Tag: Larry Brody

Herbie J Pilato: It’s A “Mad Men” World (But We’ve All Been Here Before)

Patterns_Serling
All the elements of MAD MEN are here in Rod Serling’s 1955 drama, PATTERNS. For reals.

by Herbie J Pilato

According to a recent report from Reuters of Rome, Oscar-winning director Bernardo Bertolucci, during a tribute in his honor by the American Academy, claimed disappointment with the Hollywood feature film world that once inspired him. Instead, he prefers to watch television shows like Mad Men, explaining that such programming offers superior casting and direction above and beyond movie-house productions.

Bertolucci, who guided classic cinema gems like Last Tango in Paris, The Last Emperor and Novecento, said his “generation had an affair with American culture, there’s no doubt about it. A street lamp and a fire hydrant made me sing in the rain….But the American films I like now do not come from Hollywood studios but from television series, like Mad Men,” among others. read article

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 6/17/13

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are

  • Lauren Graham (PARENTHOOD star – yeah, an actress) is developing a drama series from her novel, Someday, Someday, Maybe at Warner Bros. TV. (Because they’re trying to make her happy so she’ll do some acting for her in the future. How do we know? Well, do you see a network that’s actually thinking of running this series named in this announcement?)
  • Rod Lurie (COMMANDER IN CHIEF) is writing MONSTERS OF GOD, a Western drama for Starz. (Because he’s partnered with Brad Pitt now and everybody’s hoping the Bradman will act. You know, just like Lauren Graham.)
  • CMT has announced its first animated comedy series, BOUNTY HUNTERS, starring and produced by Jeff Foxworthy. No writer has been mentioned in the announcement. (Which either means the gig’s open so go for it…or CMT hasn’t yet figured out that shows like this need to be written. Yeppers, the truth is anybody’s call.)
  • Neal H. Moritz (THE BIG C) has a brand new 2-year overall deal with CBS Television Studios through which he and Vivian Cannon (also from THE BIG C) will develop and produce comedy and drama projects. (Because these two are hot, boys and girls, in the eyes of the networks, which is much more important than them meaning anything to any audience. Another TV reality lesson from TVWriter™, not to be confused with reality TV from us because that’s not an area we dare to tread.)

PeerProduction: LELE’S RATCHET ADVICE

leletheindustrycosign

We keep telling ourselves we’ll stop plugging this little interweb series, but here we go again.

Cuz, damn, baby, Lele is funny: read article

If You Renew a Series That Nobody Knows is On, Have You Really Renewed Anything?

rogue_poster

This question is, but of course, inspired by the poster above for a series called ROGUE, which it turns out is produced by DirecTV and shown only on DirecTV.

Seems the show starring Thandie Newton has already been on for a season without anybody at TVWriter™ knowing about it. You’d think the honchos at DirecTV would have made a bigger advertising fuss if it wanted people to subscribe and watch. Letting the series, which evidently is about “an undercover detective searching for her son’s killer,” go unnoticed doesn’t make much sense to us, especially when it seems likely that it only exists to draw attention to the service. read article

Alan Spencer: This Business We Call the Biz

Alan Spencer Capture

Alan Spencer is a genuinely cool guy. He’s the creator of the cult classic late ’80s TV comedy SLEDGE HAMMER! and the all-too-obscure IFC series BULLET IN THE FACE, and those are just for starters. 

In other words, not only is he a cool guy, he’s a funny one too. Occasionally, though, he gets a bit serious. Like here: read article