Current Affairs

New Hope for the Dead

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TV Critic Chuck Barney reports that the flop WB sitcom pilot NOBODY’S WATCHING, which got a lot of hype and thousand of hits when it was "mysteriously" posted on YouTube, has received an order for six scripts from NBC. The network will produce some original "webisodes" while they ponder whether or not to order the series.   You can expect to see a lot more busted pilots "mysteriously" showing up on YouTube now…

Mr. Monk and the Paperback Critic

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Chicago Tribune critic Dick Adler has started a blog to cover all the
paperback mysteries that he isn’t able to squeeze into his regular
column. Here’s his review of MR. MONK GOES TO HAWAII…

A surprising number of my friends and relatives love the Monk
TV series so much that they ask me to get them signed copies of Lee
Goldberg’s books based on it. Judging by this latest outing, where the
weird cop follows his assistant, Natalie, on holiday, they’re on to a
good thing. Goldberg makes Adrian Monk much more interesting than the
TV version: the twitches are less obvious, the outcomes much less
predictable. Even (or especially) the secondary characters are more
interesting and have sharper dialogue.

Thanks, Dick!

Celebrity Blogs

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Today the always hilarious Ken Levine takes a look at Celebrity websites and blogs. Among his observations:

Melanie Griffiths’s website is just plain creepy. It chronicles her
romance and rehab, accompanied by music that Norma Desmond would find
too over-the-top. She also writes letters to her inner self. Many not
delivered because no one’s home.

Latest entry in Gwen Stefani’s journal: “We’re back. Sorry it has been
so long. We’ll start updating the site more often.” It’s dated May 2.

Bittersweet Sacrifice

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Bittersweetsacrifice
You can always count on the Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Novels for a good laugh, especially when they are skewering bad romance novel covers. This is my favorite from today’s collection:

Sarah: Yeah, you know what that bittersweet sacrifice is? Marrying him knowing that he’s GAY.

Or, now that I take a closer look, it could be that the one on the left
has to sacrifice her schmeckie because she’s a MAN, baby, YEAH.

Candy: Once again: Willem Dafoe in drag is NOT an acceptable substitute for a female model.

Agent 007, eh?

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My friend David Breckman wrote and produced a hilarious pilot for USA Network called UNDERFUNDED, about a spy for the Canadian Secret Service (yes, they have one).  He’s still waiting to hear if USA is going to pick it up. But in the mean time, the Canadian Broadcasting Company (yes, they have TV networks up there) has announced that production has begun on INTELLIGENCE, a Canadian drama series (yes, they still have a couple shows of their own up there) about, you guessed it, Canadian spies (yes, they have them). The show is from Chris Haddock, the Canadian Steven Bochco, with financial help from every Canadian government entity except, it seems, the Department of Fish & Game.

“Intelligence takes place in the underworld where crime and
government meet. Part mystery, part thriller, all character and
conspiracy,” says Haddock. “It’s a new and volatile mix of gangster and
spy genres that should be pretty addictive. It’s gonna be a lot of fun
to watch.”

Intelligence is a Haddock Entertainment production produced with the
financial participation of CBC, Telefilm Canada, the CTF – License Fee
Program, the Canadian Western Independent Program Fund, the Canadian
and British Columbian Production Tax Credit Programs and CBC
International Sales.

Mr. Monk Goes to the Well

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Chris Well has given MR. MONK GOES TO THE FIREHOUSE a warm review. Here’s an excerpt:

Novelist (and TV writer) Lee Goldberg does a remarkable job of
capturing the wit and spark of the series, while exploring the
possibilities that come with a different medium. The story is told from
the point of view of Natalie, adding more layers to the narrative than
possible in a regular episode.

Thanks, Chris!

My Ending is Beautiful, too

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During a Q&A at Lincoln Center, Jane reports that author T.C. Boyle took on book critic NY Times book critic Michiko Kakutani for not liking his new novel TALK, TALK.

On Talk, Talk‘s ending and Michiko Kakutani’s recent attack on it in the New York Times:
"The ending is beautiful, no matter what you might have heard from one
bitter, acerbic individual who’s miserable with her bleak reviewer’s
life.  She wanted a more shoot-’em-up ending.  But I think you’ll find
the book’s ending is a lot subtler, and a lot more beautiful, than
that.  Here, I’ll read it for you so you can judge for yourself. I’ll
read the last sentence backwards because I don’t want to spoil it: "Her
behind in crowding universe the in sky blue the all with, ascendant,
him to next right, there her put he and too smile a her gave he." Now
you tell me, isn’t that beautiful?

(To be fair to Boyle, the Jane poster acknowledges that the quote is not verbatim, he relied on notes, not a recording).

Miami Hell

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Kim Masters at Slate Magazine looks at the troubled production of the MIAMI VICE movie.

on Miami Vice things went so wrong that Foxx ended up
leaving in the middle of production, after a shooting (and we don’t
mean the kind with a camera) took place during filming in the Dominican
Republic. Foxx refused to return for any more work outside the United
States, meaning that Mann had to rewrite the ending, eliminating a
version that was to have been shot in Paraguay.

"The whole of
making this movie was filled with adversity," Mann says. But he adds
that whatever the crew might have endured, it was all in the service of
making a great film. "Sometimes folks are going to join this unit and
they may have a tough time," he says. "Guess what? They’re on the wrong
movie."