IF YOU'RE Tim Minnear, how bitter are you right now?
And what do you do next?
Such a run of interesting, offbeat, critically admired shows -- Wonderfalls, The Inside, Drive... (I have to admit I never did see the latter. It was on my PVR but when I saw the way the wind was blowing I never watched.) I mean, he's good, he's a solid writer, and everything he does gets received like anthrax in an envelope.
Seriously. I'd be depressed beyond belief. What if you're good at what you do and...still...nobody buys your tone?
I've said before that I think Love Monkey was a show that was so close to what I'd like to write and ppddffap! that was gone in twenty seconds.
This is the kind of thing that keeps a TV writer up at night.
10 comments:
I think in order to guage what's going to be successful now you have to get a labotomy and then check out the top rated shows again. the Black Donnely's started out brilliantly - with more complex and sympathetic characters than the Supranos and it was gone in a month and replaced with 'The Real Wedding Crashers'.
With Nathan Fillion at head of Drive, could it face the same fate as Firefly? =D
Seriously, though, I didn't know Drive was doing that bad. . .even though the premise makes me a little skeptical. But so didn't Battlestar Galactica, originally.
A question I don't have the answer for: was 'Drive' a Minear original (so to speak), or was its origin story like 'Lost's and some exec said let's take Amazing Race and spin a mystery/drama out of it?
I guess I'm thinking it felt more like the latter...
I didn't like the first episode, and missed the next, but really enjoyed the most recent (the one in which he gets the cool black car).
Okay, basically at this point I want three things:
1. Tim gets a show that lasts.
2. Nathan gets a show that lasts.
3. I get a cool black car.
Point 3 is most important to me. Even a toy version will do.
One aspect to all this that Dix hints at is that none of the shows - WONDERFALLS, FIREFLY, DRIVE, or THE INSIDE were original Tim Minear concepts. They were all brought to Tim at one point or another.
I'm not certain, but I don't think we've seen a "pure" Tim Minear show yet. MAYBE that's what's required here.
And to be fair, we can't lay it off on the other folks and just say it's their fault. DRIVE has problems that are rooted in the storytelling and not just the concept.
If I were Tim - and rest assured I'm not suggesting he needs my advice - I would create a show where I could tell the first arc in six episodes. That way it's complete and ready to be sold on DVD as a whole entity. Then, when those numbers come in produce the next six episode arc (That is if the show is on the fence).
I also want him to work with folks other than the cast from FIREFLY, ANGEL, etc. Those actors, as strong and as good as they are need to be in guest spots and not series leads. They are too identified (and yes, I realize I just used a big fat paint roller to typecast these folks, but come on, you felt it too)with their other shows. People were tuning in to see what Captain Mal was going to do behind the wheel.
Bill wrote:
And to be fair, we can't lay it off on the other folks and just say it's their fault.
I was kidding there, but you somewhat address the matter I alluded to, also.
Interesting point, Cunningham. I didn't think it was as bad as all that, but I wasn't expecting it to be too thoughtful in the way that say 24 or Prison Break are, more like The Fast and The Furious ... and sometimes that's what you're in the mood for.
I love LOVE MONKEY! But I think it has more to do with my professional crush on Tom Cavanagh more than anything else. Much More Music has been running it ad nauseum and I think I've seen every episode about 7 times now.
Caroline -
I was expecting FAST AND THE FURIOUS as well, and we got IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD amongst others. My problem with it was that it was a hybrid made from too many DNA samples:
Is it a comedy? (Single mom getting arrested; two totally different women have to get along to win the race). Yes.
Is it a drama? (Man has to get his wife back from kidnappers; Brothers against/for one another). Yes.
Is it a thriller? (Single mom has to kill someone to stay in the race; Mysterious judges of race have wife and taunt bank robber turned landscaper). Well, yes.
Is it a tragedy? (Dad's gonna die of cancer so he kidnaps daughter to go with him in the race). Yes!
24 is a thriller. FAST & THE FURIOUS is action. PRISON BREAK is a thriller. MAD MAD MAD WORLD is a comedy.
DRIVE was trying to be all these and more...IMO it should have picked one genre and gone with it.
If I'm Tim Minear I'd make sure my show was not going to be shown on FOX even if I'm under contract to Fox Television. What do Wonderfalls, Firefly, Drive, and The Inside have in common that Angel does not? That's right they were all on FOX. I loved Firefly and really enjoyed The Inside but it is a fact that these shows were different with a capital "D". I never saw Wonderfalls and failed to tape the first episode of Drive (the one that aired on Sunday night). The executives at FOX (and the other Big Four US networks) are at a point where nothing short of instant ratings success is acceptable. Quirky doesn't do instant ratings success, so maybe Minear needs to get his shows on cable networks where instant success isn't the be all and end all.
...And should be the kind of creative genius that starts a revolution of using this world wide web we all use one step closer to being all media.
With Itunes and Youtube etc I think there is a market out there for the 'UK' version, if you will, of paying for what you like. If shows such as Wonderfalls, Drive, Firefly, etc can't find a place on networks that are run by scared executives who are being held by the balls by advertisers who only want to feed us fast food then why not produce them for a 'net' market.
Drop that creative genius in a place I can buy it and watch my green work for me and no longer for them.
It's amazing to me that shows like X-files never would have made it in today's market place in the US yet shows like Doctor Who and Torchwood are getting millions of viewers in the UK. And in the case of Who it's a family series that doesn't walk any safe lines.
Networks in this country table shows because of possible viewer backlash when certain presidents are elected. Or overwhelm us by pounding the advertising on 'unscripted' reality shows instead of original programing.
I look forward to one of these geniuses finding a way to use the internet to their creative advantage and starting the tv version of the indepentant film movement.
I bet if a Whedon needed to fund something he could do so with the promise of online episodes for a fans $20 subscription and as a huge fan of Minear as well I bet he could too.
Post a Comment