Category: Opinion

From Dallas to Spoiler Alerts, the Rise and Fall of the Cliffhanger

The world didn’t start in 2010, gang, no matter how much it may seem like it did.

Especially the TV world:

JRby David Sims

35 years ago, the Texas oil baron J.R. Ewing was working late at his office when he was shot twice by a mysterious assailant. J.R. crumpled to the ground with his fate unknown, and every member of the cast a plausible suspect in the shooting. With that, the third season of CBS’s Dallas concluded, but at the same time, it also graduated from hit network show to nationwide phenomenon. read article

Robin Reed: My Most Favorite Thing on TV Right Now

Hmm, doesn't look like a Henson muppet to us., but what do we know?
Hmm, doesn’t look like a Henson muppet to us., but what do we know?

by Robin Reed

The show that I have to stop and watch every time I come across it these days is “No, You Shut Up!”

Host Paul F. Thompkins discusses current events with a panel of puppets who seem to be forgotten relics from the Henson Creature Shop storage shelves. There is usually a human guest also, though he or she is usually forced to answer only in rap, or while doing impressions, or something else very silly.

The show is on the Fusion Network, which probably has other shows but I don’t know what they are. I don’t know exactly when the official air time of the show is either, I just find it while flipping channels, and when I do I have to stop and watch. read article

The Art Of Literary Agenting

Know thine enemy so you can make him or her your bud:

by Jonathan Lee

In Chris Parris-Lamb’s office at The Gernert Company, a literary agency where staff with shrewd cheekbones sip herbal teas while managing the affairs of some of America’s top authors, there is a small en-suite bathroom in which I discovered a minor landslide of running shoes. A couple of pairs looked completely destroyed. A couple of others had the beleaguered appearance of the soon-to-be-dead. There was one pair in the pile that seemed to be brand new—stiff tongue, clean toe-box, untainted laces—but behind their game face I thought I discerned an air of resignation. It turns out Parris-Lamb is a compulsive runner, and at well over six feet in height he must hit the ground hard. “Sixty to eighty miles each week,” he explained. “Which means I go through a pair of shoes every six to eight weeks.” His most recent marathon time is two hours and forty-eight minutes, which in 1908 would have won him the world record.

Parris-Lamb, who recently turned thirty-three, shot to prominence within the publishing industry in February of 2010. That was the month in which he sold Chad Harbach’s debut novel, The Art Of Fielding, to Michael Pietsch at Little, Brown for a reported $665,000. It was his first big headline success after several years of assisting other agents while slowly building up his own list of authors. The book went on to become a high-profile bestseller, and since then, Parris-Lamb has proven himself to be an unusually reliable judge of what the market wants, or soon discovers it wants. This past fall, three books by authors of his—Christian Rudder’sDataclysm, Peter Thiel’s Zero To One, and John Darnielle’s Wolf In White Van—all featured on the bestseller lists at exactly the same time, while Darnielle’s was also a National Book Award nominee. read article

I Binge-Watched 9 Seasons of ‘Seinfeld’ to Find TV’s Funniest Joke

Hey, it’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it. But still, isn’t watching something as old and out of it as SEINFELD way beyond the call of duty? (What? You remember it as great? And you still trust your brain?)

Seinfeld-thumb
4 characters desperately feeling to find their cool

by Steven Shehori

Few things in this life are more subjective than humor. That said, Seinfeld receives near-universal acclaim as one of television’s greatest comedies. In fact, a noted 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll crowned it the best sitcom ever. And when 60 Minutes andVanity Fair elect to join forces, you know the world of polling isn’t dicking around.

Taking these results at face value, one can’t help but wonder: if Seinfeld is TV’s funniest sitcom, what in turn is the funniest joke from TV’s funniest sitcom? And would this joke then, by sheer elimination, be the funniest line ever uttered in a situation comedy? A case could certainly be argued as such. But oh, the number of gags to sift though. read article

Leesa Dean: The Death of ‘Web Series?’

Adventures of a Web Series Newbie – Chapter 97
by Leesa Dean

rip-spokeo-info-bubble-copyShort post this week cause I’m totally swamped prepping for production, which will officially start in a few weeks. Plus, doing research and outlining two new pilots for two new series.

This week, there was an article in Filmmaker Magazine about the term “Web Series” and how it, generally, has a negative connotation. Most people seem to equate it with people who are either emerging (which is true) or haven’t made it in Hollywood (partially true). The article suggests changing it to something better/hipper/less damning.

It’s true that people tend to roll their eyes when you say you do a web series. But, in my experience, industry people don’t (especially if you’ve made a little noise).  Cause they know how much comes from online.  I mean, just this week Brent Weinstein who started the digital media department at powerhouse agency UTA (and reps a number of web series creators including Felicia Day) made partner.  A first.  And a statement. read article