Category: Opinion

MODERN FAMILY Exec Prod Writes a Book About Writing Comedy

We’re hoping that it’s at least, you know, funny.

Everything you ever needed to know about comedy
by Ken Levine

Dan O’Shannon is one of the executive producers of MODERN FAMILY.  He was a showrunner of FRASIER and an executive producer of CHEERS.  The man knows funny.  Recently he wrote a terrific book called WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?  A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO THE COMEDIC EVENT.   Somehow he managed to explain comedy, which to me is harder than trying to describe the color red over the radio.   As insane as it is to plug someone else’s book when I’m still shamelessly hawking mine (available here — go buy it), I really recommend Dan’s book (which you can order here).  Recently, I had the chance to talk to him about it. read article

Whatie Looks at Amazon Studios (PART 2)

by Whatie

In part 1, I talked about the concept behind Amazon Studios and what I liked about the new approach.  Here’s what I don’t like.

Of course, Amazon Studios has taken the new “crowd power” mentality all the way home, as well. Originally, when a writer posted a project on Amazon Studios, that writer automatically agreed to allow anyone at all to revise the script and upload a new version of it. Of course, that revision did not replace the original; both versions would sit on Amazon Studios to collect comments, and people could read them both and decide which one they liked better. Now, the revised Amazon Studios TOS says that writers may opt either to allow anyone to create revisions or to “control” who can make revisions by making the upload of that project’s revisions an invite-only process.

Frankly, I hate this. Comments and critique are one thing, but letting some random stranger take my stuff and rework it pushes every control-issue button I have. Sure, as anyone savvy in the television industry will point out, once a sale is made, there’s always a chance – no, make that a likelihood – that somebody will make changes to my work that I cannot control or stop. The difference there is that this happens AFTER the sale has been made. I have given up my rights to creative control when I signed it over. read article

io9 Always Comes Through…

…With interesting and thought-provoking posts – even if you aren’t a science fiction fan. (See, it’s supposed to be an s-f site, and…)

Which new TV show will be your crack? Our First Impressions!
by Charlie Jane Anders

Every year, television offers you a herd of new shows. Some will become your new favorite series, while others will earn your everlasting hate. And our first clues as to which are which come from the pilots. Last night at San Diego Comic Con, we watched the pilots for five new TV shows — including Arrow and Eric Kripke’s Revolution. read article

Supernatural Season 1 Finale – Recap and Review

BY ANTHONY MEDINA

**This episode originally aired in May 2006. If you are unfamiliar with the series, be aware this review contains spoilers.**

 “I coulda killed you a hundred times today. But this, this was worth the wait.” – John Winchester

I have to be honest, it wasn’t the easiest thing in the world sitting through this entire season. After the first few episodes I had basically given up on the show. It’s not that it was all together bad, I just wasn’t that interested in the “ghost of the week” angle. The only thing that kept me going was the hope that things might pick up if and when they found their father. And thankfully, it did. The back-half of this season really pushed the show to a new level and the finale “The Devil’s Trap”  sealed the deal. read article

USA’s POLITICAL ANIMALS: Pilot Review

Hot off the presses at SpoilerTV:

Political Animals – Pilot Review
by Kyle

USA Network takes a dive into the world of dirty sexy American politics in the hotly anticipated limited series event, Political Animals. read article