Blood Ties Premieres This Weekend

...And Christina Cox (Vicki Nelson) parks a great interview with TV Guide (U.S.) here:

A couple highlights...

TVGuide.com: Why does Vicki use a nightstick and not a gun to beat down the demons?
Cox: I do have a gun, and I quite like it! It's shiny. It's coming out later in the series because, frankly, sometimes you just have to shoot the bad guy. But whacking him with your asp — it's called an asp, and you can only imagine the asp jokes — instead of a gun is more interesting.

TVGuide.com: Do you do any of your own stunts?
Cox: Kyle and I do as many of the stunts that we can safely do. If I feel that I can do it safely, that's always going to be the default setting. I was an athlete. I know how to move, and because of my experience I can sell it.

TVGuide.com: Some might liken Vicki to a certain famous vampire slayer. Are we seeing the emergence of a new Buffy?
Cox: There are obvious parallels that are going to be drawn between us and Buffy, and if we are fortunate enough to be compared on that level then I believe we've accomplished a great feat. I would love to be the new Buffy. It would be a great privilege.

So, Americans, remember: this Sunday at 9pm ET on Lifetime.
There are reviews out now if you want to search for them. It's a rule that you never respond to reviews (and in this case, I wasn't even with the show at the premiere) but in my experience at the Canadian Sci-Fi Channel, SPACE, it always struck me as weird how strange it was trying to get coverage for genre material. What it usually comes down to is this: if the reviewer's a genre fan, you get a fair shake or a good review. If the reviewer doesn't like genre stuff, you have to wade through all the justifications and caveats about how they hate genre.

There's a whiff of panic about all the attempts to insist you don't like that kind of programming. Witness all the articles about the new BSG that jumps through hoops before the praise to insist, "We know, we know, it's got a silly name but it's a good show." It's kind of like, "If I review this does that make me gay?"

Weird. That being said, my favorite coverage thus far has to be the Hollywood Reporter's Headline:

Lifetime sinks its fangs into a romantic vampire sci-fi series, which isn't quite as lame as it sounds.

Ha ha ha! C'mon! Really?

HR talks about the "preposterous premise," which is so strange to me because, you know, vampires have their own kind of place in our cultural memory, and as far as I'm concerned -- there's no more preposterous show on TV right now than Grey's Anatomy.

Anyway, if Vampires are your thing, do watch. And congrats to all the people -- crew, cast, producers, writers and especially Peter Mohan, for setting this fun vampy ball rolling.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

"I'm Irish. We're a Forgiving People."

That line on 30 Rock was funnier than anything in the Black Donnelly's, that's for sure.

EDIT: And another thing, now that I think about it. 30 Rock is trying something really interesting in flirting with up to the minute stuff. It may have snuck past you, but they did have a joke about the female astronaut with the diapers. It figured in the plot heavily as a reflection of Liz Lemon's (Tina Fey) desperation.

Why's that significant? Well, it's not, really. Except that story broke February 6. So four weeks later, they're on the air with that joke in a sitcom? Maybe Fey's missing her SNL timeliness, but that beats the hell out of the L&O ripped from the headlines turnaround.

In a place like Canada, where it's not unusual for series not to premiere for a YEAR after they were shot, it's downright jarring to see something that timely in a fully produced, top quality sitcom. And as I said, it wasn't a cheap run -- it actually was deployed as a great example of how far Fey's character was sinking. That means it wasn't grafted on at the last minute. It's actually in the DNA of the script.

South Park also returned this week with a classic opening -- a very funny segment with Stan's dad on Wheel of Fortune. (You went straight for NAGGERS too, right? Yeah. Riiiiiight.) South Park often flaunts its timeliness and a particularly plugged-in and prescient view of pop culture. Not only did these guys manage to be in theatres with a Jar-Jar joke, sixty days after The Phantom Menace premiered (they knew Jar Jar was going to be hated simply off the trailer,) not only did they do the definitive making fun of Paris Hilton show more than two years ago -- but last fall, they built an entire episode around the Nintendo Wii. Straight up, Trey Parker and Matt Stone are either from the fucking future, or they're running shit -- because they're the only ones who called that right.

But South Park also has the advantage of ten years of composited stuff to draw from, already in the computer. Sure they can work on the script right up to the wire -- it's not like they have to shoot with actors, or find locations or whatever.

That's what makes 30 Rock's timeliness even more interesting to me. Granted, it's no You Tube, but it's still an interesting acceleration of immediacy in comedy. How will the show age? You got me. But countries that try to slide comedy past on extended timelines -- ahemCanadaahem-- should note this at their peril.

Oh, and speaking of YouTube -- who knew the panda joke from the teaser was actually a thing? Those 30 Rockers -- they's crazy. Cute with Chris should be all over this. Probably more of that "Pandas are Cute" propaganda -- because if you follow Cute with Chris (and why wouldn't you, really?) You undoubtedly know that what Pandas really want to do is eat your face.

But this is still worth watching.

Yo Ho Ho And A Carrot and a Stick

Well well well.

Mediablogging is a funny thing.

I know that regular people complain all the time about not hearing feedback on their posts. That's kind of the solipsistic lowest-common denominator of every blogger. But in the case of this little concern, at least the part of it that deals with Canadian TV, the silence, to my mind, is actually counterproductive.

An industry in need of repair derives no benefit if the very people who are on the front lines remain silent. And keeping silent hasn't exactly helped the cause of Canadian creatives over the last 20 years, has it?

But dangle a little carrot like I did a couple days ago and people come a jumping. That's fine. I'm suitably amused.

I heard from some people I haven't heard from before. I heard praise, and interesting criticism. (Two people took me to task, for instance, for my fondness for italics and bold. They're not going anywhere. Why? That's just how I roll.)

I don't want to build up this great advice too much, but it is interesting, and it is a new, proactive way to think of things.

Several people sent me an email asking for the Secret. (Er. Not The Secret, that's Oprah's bag.) Several more wheedled and asked in comments below. Here's the deal. I will write up the very special post and send it out via email sometime next week. If you want in, send me an email to the account on the sideboard. You also have to be registered with Blogger to post comments. I will send everybody who's sent me an email the post end of next week. If you're worried about me selling your name or email to Nigerian Penis Enlarger & Banking specialists, then just get a new webmail addy and I'll send it to that address. I'm not building a database. Just doing a little feel for my Canadian readers thing.

If you just leave a comment on this, or the earlier post -- no dice -- you gotta register with Blogger to comment and send me an email at the address on the sideboard.

With one 'N?' Like That's Believeable...

So I guess one of the Scooter Libby jurors was named Denis Collins. And he stood up and said, "with one N." And Jon Stewart and Sam Bee made fun of him for that for like, seven minutes.

I feel pretty.

When CN Towers Attack

Baseball-sized chunks of ice falling off the CNTower causing the closure of an entire highway?

Roads closed downtown? Traffic chaos?

Hee hee hee.

The formation of the huge ice sheets on the tower was “a rare occurrence,” says Pressnail, professor of civil engineering at the University of Toronto.

Experts say this is the first time in the CN Tower’s history - construction was completed in 1976 - the structure has seen such an ice buildup. One of the pieces appeared to be roughly 50 metres tall by 6 metres wide.

How did it happen?

The tower is made of a massive amount of concrete - some 40,500 cubic metres of it, enough to build a sidewalk from Toronto to Kingston. Recent freezing temperatures gave the tower walls plenty of time to cool, Pressnail said, noting there is minimal or no heat transfer from inside the building to the walls’ surface.

“This definitely is a rare event - I can’t remember ever hearing of ice falling off the CN Tower,” Pressnail said.

And to think, I thought missing the winter in Toronto wouldn't be a big deal.

Emerging Writer Opportunities (In Canada, you Say?)

The Banff World Television Festival (which I hope to write a little more about later this week or next) has just updated their site with a number opportunities for emerging Canadian creatives.

First, there's the very worthwhile Global Television Writers' Apprentice Award.

The Writers Apprentice offers an emerging Canadian writer with the unprecedented opportunity to gain significant experience by completing a four-week internship in the story department of a prime-time series.

The winner will be selected by a Jury consisting of three jurors (one representative from Global Television, one representative from the Banff Television Festival Foundation and one representative from the broadcasting/production community).

The winner of the Global Television Writers Apprentice will be contacted by May 4th, 2007. Winning the award is not contingent upon the winner being in attendance at BWTVF 2007. However, the winner will be eligible for the BWTVF discounted “Rookie Rate” and must cover his/her own expenses to attend the 2007 Banff World Television Festival, June 10-13, 2007.

Deadline is April 20. If I was starting out I'd be all over that application like a manatee on some turtle grass.

Next, there's the CTV Western Canada Fellowship.

CTV Western Canada Fellowships are intended to encourage professional development in the television industry by enabling emerging creative talent including producers, writers and directors - i.e., program makers - to attend the Banff World Television Festival. Fellowships are not intended for established professionals, nor are they intended for entry-level candidates. Applicants must have a minimum of one significant production credit.
CTV Western Canada Fellowships cover the following: full festival registration, including admission to all seminars, workshops, and on-demand screenings; all official social events; and air transportation (transportation allowance based on lowest airfare available).

The "Western Canada" part is new to me -- so far as I remember this used to just be the CTV Fellowship, but at the top of the page it now says British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba. It's not clearly spelled out on the page that you have to be a resident of those provinces, so you might want to check into that.

Deadline is April 16th, notification by April 27th to recipients.

The Banff World Television Festival runs June 10-13. There's an early bird rate til March 31. Details about the fest, and guests (including Mike Clattenburg (Trailer Park Boys), Greg Daniels (The Office, King of the Hill), and Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars) to name a few) can be had by going here.

HOUSE-keeping

Deep in 2nd Draft land today, and I seem to have front loaded my procrastination this morning -- so I'm turning off the internet and going cold turkey.

Before I do that, though, one link and one recommendation:

Diane at Unified Theory has a nifty interview with HOUSE E.P. Katie Jacobs. HOUSE continues to be the little engine that could in TV drama. It's very solid and getting moreso.

Then, if you happen to find yourself in a video store, I cannot recommend Stranger Than Fiction more highly. I saw the film this past weekend. I was a fan of Marc Forster's Finding Neverland, but his direction of this film, along with Zach Helm's nuanced, touching, and eloquent script just made for a very surprising film.

Will Ferrell is wonderful -- he really acts, and there's none of the usual Feral Ferrellness, if you're not one who's into that thing (I seriously go back and forth and then hate myself for loving his schtick.)

The film's got things to say about our responsibilities as creators; it nails writers to the wall and manages to feature note-perfect tiny turns from Linda Hunt, Tom Hulce, Tony Hale, Dustin Hoffman, and...believe it or not...Queen Latifah. This in addition to the top troika including Maggie Gyllenhall and Emma Thompson.

There is nothing about this film that I can't recommend. Probably enjoyed it more than anything I've seen since The Departed.

Lifetime's Blood Ties Behind the Scenes...

Lifetime has just gone live with a whole mess o' content for Blood Ties. They've done a great job on the website. Lots of nice goodies for fans and the curious alike to stoke their vampire-loving hearts and whet their bloody appetites.

If you live in the United States it looks like later this week you'll be able to download the first hour of the premiere from the Itunes Store -- for free. (They did that for Dresden Files too-- in fact, it's a growing promotional trend that probably deserves a column all its own soon. hmm.)

Right now if you go to Lifetime's site you can get all sorts of exclusive content including cast pictures and info and interesting behind-the-scenes featurettes with the stars of the show.

There's also a new blog, Blood Tales, by Tanya Huff, author of the original Blood Ties books & stories, where she says some very complimentary things about the show.

Here in B.C. We're all looking forward to what I guess is our world premiere here, this Sunday on Lifetime. I get to call my Dad in Florida and tell him that yes, there is a show I worked on on the TeeVee that he can see all the way down there in the Sunshine State.

As much as the site does a great job of stoking the fire for the premiere, as a latecomer to this train, I'm nonetheless impatient for everybody to see what we're doing now. Because I don't think it's revealing too much to say that the episodes we're currently working on (which are actually the end of the first season) are kicking everything into a way-high gear. The performances keep getting better. Our stories are filled with twisty goodness. The Directors are turning in wonderful stuff, and as much as you might like to view pics of Vicki, Mike, and Henry, I can't believe some of the great characters you haven't even met yet, whether it be Coreen or Kate, or Dave, or Dr. Mohadevan (whose name I seem to always spell wrong in my scripts, even though I was taught a perfectly good mnemonic device to remember it...Moe-had-a-van. Then again, today I misspelled Celluci, so I might just be getting punchy.)

And then there's this: today I met Danny Trejo. Well, I didn't meet him. I stood three feet away from him as Angelina the wonderful wardrobe woman showed his costume to showrunner Peter Mohan. But I was there, man. The guy's in Grindhouse. And I was right there. Me and the other Dennis squealed like eight year old girls.

Once he left the room, I mean.

And -- production process permitting, today we even figured out a way to get in a great in-joke that will resonate extra-specially for fans of the books. And it's going in my second Ep, ep 21.

I can't begin to tell you how great everyone is here. Everyone works so hard. This show doesn't have the highest budget in the world...but it has the best crew and creative people I've ever worked with. It's got performers who go the extra mile and writers who really try to get deep down into these stories to make 'em work...and it's got heart. Lots of it.

And teeth. The better to bite you with.

That metaphor? See this is probably why I write teleplays and not prose. Ah well.

As for you long suffering Canadian fans, yes I know it's filmed here. Yes, I know it seems unfair. But at least there's this ray of hope: the content on the website is not geo-locked -- so you can go and view it all you want.

The two-hour Blood Ties premiere plays on Lifetime this coming Sunday at 9pm ET. The show comes to Living in the UK later this summer and CHUM stations across Canada sometime this fall.

Withholding Without Scolding

Well, as always seems to happen when I write about Canadian TV's structural problems, there were a whole bunch of hits over the last couple days. Some great comments from my fellow Canadian travellers, and a bunch of emailed and spiky link-to's, along with an outrageous number of hits emanating from:

• the CRTC
• Ottawa
• the CBC
• CTV
• Global
• CHUM
• Alliance Atlantis
  
• Several Canadian Newspapers

Not a lot of comments, of course, for the traffic the post is getting. Certainly not anywhere the number of "we should pave the CBC because they're communist" B.S. you get anytime the Globe&Mail ventures into these waters.

Commenting on something that's near and dear to your livelihood? That actually is important to culture, that actually could signal something other than quiet snipey desperation? No, no, no.... that's not the Canadian way, eh?

(And now that I'm out here in B.C., I'm just going to say it -- you Ontarians...you do say oot and aboot. Deal with it.)

Sparked out of this post, came a conversation with Peter Mohan, my current boss - about the way Canadian writers should approach their careers here. It was a great, paradigm-shifting piece of advice. It's a way for creatives to stop being last at the buffet in this country.

And there's no way in hell I'm posting it on the blog.

Sorry, bitches.

If you're a Canadian writer looking to not be a patsy, register, join in some of the fun here and maybe send me an email or two, and I will pass along this faboo advice to you via email...so long as you promise to keep it entre nous.

It's proactive. It's a smart thing to do. It's up Bill Cunnigham's alley all the way.

Most of all, it's a way not to feel quite so helpless.

...but it don't come free. No suh. We're done with that. ;)

You know what?

When it's dark and you're tired and your head is braced against the seat in front of you and you think to yourself, "we must be getting close to the ground now...they made the announcement to turn off headphones ages ago..." and you look up and out the window and there's just a split second before the ground WHAM comes up and the plane lands, and you bounce and skeeter roughly cause it's wet...and the shock and surprise you feel is, if only for a second -- a weird window into imagining that feeling, that dreaded feeling of what it's like to be on a plane at the moment of impact...

...and you thank providence for those moments, because not only do they wake you the eff up, buttercup - they're also exactly the kind of raw thing you're supposed to be filtering onto paper.

Thanks, Westjet.