Lee Goldberg

Yet Another TV Show Goes Big Screen

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While movie stars are flocking to primetime…

…primetime shows are flooding the theatres. Variety Reports that the 70s sitcom GOOD TIMES is heading to a multiplex near you.

Management-production company Creative Production Group has secured featurefeature rights to "Good Times," the 1970s Norman Lear sitcom that captured the life of an African-American family living in a Chicago housing project. The rights were secured by CPG’s Rodney Omanoff and Graham Kaye, both of whom will produce.

With the film "Speedway Junky""Speedway Junky" atop its resume, CPG didn’t have a track record comparable to those of the other suitors who tried to win the rights over the past decade, from Wesley Snipes to Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Earvin "Magic" Johnson and the Wayans clan.

But Omanoff did have one advantage: He ran a collection agency, which enabled him to track down series co-creator Mike Evans. Best remembered for playing Lionel on "The Jeffersons," Evans long ago retired to live in the California desert. While series co-creator Eric Monte put together several possible deals, Evans objected to being an afterthought and declined to sign off on them. Omanoff was the first suitor to visit him, and Evans was persuaded to make the deal.

Also on tap soon…BEWITCHED, THE HONEYMOONERS, FATHER KNOWS BEST, and MY THREE SONS.

Gee, I can remember when it used to be the other way around… and they tried to make TV shows based on movies. I must be getting old.

“The Shield” Gets Close

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It used to be that movie stars wouldn’t slum in television…certainly not on a weekly drama series. Those days are long gone. James Spader, Gary Sinise, Sharon Stone, Rebecca DeMornay… those are just a few of the names that have shown up in episodic TV lately. The trend is picking up speed. Variety reports that Glenn Close is joining the regular cast of THE SHIELD.

Marking her first series regular role on primetime television, Glenn Close has joined the cast of FX cop drama “The Shield.” Thesp, who landed an Emmy nomination this year for her portrayal of Eleanor of Aquitaine in Showtime movie “The Lion in Winter,” will appear in every episode of the 13-seg fourth season. Production begins in January. Close will play Monica Rawling, the new captain of the Farmington precinct, who empowers Det. Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) to enforce her controversial community policies.

Could it be that stars have started noticing something viewers did a long time ago… that, by and large, TV shows are better written, produced and directed than most feature films these days? And not just on HBO, either…

“Farscape” A Dud

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Variety reports that SciFi may have been right to cancel FARSCAPE last season.

“Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars” tallied so-so ratings (1.9 million overall viewers) for the channel. Though the two-night event topped 18-49 rankings among basic cablers in its timeslot, the “Farscape” bow paled in comparison to recent Sci Fi original premieres “Stargate Atlantis” (4.2 million) and eighth-season launch of “Stargate SG-1” (3.2 million).

I wonder how it fared compared to the GROWING PAINS reunion the same night…?

Scammer of the Month Reponds

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A while back, I criticized Bookreview.com as a scam for offering to review books for a fee. Heather Froeschl, associate editor of the service, has responded and thinks I was way out-of-line (I wonder if she’s also a member of the Colonial Fan Force, "the power brokers of the new Babylon"?)

Every writer providing a review deserves to be paid for the service. This does not mean paying for a rave, it means paying for the reviewer’s time and written word.

Sure, a reviewer should be paid. By her editor, not by the person whose work she is reviewing.

My goal is to give authors what they ask for…a review of their work. Sometimes I have to give bad news, sometimes I do give a rave, but in the end, authors respect what I have said about their book. Can you buy MY respect? Nope. But you can get a review from us within 14 business days. And that’s no scam.

Heather argues that the reviewers, despite being paid by the author or publisher for their comments, can maintain their objectivity and journalistic integrity. Paying for a review, she says, doesn’t guarantee a rave or that the reviewer will tread gently.

Okay, for the sake of argument, I’ll take her word for that.

How could anybody respect a book review that’s paid for by the author or publisher? How could anybody trust a critic who takes cash from the subjects of her reviews?

Of course the assumption is that a review that’s bought and paid for will be positive. If a  book gets a negative review from her,  I’d have to figure the author’s check bounced…or he wouldn’t kick in the extra $50 for a rave.

She doesn’t seem to get why anyone would question the validity of a review that’s paid for… or a critic who is in the pocket of the author or publisher. Heather also doesn’t seem to get the ethical problems, either…or how the practice creates a glaring conflict of interest.

Would you respect a movie review from a critic hired by the studio? Would you trust Consumer Reports on their review of a car, appliance, or other product if they were paid for the review by the manufacturers? Would you respect a restaurant review from a critic who was paid by the chef?

Apparently, Heather would.

There is a God

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Variety reports that NBC’s cop show HAWAII has been cancelled. 1hawaxn04

We should start seeing the full-page advertisements from the fans, clamoring for its return as a feature film with the original cast, appearing in the trades in about 25 years. Mark your calenders.

Ivan Sergei is now officially tied with Jason Gedrick as the kiss of death for any TV show.

Operators are Standing By

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My brother Tod Goldberg, in his Las Vegas Mercury column this week, recounts what he learned during his one year foray in the infomercial business:

1. When they say, “If you call now, we’ll cut the price in half,” what they mean is, if you call at any time, ever. And when they say operators are standing by, they mean minimum wage, barely literate mutants who will, at any given time, give the home phone number of an account executive out to a dissatisfied owner of a facial product that purports to make you look 20 years younger but that usually is about as effective as a bottle of Jergens, are standing by.

2. There exists a gold-plated ThighMaster.

3. If the company you work for gets rid of the free bagels and coffee and fires people in the Human Resources Department, it’s time to begin preparing your resume.

4. If someone from a Chilean port city calls to complain about receiving a massive shipment of therapeutic rice-filled pillows infested with vermin, just take a message, quietly log out of your computer, say goodbye to all your friends and exit the building immediately.

5. When preparing to launch the Ed McMahon Miracle Fryer infomercial, do not ask in the middle of a meeting, “Isn’t it weird that there isn’t anything remotely miraculous about this product and that no actual frying takes place?”

What I’ve Learned from the Fanfic Debate

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I’ve found this passionate discussion about fanfic fascinating and informative. And I have to say that some of your well-considered, heartfelt arguments have made me seriously reconsider some of my long-held views on the subject.

In particular, a comment yesterday from “Morgul” really got me thinking…

“Would you be so offended if, in one of your episodes one of the characters died of cancer, a fanwriter chose, instead of writing the Slash and MPreg you are so fond of mentioning, to write about that person when they realised that they were going to die? Or perhaps go AU and make that person live a year longer, exploring what that character would chose to do with that time?

Because, if you had an episode in which a character died of cancer, you’d get truly Godawful stories that would tell how true love will conquer all and be boring, but you would also get some amazing stories about how the character’s family coped with that loss, or even how the nurses and doctors that looked after the character reacted. You may have to sift through dirt, but there are gems out there.

That’s what we’re trying to get across to you here. The people who are taking the time to tell you what they think are the people that truly care about their fandoms and would never desecrate them like the people who use fanfiction as a form of masturbation.”

I think he’s right. I think my exposure to the fanfiction community – first with Seaquest and later with DM fanfic – didn’t show the field, or its writers, in the best light, establishing and strengthening my negative views.

I went back today and found that GUNSMOKE fanfiction I stumbled on some time ago… and yes, it’s very good and, as a GUNSMOKE fan, I enjoyed reading it very much.

In retrospect, I believe I have made some unfair generalizations about fanfic and the people who write it. But that’s not to say I don’t still have some strong objections to fanfic.

Defending fanfic on the basis that it’s not copyright infringement is silly. It is infringement, and it violates the intellectual property rights of the author/creator. You know it. I know it. Any reasonable person knows it. While the issue of copyright infringement/violation of intellectual property has strong ethical and artistic importance to me, it’s obviously a meaningless issue to those who write fanfic, so I won’t try to argue that any longer. We’ll have to agree to disagree on that score.

We can debate, however, the other arguments/defenses for fanfic, for which there is no clear-cut right-or-wrong —

a)it’s a way to learn how to write, a stepping stone to writing your own, original work.

The arguments here have persuaded me can be… but I still believe it’s a mistake for an aspiring writer to spend too much time and effort on fanfic… that they are better off, and will learn more, and will develop their own voice, by putting that effort into original work. It might be a useful exercise for a 12-year-old, but I think anybody, particularly an adult, serious about becoming a professional writer should concentrate their efforts on original work. That is the only way you will truly develop the skills you need to succeed (and, I believe, any aspiring or professional writer should respect the intellectual property rights of their fellow authors).

b) it’s the only way to get real feedback of your writing from a wide audience of people.

I’m unpersuaded. Personally, I don’t think this is a valid argument at all. There are many, many ways to get feedback on your writing without having to do fanfic.

c) it’s a way to explore aspects of the shows/novels/movies that the film-makers/authors don’t.

This was something I didn’t fully appreciate until Morgul’s post. My view has been far too influenced by all the slash/mpreg/hurt-comfort/etc. sludge out there and by strident fans who think their fanfic is the canon the TV writer/producers should be following. But his post opened my eyes.

d) it’s a way to celebrate and enjoy shows/novels/movies that you love with other fans.

I can see the point. .. though I think you can enjoy & celebrate a show/book/movie without writing and disseminating stories based on them.

e) it’s an expression of appreciation to the film-makers/authors

I suppose it is when you’re doing the things “Morgul” was talking about. But not when you pervert the authors intentions with garbage like mpreg, slash, hurt-comfort, etc. That isn’t flattery or appreciation. It’s aggressively offensive.

f)it’s self-policing…when fanficers violate the canon and write out-of-character stuff (mpreg, slash, etc), they get slammed for it.

I’m not persuaded… there’s far too much of the swill out there to believe “self-policing” is at all effective.

g)it’s harmless fun, give us a break.

On this, I have to say… you’re right. I’m a schmuck.

h)It’s a challenge to the ‘business model’ and thereby a political act.

This is a popular rationalization among all kinds of copyright infringers and product pirates and I simply don’t buy it.

The Road to Sequels

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The prolific and charming Max Alan Collins is a remarkable writer… effortlessly moving between mediums… graphic novels, comic strips (he wrote “Dick Tracy” for years), mystery novels, movie novelisations, and TV tie-ins (he authors the “CSI” books now), among other things. He wrote the original graphic novel “Road to Perdition,” which became the Tom Hanks movie… and then he wrote the screenplay novelization of the movie based on his graphic novel. I don’t think that has ever been done before. Now he’s taking the idea of the sequel to a whole new level.

Collins has announced that “Road to Purgatory” (hardcover novel, Morrow, a book publishing group of Harper-Collins) and “Road to Perdition 2: On the Road” (graphic novel, DC Comics trade paperback) should begin hitting stores by late November and no later than Dec. 1.

“I don’t believe two sequels to the same work in two different mediums, by the same creator, has ever been done,” said DC Comics vice president Dan DiDio.

“I knew there’d be demand for a sequel,” Collins said.

But he debated as to what form to pursue — prose or graphic novel, a comics style form for which Collins has become nationally recognized. He decided to use both. “Road to Purgatory” follows the son of hitman Michael O’Sullivan into adulthood on his journey to a showdown with Al Capone, whom O’Sullivan’s son blames for the death of his own gangster father. “Road to Perdition 2: On the Road” is a new narrative that takes place within the structure of the original story.

Collins said that it’s too early to tell if there will be a film sequel to “Perdition.” However, he said DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox have expressed “strong interest.”