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BrainStorm

Creating Media of All Kinds

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Intelligence

I finally realized today (thanks to a visit to our group by Globe and Mail TV Critic John Doyle) that it is insufferable hypocrisy for me to whinge about broadcasters in Canada putting out so little one-hour drama, when I'm not even watching Intelligence. And what do you know, it was on tonight, conveniently timed after Friday Night Lights, my fave new series this season. Lights just got picked up for the season by NBC, by the way, so no more excuses about how it might not last long, start watching! It looks like it's about football, but really it's about passion and dreams and heartache and yearning and small towns and classism and faith and inspiration and fighting off other people's versions of you to create your own version. Oh god it's good.

I did actually try to watch the pilot of Intelligence, but the show is meaty and complex and I was too tired to give it the proper attention. I'm still a bit confused, but will attempt to read the character descriptions and episode recaps kindly provided over at the CBC website, and get on board. This is when a PVR would definitely come in handy, as I'm guessing there's not a huge torrent fan club for Intelligence. Because after seeing it tonight, I would like to start from the beginning. It's good. It's dense. The characters are "fun" (as in creepy double-crossers) and interesting (as in creepy double-crossers). I don't really watch any cops and robbers shows (though I'm trying Wire because I've heard such good things), but I want to give this a chance, and I want everyone else to watch to prove that there is a market in Canada for well-made one-hour dramas.

And it is well-made. Intricate scripts, fine acting and the production values are outstanding. I put a call in to my DP and demanded that he watch the show and get back to me on how much it will cost to make a show look that good. I'll see if I can find out how much CBC is spending on each ep, because it looks damn good. You know, as in, "I might mistake it for an American show." You know it's true.

Ian Tracey is Jimmy Reardon, crime boss, in Intelligence

We were talking today about what it takes for an audience to get behind a criminal as a character and we decided that if he cares about a family member and is a good leader, that helps a lot. Well, Jimmy Reardon has a daughter and a loyal crew, so the theory holds so far...

OK must get some sleep because I am pitching/workshopping my two one-hour dramas tomorrow -- one of them to two different guests! Would be perhaps more stressed out about this but I've been too busy to think much about it. Yesterday, presented a 90 minute deconstruction of
The L Word (hilarious - me trying to explain all the relationships in a lesbian soap opera to a crowd of unbelievers), and today we had a deadline to turn in a first draft of our half-hour portion of our mini-series. One thing for sure, I'm now completely sold on solid outlining before going to draft. By the time I got to drafting, it was a breeze compared to the usual sweating bullets!

"See, I'm already learning something here..."

Sunday, November 05, 2006

It burns! It burns!

My eyes that is. From all my homework. Since Thursday afternoon, I've watched:
  • The Office, My Name is Earl and CSI (these were actually ASSIGNED as homework)
  • Most of Grey's Anatomy (over commercial breaks during the two hours above)
  • The last 6 episodes of Veronica Mars, Season 2
  • The first 3 episodes of Veronica Mars, Season 3
  • The last 4 episodes of The L Word, Season 2
  • The first 8 episodes of The L Word, Season 3
  • The latest episode of Battlestar Galactica.
As far as the last is concerned, I have this to say (hopefully not too great of a spoiler): thank the gods Lee lost some weight and Kara cut off her hair - these may sound like cosmetic changes, but trust me, they are deeply and intrinsically important to the characters and to my personal enjoyment of the show.
Kara, a girl after my own heart, takes a knife to her hair over the bathroom sink.

Please note, I did also buy and eat food, do dishes, speak with Loved Ones, read a book printed on paper, go for brunch with a friend, take at least one bath and one shower, and vacuum. Oh, and write and submit my Five Year Plan.

I need to rewatch BG because I was actually trying to do some work during the episode (8th grade all over again! Homework in front of the TV!). My other homework was making changes to the outline for my designated acts in our mini-series. I also took on the task of creating a chronological timeline for the 4 hours, as we're telling it all out of order and the Script Supervisor within was going nuts not knowing what day a scene took place. It's something I've always done for my own work, including timelines into the past for backstory to keep everything straight. Least I could do to keep 8 of us on the same page!

The
L Word marathon is to prepare for a deconstruction of the show that I'll be presenting a week from tomorrow. We're each given 90 minutes to break down a show, its characters and themes. It's not all hard work, as one of the big themes of LW is The Joy of Sex, baby...

We're going to work with Yan Moore (
Degrassi, Road to Avonlea) this week. Friday we met and heard the story of Christopher Bolton and Chris Szarka, who created and sold Rent-a-Goalie to Showcase without ever having worked in a story room. Definitely inspiring!

I still need to catch up on last week's Lost and Friday Night Lights (d'oh, did they change the time on me again this week? Checking... Shew, not on until Tuesday...) Thank goodness Lost is going on hiatus after this week - all this keeping up on current shows is hard work, especially as I'm also trying to catch up on shows I missed over the last couple of years (Deadwood, Weeds, The Wire, The 4400, Firefly, Carnivale, and V Mars (which I'm oh so close to watching in Real Time!)).

For those of you who have heard me eschew television watching in the past, laugh all you want, I'm paying now... in blood vessels...