Fall TV Shows: What I'll Be Watching

I'm excited that we're finally getting new tv episodes again! It feels like ages! I was studying abroad last fall, and then I get back right in time for the strike.

Continuing shows I can't wait to return:
30 Rock: I cannot get enough of Tina Fey! And this show is so good. Writing is flawlessly catchy. Characters are hilarious. What more can you ask for?
Gossip Girl: I feel a little dirty for loving this show so much, then I remember that none of the actual actors are high school age. Then I feel a little better. A little. But this show is so well done. The plotlines are really interesting, I often find myself surprised. And the characters are all very well developed. Everyone's flawed, but everyone has some redeeming virtue.
The Office: Part of me wants to be done with this series after last season. I like that Jim and Pam are together now, but there's no conflict anymore. And one of my favorite things about The Office had always been the side characters. But they all got so mean! The "Did I Stutter?" episode turned Stanley from lovable old disillusioned guy to angry guy you don't wanna be around. But I have hope! It will get better. Everything will be liked it used to!

New Shows I Want to Try:
Fringe: I always wanted to get in to The X-Files, but never did. And this series is supposed to be inspired by that. It all seems very mysterious. I find myself intrigued.
Leverage: Hackers and con artists take down big business. Yes. I'm not a fan of big business, so this concept makes me happy. If I were a hacker, I would totally use my mad computer skillz to take down evil corporations! I intend to live vicariously through these characters.
Life on Mars: This is based on a British show of the same name which I have been meaning to get my grubby little mits on ever since I learned of its existence. So I'm really excited that there will be an American version now! Hopefully it will be just as good. Though I heard that they had some problems making it (recasting, reshooting, then even changing the showrunner), which is ominous. But...maybe...they're just trying to make it the best it can be? Right?

Shows From Last Seaon I Want to Try:
Chuck: It looks kinda cute. I was just kinda "eh" when it first came out, but the ads during the Olympics made it look really funny. So it either has good content or good marketing. Either way, it's worth an attempt.
Pushing Daisies: The whole "guy who talks to the dead to figure out who killed them" has been done before, but this show looks like it puts a cheery spin on it. And it seems really pretty, visually. It also apears to have a chick with a bejeweled eyepatch, which is just too ridiculous for me to pass up.
Mad Men: I saw part of a rerun the other night, and it seems kind of interesting. I love period pieces, even if the period isn't so long ago. Just seems really different, and the characters are interesting. The episode I saw had this kind of creepy assistant girl, who is either really shy and sweet or a serial killer. Intriguing!

I can't wait! Until then I'll be watching Project Runway. Go Leanne!

Pilot Idea!

Some people get really private about their story ideas. Me? Not so much. Here's my newest pilot concept!

Basically, in World War II a group of war correspondents stumbles onto some strange events. It soon becomes clear that this is no ordinary war; it's Ragnarok, the Nordic concept of the end of the world.

I'm super excited about this idea. Can't start writing it yet though, because I need to do a ton of research first. Need to know the ins and outs of both World War II and Norse mythology. I have a decent understanding of both (5 on the AP European History test, what what), but I want to be an expert before I start on this thing. One of my professors once said "you can't fake the research" and I intend to take that to heart. It's really annoying when a show tries to do something historical and bungles the facts.

The reason I'm happiest about this concept is all the directions it can go, and all the themes it can tackle. World War II has so much material for this kind of story. Historically, Hitler made a lot of choices that made absolutely no military sense. Like at Dunkirk, he had the English army in the palm of his hand but instead of moving forward he decided to give them time to escape. In this story, decisions like that will be made to bring about Ragnarok.

Not sure if I'll keep it historically accurate or not. I'm really tempted to kill a major historical figure in the pilot (Churchill, FDR, Mussolini), just to let the audience know that this story can go anywhere. Because let's face it, if this story is historically accurate then Ragnarok doesn't happen and the world makes it to at least 2008. I want there to be the threat that the world could end in the 1940s.

There's still a lot of concept work to be done, but I think there's a lot of potential here.

First post

Everyone seems to have a blogspot now, so I'm jumping on the bandwagon like it's a trampoline! Not entirely sure how this is going to go, so let's try this out! This blog is going to be about my quest to become a television writer.

So the last spec script I finished was for 30 Rock. It was great. I loved it. Now I'm going into my next spec, one for Monk. And of course my expectations are for it to be as good or better than the 30 Rock one. So far though...it's not. I mean I like it okay, but it's still really raw. There's the rational part of my brain saying "it's okay! You'll revise and then it'll be just as good!" I spent a lot of time revising the 30 Rock spec, so of course the Monk one isn't going to be as good right out of the door. But then there's the irrational part saying "waaaa! No good no good!"

And then I just procrastinate and watch Bravo reruns.

That's the problem with writing something really good. When I write something mediocre, or even bad, I can learn from my mistakes and improve. But when I write something awesome and can't find any serious problems in it, I don't really know where to go from there.

But I'm hopeful! And Project Runway isn't as good this season as it was last season, so Bravo is less distracting than it could be.

So I hope people keep reading this! Enjoy!