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Friday, July 29, 2011

Since I already answered Friday Questions on Wednesday and Thursday I thought I should probably answer some Friday Questions on Friday. Thanks again to Jeff Greenstein for his fantastic post yesterday. If you have a Fri Q, I’d love to answer it (or find somebody better). Just post it in the comments section. Thanks.

Brian gets us started.

Ken, you have mentioned several times that you got your first writing assignment on THE JEFFERSONS. What was the story line and how did you come up with it?

A new cleaners moves in across the street and George begins losing his confidence. The episode was called “Movin’ on Down”. I can’t remember exactly what led us to it. But I do recall we came up with the idea in a booth at Mario’s restaurant in Westwood late one Saturday night. That very spot is now Table 17 at the California Pizza Kitchen.

Tyler K. wonders:

Do TV writers have a harder time writing enough material to fill the required episode time, or cutting material down to do the same? Also, how short do you see TV episodes getting as time goes on? We've gone from 25-minute episodes of Cheers and Mash to 22-minute episodes of Frasier and Friends to some current shows being less than 20 minutes.

Surprisingly, it’s MUCH harder to write a 20 minute show than a 25 minute show. You’d think it would be easier because you had less to write. But it’s much tougher telling a good story in only 20 minutes. Everything has to be so truncated. And if you have a series where you do A and B stories, it makes things especially difficult. Imagine if FRIENDS were still around today. Or MASH.

Stories are more layered, more nuanced, more emotional when you have more time. Why more emotional? Because the emotion has to be earned. And that’s harder to do when characters have to make quick turns.

Michael writes in:

I recently saw a couple episodes of "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" on AntennaTv. 5 or 6 writers shared the writing credit for both shows I saw - I assume they were the show's entire writing staff. Are there union rules that would prevent that from happening today?

Yes. For a sitcom today only two writers or two teams of writers can share teleplay credit on an episode. So if this week’s show is written by Ken Levine & David Isaacs, we each get half. If the show is written by say Earl Pomerantz and Ken Levine & David Isaacs then Earl gets half and David and I split the other half.

You can ask the Guild for a waiver, however. That’s what we did on ALMOST PERFECT. Quite a few scripts were written by David and I and our co-creator, Robin Schiff. But it wasn’t fair that she should get half and we each got a quarter so we asked for a waiver. The Guild said okay as long as all three of us got the equivalent of half – meaning the studio essentially paid for a script and a half. Still with me?

Now things get really complicated when shows are room written like THE BIG BANG THEORY or TWO AND A HALF MEN. Because you can also assign story credit, which pays less than teleplay but at least is something. So if you’ll notice BIG BANG THEORY writing credits, there are usually five or six names. Some get shared story credit, others get shared teleplay credit.

It's a joke because the names on the screen have no relation whatsoever to who actually wrote what. Credits are just divvied up. To me that defeats the purpose of credits.

From Bob Summers:

Why did the TV seasons of the 70s and into the 80s used to end in March, and why and when did that change to May? I think I have an answer, but I'd like an insider/expert opinion.

This changed when May sweeps were introduced. Most major agencies base their network advertising buys on sweep period ratings. So networks hold back original episodes and sprinkle in stunt programming to inflate their sweeps numbers as much as possible. Was that what you were thinking, Bob?

And finally, LaprGuy has a question about announcing baseball:

How much does the highlight package (and, maybe moreso, the demo reel) come into play when you are announcing a game?

I don’t think about it at all. As for highlights, I’m just trying to capture the drama of the moment and be accurate. I have no catch phrases.

Re: demo reels, I don’t think about that either. I just try to stay in the moment. Over the course of a season I figure there will be one or two demo-worthy innings somewhere along the way. But my main focus is on the listener and the game at hand. I’m trying to do an informative, entertaining, and descriptive broadcast, not impress. By the way, I'm back on the air not impressing anyone starting Monday night when the Mariners host the A's in Seattle.

hayley atwell captain america

Hayley Elizabeth Atwell was born on April 5, 1982 in London, England to a Native-American father, who worked as a massage therapist, and an English mother who was a motivational speaker. Atwell's unusual childhood, which was filled with memories of tarot readings and sweat lodges, helped her get in touch with her feelings, particularly when Hayley Atwell started training to be an actor at The Guildhall School of Drama and Music. After graduating in 2005, Atwell landed a regular role in the miniseries "The Line of Beauty" (BBC, 2006), playing the manic-depressive daughter of a disgraced politician. A few more supporting roles in television movies followed, before Atwell nabbed a major part in the Woody Allen crime drama "Cassandra's Dream," appearing as a stage actress and the scheming love interest of Ewan McGregor's character. In 2008, Atwell earned critical praise for her engaging performances in two high-profile period pieces. Hayley Atwell first starred in "Brideshead Revisited," the big screen adaptation of the 1945 Evelyn Waugh novel about a repressed upper-class family whose beliefs are challenged after they welcome into their home a social climber (Matthew Goode) who becomes the object of affection of both Atwell's oppressed Catholic girl, as well as her brother. Atwell also played a major role in "The Duchess," which chronicled the extravagant life of the 18th century aristocrat, Georgiana Cavendish, the Duchess of Devonshire (Keira Knightley). In the visually stunning biopic, Atwell's character was involved in a steamy love triangle between the Duchess and the Duke (Ralph Fiennes).

In 2009, Atwell starred in the remake of the 1960s cult sci-fi series "The Prisoner" (AMC, 2009) as one of the prisoners of a mysterious village and the woman who helped the character 6 (James Caviezel) discover the reason why he was sent to the remote island. By 2010, Atwell's talents finally gained attention stateside. Hayley Atwell starred as the lead character's (Matthew Macfadyen) soul mate on the series "Any Human Heart" (Channel 4, 2010), based on William Boyd's 2002 novel about the life of Logan Mountstuart, a writer who encountered many of the 20th century's most significant figures. Atwell also had a lead part in the highly anticipated action-adventure film "Captain America: The First Avenger" (2011) as the superhero's girlfriend who secretly worked for the French Resistance. But her biggest coup was landing a lead role in the epic miniseries "The Pillars of the Earth," based on Ken Follett's 1989 bestseller of the same name. Set in 12th century England, the story followed the construction of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge during the turbulent period in English history known as The Anarchy. Atwell delivered a star-making performance as a haughty and willful aristocrat defeated by religious and political strife during a civil war, a role that earned her a 2011 Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television.

hayley atwell captain america