Saturday, July 10, 2010

A-Team Leader

Those of you who don't know the name Stephen J. Cannell (shame on you) may nevertheless be familiar with his classic end credit vanity card which featured Cannell himself typing on an old typewriter before pulling the page out and tossing it into the air, where it becomes animated, floating down to form his production company logo.

And certainly you're familiar with the shows that end card was attached to. Cannell's real claim to fame is as a creator, writer, producer of classic, enduring 80s/90s television. "The A-Team," "21 Jump Street," "The Rockford Files," "The Greatest American Hero," "The Commish" and "Wiseguy" among many others.

On his site Cannell gives you insight into how he writes so prolifically in a great, free "online writing seminar":
Part One - The discipline of writing
Part Two - How to choose your story
Part Three - Creating characters
Part Four - The three act structure
Part Five - Other things to think about

Cannell's older works seem to be in vogue at the moment. With the "The A-Team" getting the big screen treatment, NBC recently pursuing a new version of "The Rockford Files" and a "21 Jump Street" movie in the works. What will we see resurrected from Mr. Cannell's oeuvre next? An updated "Greatest American Hero," (this show has evaded my viewing over the years, though I did discover -and love- the theme song long before I knew it was attached to a show) "Renegade" re-imagined?




Buy a laptop already:

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Just the Tip

Check out Screenwriting Tips... You Hack. I'd hate to liken the page to Twitter but it's short, quick advice on screenwriting with some bite to it. You can blast through a lot of these. A recent tip that I like:

Screenwriting Tip #305

Never settle for good enough. Not in your word choice, dialogue, emotional beats, anything. Don’t stop rewriting until you get it right.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Byte Sized Stories

In my travels across the web recently I came across Weird Tales Magazine. They have open submissions for their "One-Minute Weird Tales." You can get a taste below and then check the submission guidelines.


Monday, June 7, 2010

Spec ific


Those of you interested in writing a "Burn Notice" spec, check out this interview with creator Matt Nix for some insights on the series and its characters.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Summer Season

TV, I love you. But won't you give me a little break? Guess not; here are the chock-full Summer offerings from network and cable:


MAY
05/19/10 – Wednesday
The Good Guys (FOX) – Series Premiere

05/24/10 – Monday
The Bachelorette (ABC) – Season Premiere

05/27/10 – Thursday
So You Think You Can Dance (FOX) – Season Premiere
100 Questions (NBC) – Series Premiere

05/28/10 – Friday
Past Life (FOX) – Returns from hiatus

05/29/10 – Saturday
The Special Relationship (HBO) – Original telefilm premiere

05/31/10 – Monday
Cake Boss (TLC) – Season Premiere
True Beauty (ABC) – Season Premiere


JUNE
06/01/10 – Tuesday
America’s Got Talent (NBC) – Season Premiere
Losing It With Jillian (NBC) – Series Premiere
Wipeout (ABC) – Special Presentation
Hell’s Kitchen (FOX) – Season Premiere

06/02/10 – Wednesday
Happy Town (ABC) – Returns from hiatus
Are We There Yet? (TBS) – Series Premiere
Tosh.0 (COMEDY) – Season Premiere
Half Pint Brawlers (SPIKE) - Series Premiere

06/03/10 – Thursday
Burn Notice (USA) – Season Premiere
Royal Pains (USA) –Season Premiere

06/04/10 – Friday
Flashpoint (CBS) – Season Premiere
Miami Medical (CBS) – Returns from hiatus
The Neistat Brothers (HBO) – Series Premiere

06/05/10 – Saturday
Three Rivers (CBS) – Returns from hiatus

06/06/10 – Sunday
Sons of Tucson (FOX) – Returns from hiatus
Drop Dead Diva (LIFETIME) – Season Premiere
Next Food Network Star (FOOD) – Season Premiere
The Hard Times of RJ Berger (MTV) – Series Premiere
MTV Movie Awards (MTV) – Special Presentation
Ice Road Truckers (HIST) – Season Premiere
Top Shot (HIST) – Series Premiere

06/07/10 – Monday
Lie to Me (FOX) – Returns from hiatus
Last Comic Standing (NBC) – Season Premiere
Persons Unknown (NBC) – Series Premiere
Secret Life of the American Teenager (ABC FAMILY) – Season Premiere
Dance Your Ass Off (OXYGEN) – Season Premiere
Neighbors From Hell (TBS) – Series Premiere

06/08/10 – Tuesday
Pretty Little Liars (ABC FAMILY) – Series Premiere

06/09/10 – Wednesday
Work of Art: The Next Great Artist (BRAVO) – Series Premiere
The Singing Bee (CMT) – Summer Premiere

06/10/10 – Thursday
Bethenny’s Getting Married? (BRAVO) – Series Premiere
Penn & Teller: Bullshit (SHOWTIME) – Season Premiere
Green Room with Paul Provenza (SHOWTIME) – Series Premiere

06/13/10 – Sunday
True Blood (HBO) – Season Premiere
Design Star (HGTV) – Season Premiere
Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami (E!) – Season Premiere

06/14/10 – Monday
Warren the Ape (MTV) – Series Premiere

06/15/10 – Tuesday
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (BRAVO) – Season Premiere
Double Exposure (BRAVO ) – Series Premiere

06/16/10 – Wednesday
Top Chef (BRAVO) – Season Premiere
Man Vs. Food (TRAVEL) – Season Premiere

06/20/10 – Sunday
Real L Word, The (SHOWTIME) – Series Premiere
Leverage (TNT) – Season Premiere
The Gates (ABC)- Series Premiere
Scoundrels (ABC) – Series Premiere

06/22/10 – Tuesday
Wipeout (ABC) – Season Premiere
Hawthorne (TNT) – Season Premiere
Memphis Beat (TNT) – Series Premiere
Downfall (ABC) – Series Premiere

06/24/10 – Thursday
Rookie Blue (ABC) – Series Premiere
Boston Med (ABC) – Series Premiere
Futurama (COMEDY) – Season Premiere

06/27/10 – Sunday
Hung (HBO) – Season Premiere
Entourage (HBO) – Season Premiere

06/28/10 – Monday
Huge (ABC FAMILY) – Series Premiere
Make It or Break It (ABC FAMILY) – Season Premiere
Intervention (A&E) – Season Premiere

06/29/10 – Tuesday
Rescue Me (FX) – Season Premiere
Louie (FX) – Series Premiere

06/30/10 – Wednesday
Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns (TBS) – Season Premiere
The Real World (MTV) – Season Premiere


JULY
07/01/10 – Thursday
Ace of Cakes (FOOD) – Season Premiere

07/06/10 – Tuesday
Warehouse 13 (SYFY) – Season Premiere

07/07/10 – Wednesday
The Choir (BBCA) – Series Premiere

07/08/10 - Thursday
Big Brother (CBS) – Season Premiere

07/09/10 – Friday
Eureka (SYFY) – Season Premiere
Haven (SYFY) – Series Premiere

07/10/10 – Saturday
The Bridge (CBS) – Series Premiere

7/12/10 – Monday
The Closer (TNT) – Season Premiere
Rizzoli & Isles (TNT) – Series Premiere

07/13/10 – Tuesday
White Collar (USA) – Season Premiere
Covert Affairs (USA) – Series Premiere
The Glades (A&E) – Series Premiere

07/14/10 – Wednesday
Psych (USA) – Season Premiere

07/23/10 – Friday
The Pillars of the Earth  (STARZ) – Mini-Series Premiere

07/24/10 – Saturday
Being Human (BBCA) – Season Premiere

07/25/10 – Sunday
Mad Men (AMC) – Season Premiere
My Boys (TBS) – Season Premiere

07/27/10 – Tuesday
Masterchef (FOX) – Series Premiere

07/29/10 – Thursday
Jersey Shore (MTV) – Season Premiere

AUGUST
08/01/10 – Sunday
Rubicon (AMC) – Series Premiere

08/03/10 – Tuesday
Shaq Vs. (ABC) – Season Premiere
Big Lake (COMEDY) – Series Premiere

08/04/10 – Wednesday
Dark Blue (TNT) – Season Premiere

08/09/10 – Monday
Bachelor Pad (ABC) – Series Premiere
Dating in the Dark (ABC) – Season Premiere

08/11/10 – Wednesday
Hard Knocks: New York Jets (HBO) – Season Premiere

08/16/10 – Monday
Weeds (SHOWTIME) – Season Premiere
The Big C (SHOWTIME) – Series Premiere



This list was yoinked from here.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

It’s hard at the to-- in the middle.

I wrote before about the WGAW Writer Access Project. It's a diversity program for writers with television staffing experience. The 2010 honorees have been posted. Again writer's spec scripts and original pilots have been uploaded.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Recommended Reading 2


Here is the list of books that the CBS Writers Mentoring Program suggest to improve your writing.


Writing for Episodic Television From Freelance to Showrunner edited by John Wirth and Jeff Melvoin.

Writing the Television Drama Series by Pamela Douglas

Making a Good Script Great 2nd edition by Linda Seger

How to Make it In Hollywood 2nd edition by Linda Buzzell

Monday, April 26, 2010

And now for something completely different

Here's a video I found a while back on that ever distracting YouTube that cracked me up.






3979WDSKTSX5

Friday, January 8, 2010

A Writer Lost

With the return of "Lost" for its final season in less than a month, now is the time to look back at its beginnings. Not the pilot script but the script that never made it to air.

Before "Lost" was "Lost" it was "Nowhere;" a realistic island survival pilot written by Jeffrey Lieber. Lieber was given the boot and the project was handed over to JJ Abrams and company and the rest is history. I never heard about any of this till my friend e-mailed me a link to the script. You can read about the story in this article.

"Lost" is one of my favorite shows but after reading "Nowhere" I can say I would have watched and enjoyed this show as well (given its ultimate execution.) Since it was a jumping off point for "Lost" there are a lot of similarities. Though they don't last long. "Lost" has many sci-fi and supernatural elements I personally enjoy. However, I also appreciate entertainment on the flip-side of this aesthetic. "Nowhere" has a very realistic tone. Lieber wrote the hell out of this script.

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