Category: Opinion

munchman: Life Lessons from Power Rangers

If you’re just reaching the neighborhood of being 30 years old, chances are that there was a time in your life when you watched the hell out of POWER RANGERS while your mother shook her head sadly and muttered something like, “Such a terrible waste of time….”

Well, we’re here to tell you that it wasn’t a waste of time at all. It was awesome prep for your future. (Whaddaya think of that, Ma? Oops, no, I didn’t say anything. Nope, not me. This guy, OTOH:

power rangersby Eric Ravenscraft

Kids shows are pretty cheesy. Power Rangers, doubly so. The idea of learning real, adult life lessons from the shows we loved as kids sounds silly, but sometimes things stick with you. Here’s what the Power Rangers taught me that actually stuck around. Seriously. read article

Herbie J Pilato Muses on MURDER, SHE WROTE

by Herbie J Pilato

murder_she_wrote_-_nvy_mens_3_3You never really want Jessica B. Fletcher to pay you a visit because, well, your life just might be in danger.

At least your fictional life…if you were a fictional character, as is Jessica, who was portrayed by Angela Lansbury, the ever-grand dame of the performance world, for 12 seasons on the classic television mystery series, Murder, She Wrote (CBS, 1984-1996).

As a professional mystery-novel writer and a (not really) amateur sleuth based in the fictional Cabot Cove, Maine, Jessica journeys the world conducting research or seminars, making personal appearances, attending conferences, hosting book signings, or just visiting colleagues, friends and relatives on the apparently very successful salary she earns as a writer (go, J.B.!). read article

Peggy Bechko talks “Agent Basics for Writers”

'agent' is just another word for...
A diagramatic guide to agents for ya!

by Peggy Bechko

I’m not going to get into the minutia or contracts or any of that stuff – it’s just too much to handle here. What I am going to discuss in this post are a few Agent basics since a few people I’ve spoken to seem to be a bit confused on the subject.

So, in broad strokes, here it is.

If you’re going the traditional publishing route you may want to hook up with an agent and that isn’t as easy as it may first sound. But, there are fewer obstacles than one might imagine. One of them isn’t upfront cash. read article

Are Netflix’s Nostalgia Trips Squelching TV’s Creativity?

old family tv

We all enjoy reliving the past now and then, but is Netflix’s approach going to give us enough time to create a new TV future? This definitely will get  you thinking:

by Kate Knibbs

Netflix is apparently super close to inking a deal to reboot Full House, everyone’s favorite family-oriented sitcom about a grieving widower, his children, and his fuckup adult permanent houseguests leeching off his benevolence and remarkable real estate in San Francisco. And you know what? Uncles Jesse and Joey aren’t the only leeches in this situation. Netflix has cornered the market on milking 90s nostalgia, and the reboot fever it has inspired in the golden age of TV is bad for the art form and worse for our memories. read article

Troy DeVolld’s Latest Reality Pro Tip

by Troy DeVolld

realitytvcovercurrent
Read Troy’s superb book! BUY Troy’s superb book!

Several years ago, I worked on a show that shot a series of interviews in what we referred to in post as the “God chair,” a big red chair set against all-white background, shot with a diffusion filter.  The resulting effect made it seem almost as if our cast was addressing camera from the afterlife.   It was a creative decision that seemed like a great idea but ultimately didn’t pan out, and the decision was made to go back in and reshoot the interview content.  Problem was, it would take more than a week to try to wrangle everyone back in for interviews.

I went back into interviews from previous seasons to look for tops and tails that could be added to the interview content to give the editors something to show while the God chair content could be buried under picture.  Simple phrases, like “All I have to say about that is…” and “I can’t believe he just said that.”  Those phrases would be tacked to the top or tail of the God chair interviews to form phrases like, “I can’t believe he just said that. // This was an important day for me, and now it’s ruined” or “All I have to say about that is… // If she thinks she’s getting away with that, she has another thing coming.”

We actually managed to bury almost all of the God chair content by employing those tops and tails, and didn’t have to worry about doing pickups at all.  The scene-specific stuff still packed a wallop buried under picture, but the generic interview look from the past season served well enough to show who was speaking.  Best of all, it saved us a few hours of cast wrangling and reshooting. read article