The creators/showrunners of THE BIG C, NEW GIRL, and SMASH dish about the shows.
A little anger, a little reflection, a little praise…kind of what being a TV writer is really about.
THE BIG C Final Season: Does Cathy Have to Die? by Lesley Goldberg
Showtime sends The Big C off with a four-episode final season, subtitled Hereafter, that will mark somewhat of a departure for the dramedy about a woman (Laura Linney) fighting, living and potentially dying after a battle with cancer.
With Hereafter, the series from executive producersDarlene Hunt and Jenny Bicks will shift from 30-minute episodes to four hour-long installments (and compete in the miniseries Emmy category) as Cathy Jamison’s final chapter unfolds.
The Hollywood Reporter sat down with Hunt and Bicks as well as Emmy nominee Linney to preview the final season’s format changes and what’s in store for viewers of the series that hits close to home for its creators. Here are 12 things to know about The Big C: Hereafter.
Why four episodes?
“We wanted to do hourlongs this year just to shake things up and have fun,” Bicks says. “Four was a good number and it allowed us to span a year again — we start in September and we go to May.” With so much time to cover, each episode will connect to the one before but there will be a significant time jump between each hour. “We are tracking certain progressions of stories for each of the characters over the course of those four episodes.”NEW GIRL Creator Liz
Meriwether Talks Flashbacks,
Finales and Fornication
by Michael O’ConnellWith its romantic arc clipping along at a pace that would make other chemistry-inclined comedies blush, New Girl delivered another watershed moment during Tuesday’s episode.The Hollywood Reporter chatted with creator and ep Liz Meriwether about “Virgins” and where it leaves the show as it heads towards the May 14 finale. As they say, spoiler alert.
After breaking the romantic tension between Jess (Zooey Deschanel) and Nick (Jake Johnson) with a kiss just three months ago, New Girl ended Tuesday’s episode with the awkward duo in bed. It was appropriate, given the episode focused largely on flashbacks to how each of the central five characters lost their virginity, but it opens up Pandora’s Box of worms that Meriwether and the writers will attempt to wrangle over the last two episodes of the season.
“We wondered if we should end the season with them having sex,” Meriwether tells THR, “but we ultimately decided that would feel more expected.”
SMASH Creator Theresa Rebeck Emailed Me by Kate Aurthur
In late January, I wrote a story about the musical drama Smash: what went wrong with its first season, and NBC’s attempt to reboot it. Its creator, Theresa Rebeck, was a significant figure in the story; she was fired during the first season, and a new executive producer/showrunner, Joshua Safran, was hired to take the show in a new direction. Which failed: NBC moved Smash to Saturday nights, where it has been drawing lower and lower ratings. It is all but dead.
On Monday, I heard from Rebeck.
