Cop Rock - a police musical hybrid show

I mentioned Cop Rock in the last post so in case anyone doesn't know the show, I thought I'd post a clip.

NY Times Magazine "Screen" issue

"Every fall the magazine publishes a special issue about Hollywood, acelebration and investigation of that unique experience calledmoviegoing: sitting in a dark theater for two hours with a few hundredstrangers and being entertained by flickering lights and amplifiedsound. This year, we’ve stretched the issue to reflect a new reality:when you watch moving pictures these days, a theater is the last placeyou are likely to be. Cable, YouTube, DVDs, DVR, news briefs in theelevator and cartoons on your cellphone — through a variety of media,we now consume fragmented narratives on multiple screens. From a16-second panda-sneeze video to 60 straight hours of “The Wire,” this is the way we watch now." -- NY Times

There's some nice pieces on the industry in this issue, including "how we watch" themed material, which seems to be the "thing" to discuss. Click the cover to go to the whole issue.

WSJ reports on new technologies

For anyone interested in the distribution and exhibition ends of the industry, as compared to production, the Wall Street Journal has a "things to come"piece today on The Way We'll Watch...

Showrunners

The Hollywood Reporter just did a story on the 40 most important show runners working in Television. Joss Whedon was selected as #1. Those interested in TV should definitely read the capsule interviews from Whedon, Ball, Kring, and company.

What's amazing is how the concept of show runner has dominated TV in the last decade or so, such that it's the new auterism.

super TV

Ain't it Cool News and Variety are reporting that this novel from “Chronicles of Narnia” producer Perry Moore about a closeted homosexual superhero may be Showtime's next cool series. Stan Lee is producer.

Booklist describes the book’s premise:

Thom Creed tries not to disappoint his dad, a disgraced caped crusader who now toils as a factory drudge, so he keeps his gay identity and his developing superpowers under wraps. Then he secretly tries out for the prestigious League, joining aspiring heroes in villain-busting adventures that escalate alongside more private discoveries.

Gay super-heroes are almost universally handled badly in comics so this will be a fascinating experiment if it actually comes to pass. Has anyone read the book?

Apatow's "Friends" Revealed

For those of us going to Apatow and "Friends" on Monday, I found a list of these mysterious, (not all that surprising but very exciting) associates on the Paley site:

March 17 | Monday | 7:00 pm
The Comedy World of Judd Apatow & Friends

In Person:

Judd Apatow
Tom Arnold
Andy Dick
Paul Feig
Jonah Hill
Busy Phillips
Paul Rudd
Jason Segal

Additional panelists to be announced.

Apparently, all of the Paley panels have moderators. Maybe they take audience questions in person also, but I see that they're soliciting questions for all of the events online:

http://paleyfest08.wordpress.com/

Mike

America's Newest Superhero

Check out this SNL skit. Pretty appropriate, given next week's topics. And, if I'm not mistaken, there's a Dark Knight reference in the beginning (hero sitting high above the city in a room with a view of the city, anguishing over the status of things)

Paley Fest

Based upon the limited input thus far, this is my strategy for tomorrow at 9. I can only buy 8 tickets total for any one event. (for most events, that means 6 student tickets). They have to be purchased in blocks of 4. I have to use my membership for 4 and my wife's for the other 4. I, and everyone else, start with the perceived "most in demand" show and work their way down. Cult faves sell out quicker than mainstream hits (Most Paleyfest people are not your average TV watcher) Therefore, for example, Buffy will likely be a quick sell-out as will Pushing Daisies.
My strategy is going to be as follows:
I'm going to try for 4 Buffy tickets, followed by 8 Apatow tickets, followed by 8 Damages, followed by some Madmen and Pushing Daisies attempts. This won't work. We won't get everything we want. It's very much worth going to even if we're all watching Chuck, but I'll do my best to get a good allotment. I will hand them out based upon who has posted. Many of you have not posted a request yet. If anyone has a radically different thought or objection to this approach, time's ticking away...

Paley Fest

FYI -- Except under the most unusual circumstances, each student gets to go to one Festival night. However, it's good to give me three choices, as it's almost certain we won't get in certain things. It's my guess that Apatow and Pushing Daisies will go first -- literally in the first minute.

Paley Planning

We have a strange situation this year. All of the good programs actually fall during USC Spring break this year. I haven't really talked to anyone about their spring break plans so I don't know who's in town, who's going home for the week, etc. With that said, I have to order tickets this Thursday at 8:00 a.m. A max of seven students can go to any one event (and that's tough to get -- this event sells out within a half hour - within two minutes for some events)

So if you want me to try to get you tickets for these events, I need to know by Wednesday. It's a great experience. I'm definitely going to try to get tickets for Buffy and Pushing Daisies, but I'm flexible.

Paley Festival

March 14 | Friday | 7:00 pm
Elvis '68 Comeback Special 40th Anniversary
In Person:

Steve Binder, Prod./Dir. Bones Howe, Prod. Priscilla Presley

March 15 | Saturday | 7:00 pm
Pushing Daisies
In Person:

Kristin Chenoweth, "Olive Snook" Bruce Cohen, Exec. Prod. Bryan Fuller, Creator/Exec. Prod. Dan Jinks, Exec. Prod.	Swoosie Kurtz, "Lily Charles" Peter Ocko, Coexec. Prod. Lee Pace, "Ned" Barry Sonnenfeld, Exec. Prod.

March 17 | Monday | 7:00 pm
The Comedy World of Judd Apatow & Friends
In Person:

Judd Apatow

March 18 | Tuesday | 7:00 pm
Chuck
In Person:

Adam Baldwin, "John Casey" Chris Fedak, Cocreator/Exec. Prod. Joshua Gomez, "Morgan Grimes" Scott Krinsky, "Jeff" Sarah Lancaster, "Ellie Bartowski" Mark Christopher Lawrence, "Big Mike" Zachary Levi, "Chuck Bartowski"	Julie Ling, "Anna" McG, Exec. Prod. Ryan McPartlin, "Captain Awesome" Vik Sahay, "Lester" Josh Schwartz, Cocreator/Exec. Prod. Yvonne Strahovski, "Sarah Walker"

^

March 19 | Wednesday | 7:00 pm
Friday Night Lights
In Person:

Zach Gilford, "Matt Saracen" Jason Katims, Exec. Prod. Jesse Plemmons, "Landry Clarke" Jeffrey Reiner, Exec. Prod. Aimee Teegarden, "Julie Taylor"
Additional panelists to be announced.

^

March 20 | Thursday | 7:00 pm
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reunion
In Person:

Amber Benson, "Tara Maclay" Nicholas Brendon, "Xander Harris" Emma Caulfield, "Anya" Eliza Dushku, "Faith" Sarah Michelle Gellar, "Buffy Summers" Seth Green, "Oz" James Marsters, "Spike" Michelle Trachtenberg, "Dawn Summers" Joss Whedon, Creator

March 21 | Friday | 7:00 pm
Dancing with the Stars
In Person:

Tom Bergeron, Cohost Samantha Harris, Cohost

March 22 | Saturday | 7:00 pm
Gossip Girl

March 24 | Monday | 7:00 pm
Damages
In Person:

Noah Bean, "David Connor" Rose Byrne, "Ellen Parsons" Glenn Close, "Patty Hewes" Ted Danson, "Arthur Frobisher" Tate Donovan, "Tom Shayes"	Anastasia Griffith, "Katie Connor" Zeljko Ivanek, "Ray Fiske" Glenn Kessler, Cocreator/Exec. Prod. Todd A. Kessler, Cocreator/Exec. Prod. Daniel Zelman, Cocreator/Exec. Prod.

March 25 | Tuesday | 7:00 pm
Dirty Sexy Money
In Person:

Greg Berlanti, Exec. Prod. Craig Wright, Exec. Prod. With the Cast and Creative Team of Dirty Sexy Money

March 26 | Wednesday | 7:00 pm
Series Premiere: Tracey Ullman's State of the Union
In Person:

Troy Miller, Exec. Prod./Dir. Gail Parent, Exec. Prod. Tracey Ullman, Creator Bruce Wagner, Exec. Prod.

March 27 | Thursday | 7:00 pm
Mad Men

In Person:

Matthew Weiner, Creator/Exec. Prod. With the Cast of Mad Men

WGA Strike

Many of you will be impacted by the writer's strike: (1) Will Lost even have a season? (I need to know what was up with last season's final episode) (2) How do you get real news without the Daily Show? (3) what do I do at my internship? (4) What's the proper etiquette for crossing a picket line? and so forth. Impress your new L.A. friends and bosses by knowing some history. The New Republic has an informative piece on the WGA strike here.

Writing for TV

Blogs you may want to read - Two in a series. Lisa Klink is a Duke Alum television screenwriter who I've met at a couple of Duke in Media & Entertainment (DIME) events/meetings. Tonight she was one of the panelists at a writer's forum sponsored by that organization. To quote Lisa's own website, "I’m a writer, working mostly in television, mostly in sci-fi and action. I started in the world of “Star Trek” and have written for “Hercules,” “Martial Law” and “Roswell,” among others. Most recently, I wrote freelance episodes for the Sci Fi Channel shows “Painkiller Jane” and “Flash Gordon.” For my full resume and “how I got started” story, check out my website at www.lisaklink.com.

For any of you who might be interested in writing for television, Lisa does a really great blog called "What's it Like" which talks about how to get started, what traps to avoid, etc. as a TV writer.

Another excellent blog is Jane Espenson's. Ms. Espenspon wrote for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and was a co-executive producer for The Gilmore Girls. Lots of valuable tips and smart, experienced perspectives in both of these blogs.

Bill Maher

The guests for this Friday (the taping we are all going to) are Dana Carvey (former SNL star, actor in several bad films), Fmr. Sen. Bill Bradley (D-NJ) (former basketball star, ran for democratic presidential nomination against Gore in 2000), Scott McClellan (former Whitehouse spokesperson and really inept liar) and via satellite Sheryl Crow and Laurie David (political activist married to Larry David.)

Jimmy Kimmel schedule

Here's the current status as I reported it to the Kimmel people.

On Tuesday, April 24, Sam, Dave, Ben and I will be going.
On Thursday, April 26, Meron, Aaina, Janet, Noel, Keith, Alicia, Heather and I will be going.

If that is wrong, you must let me know NOW. If someone doesn't come that night, we could all get denied access.

Re: Jimmy Kimmell

Okay, i just talked to the show's producer. She now says that Ben was wrong. I said we were all confused and she said not to worry, that all of you should immediately release your tickets and she is going to put us on the house guest list instead. So I just need to do a head count on Friday and we'll all be set.

P.S. I'm 100% sure that Ben was told the exact opposite of what I was told. The good news is that we are circumventing the system.

April 13th Field Trip

I just talked to the person in charge of Real Time with Bill Maher -- he has us down currently for nine seats -- if we need more, I need to call him but it'll be fine. Right now I know of me, heather, Alicia, her boyfriend, Sam, Ben and Janet. It's live television, and you don't have to wait in a crazy line like some shows. We just need to be at CBS around 6that Friday. So let me know who else can commit.

Monty Python - Bicycle Repair Man

I meant to show this one in class -- for the British take on Superman -- A great Monty Python skit.

Seinfeld Superman interview

If you've never seen the Am EX Seinfeld/Superman web commercials, they are very funny. This is not one of them, but is a Today Show interview. Listen to the genre references.

The actual commercials are also on YouTube.

Cartoon Network

Any thoughts?



Head of Cartoon Network resigns

By HARRY R. WEBER, AP Business Writer2 hours, 7 minutes ago

The head of the Cartoon Network resigned Friday following a marketing stunt that caused a security scare in Boston.

The announcement about Jim Samples resigning was made in an internal memo sent to Cartoon Network staffers.

In a statement to employees, Samples said he regrets the stir that the stunt caused.

"It's my hope that my decision allows us to put this chapter behind us and get back to our mission of delivering unrivaled original animated entertainment for consumers of all ages," Samples said.

Samples said he felt "compelled to step down, effective immediately, in recognition of the gravity of the situation that occurred under my watch."

A replacement for Samples, who had been with the company for 13 years, was not immediately announced.