Tag: TV writing

THE NEWSROOM is still Controversial

Five episodes in, THE NEWSROOM is still driving critics nuts. (Which is such a cool thing that maybe we should start loving on this show just for that.)

First the Good:

‘The Newsroom’ Halts Its Death Plunge With Its Least Terrible Episode Since The Pilot by Oliver Lyttelton

So far “The Newsroom” has had two major problems sitting on top of a whole bunch of minor ones. Firstly, Aaron Sorkin’s often-questionable approach to female characters has reached something of a zenith here. His shows have often featured strong powerful women undone by their love lives, but the leads of “The Newsroom” feel particularly and offensively bird-brained, and unlike CJ in “The West Wing,” Sorkin’s finest creation to date, haven’t been shown to be particularly competent at their jobs either, mainly out of Sorkin’s desire to show Will McAvoy to be right about everything. And some of them have been shown to be actively devilish, like Hope Davis’ gossip columnist last week. read article

TVWriter™ Has a New Business Plan

And we monetize this…how?

TVWriter™ proudly announces that we found this on The Dog House Diaries, which is a Very Funny Site.

munchman: Stephen Merchant Goes into Comedy Biz with HBO

It’s official: TV writers are stars, and can even be superstars if they treat the media right. Damn, why can’t I get a gig?

Geek Power!

HBO Orders Comedy Pilot From Stephen Merchant And ‘Bad Teacher’ Writers – by Nellie Andreeva

HBO has picked up to pilot Hello Ladies, a comedy co-written, directed by and starring Stephen Merchant. The project, which The Office co-creator co-wrote with former Office writer-producers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, stars the 6ft 7in Merchant as a gawky Englishman searching for the woman of his dreams in Los Angeles. Half as charming as he thinks he is — and twice as desperate — he’s obsessed with infiltrating the glamorous world of beautiful people. Unfortunately the beautiful people won’t let him in.

Merchant, who also explored the theme in his Hello Ladies standup show last year, Eisenberg and Stupnitsky are executive producing the pilot, which is slated to shoot before the end of the year. On the feature side, Eisenberg and Stupnitsky, repped by WME and Mosaic, co-wrote box-office hit Bad Teacher. Writer/actor/standup comedian Merchant is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais. The duo co-created The Office, Extras and Life’s Too Short. Additionally, WME-repped Merchant co-starred opposite Gervais on Extras. read article

A Couple of Major Film Players Move into the eBook Biz

                   

Barry Diller And Scott Rudin In Talks To Launch E-Book Business
by Mike Fleming

Barry Diller and Scott Rudin are in exploratory talks to launch an e-book business for both fiction and non-fiction. I’m told they have had a lot of exploratory conversations and I expect an announcement of a venture launch shortly with major investment capital. The ramifications will be interesting.

Both Diller and Rudin are big players in media. Diller’s track record includes the new Aereo TV streaming service, IAC/InterActive Corp., TicketMaster and before that Fox (where Rudin became his president of production) and Paramount Pictures. Rudin is a prolific veteran producer of book-to-film and stage adaptations that most recently have included Best Picture Oscar nominees True Grit, The Social Network and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close read article

LB: WGAW Announces Final Candidates for 2012 Board of Directors Election

by Larry Brody

Direct from my eMail to your eyes:

WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA, WEST ANNOUNCES
FINAL CANDIDATES FOR 2012 BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTION

The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) has announced the final slate of candidates for the 2012 Board of Directors election. read article