Breaking Bad and Cliffhanger Structure

Now that BREAKING BAD is the King of Television, we can discuss it the way it deserves to be discussed. Oh, and dissect it too. Cuz that’s what writers do when they encounter brilliant writing:

by The Bitter Script Reader

cliffhanger-girl-tvwriter.com[Last] week’s Breaking Bad ended on a helluva cliffhanger.  After being betrayed by his former protegee, Walter White was led into a trap and finally arrested by his brother-in-law, DEA Agent Hank Schrader.  For a few moments, viewers dared to hope that the ending could be so bloodless.  Hank and his partner tricked Walt to leading them to where he’d buried millions in drug profits.  However, this happened to be out in the middle of nowhere and Hank hadn’t made this arrest an official DEA operation, so his own office had no idea where he was.

After savoring Walt’s arrest, Hank called his wife Marie and told her “I got him.”  It at last seemed over, and there was relief in his voice as he assured her everything was going to be okay now.  Before he hung up, he told her he loved her. read article

LB Sees HBO’s TRUE BELIEVER Trailer

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Being a “true believer” in the talent of both Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey or, if there’s a credit problem between them, of Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, I’ve been looking forward to the arrival of this new series in January of 2014.

Well, actually, let’s make that “I had been looking forward to it. read article

munchman sees ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK

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The Good:

Womens in prison! So many chances for exploitive sex! Gotta luv it, baby! read article

munchman: THE GLADES is Cancelled. World Shrugs.

Well, I’m shrugging, for one. And if I don’t represent the whole world, then WTF?

I jest. Of course, I jest.

But not about the fate of THE GLADES. read article

Herbie J Pilato: “Stargate SG-I”: The Unforgotten “Star” in the “Wars” Game Part 2

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by Herbie J Pilato

(Continued from yesterday…just like we promised)

Upon viewing any opening sequence of any Classic Trek segment, such as, “Miri” or “Metamorphosis,” one immediately knows one in for an entertaining ride.  Immediately, the story and action is set up in the tease, and boom – the opening theme commences and, upon completion of the broadcast commercials, the segment begins to boil.  The crew’s on a quest to some mystic or fantastic world.  They receive a distress signal, or their journey is disrupted by an alien force who we’re certain at one point will zap at least one of the crew members across the planet’s surface with a resounding bolt.

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Trek fans ultimately craved similar segments, and eagerly anticipated small-screen viewings upon hearing of The Next Generation’s debut (in 1987).  But after a while, as many critics pointed out, one kept waiting for something to happen.  But nothing ever did.  Oh, sure, the late, great DeForest Kelley’s reemerged his Dr. McCoy persona from the original Trek for a cameo appearance in TNG’s pilot.  And later, Leonard Nimoy’s Mr. Spock and even James Doohan’s Mr. Scott came aboard that new edition of his Enterprise (in episodes, by the way, which happen to be the highest-rated and best-loved segments in Generation’s history); even William Shatner’s iconic Captain Kirk paired up with Patrick Stewart’s TNG’s Captain Picard in the big-screen Star Trek Generations. read article