Today’s TV Writing Deals Dept: 10/11/12

“We do it for love. But that doesn’t mean we should turn down the money.” Old Writerly Saying

  • Joe Wiseman & Joe Port (NEW GIRL) have sold JOE & JOE & JANE, an autobiographical comedy, to NBC with a pilot production commitment. (Not going to say anything snarky or negative about this deal, nosirree, because Joe Wiseman is one of our favorite people…and a former student of Our Very Own LB.)
  • Gabe Sachs & Jeff Judah (90210) are writing a medical drama pilot about Army doctors working the late shift for NBC. (Not saying anything snarky or negative about this deal either, un-uh, even though we don’t know ’em, because we don’t want anybody to say we’re playing favorites)
  • BROAD CITY, a web series by Abbi Jacobson & Illana Glazer, has been given a pilot order by Comedy Central. (Further evidence, if anybody needs it, that web series are the way to go!)
  • Lena Dunham (GIRLS) has gotten what she wanted for her memoir/advice book – over $3,500,000. (Time to start the hating. Who wants to start?)
  • Ken Sanzel (NUMB3RS) is writing 2 drama pilots, GEN MISHIMA and HOOD for NBC. The first is an adaptation of a Chilean series (no, we aren’t going to comment – we swear), while the latter is a contemporary Robin Hood kind of thingie that NBC hopes will become the next PERSON OF INTEREST. (Note to NBC: That ain’t gonna happen without a writer-producer named Nolan. Just sayin’.)

LB: What’s Up With HOMELAND?

…By which I mean I’ve spent almost a year arguing about the show with my associates here at TVWriter™ . They love it. I, well let’s just say I haven’t watched it all that much because when I did all I felt was disdain. Specifically, disdain for characters the show kept telling me where brilliant at their jobs but who, when I saw them, performed those jobs like inept, untrained idiots.

I would’ve fired everybody: Carrie, Saul, Brody. And, of course, the writers who revealed their immense ignorance of the not just how intelligence organizations like the CIA run, but of how the wheels of real life spin around. read article

LB: Why I’ve Been Crushing on Stevie Nicks for Lo! These Many Years

Nope, sorry, it’s neither her singing nor her songwriting nor her dancing. It’s something far more meaningful than all that. It’s thing like this comment about Nicki Minaj on The Daily.Com:

How dare this little girl! … If I had been Mariah I would have walked over to Nicki and strangled her to death right there….I would have killed her in front of all those people and had to go to jail for it.

Woman’s still got um/er, you know: Balls.

Did You Know that Everybody You Meet in the TV Biz is Going to Hate You?

‘Cuz we’re all rivals, don’tcha see? And any piece of the pie you get is that much taken out of ours. But you need friends to help you if you’re ever going to make it, so read on and find out what to do:

How to Win Over Someone Who Doesn’t Like You – by Dorie Clark (Forbes.Com)

Does your co-worker scowl every time you walk by? Is that guy in your networking group consistently aloof? Sometimes, for no clear reason, someone may decide they dislike you—and if you want a more comfortable work environment, it’s up to you to change the dynamic. So what can you do to disarm a cranky colleague? read article

LB: The Doctor Puppet in Edinburgh

…Where my daughter and husband got married, an occasion since which they’ve been living happily ever after, so of course we have to show you the Puppet’s pics:

After London, Alisa and I traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland. It’s one of the most beautiful cities in the Universe! I almost lost track of the TARDIS there because they still have blue police boxes on the street in Old Town. It was so quaint. read article