Category: Opinion

Herbie J Pilato: How THAT GIRL Changed Everything

Contributing Editor Herbie J Pilato is busy these days with not only his own TV series but also writing regularly about classic TV for the TV Academy’s website, Emmys.Com. Here’s his latest, reminding us of what good television writing can be:

It's the whole Thomas fan-damily!
It’s the whole Thomas fan-damily!

by Herbie J Pilato

The first frames of the opening credits of television’s legendaryThat Girl placed viewers in the front car of a train as it barreled into New York City. 

That locomotive not only carried a young woman who was filled with dreams of independence, but it also brought television into a new era of enlightenment.  A groundbreaking program teeming with wit, style and social consciousness, That Girl didn’t set out to change the world.  But over the course of its celebrated five-year run, it did exactly that. read article

BATMAN v SUPERMAN vs GOOD WRITING

Gerry Conway, TV and film writer and producer, award-winning novelist and comic book writer, raconteur extraordinaire, and, as he says about himself on his Tumblr blog, Conway’s Corner, “minor pop culture icon'”, is, as far as we at TVWriter™ are concerned a very major creator with a soaring imagination.

He’s also been the very good friend of our Beloved Leader, Larry Brody, for about half a century, which makes us even more pleased – if that’s possible – to present Gerry’s insightful analysis of a film sorely in need of his magic touch:

Yeppers, this logo is hideous. The film's even uglier.
Yeppers, this logo is hideous. The film’s even uglier.

by Gerry Conway

Rather than continue to lay fuel on the fire of whether or not “Batman vs Superman” is a good movie, I thought it might be useful to use the interest stirred up by the film to offer a few brief observations about narrative, story structure, and characterization for the would be writers among you. I’ll use the film and its characterization of Bruce Wayne/Batman to illustrate my points. read article

What to Expect if You Move to LA

la-hollywood-sign

by Kathryn Graham

If you’re looking to be a television writer, you’ve probably thought about moving to Los Angeles. With its sunshine and its promise of a better tomorrow, it is still the world’s major hub for television and movies. The City of Angels is home to Hollywood, but also hosts a wide range of culture and taste. Space-age glass and metal skyscrapers rise beside adobe homes and modern castles. World famous landmarks stare at graffitied storefronts. It’s like Los Angeles has a perpetual identity crisis, and maybe it should. Its primary export is dreams, after all.

Here’s a few major points about LA that you may find helpful to know. read article

Marc Alan Fishman: Dear DC Entertainment…

We know that BATMAN v SUPERMAN wasn’t a TV show, but the plain fact is that old (and some of us are positively ancient) comics fans that man of us TVWriter™ minions are, we can’t help but be fascinated by the total rejection of the film by just about everybody.

We acknowledge that the film’s been making a lot of money. Or, to put it more openly, that the film started out making a ton of money. But now it’s pretty much in the crapper in terms of potential earnings as well as critical and fan reception. We think it’s important to talk about here because, hey, TV writers and the execs who make our lives miserable give us the opportunity to do our thing aren’t perfect. It would be all to easy for us to fall into the same terrible trap.

So listen up, gang. Here it comes: read article

Peggy Bechko’s World: Constructive or Destructive Criticism?

destructionby Peggy Bechko

All right readers and writers, gather around. This isn’t going to be a whiny rant about how people are mean to writers and how their criticism is the pits (though at times it can be), but a bit of a quick analysis of the situation and how everyone, readers and writers alike can deal with it.

Look, constructive criticism is a good thing and writers should get over their ire at having anything they create criticized by anybody. Hey, that’s life. And, constructive criticism can point out flaws or maybe a bit of a slip in editing that would, when corrected, make the book, short story or article much better. Really.

Oh, and readers who post criticism, think about how you couch it. You’re entitled to your opinions and of course if there are glaring editing or grammatical errors in a work you might want to point out that’s happening so other readers will be aware, but it can be put in language that isn’t a personal attack. read article