THE ASSET
Network: FOX
Written By: Josh Friedman
Draft Date: January 13, 2012
Pages: 63
Disclaimer!
Spy fare on television has run the gamut over the last decade. We've had twisty spy-fi from Alias, the increasingly unbelievable real-time antics of 24, nerdy rom-com with Chuck, the dark revenge story of Nikita, and the light-hearted naivete of Covert Affairs
The spy series of the moment is Showtime's Homeland. It's startling, in comparison to the above examples, in its attempted realism and its flawed protagonists.
You certainly can't accuse The Asset of shying away from the same. This show is dark, and its lead both complicated and flawed. The lead, Anna King, is the best at what she does, we're told. And she seems very in control, a superb people-reader, capable of lying to anyone and having them believe her. She compartmentalizes, able to betray even those she loves (for instance, a sting operation on her case officer, who she is sleeping with... the script thinks her involvement is veiled but it's really not, at least to this reader). Sex, it turns out, is a lot of what Anna does. She is a spy-hooker and has, apparently, no qualms about it. I'd like to know more about what made her that way, but the pilot gives us little-to-no indication, instead taking us down a mission of the week involving a bomb going off at a hotel in Mexico that serves to introduce us to Anna and the team around her. We see Anna fuck and betray, notice and uncover, and ultimately the case is over.
My issue here is that I'm not sure what I'm coming back for next week. She doesn't seem to have much of a world outside of her job.
Homeland posed a question about Sergeant Brody that seemed like a yes or no (is he a prisoner of war turned terrorist?), but while stringing that answer out and making us wonder what was mislead and what wasn't, it presented a fascinating situation for both him and his family (Jessica's "infidelity" if it can be called that) as well as Carrie Mathison and the whole of the CIA world around her.
I can't even go into what the Alias pilot (which, seriously, go back and rewatch that pilot... it's among the best ever, IMO) served up, the number of balls it tossed in the air. The world fell apart around Sydney Bristow.
24 had its once-fresh-later-gimmicky real-time premise and screamed "there is a terrorist plot!" and didn't wrap things up at all by the end of the first out.
I could go on, but I think you get the point.
I'm not sure what about this series makes it different or special besides its darkness. And, again, it does have darkness. I'm intrigued by Anna King, but I don't know how much more, if any, I want. Or need. It's a good script, really it is... but is it enough? That's the question. And I don't have an answer for it... though, in the past when I've had that question and the pilots have turned out well and gone to series, I generally am out by episode four.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Pilot Script Review - The Selection
THE SELECTION
Network: CW
Written By: Elizabeth Craft & Sarah Fain (based on the novel by Kiera Cass)
Draft Date: January 19, 2012
Pages: 61
Disclaimer!
YES (with a couple quibbles / questions / reservations / etc).
Guys, I'm in love with this project in a way that I didn't expect to be. Its logline (300 years in the future, America doesn't exist anymore, but there's a caste system of 8 levels and a monarchy and potential future Queens are picked in a lottery, one from each of the 35Districts Sections of the post-America country, and enter a competition to become the Queen) is a little long and eye-roll-y and I've read way too much of the glut of dystopian YA lit that's been published post-Hunger Games (and can I get a SQUEE!!!! that the first movie is barely a month away?) for this to ever really register as fully original.
And, y'know what? It's not fully original. But that doesn't mean it doesn't work. And it's the first attempt to adapt dystopian YA to a weekly television series format, so it'll wind up feeling very different than the Hunger Games' movies. Whereas the Hunger Games is an annualized totalitarian method of oppression via a reality TV version of Battle Royale, The Selection is more like The Bachelor.
Really.
Any time there's a Prince in Illeá, 35 girls are chosen to compete to become his bride.
See? The Bachelor.
But there's so much more to The Selection than that.
First off, our lead character, the semi-eye-rollingly-named America, is a "Five." In the caste system, that places America squarely in the middle. The Ones are the royal family. The Twos are super-duper wealthy. The Eights... they're mentally ill, homeless, and felons. So, things could be worse for America. She's a singer. Her mother plays the piano. Her sister, May, the violin. Her dad used to be a cobbler, but he's been injured. There's not much hope of upward mobility.
That's where The Selection comes in. You marry the prince... you become a One. You even make it to "The Elite," the final six girls in the competition for his heart... your family gets elevated to Two. That's kinda huge.
May is really, really interested in being Selected. America... not so much. She's fallen in love, you see.
With a Six.
*gasp*
His name is Aspen, and he's a waiter. And their love is pretty much illegal. They're saving up money to pay the fine for marrying between castes... and once they have it, they're gonna get hitched. Which will make America a Six, too (no idea if it's because he's the man in the relationship and you inherit your husband's caste... but that seems to make sense).
That isn't hugely important, though, because, of course, America is Selected (while performing at a party for local Two, 19-year old Jasmine Grantham (WINK, DOWNTON ABBEY), who is hoping / expecting to be Selected (there are undertones that become overtones that, even though The Selection is one of few ways to be upwardly mobile in this society, it's a rigged lottery and The Selected are more based on political ties and monetary needs).
So, of course, America bitches and moans until the people around her convince her that going and trying to win is really the only thing to do.
Yes, America is yet another YA female protagonist to whom things happened, and not someone who really acts that much. Sigh. Bella Swan. You set such a horrible template. Although, America's "fuck the caste system" attitude is quite attractive from a modern/real-world stand point.
In America's case, the convincing comes via Aspen enlisting in the Army without telling her (which means he's not allowed to marry or even have a girlfriend until his ten years are done... at which point his caste is elevated... to a Two! Wow, Illeá really respects their veterans... but, hey, there's a war going on, as always, and also a rebellion brewing so Aspen's chances are kind of terrible) and her family guilt-begging her into doing it for them (see above, re the family getting elevated to Two if she makes it to the final six).
And all of this is the set-up. The first act. I haven't even touched on the other competitors (pretty much all Twos and Threes, America is the only Five who was Selected in the who country), the gowns and designer shoes (America really stands out here with regards to her level of disinterest in these things) and Prince Maxon (instant love triangle) and Queen Amberly (OH MY GOD, THE QUEEN, SHE WINS, I CAN'T EVEN TELL YOU HOW MADE OF WIN SHE IS).
Oh, and the rebellion. There's that going on, too. So, danger.
Obviously, as it hasn't been published yet, I can't compare Craft & Fain's script to the novel. I don't know where the novel goes (though I certainly have more than serious suspicions based on the pilot). But I'm *SO EXCITED* to see this thing realized and on my television machine on a weekly basis.
My biggest question mark / quibble (beyond America's relative passivity at certain points and the limitations of not really getting to know too many of the other girls in the competition so most of them beyond chief competitor / presumptive winner / manipulative bitch Celeste seem like so many Red Shirts) is where Aspen winds up.
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P
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Aspen winds up, unbeknownst to America, one of the newest royal guards at the Palace. I understand this as a way, perhaps the only way, to put the love triangle in an immediate front and center position. But it doesn't track for me, timing wise... as Aspen seems to have gone through basic training and been assigned in a matter of 96 hours. I mean, you can picture Aspen guarding Maxon at some point and it being fraught with love triangle tension, and America even finding out about Aspen's presence and being tempted to rekindle her love with him... which would be problematic for both of them in their new positions (her, because she's supposed to be competing for the prince's heart and certain parts of it are televised - though not all of it; him, because though there's a great reward if you survive being a soldier for 10 years, you apparently have to do it celibate and unattached).
But, really... cannot wait to see what happens next.
Network: CW
Written By: Elizabeth Craft & Sarah Fain (based on the novel by Kiera Cass)
Draft Date: January 19, 2012
Pages: 61
Disclaimer!
YES (with a couple quibbles / questions / reservations / etc).
Guys, I'm in love with this project in a way that I didn't expect to be. Its logline (300 years in the future, America doesn't exist anymore, but there's a caste system of 8 levels and a monarchy and potential future Queens are picked in a lottery, one from each of the 35
And, y'know what? It's not fully original. But that doesn't mean it doesn't work. And it's the first attempt to adapt dystopian YA to a weekly television series format, so it'll wind up feeling very different than the Hunger Games' movies. Whereas the Hunger Games is an annualized totalitarian method of oppression via a reality TV version of Battle Royale, The Selection is more like The Bachelor.
Really.
Any time there's a Prince in Illeá, 35 girls are chosen to compete to become his bride.
See? The Bachelor.
But there's so much more to The Selection than that.
First off, our lead character, the semi-eye-rollingly-named America, is a "Five." In the caste system, that places America squarely in the middle. The Ones are the royal family. The Twos are super-duper wealthy. The Eights... they're mentally ill, homeless, and felons. So, things could be worse for America. She's a singer. Her mother plays the piano. Her sister, May, the violin. Her dad used to be a cobbler, but he's been injured. There's not much hope of upward mobility.
That's where The Selection comes in. You marry the prince... you become a One. You even make it to "The Elite," the final six girls in the competition for his heart... your family gets elevated to Two. That's kinda huge.
May is really, really interested in being Selected. America... not so much. She's fallen in love, you see.
With a Six.
*gasp*
His name is Aspen, and he's a waiter. And their love is pretty much illegal. They're saving up money to pay the fine for marrying between castes... and once they have it, they're gonna get hitched. Which will make America a Six, too (no idea if it's because he's the man in the relationship and you inherit your husband's caste... but that seems to make sense).
That isn't hugely important, though, because, of course, America is Selected (while performing at a party for local Two, 19-year old Jasmine Grantham (WINK, DOWNTON ABBEY), who is hoping / expecting to be Selected (there are undertones that become overtones that, even though The Selection is one of few ways to be upwardly mobile in this society, it's a rigged lottery and The Selected are more based on political ties and monetary needs).
So, of course, America bitches and moans until the people around her convince her that going and trying to win is really the only thing to do.
Yes, America is yet another YA female protagonist to whom things happened, and not someone who really acts that much. Sigh. Bella Swan. You set such a horrible template. Although, America's "fuck the caste system" attitude is quite attractive from a modern/real-world stand point.
In America's case, the convincing comes via Aspen enlisting in the Army without telling her (which means he's not allowed to marry or even have a girlfriend until his ten years are done... at which point his caste is elevated... to a Two! Wow, Illeá really respects their veterans... but, hey, there's a war going on, as always, and also a rebellion brewing so Aspen's chances are kind of terrible) and her family guilt-begging her into doing it for them (see above, re the family getting elevated to Two if she makes it to the final six).
And all of this is the set-up. The first act. I haven't even touched on the other competitors (pretty much all Twos and Threes, America is the only Five who was Selected in the who country), the gowns and designer shoes (America really stands out here with regards to her level of disinterest in these things) and Prince Maxon (instant love triangle) and Queen Amberly (OH MY GOD, THE QUEEN, SHE WINS, I CAN'T EVEN TELL YOU HOW MADE OF WIN SHE IS).
Oh, and the rebellion. There's that going on, too. So, danger.
Obviously, as it hasn't been published yet, I can't compare Craft & Fain's script to the novel. I don't know where the novel goes (though I certainly have more than serious suspicions based on the pilot). But I'm *SO EXCITED* to see this thing realized and on my television machine on a weekly basis.
My biggest question mark / quibble (beyond America's relative passivity at certain points and the limitations of not really getting to know too many of the other girls in the competition so most of them beyond chief competitor / presumptive winner / manipulative bitch Celeste seem like so many Red Shirts) is where Aspen winds up.
*
*
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
P
A
C
E
*
*
Aspen winds up, unbeknownst to America, one of the newest royal guards at the Palace. I understand this as a way, perhaps the only way, to put the love triangle in an immediate front and center position. But it doesn't track for me, timing wise... as Aspen seems to have gone through basic training and been assigned in a matter of 96 hours. I mean, you can picture Aspen guarding Maxon at some point and it being fraught with love triangle tension, and America even finding out about Aspen's presence and being tempted to rekindle her love with him... which would be problematic for both of them in their new positions (her, because she's supposed to be competing for the prince's heart and certain parts of it are televised - though not all of it; him, because though there's a great reward if you survive being a soldier for 10 years, you apparently have to do it celibate and unattached).
But, really... cannot wait to see what happens next.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Pilot Script Review - Applebaum
APPLEBAUM
Network: CBS
Written By: Ayelet Waldman
Revisions By: Sherri Cooper & Jennifer Levin
Draft Date: January 23, 2012
Pages: 65
Disclaimer!
I love these kinds of reviews. Short, sweet, very little to think about.
Ladies and gentleman, welcome to mediocrity... the kind of television show that I raise my nose at, but CBS shoves on the air and gets 10+ million viewers every week showing. It goes down easy. You don't have to think about it. A question is posed and then it is answered and, just maybe, there's a little emotional story for the investigator characters. Bing, bang, boom, you're done.
Ugh, I'm so bored by it all!
The "take" of this particular iteration of the crime procedural is a light-hearted mix of family and investigation. That, and the main character, Juliet, is a PI, not a cop (though her PI partner is an ex-cop). Juliet is a happily married mother of three and an ex-public defender. No, I'm not entirely sure why, after having her third child, she went into a life of being a PI instead of going back to her job as a PD. I think we're supposed to read/watch and think, "Oh, it's so amusing how she's balancing being a mother and a PI, and how her perspective and relationships as a mother help her solve crimes!"
Juliet Applebaum isn't exactly Gregory House or Patrick Jane, though, in the sense of "I'm dying to come back and watch this magnetic, flawed character every week." Things, really, are good in her life. No conflict at home (except whether her six-year-old daughter, Ruby, has an eating disorder and if Juliet can survive a visit from her mother, who happens to be a judge). No sexual tension with Al Hockey, the ex-cop who is her partner in crime solving. But there is a fun, light flippancy about a lot of it, and it comes across as more grounded and believable and comes together better than CBS's attempt last season at a quirky PI show, Hail Mary.
The case of the week in the pilot is the death/murder of the assistant principal of the charter school Juliet is trying to get Ruby into. I'm not sure if Juliet and Al Hockey will be looking into murders on a week-to-week basis, Jessica Fletcher-style, or if some weeks may be more traditional PI work. The benefit of murder is that there are life and death stakes. It was a problem, I think, shows like Veronica Mars (which I loved... for the first two seasons... in retrospect am kind of ambivalent on the third) ran into... week to week it was a crapshoot whether the mystery of the week held water. Veronica Mars had the additional elements of teen drama, social status clashes, and long-arc mysteries tiding over the weaker MotWs... and that stuff isn't really present in Applebaum.
So perhaps a murder of the week formula is what the series, should it get there, needs. But I think this show would stand a better chance of getting to series with a touch more drama to look forward to, whether we're talking UST or simply wanting to watch a unique force of nature get the bad guy in the end. Juliet's not there yet.
Network: CBS
Written By: Ayelet Waldman
Revisions By: Sherri Cooper & Jennifer Levin
Draft Date: January 23, 2012
Pages: 65
Disclaimer!
I love these kinds of reviews. Short, sweet, very little to think about.
Ladies and gentleman, welcome to mediocrity... the kind of television show that I raise my nose at, but CBS shoves on the air and gets 10+ million viewers every week showing. It goes down easy. You don't have to think about it. A question is posed and then it is answered and, just maybe, there's a little emotional story for the investigator characters. Bing, bang, boom, you're done.
Ugh, I'm so bored by it all!
The "take" of this particular iteration of the crime procedural is a light-hearted mix of family and investigation. That, and the main character, Juliet, is a PI, not a cop (though her PI partner is an ex-cop). Juliet is a happily married mother of three and an ex-public defender. No, I'm not entirely sure why, after having her third child, she went into a life of being a PI instead of going back to her job as a PD. I think we're supposed to read/watch and think, "Oh, it's so amusing how she's balancing being a mother and a PI, and how her perspective and relationships as a mother help her solve crimes!"
Juliet Applebaum isn't exactly Gregory House or Patrick Jane, though, in the sense of "I'm dying to come back and watch this magnetic, flawed character every week." Things, really, are good in her life. No conflict at home (except whether her six-year-old daughter, Ruby, has an eating disorder and if Juliet can survive a visit from her mother, who happens to be a judge). No sexual tension with Al Hockey, the ex-cop who is her partner in crime solving. But there is a fun, light flippancy about a lot of it, and it comes across as more grounded and believable and comes together better than CBS's attempt last season at a quirky PI show, Hail Mary.
The case of the week in the pilot is the death/murder of the assistant principal of the charter school Juliet is trying to get Ruby into. I'm not sure if Juliet and Al Hockey will be looking into murders on a week-to-week basis, Jessica Fletcher-style, or if some weeks may be more traditional PI work. The benefit of murder is that there are life and death stakes. It was a problem, I think, shows like Veronica Mars (which I loved... for the first two seasons... in retrospect am kind of ambivalent on the third) ran into... week to week it was a crapshoot whether the mystery of the week held water. Veronica Mars had the additional elements of teen drama, social status clashes, and long-arc mysteries tiding over the weaker MotWs... and that stuff isn't really present in Applebaum.
So perhaps a murder of the week formula is what the series, should it get there, needs. But I think this show would stand a better chance of getting to series with a touch more drama to look forward to, whether we're talking UST or simply wanting to watch a unique force of nature get the bad guy in the end. Juliet's not there yet.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Smash Series Premiere Quarter Hour TV Ratings Breakdown
SMASH
10:00-10:15
- 14.124 million viewers
- 8.6/13 HH
- 4.9/12 A18-49
10:15-10:30
- 11.302 million viewers
- 7.3/12 HH
- 3.7/9 A18-49
10:30-10:45
- 10.227 million viewers
- 6.8/11 HH
- 3.4/9 A18-49
10:45-11:00
- 10.120 million viewers
- 6.7/12 HH
- 3.4/9 A18-49
So, big semi-immediate rejection, but the lack of massive continual bleed could be encouraging. I was asked about the effect of it being available to stream for weeks in advance on whether week two would have the typical drop, or if those people had seen it and will tune in next week. I haven't done enough research into the matter to weigh-in in any informed way, but I suspect The Voice will be down next week, and that may have more to do with how much Smash decreases than any effect of "viewers not tuning back in" vs "previewers tuning in now that it's episode two."
10:00-10:15
- 14.124 million viewers
- 8.6/13 HH
- 4.9/12 A18-49
10:15-10:30
- 11.302 million viewers
- 7.3/12 HH
- 3.7/9 A18-49
10:30-10:45
- 10.227 million viewers
- 6.8/11 HH
- 3.4/9 A18-49
10:45-11:00
- 10.120 million viewers
- 6.7/12 HH
- 3.4/9 A18-49
So, big semi-immediate rejection, but the lack of massive continual bleed could be encouraging. I was asked about the effect of it being available to stream for weeks in advance on whether week two would have the typical drop, or if those people had seen it and will tune in next week. I haven't done enough research into the matter to weigh-in in any informed way, but I suspect The Voice will be down next week, and that may have more to do with how much Smash decreases than any effect of "viewers not tuning back in" vs "previewers tuning in now that it's episode two."
Pilot Script Review - Arrow
ARROW
Network: CW
Story By: Greg Berlanti & Marc Guggenheim
Teleplay By: Marc Guggenheim & Andrew Kreisberg
Draft Date: January 11, 2012
Pages: 60
Disclaimer!
"This city deserves a better class of criminal."
I keep contemplating that quote from Heath Ledger's The Joker in The Dark Knight when thinking about this script. But I'll get back to that.
At first blush, I was largely underwhelmed by Arrow. It's an origin story and, being a DC Comics character, it's both a fairly familiar one and one that doesn't inspire a ton of empathy. DC doesn't really do flawed or pitiable heroes the way Marvel does (*he says, remembering that as a boy he read both and currently reads neither, but always had a purile affinity of the unquestionable awe-striking heroics of Superman and Friends). Oliver Queen is a spoiled rich kid who got lost at sea with his massively wealthy CEO father, their head of security, and the girl Oliver was banging. Five years later, Oliver is rescued from an island in the South China Sea. Somehow, he survived (none of the others on the boat did). And he's been changed. He's strong, wily, and is on a mission to clean up Starling City (something we later learn is basically his father's dying wish). We go through the motions of meeting family members and friends and ex-lovers who used to know Oliver. He tries to convince them he's okay and is the same person, all the while crafting his secret identify (that he seems to have had in mind, but is only able to legitimize / begin to put into action when he and his best friend are kidnapped - ooh, conspiracy! - and he rescues himself while his best friend is supposedly but probably not unconscious).
The cast of characters are...
- Moira, overwhelmed mother
- Thea, younger sister, who was the only one who believed Oliver was still alive but is royally fucked up because of his five-year absence (because it's a CW show and it apparently needs a sexy female teenager who does drugs)
- Tommy, best friend and still a rich party boy
- Laurel, do-gooder attorney, Oliver's ex, the older sister of the girl who died in the boat accident (so... awkward...), and currently dating Tommy
- Walter, Moira's new husband and head of the Queen Consolidated conglomerate
Let's stop there. We meet Walter on page 8 and know he's with Moira shortly thereafter... so if you're smelling a Hamlet adaptation format, you'd be living in my olfactory senses as I read. And you'd be right. Except for the twist at the end that I won't spoil, but thankfully there was a twist and it's not a literal Hamlet adaptation of "uncle killed my father and married my wife and now there's something rotten in Denmark."
There are more characters, too, including Laurel's father who happens to be the detective on the trail of "The Arrow," but the one I want to focus - sort of - on is the villain of the piece, Adam Hunt.
"This city deserves a better class of criminal."
Adam Hunt is a terrible villain. Not terrible like terrifying. Terrible like... pathetic. We're made aware of him through Laurel's legal story, a class action against him for fraud and predatory lending. It isn't going her way because, from the get-go, we're told what he did was deplorable but technically legal. So Oliver, on the outs with Laurel but hearing her plight, goes outside the justice system to rectify the situation by scaring the bejesus out of Hunt, telling him to wire $40M to an account by such and such a time, or else. Hunt doesn't do it, of course, but surrounds himself with guards and calls in the cops, and Oliver is still able to get inside the supposed stronghold and hack his way into Hunt's computers / accounts, and escape largely-unscathed (there's a close call with Hunt tossing a grenade - both a laughable action villain line and an actual grenade - as he runs into a panic room), then anonymously transfer $50K each to the people in Laurel's class action law suit. So, fear not, there's very much the expected Robin Hood aspect to the story.
Look, origin story villains are hard. They're either the villain that forces the hero's journey, or an existing problem that the nascent hero can take down. But they can't be the biggest of the big bads because where does the hero grow from that? And they aren't a villain created in a response to the hero's presence. But besides being a privileged rich guy who hides behind guards instead of taking action like changed privileged rich guy Oliver... I don't really know what Adam Hunt says as a villain about Oliver Queen as a hero. So, I found him kind of unworthy and I hope the series is able to provide a better class of criminal in the future. And I don't know if Adam Hunt continues past the pilot, but I'm curious what the week-to-week villainy/antagonists will be like on this show (if any... the MOTW format seems to be a relic at this point, though I'm sure it will one day be dusted off and done in a fresh way). I imagine the conspiracy around the boat accident and Oliver and Tommy's kidnapping are long-arc villains and not a week-to-week antagonist presence. But we'll see.
And by that I mean that I expect to see. Now that I'd read more pilots from the season, I'm thinking back on this project more positively because I think it works emotionally, even if it's not breaking any new ground. It's solid, broad-audience popcorn entertainment (action! suspense! love triangles! family secrets! conspiracies!) and unless there's some epic fail in rest of the process, I have to think this gets picked up.
And, please, don't complain about Justin Hartley / the Smallville version of Green Arrow and this being different.
Network: CW
Story By: Greg Berlanti & Marc Guggenheim
Teleplay By: Marc Guggenheim & Andrew Kreisberg
Draft Date: January 11, 2012
Pages: 60
Disclaimer!
"This city deserves a better class of criminal."
I keep contemplating that quote from Heath Ledger's The Joker in The Dark Knight when thinking about this script. But I'll get back to that.
At first blush, I was largely underwhelmed by Arrow. It's an origin story and, being a DC Comics character, it's both a fairly familiar one and one that doesn't inspire a ton of empathy. DC doesn't really do flawed or pitiable heroes the way Marvel does (*he says, remembering that as a boy he read both and currently reads neither, but always had a purile affinity of the unquestionable awe-striking heroics of Superman and Friends). Oliver Queen is a spoiled rich kid who got lost at sea with his massively wealthy CEO father, their head of security, and the girl Oliver was banging. Five years later, Oliver is rescued from an island in the South China Sea. Somehow, he survived (none of the others on the boat did). And he's been changed. He's strong, wily, and is on a mission to clean up Starling City (something we later learn is basically his father's dying wish). We go through the motions of meeting family members and friends and ex-lovers who used to know Oliver. He tries to convince them he's okay and is the same person, all the while crafting his secret identify (that he seems to have had in mind, but is only able to legitimize / begin to put into action when he and his best friend are kidnapped - ooh, conspiracy! - and he rescues himself while his best friend is supposedly but probably not unconscious).
The cast of characters are...
- Moira, overwhelmed mother
- Thea, younger sister, who was the only one who believed Oliver was still alive but is royally fucked up because of his five-year absence (because it's a CW show and it apparently needs a sexy female teenager who does drugs)
- Tommy, best friend and still a rich party boy
- Laurel, do-gooder attorney, Oliver's ex, the older sister of the girl who died in the boat accident (so... awkward...), and currently dating Tommy
- Walter, Moira's new husband and head of the Queen Consolidated conglomerate
Let's stop there. We meet Walter on page 8 and know he's with Moira shortly thereafter... so if you're smelling a Hamlet adaptation format, you'd be living in my olfactory senses as I read. And you'd be right. Except for the twist at the end that I won't spoil, but thankfully there was a twist and it's not a literal Hamlet adaptation of "uncle killed my father and married my wife and now there's something rotten in Denmark."
There are more characters, too, including Laurel's father who happens to be the detective on the trail of "The Arrow," but the one I want to focus - sort of - on is the villain of the piece, Adam Hunt.
"This city deserves a better class of criminal."
Adam Hunt is a terrible villain. Not terrible like terrifying. Terrible like... pathetic. We're made aware of him through Laurel's legal story, a class action against him for fraud and predatory lending. It isn't going her way because, from the get-go, we're told what he did was deplorable but technically legal. So Oliver, on the outs with Laurel but hearing her plight, goes outside the justice system to rectify the situation by scaring the bejesus out of Hunt, telling him to wire $40M to an account by such and such a time, or else. Hunt doesn't do it, of course, but surrounds himself with guards and calls in the cops, and Oliver is still able to get inside the supposed stronghold and hack his way into Hunt's computers / accounts, and escape largely-unscathed (there's a close call with Hunt tossing a grenade - both a laughable action villain line and an actual grenade - as he runs into a panic room), then anonymously transfer $50K each to the people in Laurel's class action law suit. So, fear not, there's very much the expected Robin Hood aspect to the story.
Look, origin story villains are hard. They're either the villain that forces the hero's journey, or an existing problem that the nascent hero can take down. But they can't be the biggest of the big bads because where does the hero grow from that? And they aren't a villain created in a response to the hero's presence. But besides being a privileged rich guy who hides behind guards instead of taking action like changed privileged rich guy Oliver... I don't really know what Adam Hunt says as a villain about Oliver Queen as a hero. So, I found him kind of unworthy and I hope the series is able to provide a better class of criminal in the future. And I don't know if Adam Hunt continues past the pilot, but I'm curious what the week-to-week villainy/antagonists will be like on this show (if any... the MOTW format seems to be a relic at this point, though I'm sure it will one day be dusted off and done in a fresh way). I imagine the conspiracy around the boat accident and Oliver and Tommy's kidnapping are long-arc villains and not a week-to-week antagonist presence. But we'll see.
And by that I mean that I expect to see. Now that I'd read more pilots from the season, I'm thinking back on this project more positively because I think it works emotionally, even if it's not breaking any new ground. It's solid, broad-audience popcorn entertainment (action! suspense! love triangles! family secrets! conspiracies!) and unless there's some epic fail in rest of the process, I have to think this gets picked up.
And, please, don't complain about Justin Hartley / the Smallville version of Green Arrow and this being different.
Super Bowl XLVI, Post Game, and The Voice Quarter Hour TV Ratings Breakdown
Oh, very well, Internetz.
SUPER BOWL XLVI
6:31-6:45
- 96.089 million viewers
- 41.6/68 HH
- 34.4/77 A18-49
6:45-7:00
- 102.106 million viewers
- 43.4/70 HH
- 36.6/78 A18-49
7:00-7:15
- 106.719 million viewers
- 45.1/71 HH
- 38.3/79 A18-49
7:15-7:30
- 109.070 million viewers
- 45.8/71 HH
- 39.2/78 A18-49
7:30-7:45
- 111.339 million viewers
- 46.6/72 HH
- 40.0/79 A18-49
7:45-8:00
- 110.468 million viewers
- 46.1/70 HH
- 39.9/78 A18-49
8:00-8:15
- 115.925 million viewers
- 48.4/73 HH
- 42.3/81 A18-49
8:15-8:30
- 112.135 million viewers
- 46.4/69 HH
- 40.7/77 A18-49
8:30-8:45
- 114.088 million viewers
- 47.4/70 HH
- 41.7/78 A18-49
8:45-9:00
- 114.601 million viewers
- 48.1/70 HH
- 42.0/77 A18-49
9:00-9:15
- 114.825 million viewers
- 48.4/70 HH
- 42.3/77 A18-49
9:15-9:30
- 115.944 million viewers
- 49.3/70 HH
- 42.9/77 A18-49
9:30-9:45
- 118.355 million viewers
- 50.9/72 HH
- 43.9/78 A18-49
9:45-9:58
- 116.909 million viewers
- 50.4/72 HH
- 43.5/77 A18-49
POST-GAME
9:58-10:00
- 93.076 million viewers
- 39.8/59 HH
- 35.7/66 A18-49
10:00-10:15
- 78.843 million viewers
- 34.7/53 HH
- 30.7/60 A18-49
10:15-10:19
- 61.013 million viewers
- 27.0/42 HH
- 24.8/51 A18-49
THE VOICE
10:19-10:30
- 46.786 million viewers
- 21.4/34 HH
- 19.6/42 A18-49
10:30-10:45
- 39.494 million viewers
- 18.7/31 HH
- 17.2/38 A18-49
10:45-11:00
- 36.310 million viewers
- 18.1/30 HH
- 16.0/37 A18-49
11:00-11:15
- 32.630 million viewers
- 16.9/29 HH
- 14.3/35 A18-49
11:15-11:21
- 31.792 million viewers
- 17.1/30 HH
- 13.9/35 A18-49
SUPER BOWL XLVI
6:31-6:45
- 96.089 million viewers
- 41.6/68 HH
- 34.4/77 A18-49
6:45-7:00
- 102.106 million viewers
- 43.4/70 HH
- 36.6/78 A18-49
7:00-7:15
- 106.719 million viewers
- 45.1/71 HH
- 38.3/79 A18-49
7:15-7:30
- 109.070 million viewers
- 45.8/71 HH
- 39.2/78 A18-49
7:30-7:45
- 111.339 million viewers
- 46.6/72 HH
- 40.0/79 A18-49
7:45-8:00
- 110.468 million viewers
- 46.1/70 HH
- 39.9/78 A18-49
8:00-8:15
- 115.925 million viewers
- 48.4/73 HH
- 42.3/81 A18-49
8:15-8:30
- 112.135 million viewers
- 46.4/69 HH
- 40.7/77 A18-49
8:30-8:45
- 114.088 million viewers
- 47.4/70 HH
- 41.7/78 A18-49
8:45-9:00
- 114.601 million viewers
- 48.1/70 HH
- 42.0/77 A18-49
9:00-9:15
- 114.825 million viewers
- 48.4/70 HH
- 42.3/77 A18-49
9:15-9:30
- 115.944 million viewers
- 49.3/70 HH
- 42.9/77 A18-49
9:30-9:45
- 118.355 million viewers
- 50.9/72 HH
- 43.9/78 A18-49
9:45-9:58
- 116.909 million viewers
- 50.4/72 HH
- 43.5/77 A18-49
POST-GAME
9:58-10:00
- 93.076 million viewers
- 39.8/59 HH
- 35.7/66 A18-49
10:00-10:15
- 78.843 million viewers
- 34.7/53 HH
- 30.7/60 A18-49
10:15-10:19
- 61.013 million viewers
- 27.0/42 HH
- 24.8/51 A18-49
THE VOICE
10:19-10:30
- 46.786 million viewers
- 21.4/34 HH
- 19.6/42 A18-49
10:30-10:45
- 39.494 million viewers
- 18.7/31 HH
- 17.2/38 A18-49
10:45-11:00
- 36.310 million viewers
- 18.1/30 HH
- 16.0/37 A18-49
11:00-11:15
- 32.630 million viewers
- 16.9/29 HH
- 14.3/35 A18-49
11:15-11:21
- 31.792 million viewers
- 17.1/30 HH
- 13.9/35 A18-49
Monday, February 6, 2012
Pilot Script Review - Beauty and the Beast (ABC)
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Network: ABC
Written By: Jon Steinberg
Draft Date: January 18, 2012
Pages: 59
Disclaimer!
Okay, I'm just ripping the wax off with this one...
I hate this script.
There's really not much else to say, though I'm going to try and find words instead of impolite expletives.
WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHOW?????
Sorry. I'm better. Thanks.
I'm going to make an attempt to describe what it is, then expound on why I'm so incensed.
The basic story here is a girl trying to help her father, in her quest to help him she gets herself held captive, and then perhaps falls for her captor, who then allows her to leave to save her dad.
So, yes, the basic plot twists and turns are very reminiscent of a certain animated feature film version of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale.
But then there's how the details of those broad strokes are filled out, and everything else.
I've spent a few hours now, off and on, trying to figure out the best way to describe what, exactly, those details are without coming off like a flame thrower in an oxygen tent. For the moment, I find myself incapable of expressing anything but my visceral reaction.
There is a lot going on and a lot of characters (courtiers and council meetings and soldier fiancees and old crones with obscure wisdom and fights with monsters and rebel encampments and daring rescue attempts and toad-ish nonhumans that only talk in grunts but can be understood by a select group of people, Chewbacca-style), and there is also very little going on and almost no one who could be described beyond stock.
I'm not sure what's being fought for, or what's truly at stake, or why I as a viewer in 2012 should care or be invested.
I don't feel the epic romance connection between the beauty/princess and the supposed beast/seven-foot-tall giant soldier rebel samurai-ish guy.
Even rules of the world feel arbitrary and constantly shifting, down to the system of government (which had been based on "Emperor dies and we find someone born that same day and make him the new Emperor because maybe he has the old one's soul" and following a rebellion/assassination is now semi-hereditary although I think the script implied the crown princess needs to marry to actually ascend to her throne, but now there's another rebellion brewing trying to go back to the old ways... or something).
I've decided that this is simply something that I will need to see to judge, because I can't do it from the page. I'm confused. I'm an avid reader of fantasy fiction and I'm confused by what I just read. Of anyone I know... I think I should be the one who understands this stuff. And I'm confused.
A confused viewer (not the same thing as an intrigued viewer) is one who turns the channel.
And this is a broadcast network's first attempt at a pure fantasy show post-HBO's Game of Thrones? No wonder I'm not on board. Calling this Beauty and the Beast is a mistake, too. Sure, it may have the basics of the story, but it sets up wildly unmet expectations.
Network: ABC
Written By: Jon Steinberg
Draft Date: January 18, 2012
Pages: 59
Disclaimer!
Okay, I'm just ripping the wax off with this one...
I hate this script.
There's really not much else to say, though I'm going to try and find words instead of impolite expletives.
WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHOW?????
Sorry. I'm better. Thanks.
I'm going to make an attempt to describe what it is, then expound on why I'm so incensed.
The basic story here is a girl trying to help her father, in her quest to help him she gets herself held captive, and then perhaps falls for her captor, who then allows her to leave to save her dad.
So, yes, the basic plot twists and turns are very reminiscent of a certain animated feature film version of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale.
But then there's how the details of those broad strokes are filled out, and everything else.
I've spent a few hours now, off and on, trying to figure out the best way to describe what, exactly, those details are without coming off like a flame thrower in an oxygen tent. For the moment, I find myself incapable of expressing anything but my visceral reaction.
There is a lot going on and a lot of characters (courtiers and council meetings and soldier fiancees and old crones with obscure wisdom and fights with monsters and rebel encampments and daring rescue attempts and toad-ish nonhumans that only talk in grunts but can be understood by a select group of people, Chewbacca-style), and there is also very little going on and almost no one who could be described beyond stock.
I'm not sure what's being fought for, or what's truly at stake, or why I as a viewer in 2012 should care or be invested.
I don't feel the epic romance connection between the beauty/princess and the supposed beast/seven-foot-tall giant soldier rebel samurai-ish guy.
Even rules of the world feel arbitrary and constantly shifting, down to the system of government (which had been based on "Emperor dies and we find someone born that same day and make him the new Emperor because maybe he has the old one's soul" and following a rebellion/assassination is now semi-hereditary although I think the script implied the crown princess needs to marry to actually ascend to her throne, but now there's another rebellion brewing trying to go back to the old ways... or something).
I've decided that this is simply something that I will need to see to judge, because I can't do it from the page. I'm confused. I'm an avid reader of fantasy fiction and I'm confused by what I just read. Of anyone I know... I think I should be the one who understands this stuff. And I'm confused.
A confused viewer (not the same thing as an intrigued viewer) is one who turns the channel.
And this is a broadcast network's first attempt at a pure fantasy show post-HBO's Game of Thrones? No wonder I'm not on board. Calling this Beauty and the Beast is a mistake, too. Sure, it may have the basics of the story, but it sets up wildly unmet expectations.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Pilot Script Review - Beauty & the Beast (CW)
BEAUTY & THE BEAST
Network: CW
Written By: Sherri Cooper & Jennifer Levin
Draft Date: January 11, 2012
Pages: 65
Disclaimer!
Two things to note going into this review. One, I have not yet read the ABC / Jon Steinberg B&TB script. There will be no apples to potentially-different-fruit comparisons. Two, the only familiarity I have with the 1987 Linda Hamilton / Ron Perlman CBS series that the CW version is a remake / reimagining of is a quick glance at Wikipedia.
Based on that Wikipedia entry, a whole heckuva lot is different about the 2012 Cooper & Levin version. The only things that really seem to remain are the leads' names. Catherine is our Beauty. Vincent is our Beast.
Catherine Chandler wanted to be a lawyer.
In 2003, she was working as a bar over the summer as she studied for the LSATs and one night, she left her car's vanity mirror open the whole shift. Her car's battery died, so her mother came to pick her up. They were attacked. Catherine's mother died. Catherine ran, and was chased. She was saved by... some creature. A beast. Of course, her psychologists tell her that description is just a trick her mind played on her because her attackers were "beasts."
It's nine years later. Catherine is unlucky in love, has a history of choosing jerks. And a jerk has just pulled her heart out and stomped on it (outside an Adele concert, no less!) Catherine is roommates with her younger sister, Heather (who, thanks to this being a premise pilot, is mostly just a sounding board/counterpoint to Catherine vis a vis her relationship with men, their father, etc... it's a good, fun, believable sisterly relationship and I'm sure in series we'd get to know Heather better). Catherine is also... a homicide detective.
That summer night in 2003 really did change her life.
Catherine and her partner Tess are brought in on the case of a murdered Vogue fashion editor, where the first piece of evidence is a mysterious fingerprint on the victim's clothes. Mysterious not because it's a fingerprint, but because it belongs to Specialist Vincent Koslow, MD, who died in Afghanistan in 2002.
Catherine explores this lead, trying to find people from Vincent's past. He was an ER resident before 9/11, then enlisted after... because his family died in the towers.
Now, I'll pause here. In general, I have a problem with using 9/11 in fiction. I know. It's a thing. We're over 10 years later. You can't just ignore it if you want to tell the truth. It changed a lot of people lives, maybe every American's life and however much further you care to extrapolate/globalize that, directly and indirectly. It's my issue and I have to get over it. But it's still an issue I feel I need to bring up, because I think we're going to be seeing a lot more of this kind of thing. My major problem, being an East Coaster who lived in an NYC commuter area, is when it's used for emotional exploitation (I refuse to see Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close). Thankfully, here it's simply part of a character's backstory.
Okay, back to the script and away from my baggage.
Catherine tracks one of Vincent's old friends (his last known roommate) down... at an abandoned chemical warehouse... and though Catherine and Tess are turned away, we find out Vincent is alive, living in the chemical warehouse, and is the "beast" who saved Catherine's life in 2003 (per a news clipping he's held onto).
What proceeds is a light, banter-y crime procedural with strong character elements. There's an investigation, the murder is solved (are you surprised?), Vincent and Catherine meet and have sexual tension... though I'm not sure if it's UST. The script gives no indication of what, exactly, this "beast" looks like. As far as I really know, he's fast and strong and reclusive and has some rage issues... but not incredibly inhuman (and there is no secret utopian underground society). So I'm kind of picturing a werewolf at this point and not some grotesque monster that needs to hide in the shadows. The backstory there is that he's been experimented on, so he's got some genetic mutations. There's a conspiracy/company (Muirfield) behind it, and he's trying to stay off their radar, but Catherine accidentally alerts them because Vincent (who tried to save the murder victim's life) left some trace DNA evidence that matches exactly to Catherine's mother's murder... and it's not entirely human.
CW needs to crack its version of a crime procedural (yes, yes, they have Supernatural). This may be it, with its mythical Gothic romance trappings. I won't pretend this is groundbreaking, but what it is... is enjoyable. I love the characters Cooper & Levin have created. There's a comfort and familiarity and breeziness to the way they talk and interact on the page and, ultimately, I think that's why a lot of people like the TV they like. Hopefully that translates to the screen.
Network: CW
Written By: Sherri Cooper & Jennifer Levin
Draft Date: January 11, 2012
Pages: 65
Disclaimer!
Two things to note going into this review. One, I have not yet read the ABC / Jon Steinberg B&TB script. There will be no apples to potentially-different-fruit comparisons. Two, the only familiarity I have with the 1987 Linda Hamilton / Ron Perlman CBS series that the CW version is a remake / reimagining of is a quick glance at Wikipedia.
Based on that Wikipedia entry, a whole heckuva lot is different about the 2012 Cooper & Levin version. The only things that really seem to remain are the leads' names. Catherine is our Beauty. Vincent is our Beast.
Catherine Chandler wanted to be a lawyer.
In 2003, she was working as a bar over the summer as she studied for the LSATs and one night, she left her car's vanity mirror open the whole shift. Her car's battery died, so her mother came to pick her up. They were attacked. Catherine's mother died. Catherine ran, and was chased. She was saved by... some creature. A beast. Of course, her psychologists tell her that description is just a trick her mind played on her because her attackers were "beasts."
It's nine years later. Catherine is unlucky in love, has a history of choosing jerks. And a jerk has just pulled her heart out and stomped on it (outside an Adele concert, no less!) Catherine is roommates with her younger sister, Heather (who, thanks to this being a premise pilot, is mostly just a sounding board/counterpoint to Catherine vis a vis her relationship with men, their father, etc... it's a good, fun, believable sisterly relationship and I'm sure in series we'd get to know Heather better). Catherine is also... a homicide detective.
That summer night in 2003 really did change her life.
Catherine and her partner Tess are brought in on the case of a murdered Vogue fashion editor, where the first piece of evidence is a mysterious fingerprint on the victim's clothes. Mysterious not because it's a fingerprint, but because it belongs to Specialist Vincent Koslow, MD, who died in Afghanistan in 2002.
Catherine explores this lead, trying to find people from Vincent's past. He was an ER resident before 9/11, then enlisted after... because his family died in the towers.
Now, I'll pause here. In general, I have a problem with using 9/11 in fiction. I know. It's a thing. We're over 10 years later. You can't just ignore it if you want to tell the truth. It changed a lot of people lives, maybe every American's life and however much further you care to extrapolate/globalize that, directly and indirectly. It's my issue and I have to get over it. But it's still an issue I feel I need to bring up, because I think we're going to be seeing a lot more of this kind of thing. My major problem, being an East Coaster who lived in an NYC commuter area, is when it's used for emotional exploitation (I refuse to see Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close). Thankfully, here it's simply part of a character's backstory.
Okay, back to the script and away from my baggage.
Catherine tracks one of Vincent's old friends (his last known roommate) down... at an abandoned chemical warehouse... and though Catherine and Tess are turned away, we find out Vincent is alive, living in the chemical warehouse, and is the "beast" who saved Catherine's life in 2003 (per a news clipping he's held onto).
What proceeds is a light, banter-y crime procedural with strong character elements. There's an investigation, the murder is solved (are you surprised?), Vincent and Catherine meet and have sexual tension... though I'm not sure if it's UST. The script gives no indication of what, exactly, this "beast" looks like. As far as I really know, he's fast and strong and reclusive and has some rage issues... but not incredibly inhuman (and there is no secret utopian underground society). So I'm kind of picturing a werewolf at this point and not some grotesque monster that needs to hide in the shadows. The backstory there is that he's been experimented on, so he's got some genetic mutations. There's a conspiracy/company (Muirfield) behind it, and he's trying to stay off their radar, but Catherine accidentally alerts them because Vincent (who tried to save the murder victim's life) left some trace DNA evidence that matches exactly to Catherine's mother's murder... and it's not entirely human.
CW needs to crack its version of a crime procedural (yes, yes, they have Supernatural). This may be it, with its mythical Gothic romance trappings. I won't pretend this is groundbreaking, but what it is... is enjoyable. I love the characters Cooper & Levin have created. There's a comfort and familiarity and breeziness to the way they talk and interact on the page and, ultimately, I think that's why a lot of people like the TV they like. Hopefully that translates to the screen.
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