The Winter of our DISSED CONTENT

(It’s nothing against those LA writers, but I am yet to notice Shakespearean puns coming from their throngs of rallyers)

Some other decent fare:

Don’t Write Til it’s Right

I Wrote This (I promise it seems more clever scrawled on posterboard)

Nick Counter Hates Puppies and Babies

Ellen Is No Friend of Mine, Because She Crossed My Picket Line

BLOGSPLOSION!!!

Also for your viewing pleasure…The WGA strike rules are incredibly strict for both members and non-members. But hey, writing is just one of those things you can do by accident sometimes, and writers don’t know what to do with all this free time. So they have turned to about the only format they can work on, the internet. Writers are offering up some pretty great blogs, for both news and getting some jokes off their chest. Get it while it’s hot folks.

United Hollywood
Late Show Writers On Strike
Scribe Vibe @ Variety

Each of those sites will lead to a ton of other writer-centric blogs. Also check out a new blog devoted to the real victims of the strike, non-union film and tv employees whose jobs are either in jeopardy or have already gotten the axe. Hopefully we can all stay off that list.

Get Back In That Room

It’s a sensitive time, but hilarity will get us through it much easier. Below, an hilarious video that shows how desperate the writers are to get some of that creativity out. Watch closely for the best picket sign around.

The Office: An American Workplace

After a short first season, the execs over at the peacock opted to give it a go with this British import and offer up a full season in ’05-’06. The result was a network smash hit that went on to pull in the Best Comedy Series Emmy and became a tentpole of the weekly lineup, not to mention a somewhat lucrative income generator via its constant number one spot at iTunes.

In the third season, the show went to new heights of comedy, especially exciting since it was heading into territory the original never even had the chance to get to. Still, for this humble critic, the season felt a little fat in the middle. It opened with a powerhouse series of episodes, exploring a new office in Connecticut and building on the tension of Jim’s failed attempt at dating Pam. And again, as we neared the end of the season it was a fascinating web of relationships and future opportunities.

But the episodes in between those high points felt a little rote to me. My biggest bone of contention was that Michael Scott seemed to be nearing a foolishness more akin to Homer Simpson since the tenth season of that Fox mainstay. Thankfully, the makers delivered a wonderful finish to the season, setting up for great fourth season in the fall. Just as they did at the end of season two, they ended with a slew of unanswered questions, keeping us all salivating over the summer.

But then it came back on the air.

30 Rock: The Other SNL Takeoff

As history will forget, but we can all remember, 30 Rock was not necessarily considered to be much of a property leading up to its premiere. The main reason is that Aaron Sorkin, beloved by critics for his witty pen and penchant for “writer is god” commentary (“Network” as a Paddy Chayefsky film, not a Sidney Lumet, for example), was starting up his “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” on the same network, also about a fake SNL show. No one could confuse the two, as one was an hour-long drama (melodrama?) and the other a cool 30-minute comedy. Still, Sorkin’s television might was proven with the “West Wing” and the Emmy winning (but not crowd pleasing) “Sports Night”. While on the other side, Tine Fey’s only success outside of late night was the film “Mean Girls”, and Lorne Michaels’s substantial tenure as a television producer has never included a primetime sitcom.

Look at NBC now.

“Studio 60″ has disappeared into television oblivion, and “30 Rock” took home this year’s Best Comedy Series Emmy home. For those keeping score, that’s two years in a row for both NBC’s Thursday night lineup and for NBC President Ben Silverman, who has worked to make this coup a reality for some time. It has been a mixture of many things that has made the show a success, mostly incredibly witty writing. While the situations the characters find themselves in aren’t as compelling as “The Office”, the dialogue is superb, giving us taglines like we haven’t seen in years in primetime (“Live every week like it’s shark week”). Alec Baldwin offered up an incredible performance and Tracey Morgan has done an amazing job playing a caricature of himself and others. For my money, the music is what really seals the deal.

And now it’s time for season two.

Season 4: Relationship Mashup & D’Oh!

We all know that drama is based around conflict. So do the makers of “The Office”, and conflict has driven their product into the powerhouse that it is. However, for this fourth season they have opted to take out the main conflict that drives the show forward, the Pam/Jim relationship. It’s not that I believe giving the audience what it wants, or rather the characters what they want, is detrimental to the show. this simply makes it much harder for the show to retain it’s appeal when the audience isn’t pulling for them. In place of this relationship, the writers have put in overtime trying to fill the void of conflict, by emphasizing the rocky relationships between Dwight and Angela, seemingly soon to become Andy and Angela; Ryan and Kelly, now Kelly Darryl out of spite; and Michael and Jan, the little relationship that could. I will flat out say that none of these reach the level of the Pam, Jim, and Roy love triangle of the first three seasons. Not even close.

Plus, for those of you waiting for Pam and Jim to set up a gift registry, I promise that this relationship can’t work. An imminent ratings dip will probably force a return of Karen, or even a Jan seduction before those kids can make it off to a honeymoon.

Then there’s Michael Scott. What made him such an endearing character all along was that he was a quirky and inept regular guy with high aspirations. We could relate to him, albeit probably from the worst part of ourselves. He was a jokester and a bad manager, but his convictions were so deep that we could look past it all. We could even see ourselves screwing up in maners similar to him. But recently he’s just plain dumb.

In last week’s episode, Michael Scott, in an effort to correct financial indiscretions, declared bankruptcy…by yelling it out in the middle of the office. It’s not that I don’t find this funny, I do in fact see the inherent humor. After all, how the hell does one actually declare bankruptcy? But the fact still remains that he is the branch manager of a decent sized business, and that the suspension of belief must be stretched pretty far to believe that he could actually be this stupid. In fact, Michael has done a lot of yelling this season, and it always makes him seem more mentally challenged than unstable. The writers want to put him through a midlife crisis, it seems, but the result is really just a bipolar tantrum every now and again.

Homer’s stupidity is what got the Simpsons to where it is now, a network staple awash with revenue dollars but devoid of decent plotlines. I hope this Office doesn’t go down that road.

Season 2: Boys Becoming Men, Men Becoming Wolves

30 Rock has both beefed up and cooled off, a great thing for a soph show to do. What I mean is, the pressure is off for now, as their ratings last season, while not whopping enough to make a second season a definite, were solid to the point there was an audience that NBC was ready to see grow. And an emmy never ever hurts, unless you’ve already been axed a la “The Ben Stiller Show”. The result is much more creative freedom. The characters have nicely settled into their roles, and there is much potential for more hilarity as the season goes on.

One thing that’s so refreshing about the show is that it’s one of the few shows left where you can miss an episode and still be caught up. Each show is just a glimpse at another story on the Girlie Show. And unlike “Studio 60″, there is very little biz tlk cluttering up the dialogue. And speaking of dialogue, it’s so fun to see what Fey and co. will come up with next. From Mystic Pizza The Musical to Werewolf Bar Mitzvah to MILF Island and back again, the wit is not just delicious in its moment. It sticks to the roof of your mouth and makes you want to share it with as many people as you can.

Still, they are a long way from becoming a TV classic. There are early signs that each character could quickly become stale. Jack Donaghy can only be such a smooth-talking arrogant rich guy, Tracy Jordan can only be irresponsibly crazy, Kenneth can only bumble about for so long. But I must say, all of those ingredients mixed together provide some wonderful hilarity. The main thing the show has going for it is it’s focus on comedy over situations. Each episode realy stands apart from the others, rather than creating a running line of drama throughout the season. Sticking to that formula, they can paint a much wider swath of funny.

Keep it coming, please.

Face-Off

The shows are not competitors. In fact they attract different audiences, but with a decent enough overlap to make whoever is in the 8:30 spot quite a lucky show.

What’s that you say? What 8:30 spot.

Here is the problem.

NBC, never afraid to screw with the conventions of programming time, have opted to order more episodes of the Office season than they have in the past, and more hourlongs than most shows would ever bargain for. The first four weeks of this season had four hourlong episodes. That’s like airing eight episodes. That’s like writing and producing eight episodes in half the time. In interviews, show writers will say this was a difficult process set for this season.

We know, we were watching.

It’s just not fair or feasible to the show to give us too much of a seemingly good thing. Nets love it because they don’t have to invest in new content. The sitcom has been a half hour for over a half century, and there are many reasons. Anyone watching the new season of “The Office” should be able to point out most of them.

On the other end of the spectrum, I want more “30 Rock”. This past week’s episode felt like a commercial it was so quick. I’m not saying it should be an hour, but maybe an extra 8 minutes once in awhile. I don’t mean to say I was bored with last week’s episode, but rather I was very into it. I wanted to get so much more but I was let down by the clock, because suddenly it was time to go.

So who will win? New York or Scranton? Girlie Show or Dunder Mifflin? They both will.

But will either be on the air in eight years? If I were forced to place a bet on the issue, my money’s on “30 Rock”. “The Office” has fast become an ensemble show, which will be much more expensive to run than just Steve Carrell’s paycheck.

Who am I to say? I’m friggin Jon Poritsky.

Films I would never seek out come to my living room directly. When I don’t feel like going outside, changing clothes, or bathing, you are there to comfort me with them, enlighten my mind, and arouse my critical pen.I shouldn’t even have to mention your original programming, which has raised the bar in both documentary and narrative forms. The ability to on-demand most anything you’ve made in these last few genius years makes my $11 a month ever more worth it.I do not look forward to the prospect of us parting as a find a new apartment. Alas, the roommates and I must decide. But I make this promise, I will do everything I can, for where will I be without another season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” this fall?Yours,Jon

Ultimately, we laugh at Danny Tanner’s dirty mouth more than anything. Which is odd.After all, he’s not a crotchety old man a la Rhatt Fox. By our standards, he should be given free reign to be as dirty as he wants to be, but build upon that with decent jokes and clever punchlines. In lieu of any such thing, Mr. Saget has discovered that he has lost an audience of his peers, and is left with an audience of “Full House” fans, people who grew up with him as a televised father figure. He banks on this like it’s nobody’s business. Profusely.As a stand-up act, this one fails miserably. He doesn’t really tell any jokes, rather than offer himself up as a sacrifice on the altar of sitcom memoriam. He knows his place and does a wonderful job of convincing us he doesn’t.I did laugh hysterically whenever he mentioned Dave Coulier, or when he brought out his guitar to sing some dirty songs. But maybe it was just because I recall how embarrassing it was when he tried to teach D.J. Tanner guitar because Uncle Jesse was out finding himself on that episode. Who cares. This is like watching Rodney Dangerfield try to change his act up a bit, or Henny Youngman trying to pull off some Chris Rock bits. Check it out and laugh your 90’s ass of, or not.

When they put cameras in cell phones, my reaction was “who would ever need that?” And nowadays, I’m snapping my friends all through the night. When sony released UMD for their PSP, I thought “who would watch a movie on that small screen anyway? And this weekend, well, I’ve crossed that threshhold too. My review of this show is based on a screening of the first episode on the a few subway rides…on my iPhone. It was weird as hell at first to watch a TV show on a phone, but after I popped my cherry with the pilot of Welcome Back Kotter on a ride home from brooklyn last night, I’ve decided I can’t go back to the days of yore, when transit lacked moving images for entertainment.

Back to the show. The reincarnated concept, in part, is a Bochco failure called Cop Rock. YouTube it and prepare to guffaw a few times. I came across this series (an overstatement, as there were only 3 episodes) a month or so ago while reading about Dennis Potter’s tele-plays, whose signature, many of them, was the diegetic use of “cheap” songs of the 30s, 40s, and 50s. Steven Bochco tried his hand at this technique with the ill-fated Cop Rock, and his main failure was that the music in the show, which if you haven’t figured yet, involved light on their feet POs with a song in their heart, the use of modern (and original) music made much less sense than of-the-times pieces in Potter’s tele-plays. So in interviews, the nerdy Kiwi stars admit influence from the lost Cop Rock. So horray to good ideas done well at long last.

As for the quality of the show? What can I say. I laugh, I enjoy it. It’s a good time, but I always want more. Having spent enough time selling cameras and accessories at B&H, I can tell who’s making this and with what gear and why. I’m (too) often bothered by poor production choices (not value) and confusing creative ones. This series is filled with almost every single one of my pet peeves, both professionally and personally, but that doesn’t keep me from laughing along and enjoying the ride. It’s just plain fun, and I’m glad that someone is finally making a musical on TV. (Define: a musical contains songs, often accompanied by dancing, that not only entertain, but also move to the story forward).

So live it up with an HBO show for the rest of us. Grab a bescor light and a Cavision wide, drink up a PBR and ride your bike to that one guy you know who has cable and live it up folks. This is for the white and skinny kids across the nation who wish they lived in Brooklyn, and were a Kiwi. Cheers.

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Listening to:

WXPN

I miss Philly Radio

Seinfeld Helped kick off the roaring 90s of the Sitcom, truly one of it’s greatest era. But I’ve found that the sitcom has devolved (if it still exists) into nothing more than id fulfillment. The self is the most important character, as proven week in and out with Seinfeld, culminating with our heroes ultimate imprisonment for their lack of concern for public welfare. Friends suffers the same issue, where each of the friends’ problems creates the center of their universe.

Now Golden Girls was one of the las great sitcoms to show us that being funny does not mean to sacrifice moral values. Almost every episode of GG has some social, political, or economic subject at its core, using the comedic backdrop of the show as a soap box for public discussion and information. And it wasn’t in a manner that was disruptive to the shows integrity, rather it WAS the shows integrity. Subjects conquered: Aging(duh), Assisted Suicide, Nationalized Healthcare, teen pregnancy, drug abuse, AIDS, Age discrimination, and the list goes on and on.

The closest show to deal with issues of this magnitude in recent years would most likely be Home Improvement. In the later years of that show, dealing with Middle Age, then a much bigger issue for the boomers of this country, became the central subject of the show. However, the core comedy of the show was often sacrificed to bring the audience into the state of mind of Tim “the tool man” Taylor. Similarly, Ellen made one of the boldest moves in the history of television with the infamous Episode. However, comedy seemed to remove itself completely from the show thereafter, and again proved the importance of the self (Ellen’s coping with being gay rather than the larger social implications) than with the community.

Just some thought before work must start. Talk to you soon.

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Reading:

Lester D. Friedman

Citizen Spielberg

This show was shown without commercials thanks to Dodge, but only filled the standard 44 minutes of airtime. I managed to step out before the 16 minutes of Dodge ads that may have followed the airing. Perhaps it was my lack of commercial breaks to stretch my legs, but the show felt very long. It slows down considerably just as it picks up pace, which is confusing. In other words, and this seems to be Television’s usual MO, as soon as a relationship or situation becomes interesting, they pull back and instead show a gruesome accident or gratuitious skin.

Tom Everett Scott does a nice job in the lead. I want to see him crack out some sunglasses and a drumset and give us a little “That Thing You Do” flashbacks. By the way, for those who forget as it is so easy, he plays a gambler on the show. Apparently that has something to do with his character. And apparently he needs to be…wait could it be?…saved! Well, perhaps an Aaron Sorkin or other godsend will make his way over to the script meetings and save Scott’s character from flatlining (medical puns can be fun) before the series does.

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Reading:

Philip Roth

The Plot Against America

So I just watched this commercial free (thanks Audi) season premiere of the Kyra Sedgwick starrer that apparently is the most popular summer show ever. There’s summer shows? My ignorance to the burgeoning seasonal market aside, I must say I was impressed by the show, this being the first episode I’ve seen front to back. However, I must say the 60 minute runtime felt like a strain on the writers. The show basically bounced around the same few facts the whole time, and revealed WAY too much in the last six minutes. I suppose that’s the gimmick that keeps people watching, and ultimately audiences are satisfied by being blindly lead through a mildly interesting hour, only to find out the joke is on them.

What is interesting is that the show seems to be specificaly geared to a female audience. The show is basically what you get if Dick Wolf created a series called “Woman’s Intuition”. Kyra Sedgwick has the onus of playing a strong female character in a market replete with reality drama queens and daunting housewives (desperate as they may be). After a season of episodes, it seems as though the officer’s in her precinct might finally realize that Sedgwick’s character is more than a cute face, yet most of the gimmick seems to fall under the character moving her cases forward by capitalizing on her small stature and southern twang. More power to her, in all honesty. As aforementioned, she is a welcome change of pace as far as female leads are concerned on television. But as far as feminists may have come, she is still hung up on which boy to date! To the overtly male creator’s credit, these usual girlish themes are explored in a fascinating manner as we are already lead to believe she’s such a hardass behind that bright pink lipstick.

As a treatise to Audi and TNT, please, before broadcast television takes that ride into the sunset and OnDemand and DVD rule forever, let’s keep the commercials coming. The writers are buckling under the pressure to fill in the extra 16 minutes, and I love grabbing a snack. So pump up the jamp.

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Listening to:

Jamiroquai

Traveling Without Moving