This Savage Art

Office art.

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As part of my investigation into writing for the tube I picked up a book that was recommended on Writing The TV Spec Script. I figured a small monetary investment would save me a lot of time in the long run. I just picked up Writing the TV Drama Series. Except for maybe The Office the shows I watch are the only shows that I would considered writing for, cable one hour dramas. From what I can see my instincts are right because there’s a whole chapter on staffing that includes “Mistake 7: Don’t work on a series that’s wrong for you.” There’s a lot more latitude to what you can do on cable and the advertisers aren’t the focus of how you earn your paycheck but hey, everyone has a boss right? Unfortunately most of the shows I have followed with rabid intensity have ended. The Sopranos, Six Feet Under. Mad Men, as I have mentioned in the previous post, is still going full force into its third season and is a shining example of what is possible. Subtle, thematic drama that respects the viewers intelligence and knows they’ll get it. Matthew Weiner and his staff are counting on it. Specing out a show that is currently airing is one way of getting into the TV game. Knowing someone on the inside is the other.

Television has come a long way and it’s not the dirty, little lesser career move that it may have been considered at one time. Right now is a golden age. Now if we can just get rid of the Real Housewives of New Jersey. Ahhh, who am I kidding, I watch, I watch.

Let me add that I say this all with some humility. Absolutely no one is asking me to write for their show the last time I checked.

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AMC is looking to develop one of Francis Ford Coppola’s masterworks (IMHO that is) to the small screen. Usual Suspects screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie has signed on. [Via SpoutBlog]

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Getting into a new show takes a little effort. You need to make a commitment and I’ve rarely gotten into a show from the pilot. Usually I come around later, maybe by the second season, if the show is worth my undivided attention. Now that we’re in some sort of television renaissance with some great writing and cinema emulation I can say I found another one that is DVR worthy.

After sitting through its premiere run and two marathon runs, catching up and emptying out the DVR with AMC’s new episodic show Mad Men from Sopranos writer Matthew Weiner, I can confirm that it is what everyone has been squawking about. One word, tone. Tonight is the night for season two.

And oh yeah, Don Draper is a pimp.

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I finally got around to setting up my new Roku. It’s a downloadable delivery device for Netflix members and I have to say, it’s pretty f’in nice. So simple to set-up it’s stupid. If you have an existing qualifying Netflix account you can download content for no additional cost. There is a limit to what is available now [10,000 titles and not the greatest seletion] but for $99 this is a simple and effective way to kick off the digital download revolution. In a year they will probably launch a slicker, more feature heavy version to stay competitive but for now I would say this is the shit. Supposedly Roku recently sold out all their units [?] and are now on backorder. Either way, a very cool little addition to your set-up.

Update: Thank you XBOX [sigh.]

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Here’s a collection of a few interesting stories to keep you busy while I tend to the boy. I wouldn’t want you to forget about me. Here ya go:

• If you are old enough to have had Mad Magazine part of your upbringing [I weep for you if you didn't] you will really love this.
• Yeah, you’re not alone. Today’s music does suck.
• 16:9, television and that whole “letterbox” thing.
• Artie Lange goes apeshit.

[Hat tip: Making The Movie]

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Now Juno will now be connected to the much celebrated first screenplay of one Brook Busey-Hunt. Name doesn’t ring a bell? How about Diablo Cody? Yeah, I thought so. We’ve heard the story. College educated young lady walks into scummy airport strip joint, has a moment of clarity where she wants to be on the pole, works the required amount of time it takes to gather enough information to write about it on a blog which eventually becomes Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper. Attention comes her way, Juno makes the rounds and she lands the white hot Hollywood career you keep wishing you had. The gender neutral nom de plume. The tattoos. The truck-driver mouth. It all strikes me as uh, a little calculated.

Truth is, Juno is a pretty solid film and an impressive achievement for a first-timer. Before I went to see it yesterday I really didn’t want to like it. I thought it was going to be filled with smug, I’m-smarter-than-you-pop-culture-infused-fuck-off-for-not-being-cool-enough-to-be-in-my-world dialogue. That is there, there’s no denying it but it slowly starts to melt away and gets a little more down to earth once we get out of the showy, self-aware first act. The dialogue does crackle and I can see why it is the selling point of her work but the screenplay does go beyond. It works. I noticed a kinship with films like Thumbsucker and Ghost World. Like those two films about teenagers in crisis, the characters ring true and the pressure of their circumstances force them to reveal who they are at the core.

Cody is kind of a polarizing figure in the screenwriting world right now. I mean, how many 13 year old female audience members know who the screenwriter of the film is? Is that necessarily a bad thing? I’m curious to see where her career goes. I know another screenplay of hers is on deck for Jason Reitman to direct again. And oh yeah, there’s the Spielberg television series too. By then we should know if she’s the real deal.

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Now that the television viewing population has tailspun into a tizzy over the episode of The Sopranos here are some links to bring us all back down to earth, get some closure and move forward:

Alan Sepinwall from the New Jersey Star Ledger interviews David Chase about the aftermath, killing off “straw men” and the possibility of…a movie.

As always, Matt Zoller Seitz & Co. give us insightful Monday morning analysis of the episodes, a feature on The House Next Door that I and many will miss.

Edward Copeland has a collection of Sopranos related postings if you get misty eyed and nostalgic.

Screenwriter Larry Gross muses on audience expectations.

Culture Snob gives us an audio play by play analysis of the last five minutes.

TV comedy writer Ken Levine takes a humorous look at the final episode if it was on network television.

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What could have possibly satisfied the expectations of an audience that has dedicated itself to six seasons of a brilliant show with the blackest heart in the history of television? David Chase’s opus of us as he see us is the ultimate in social commentary. Not since Paddy Chayefsky or Budd Schulberg has a writer told an audience “you may not like it but this is the way I see it and this is the way it is.” The ones who cried for a greater body count when it got boring or to get rid of the mother way back when or to put an end to the soap opera romanticism are angry and dissatisfied but that is to be expected. You can’t please everyone and guess what, Chase and his team of writers, directors, crew members and actors never tried. No wonder some are pissed.

Theories abound. One that was brought to my attention by my girlfriend, a serious meta-researcher and internet detective, was that the final diner scene had people in it who had yet to settle a score with Tony especially “The Man in the Member’s Only Jacket” (I think this originated on the HBO boards):

Apparently, he is the nephew of Phil. Phil’s brother Nikki Senior was killed in 1976 in a car accident. David Chase is truly rewarding the true fans who pay attention to detail.

The trucker was the brother of the guy who was robbed by Christopher in Season 2. Remember the DVD players? The trucker had to identify the body. The boy scouts were in the train store and the brothas at the end were the ones who tried to kill Tony and only clipped him in the ear (was that season 2 or 3?).

That actor is Paolo Colandrea. He is credited as “The Man in the Member’s Only Jacket” and as far as I can see he is not credited in Episode 72 on the season 6 DVD (not on IMDb either) so as interesting as the theory may be from that character’s perspective I don’t know if it sticks and if that is the theory, where’s the Russian from the Pine Barrens episode or a friend or relative of the dancer that Ralphie killed? It could easily be written off as an internet rumor.

I have to say I was initially thrown off by the final scene. It comes off of the Uncle Jr. scene which has Tony leaving the facility that is keeping an eye his uncle. We jump right to the diner where Tony is dressed in different clothes to infer it’s later and he changed. Then, by the way of a cut, Tony looks at an empty seat then he appears in the seat as if he is looking at himself, his life from another person’s perspective. When I was watching it I jumped, “Oh no. He really is Tony’s coma-induced self/businessman from Episode 67 and this is some sort of fantasy.” That was quickly squashed after Carmela enters and they talk about Carlo Gervasi flipping and we are back in Sopranoland. Phhhheeeeewwww, that was close.

And with the cleverest/cruelest joke ever played on an audience Chase pulls the plug on us, literally, by hard cutting to black at that pivotal moment. Leaving it up to each and every one of us to piss and moan at our water coolers and on our blogs about what happened and more importantly what didn’t. His little mischievous game worked. We’re all talking.

I’m not sure it really matters in the end what everyone else thinks. If you stayed on board for all six seasons you got access to some insightful and unpredictable writing. The Sopranos, like life, doesn’t give us the answers, we have to find those out on our own. Chase gave us a gift though, our own individual ending. Those weaned on the tight and neat nature of network television are cursing up and down. As unsatisfying as it is to some, one day we might wake up in the middle of the night at 3:00 in the morning with our own ending, or maybe not. That’s the way Chase played it. Frustrating, perplexing but never boring. Stanley Kubrick is probably looking down and giving Chase a crooked smile and a quiet nod. Like his body of work, The Sopranos settles in and that’s where it takes over and never leaves. There are no simple answers but the answers are there.

Either way, I knew I was in good hands when I climbed on board and have no regrets for staying for the duration.

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With the final outcome of one of the strongest episodic cable shows to be revealed tomorrow night the big question is “how will it end?” I meant to put this poll live earlier in the week but hopefully anyone who stops by will cast a vote before tomorrow night. So, what’s it gonna be? I know the poll answers are short and simple and the ending will probably be more complex (hopefully) but it’s really just to get the ball rolling. Please feel free to elaborate in the comments section with further theories. Go here to get a recap of past episodes.

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