Story Room Challenge

KAREN WALTON, Ginger Snaps scribe, hard-working scribbler, and mistress of Ink Canada, has a great one today, specifically for all story rooms.

That URL again, is clickable right HERE.

It's Not TV...

OOOH. SHINY.

CanTV Twofer: Cra$h & Burn

AND IF YOU'RE watching the Season Finale of THE BORDER tonight at 9pm, it's pretty easy just to do a quick flip to Showcase at 10pm and catch "CRA$H & BURN."

The show, set in the gritty "just give them an NHL team already" industrial city of Hamilton, ON - has caught fire in the last few weeks. But tonight's ep is particularly of note since it features two of my fave actors.

Enrico Colatoni (Flashpoint, Veronica Mars) guests alongside Michelle Nolden (ZOS: Zone of Separation, Numbers.) The two last appeared together in ZOS, in very different roles -- as this promo points out.



Here's a bit of trivia -- the title of tonight's ep, "Lawyers, Guns & Money" was the original title for the series.

Tonight, 10pm, Showcase.

One More Border Run

THE BORDER AIRS its 38th episode on CBC tonight at 9pm.  The third season finale is full of its own twists & turns, plenty of action & is rip-roaringly rendered by the same able hands who helmed the show's pilot, John Fawcett. But the real cliffhanger is whether this will be the final adventure of Kessler & Co.

As I've written previously, THE BORDER has not had an easy time of it this season, shuffled to a Thursday-night slot that puts it up against not one, but two of TV drama's 800 lb. Gorillas -- CSI & Grey's Anatomy, burdened with a lacklustre lead-in that never once delivered an audience fit to build on, in a sense, the show's been given an assignment that even Jack Bauer probably wouldn't be able to whisper/yell his way through.  By way of contrast, recently bowed mystery series REPUBLIC OF DOYLE managed to draw 969, 000 people-meter pumped viewers to its first outing, but off the back of an almost 2 million audience from DRAGON'S DEN at 8.  That's a great number for CBC -- but it's also losing 50% of your lead in.

Never mind. So The Border didn't get billboards or much ink this season -- such is the nature of the TV game -- push the new, let the toddlers stand on their own.  And really, isn't how that should be?

Even with all the X's against it, the show's managed to deliver several solid outings this year, all tinged with the show's trademark "riffed from the headlines" approach.  It's tough to do this kind of stuff in Canada cause the libel laws & cautious Lawyers make it well nigh impossible, for one simple reason: in the USA shows like Law & Order need to make sure that they could win any court challenge if it came to that. In Canada, they really, really never want to even have it go to court at all.  And without the bullet-proofing of the Bill of Rights' 1st Amendment, (Freedom of Speech laws in Canada are not as well protected) it's tough to meet that charge and still be topical.

Nevertheless, over its run The Border's managed to be pretty on top of anticipating stories that would become stories -- from organ donation rings to Border-guard shootouts to tonight's episode, which jumps off from the MS 13 gang, and the (somewhat) surprising statistic that Canada's number one refugee claimants over the last few years have been from ... Mexico.

Tonight's outing, penned by series co-creator Janet MacLean, puts ICS Head Mike Kessler (James McGowan) in a tough position, raising both the professional & the personal stakes between Kessler & his ex-wife, Terri. (Julie Stewart from Cold Squad)  Nice work from  the entire cast... they really are a wonderful ensemble. As for the bing-bada-boom? Well, let's just say when things get hairy, they get really, really hairy.

Even battered by the timeslot and by its status as the longest-toothed drama in the "new CBC" stable. (Call it the "Space Shuttle" of Canadian Dramas...) the show still managed to average over 500 000 viewers for the year, so cancellation isn't certain.  New scripts have reportedly been commissioned for a possible fourth season, so that's something.

But even if this is the last time loyal viewers return to the ICS Headquarters in Toronto, The Border will always have its place as the show that breathed new life into the CBC's Drama Development schedule.  Hopefully the sniffs of "Canadians don't do action shows" will sound dumber the next time someone tries to make the point.

Personally, I'll always be grateful for the two (mostly) happy years I spent on the show.  I learned a lot from a great cast and crew, a wonderful story department & cagey & experienced producers like Brian Dennis and Documentarian E.P. Peter Raymont.

And Mark Wilson.  I had to mention him, because he whines like a little girl when I don't. So there.

Tune in tonight at 9pm for the fireworks, on CBC.

No Coco Canucko

HOWARD BERNSTEIN manages to come up with a nifty Canadian Coco/Leno angle that isn't really about either, but about our other favorite subject here in Sticksville -- the retarded, broken-toy nature of our shibboleth of a TV "industry."

From Bernstein's post, "An American Fiasco...It Can't Happen Here.":

The fiasco that’s playing itself out in the United States with Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and NBC could not happen here in Canada. There was a time when it could but the amassing of television properties by just a few large conglomerates has put an end to anyone being able to force CTV, Global and even CBC to do anything they don’t want to do.

The affiliates said enough is enough. We don’t care if NBC is saving money by not running an expensive drama at ten. Your gain is our loss.

In the U.S. the affiliates wield all the power.

For all the bull coming from CTV and Global about saving local TV the fact is the Canadian networks co-opted the local owners and bought them out years ago. CTV and Global own almost all the stations that broadcast their signal. If CTV or Global is saving money on a show that is not delivering audience it is their call as to whether the money savings are worth the audience loss. There are no affiliates left to complain. There is no local left. In Canada it is always about the network. In Canada it is always about the bottom line of CTV and Global.

What’s most interesting about the Leno problem at NBC is that the show was working well-enough for the network. Sure they were getting about one-half to one-third of the audience that ABC, CBS and Fox were getting in the ten o’clock time slot, but they were only paying 20 percent of what the other networks were doling out for shows like CSI Miami and The Good Wife. Do the math. They were actually making more money on the cheap Leno show with five million viewers than they would have made with a cop show or hospital drama with 10 to 15 million viewers. NBC in fact did not want to move or cancel Leno it was working for them.

In the U.S. it was the power of local TV, real local TV, that made the difference.

We shouldn't just beat up on the Networks with this current example.  The CRTC "tv review" which concluded last month, which was supposed to be something other than another discussion of fee for carr...uh... value for sign... um...toys for tots or whatever the fuck... was also looking at the entire system.

Up to now, cable channels have benefited from having "must carry" rules at the CRTC; ie, if a channel got a license from the CRTC cable and sat had to put them on. (There are other "category 2" licenses that don't have to be carried, but have to negotiate their way on, but they are far fewer.)

Well, it's clear that a pissed-off public wants the choice of "unbundling" and "a la carte" at a price point that doesn't punish them, and that means that down the road all cable channels might have to negotiate.

When I was in NYC last weekend, every two minutes on Time Warner Cable, it seemed, there was Bobby Flay, saying that he knew that people missed the HD signals of The Food Network and HGTV, and you should write so and and so to make sure they get on the dial...

... how many of the Canadian specialties will people go to bat for?  It's a heckuva question. Makes my brainpan hurt.

Anyway, Howard's full tale is well worth your time.  Go read.

Twitter's Other Trending Topic Today

IT'S STRANGE SEEING all those awful pictures from Haiti. All day today I've been hyper-aware of the utter disposability of just about everything I obsess about over everyday.  Bread & Circuses don't mean much when you're knocked to your knees as roundly, as thoroughly, and as perennially as the poor people of Haiti.

So finally I focused, took a breath, and just held a thought for the Doctors & the nurses and the carpenters, engineers, rescue workers, firefighters, pilots, construction workers & everyone else with the skills to help now on their way.  Godspeed.

Then, of course, you turn to Twitter and get a bit of perspective. Conan & Leno trending right behind ...

...  sigh ... I guess people do love their circuses.

So it was I was on Q talking about the late night shuffle today with Jian, a writer from my favorite online news site, Salon, and Bill "Soundbite" Brioux, soon to be seen weekly in "Badlands of Brioux," where he'll play the key role of Jackson "Stinky Pete" Brioux.

John Doyle will probably hate it.

(Actually, Brioux's right in the middle of a book on the history of Late Night TV.  Can't wait to read that. Certainly a fascinating legacy and a wealth of stories to choose from.)

You can listen to the podcast here.  The Late Night discussion starts right about the twenty minute mark.

Scott Thompson on "Death Comes To Town"

KIDS IN THE HALL's Scott Thompson had a pretty wonderful, candid conversation about Death Comes To Town with the blog Torontoist.  John Semley's interview is well worth reading:

Was there any hesitance doing something long-form like a mini-series after the experience of working on Brain Candy? Why not a sketch special of new material or something like that?

We knew we couldn’t do a sketch series. We could never improve on what we did before. There would be no point. For years we were burdened by our reputation, and this was a perfect way to do something new where even if we blew it we’d still have our sketch show. It’d be like a failed experiment. In our own careers, we’ve all gotten much better chops as writers and actors. Sure, many of the projects we worked on may not have been great. Many have never been seen. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t learn from them. We knew that we could do this. The idea was great. It was a large canvas we could work with. Large themes and multiple characters.Brain Candy came during a period in our lives when we were all messed up, by many things, one of them being fame. But by this time in our lives we had dealt with all those things...Making this mini-series was a joy. For me, personally, it was an absolute joy. I’ve had some personal problems, as I’m sure you probably know.

Of course. I wasn’t going to bring it up.

I don’t mind at all. Honestly I’m so thrilled now to be where I’m at. You can ask me. I don’t mind at all

Read what Thompson has to say about the "male energy" of comedy & how that challenge inspired him, and how he managed to fight cancer while shooting the show, here.

Up in the Chair

WILL DIXON does Clooney, Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner here. And it's priceless.

Oh, Damn, Son!

CONAN CONAN CONAN.


Never, ever, ever shank an Irishman and expect him to go quietly.  


This is one of the best "statements" I've ever read.


People of Earth:

In the last few days, I’ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me.  For 17 years, I’ve been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I’ve been absurdly lucky.  That said, I’ve been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009.  Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me.  I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future.   It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule.  Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

But sadly, we were never given that chance.  After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35.  For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news.  I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting.  The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t the Tonight Show.  Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot.  That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this:  I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it.  My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction.  Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn’t matter.  But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next.  My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it's always been that way.

Yours,

Conan

Why do I think the only guy in Late Night who's happy is the New York Times' Bill Carter?


And isn't Brioux working on a Late Night book, too?  Push back those publication dates, kids.


Guess we have a fresh News hook for Q tomorrow.  I should be on around 10:30.


Okay, this is lame, but it's my first try:


"What's the difference between Jay Leno & Conan O'Brien?"


"145 cars and a sense of personal dignity."


So what now?  Mark Farrell (Dan For Mayor, Corner Gas, 22 Minutes) has an idea:

Conan

Damn, son !

Late Night Lumbago

WHEW. RIGHT BACK and into the frying pan.  Full session today with the CFC folk, discussing their outlines.  Tomorrow I'm on Q, talking about the debacle of Late Night & Leno, and then straight on to a meeting about Development Project One. Whew hoo!

Death Comes to Town, Parties With Mayor

THE SECRET IS TO GET your bias out there, up front. So here goes.


I love, love, love Kids in the Hall.


When I was a struggling poor Ryerson student in the late 80's, early 90's, twice-weekly tapings of The Kids' first CBC Television series at the old studios on Mutual Street served as a prime source of much-loved (and admired) free entertainment. You can still hear my barrel laugh on way too many of those old episodes.


Those tapings also unwittingly contributed one of my fondest (and most disturbing) broadcast memories -- the late Barbara Frum, in full hair and on-air getup, plus makeup bib, wandering up and down the street calling for her dog. Bizarre.


The Kids in the Hall also unwittingly taught me one of my first lessons about writing for television.


Like a lot of people plugged into Queen Street, I'd seen them develop their act at the Rivoli over several years. And the first season of their TV series ate up all that huge backlog of sketches. When it came time for season two -- they had nothing. They had to hire a few new writers, buckle down and start over -- or so the story goes.


Ulp.


Well, last night in Toronto wasn't exactly a start-from-scratch. More like a victory lap.


People packed into the upstairs at the Rivoli to see the first new Kids in The Hall series in years. Episode 1 of the eight-part "Death Comes To Town."


The series had its Genesis out of the sucessful tours KITH did last year in Canada. And the General Manager of CBC English Television, Kirstine Stewart, was glad to claim them, pronouncing their return to the CBC as a "homecoming."


It was hard to argue in the packed-too-tight confines of the Rivoli. There everyone was -- a little older, maybe. A little wrinklier. And that's just the hipster audience. Ba-DUM.


I started yesterday morning in New York City, screaming for the Lincoln Tunnel at 7AM just on the hope that I could make it back in time to see the episode screened.


And so I did.  I was not disappointed.


I'm happy to report that if you're a fan of Kids in the Hall, you're going to enjoy it very, very much. Death Comes To Town isn't quite like their sketch series of old, but you'll recognize riffs on many of the group's iconic characters.


In the years since, of course, many of the Kids have done time in the trenches of U.S. Network TV. Mark McKinney worked for Aaron Sorkin and now oversees one of Canada's brightest new comedy programs, Less Than Kind. Dave Foley had his years on Newsradio, and Bruce McCulloch has directed several half hours in the last few seasons. Kevin McDonald and Scott Thompson, too, have never been too far from television screens, popping up in guest spots here and there.


Death Comes To Town follows the ambitious trail blazed by shows like The League of Gentlemen, and fuses the Kids in the Hall's outrageous characters with an ongoing story.  (The poster art and little collectible buttons of various characters they were handing out made that clear.)  In Episode One there's a lot of setup and new people to meet. The series keeps gaining comic momentum through the run -- and the results are, well...


Let's just say that, in the current context where it seems like the most important thing ever is considering your U.S. sale, Mark McKinney's Death character does a couple things in the Pilot seem tailor-made to prove that, um, well, that's not a priority here. (One involves the bible and the other involves a let's say more recreational than Holy use for the Human Soul.)


One of the nice things about launch events like this is the ability,  to witness nice little showbiz synchronicities. I sought refuge right at the front from the too-packed room, and found myself heel to toe with an old friend, Mike Booth, I haven't talked to for awhile. Mike works for His Worship, the Mayor of Toronto, David Miller. David got called up quickly on stage in the introductions and tried to demur to the stars of the night, before saying something quick before the credits rolled.


One of the highlights of Death Comes to Town's first episode is Bruce McCulloch's sleazy Mayor, who comes complete in true Kids fashion with an alcoholic wife and "special" son, and who's maneuvering for the 2028 Olympics results in a form letter and public humiliation from the IOC.


Watching Miller guffaw at the antics of his fictional Shuckton equivalent, (who's the kind of guy who not only takes a bite of your burger, but makes out with your wife in front of you) was sublime, and not only because it showed the reaction of a true fan. Miller recently announced in an emotional press conference that he wouldn't be seeking a third term as Toronto's Mayor. Seems that his relationship with his wife and kids is slightly better than Shuckton's Chief Executive, and he'd like to keep it that way.


Was I reading in when I saw something more in Miller's laughs at his onscreen counterpart? As outlandish as his antics might have been, things like the quixotic Olympic bid had to resonate a little deeper there than with some of the rest of us shlubs packed into the upstairs pool hall. Maybe there, the enjoyment and nostalgia that we all felt was tinged with something entirely more human -- a twinge of -- dare I say it? Relief.


Death Comes to Town premieres tonight at 9pm on CBC Television, and continues Tuesdays at 9pm.

(picture credit: my Iphone.  The Kids in the Hall call Toronto Mayor David Miller to the stage from a beam of strange alien light.  The Rivoli, Jan 11, 2010.)

Things to Think About in Writer World

A SHORT POST before a long drive.  Up early for the return trip to Canada after a quick jaunt in New York, shows & a spate at the Algonquin.

For now, from today's NY Times, I call your attention to three articles to view through your writer's filter.  Your world and your audience are changing faster than you can conceive.

First ...  a few years ago, when I was still teaching regularly at Ryerson University, I learned pretty quickly never to respond to student emails at weird, off hours -- because then that was the "new normal."  You could explain to somebody that you were a part-timer there two hours a week -- but they didn't see that, and didn't see why they shouldn't be able to reach you on the weekend -- multiple times if necessary.


The Times expands on that with Brad Stone's notion of "mini generation gaps" caused by the experience of technology. Read it. Then think about how you're going to tell stories going forward.  I think whether the challenge fills you with terror or trepidation, or excitement -- probably says what kind of writer you are...

My 2-year-old daughter surprised me recently with two words: “Daddy’s book.” She was holding my Kindle electronic reader.

But these are also technology tools that children even 10 years older did not grow up with, and I’ve begun to think that my daughter’s generation will also be utterly unlike those that preceded it.  

Researchers are exploring this notion too. They theorize that the ever-accelerating pace of technological change may be minting a series of mini-generation gaps, with each group of children uniquely influenced by the tech tools available in their formative stages of development.

“People two, three or four years apart are having completely different experiences with technology,” said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project. “College students scratch their heads at what their high school siblings are doing, and they scratch their heads at their younger siblings. It has sped up generational differences.”

Second, here's Thomas Friedman on Green Tech and China.  Hey, good thing we've closed Parliament till March.  Tick Tick Tick.


Oh, and finally -- if I was pitching a story right now, I'd try to make the villain, oh...mmm....let's see...can't really do Middle Easterner's and be PC...can't do Africa...mmm.... oh yeah. 


Those Wall Street guys.


Oh, yeah. And, y'know... the Leno thing.  And the Aftermath.


(Seriously?  David Shore + Rockford Files?  What is NOT to love about that idea, retread or no?  And after THE CLOSER it will be interesting to see if they can actually do an American PRIME SUSPECT.)


 Heh heh heh.  And is it really 20 years of The Simpsons?  I remember actually getting in trouble for wearing a Bart Simpson Tshirt to my job at the video store. 


Don't have a cow, indeed.


(And right now I'm watching the Morgan Spurlock Simpsons Doc in my hotel room, and he's telling me stuff I didn't know about The Simpsons.  I mean, who knew there was new stuff to know about The Simpsons?)


So it's been a good break for me.  I've had a car for two years, but never really driven on a big trip with it.  But three weeks away has taken me to see cousins I don't see enough in Vero Beach, Florida. I got to travel the Autotrain, twice,  caught a crazy-fabulous Jazz Night in downtown Orlando, was shocked by the beauty of the moment of the drive of the bridge that connects Delaware to New Jersey...


...I know. New Jersey.


...and now this weekend I got to write a bit in the Algonquin hotel, sit at cafe tables on the new closed Broadway, seen Mamet's new play and the revival of Ragtime before it closed,  had a fabulous pidgin French convo with a colourful older French woman in Molly's Shebeen, watched the Jets game, and got to take in a Raptors victory over the Magic with my Dad.


Oh, and somehow the research I was doing for the new CBC project got done too.


All in all, enough to say, I hope your holiday was great.  Let's crush 2010. 


See y'all soon.