Wake The Neighbours and Phone The Kids

LETTERMAN'S GOING BACK with his WGA writers. Craig Ferguson too.

Crack in the dam, kids. Crack in the dam.

THE BORDER: The Trailer

THE BORDER premieres January 7th on CBC Television.

Book Review: Billion Dollar Kiss

THERE'S A VALUE for any young aspiring TV writer in reading books on the craft. Everyone's got a few that they'll recommend as Gospel. And there are sites like Jill Golick's and Jane Espenson's that are invaluable when you're trying to put together those first, all-important sample scripts.

But after a while, if you're not careful, it's easy to descend into a pit of script porn -- where you discuss format or technique endlessly; where discussing the minutae of craft starts to crowd out the ass-in-seat time that's actually going to get you somewhere. For all the resources now available to the aspiring, there are very few, I think, that offer the one thing you desperately need: perspective. A leg up so that your baby-writer gaffes aren't fatal, a way for you to understand what you're getting into before you're too far down the path.

Billion Dollar Kiss: The Kiss That Saved Dawson's Creek and Other Adventures in TV Writing (available right now as a bargain book from Amazon...5.99!) isn't just the truest, most straightforward tome I've ever read about the actual life and process of writing for TV, it also serves as a pretty decent history of the last twenty years of the business -- and it's now particularly timely as a backgrounder to how we found ourselves in the morass of the current WGA strike.

This book is also the only TV-writing related book I'd recommend to a fan -- somebody who has no intention of ever writing themselves, but is interested enough in how the game works to want to know more. Billion Dollar Kiss sometimes reads like a good thriller, sometimes like a psychological study. If you read this book, you'll definitely be the smartest cookie in the sleeve when anyone wants to talk about realityTV, or the strike, or how a show gets made, or why TV sucks so often -- and why it's good, when it's good.

That's a pretty tall order, but Stepakoff's straightforward prose and his willingness to explore his own mistakes and shortcomings makes for a refreshing, and ultimately inspirational read.

He also nails the personality of a TV writer to a T:

It's hard to explain in succint terms just what makes a good TV writer, and by association good TV, because of course you're dealing with something that is subjective. But by this time, just like I saw a pattern in the pathology of all my colleagues, I saw similarities among the most talented. Obviously, they all have good skills, a mastery -- or at least an intuitive understanding -- of craft. But with hard work and commitment that can be picked up. There's something else, too. The best way I can explain it is tha they have a sensitivity to the world around them, a sort of sixth sense. They pay attention to the little things that others miss. Every outing to the bank, mall, or post office is a chance to people-watch. They listen for subtext instead of just what someone is simply stating. They watch body language, what someone is wearing, how someone is behaving. They always look for the inside joke. They examine and consider how everything tastes and smells, to the point where even a simple lunch from Baja Fresh is subjected to extended critical analysis. Everything is turned over, reflected upon. They look for connections in the chance. Meaning in the random. Metaphors in everything. Their interactions with the world beocme a process of looking for secrets and clues that will unlock the Great Truths, so that these things can be examined and written about for the ever-approaching next episode...

At times, frankly, this life can be downright exhausting...Simply put, TV writers are original and whacked-out people.

That last part's important. Elsewhere he puts it in less diplomatic terms, describing himself and other TV writers as "nutjobs."

And we are.

But that's not what makes Stepakoff's story compelling. What gives Stepakoff a leg up is the peculiarity of his timing. He entered the business -- thanks to a break from University alum John Wells -- just as the 1988 WGA strike got underway.

Besides evocative passages describing how he came to sign with his first agent, the author relates a story about his struggle with being a brand new writer, not yet union, in a time of labor unrest. A top exec offers him a secret deal to scab for $10 000 -- at a time when he's flat broke, and fresh in town. The struggle is something that I imagine several people are going through right now as I type this. You owe it to yourself to read about his experience, and how he came to turn the offer down.

Stepakoff's career straddles the end of 80's style schlock tv like Simon & Simon, to stints writing for The Wonder Years, Sisters, and Disney animation. He witnessed first hand, the gold rush into TV writing that defined the 90's (he runs down the numbers...and they're staggering) and the end of fin-syn rules that profoundly changed the relationship of studio and network to writer, and led to the rise of the conglomerates (and in many ways led us to the brink of the current strike.) And for process wonks, the insight into the story room and production process behind Dawson's Creek (where Stepakoff worked starting in a very troubled season 3) is worth the price of the book on its own.

But there's other wisdom in here too. Why is TV so white, and why does the industry consistently fail to deal with its diversity problem? It's in there. He's also sympathetic to actors in a way that many writers aren't:

For a writer to work on a troubled show, your career is not on the line. For one thing, everyone around town knows it's a troubled show, and for another your agent is already working on getting you another. The most important thing for a writer's career is not the show, not the credit, it is to work hard, contribute to the Room, write scripts that satisfy the showrunner -- basically to get along. If you do these things you get good recommendations, your showrunner and your colleagues want to hire you again, and good buzz follows you, no matter how stupid the show.

However, if you are an actor on a stupid show, it's your face saying those stupid words. You become forever associated with them. Actors' businesses are the characters they are associated with, and if the characters on the TV show they are doing are not being cared for, they get tense.

The effect of POD deals, Vertical Integration, how MTM invented Quality Television, why a pitch is easier to sell than a script, and how the end of independent studios damaged the training up of young talent...it's all in there. If you read this book, you'll understand TV a lot better...you'll understand why this strike is so bitter, and you'll hopefully see why writer-driven TV is really the only sure path to putting out a decent product.

Interestingly enough, though Stepakoff works in L.A. there's a lot of parallel wisdom in here that informs the Canadian industry. The problems aren't the same, not by a long shot. But in reading Stepakoff's explanation of fin-syn, I saw parallels to the 1999 CRTC decision that killed drama in this country. That's the thing about clear-headed prose. It helps you see things -- even things you already know -- just a little bit differently. I'll be working that into a separate post in a few days.

Billion Dollar Kiss is like the Cliff's Notes of how to live as a TV writer. It's a fast read, just over 300 pages -- and it's wise. And like any good TV story, it even ends on a note of hope.

Which I know we all could use right about now.

An Article And a Question.

OKAY. Go read this article. I'll wait.

I have just one question:

Is it just me, or does this guy come off like he's four fucking years old?
Really, this is what we're worrying about now?

Really?

Across The River To Motor City

RIGHT. I can't see it. Cause I'm, um....a long way away right now. But it occurs to me, I do believe, that the finale of Across The River To Motor City airs on most Citytv stations in Canada tonight.

If you've watched til the end, and seen the whole show, I hope you were entertained. My profound thanks for sticking with it.

And yes, shooting in Tiger Stadium was cool. The director, Michael DeCarlo, tells me the fog was totally flukey. They just went with it.

ATR concludes tonight at 10pm.

Hand Waving, Redux

AS YOU FLAIL and digest turkey, and contemplate Macy's disappointing fourth quarter, know, chickens, that I toil on the Year End List, as well as something about the zeitgeist and U.S. Theater and also, um, a book review.

Stop. It's coming. What the hell have you done in the last 72 hours, smartass?

The Key Of Oscar

I MET HIM once. A generous smile. A quiet, humble, decent man. He spoke up and out about human rights. And he helped change jazz. Forever.

I also bought his Powerbook 170 when he sold it to a Toronto used dealer. It was great to have him in Toronto. He'd pop up every once in a while, even in his later, post-stroke years, and his presence brought warmth and smiles from everyone. Jazz never had a better Ambassador. Toronto's lost another of our icons.

Here's some clips to show you what was lost:



With Ella!



And at Newport.



Rest in Peace, Mr. Peterson. Thank you for your gift to us all.

Santa Came On Waterskiis

IT'S STRANGE returning to a place where you were a child, and where you haven't been for a long time. I've been back to Florida only a handful of times since I moved away when I was eight. The last time was Christmas 2004.

Last night, after a long-delayed flight and an interminable wait for a rental car, I found the house by muscle memory. It was 3:30 in the morning, after all.

What struck me driving in though, was all these long-ago thoughts about the two Christmasses I spent in Florida as a child.

One year, we went to this big party up at a golf club. And at the end of the party, Santa arrived on a helicopter. It was impressive, to be sure, but it didn't really beat the whole sleigh and reindeer thing. He handed out presents, the whole magilla, but the pomp and pageantry couldn't make up for something being... off.

Then, the next year, Santa came in on waterskiis. And I just thought, "man, they're really messing with Santa's dignity there." It didn't feel right. It felt ... sweaty ... like it was too hard to work in the legend, so they were going to shoehorn something else in there. It was outrageous, bending and stretching Santa like that. Had they no shame?
The moral of this story? Writers are born early. And the first thing that comes is indignation, and a desire to protect the character.

Merry Christmas to all.

Canon, Fanon & Authorial Intent

FLYING IN THE United States sucks. That's all I'm going to say.

This morning, better rested and all, I came across this interesting article on Firefox News.

Written by somebody with the delightful handle of Merlin Missy, Canon Versus Fanon Versus Authorial Intent explores three sides of how fans react to work, and order their understanding of a constructed Universe. If you've never dabbled or watched genre stuff, this might seem mindblowingly arcane to you, but it's actually sweet -- and her deconstruction of the point is very wise.

Author intent is the personal canon of the person (or people) who wrote the source. When J.K. Rowling said that Harry and Ron became Aurors as adults, that is author intent.

Author intent is not canon.

Let me repeat, because it's going to be important: author intent is not canon.

Most authors know what happens next to their characters, who they marry, how many kids they have, that the grandkids are called Vera, Chuck and Dave. Their favorite breakfast cereal. How they're going to die. Some authors end up giving out all this information, either via writing it in the text or including it as an appendix in the back ala J.R.R. Tolkien. Some writers can't, because the medium (TV, film) won't allow it, but that doesn't stop them from knowing what they want to do. In this day and age, message boards allow them to share with fans what they intended to do, had they time. It's lovely and helpful for fans who want to know more. It is not, however, canon.

The same thing can be said for authorial interpretation of the source material. Canon is what is in the source material. Reader/viewer interpretation is up to the individual, although the author may have intended something else entirely. For example, Ray Bradbury recently claimed that Fahrenheit 451 was not about censorship, but instead warned against the perils of too much television. In an episode of Torchwood, a character utilizes the alien equivalent of Rohypnol in order to get lucky. Showrunner Russell T. Davies was called on the carpet for this by some female fans, who said these actiosn made the character a rapist; Davies said it was "just a joke" and did not. Authors don't always intend to show what appears in the text, but the text is the canon.

What's more, I completely agree with her about authorial intent -- when the work is over, I mean. The final word on interpretation can't be the author's, or why is it out there to read in the first place? Understandings change. Hemingway was once famously quoted when asked about the symbolism in his books: "I suppose there must be symbols, since people keep finding them."

One of the most famous cases for me of the limitations of "authorial intent" is actually an afterword to George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. There's quite a tart essay at the back about how Eliza could not, ever, under any circumstances, ever wind up with Higgins. And I read it, and I saw what he was saying, and in the end, I thought, "I don't care."

That is the miracle of an art that demands to be interpreted.

Dead Things Stick-Fu: 2007 Edition

WELL, I HAVE to say that objectivity is pretty hard to maintain when it's Aaron Sorkin's words and Hank Azaria's presence and the subject is Philo Farnsworth, David Sarnoff and the invention of Television. Pretty yummy. I'll have more on that later, but as I run out to another play, and then JFK, I figure maybe it's time to rev up the old Stick-fu. Here are some past posts that jiminy my cricket, arranged (more or less) by type:

2007: The Year That Was:

The Writers Guild of Canada instituted a Showrunner Award, which I thought was a nifty idea.

I worked in Vancouver a while. The experience proved once and for all that I can indeed be happy while working. Although that rain does also give you ideas sometimes.

Twitch City got released on DVD, and I admitted I didn't like it. Don McKellar weighed in. I think we parted friends.

We talked about what makes something original and what makes something derivative and how to find the former in the latter.

I attended the Banff TV fest as Blogger-Media and wrote a bunch of posts. (Click through for my reportage on Rob Thomas, my two part interview with Greg Daniels from The Office, Brit writer Paul Abbot and much more.)

Jim Shaw stamped his feet and people like me tried to, you know, call the entitled goof on his B.S.

How NOT To Save Your Show (This one's still being linked to everywhere, it seems.)

Writing Nitty & Gritty:

Preparing to write a spec script. Part One. Two. & Three.

And don't go crazy with the continuity.

How 24 Changed Everything

Protagonist or Hero?

What happens when you go up against bitter, bitter LOST fanboys? Well, it looks a lot like this or this.

Bottle shows and why you should love them.

US vs. Canadian vs. British TV

What the @%#$% is the Objective Correlative? And fridge logic and all the other stuff writers worry about?

How men watch TV.

Those wacky sci-fi fans.

Should I include music cues in my script?

So why do I need a story room, anyway?

What if they won't pay me to write TV?

What does it take to be a Writer? HINT: It's kind of a lot like coming out.

Recently I've been working on a few new pilots. Which brings on the occasional bouts of sturm and drang.

What happens when you go into prep.

Actually, now that I think about it, that prep was a whole series of posts.

Keeping it fresh and familiar, while pulling the impossible trick.

Elvis Costello, Michael Richards and amibiguity.

Writer on the set.

And at the Wrap Party.

How to Give Notes.

The Importance of the takeaway.

Co-writing and Gang-breaking.

Why writing at night is bullshit.

How One Idea Could Be Executed Many Ways, Using Three Moons Over Milford as an Example.

On Comedy:

One

Two

Three

Conversations with Family

Race and sensitivity in comedy

Canadian comedy: satire or something else? Probably something else.

Or maybe it's not that funny.

Can we just try making it funny?

On that most lonely and peculiar of creatures: Canadian Television

What the hell's wrong with Canadian Television? How do we fix it?

Or the CBC, for that matter?

Is it all just like the Capulets vs. The Montagues?

What about when CTV tries to balance culture and commerce?

Or Cancon? What about the whole system. Is it worth saving?

Logrolling and Admiration:

Durham County -- Canada finally gets an HBO quality drama.

Sons & Daughters

The Unit

Checkin out Robert Towne.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Charlie Jade

Profit

Commander in Chief

What I dug in 2005.

The E-book Valuable Lessons.

What's the future of TV? Beats me.

Important things I've learned from Drunks:

Really.

I might add more to this list in the next day or so, but I wanted to get it up. Now I gotta get to the airport. Toodles!