I’d think this was a wonderful thing for a local/regional news outlet to be doing,) but I do have a teeny prob with the wording of the headline: “East Lancashire TV drama writer asked to fly to Hollywood.” Really? That’s what the the Telegraphs visitors/readers need to know? I’m thinking these bozos have managed to insult both Chris and his neighbors in one very ill-advised line of type. “Carumba!” as people in Lancashire probably don’t say.)

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 5/18/14

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
by munchman

  • Andrew Chambliss (ONCE UPON A TIME) has a new overall deal with ABC studios, where he’ll continue writing-producing ONCE and develop new projects as well. (Congrats, Andrew. Although just between you and the munchy one, your talent is horribly wasted on that show. Hope you get to develop shows with style and substance soon!)
  • Spike Lee (Remember him?) is writing the pilot for a Showtime adaptation of his 1986 feature film classic, SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT. (And this one really intrigues me cuz, well, the Spiker doesn’t seem to at all be the same writer-director now that he was then. A whole different attitude, y’know? So will he recapture the magic? Or continue coming off as kinda dickish? I’m looking forward to finding out.)
  • Rich Blumquist (THE DAILY SHOW) has a new overall deal with 20th Century Fox TV, where he’ll do the usual new project development thing. (Which I think is a shame cuz this guy is so damn funny we should be seeing the results of his crazed brainstem activity every day on a show that’s already on the air, like we used to. C’mon, Rich, entertain us before the powers that be decide you’re no longer hot.)

TV’s Showrunner Crisis: Many Projects Struggle to Find Experienced Writing Producers

Interesting article. So is LB’s comment at the end:

by Nellie Andreeva
via Team TVWriter™ News Service via TVBizwire via Deadline

john shibaThe search for experienced showrunners around the end of the development season is becoming “an annual tradition,” writes Nellie Andreeva at Deadline.com, with increasing numbers of newly picked-up series “in need of a seasoned showrunner every year.”

As an example, with NBC ordering four pilots to series on Wednesday, two of them — “Allegiance” and “State of Affairs” — don’t have showrunners. read article

TV Writers Room Diversity – Can It Happen?

That isn’t exactly the question the following article is asking. But it’s definitely the 500 pound elephant in the (writers?) room:

This image was produced by an application from HighWater Designs Limited.

Diversifying television with tax credits for the writer’s room
by Jenna Flanagan

Anyone watching television has certainly noticed an increase in the diversity of the casts of most scripted television shows. But what about behind the scenes? The Innovation Trail’s Jenna Flanagan finds out how new legislation in Albany aims to incentivize diversity at the very genesis of most television shows. The writer’s room.

Saturday Night Live made national headlines when Sasheer Zamata joined the cast making her the only African-American woman hired by the show in six years. What wasn’t as widely reported were the additions of LaKendra Tookes and Leslie Jones to the shows writing staff. read article