My Blog

Raves for Tod

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The litblog Bookslut loves Tod’s new book SIMPLIFY:

Simplify captures a wide range of emotions and style in his debut
collection of short stories. Goldberg has thought a lot about the human
condition and the way our hearts and minds define us. He is effortlessly
brilliant with his pared-down prose and attention to detail. In a society that
is disinclined to contemplate our own deaths, Goldberg hits it head-on with no
qualms or fluff. His stories will provoke and startle you. There is a distinct
balance in each of his stories, giving just enough humor, thought and sincerity
to the entire collection. It’s rare to find a book that can evoke such strong
emotions within a single collection, however, Tod Goldberg’s Simplify
is a force to be reckoned with.

Out of Touch

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MdscastIt used to be that I’d catch at least one episode of every new drama series on television. That day has passed. There are just too many networks — broadcast, cable, and subscription — for me to keep up. I’m setting my Tivo to catch as many new falls shows as I can…but I know I will fail. And if I, a TV-junkie and professional TV writer, can’t find the time to  sample everything, how can we expect the average viewer to do it?

Here are some of the shows I’ve missed: TRU CALLING, KEVIN HILL, THE INSIDE,  ONE TREE HILL, SUMMERLAND, TARZAN, CARNIVALE, ROSWELL, CLUBHOUSE, THE MOUNTAIN, JACK AND BOBBY, NORTH SHORE,  MISS MATCH, THE LYON’S DEN, THE BROTHERHOOD OF POLAND N.H., JUST CAUSE, DINOTOPIA, GIRLS CLUB, HAUNTED, PRESIDIO MED, and MDs.

Granted, most of America missed those shows, too, since the majority of them didn’t survive a season. But that never used to stop me before. I saw everything.

There are a few series, like WANTED and THE 4400, that I haven’t seen yet and could still catch. And some of those old shows, like CARNIVALE, ROSWELL and TRU CALLING, I could always catch up with if I wanted to — I’ve got Emmy cassettes or DVDs for them somewhere and many of them are also out in boxed sets at Best Buy. But with so much to catch up on that’s new, I can’t really bring myself to go back…

Real Movies

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Finally, just as the summer is coming to an end, along come two real, honest-to-goodness movies to see — THE CONSTANT GARDENER and MEMORY OF A KILLER. It’s so refreshing and unusual to watch movies that are intelligent, well-written and brilliantly acted.  Go see them!

Watching THE CONSTANT GARDENER I couldn’t help but reminded of the idiotic Nicole Kidman movie THE INTERPRETOR, which was attempting to achieve the same impact and failed miserably. I was also reminded of OUR MAN IN PANAMA and THE QUIET AMERICAN…and countless other tales in that reliable genre of  "espionage and conspiracies at the foreign office in faraway lands against the backdrop of political and social turmoil." This was one of the better ones.

MEMORY OF A KILLER is a clever thriller from Belgium about a hitman with Alzheimers. I know it sounds like set-up for a comedy, but it’s far from it.

Different Diff’rent Strokes

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Remember DIFF’RENT STROKES? Now imagine it as a drama. Variety reports that UPN has signed producer Darren Star to produce two pilots, one of which is described as:

Neither Sony nor UPN would comment late last week, but it’s believed the
project being penned by [Dan and Ashley McDermott] concerns a pair of orphaned teens who end
up living with their wealthy New York aunt and uncle.

It Runs In the Family

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President Bush has been harshly criticized for the government’s inadequate response to Katrina.  He just didn’t seem to get how extreme this crisis really was. Now we know why. Here’s what his mother, Barbara Bush, had to say about the victims:

Barbara Bush, who accompanied the former presidents on a
tour of the Astrodome complex Monday, said the relocation to Houston is "working
very well" for some of the poor people forced out of New Orleans.

"What I’m hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want
to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality," she said
during a radio interview with the American Public Media program "Marketplace."
"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged
anyway, so this is working very well for them."

It’s "scary" that the survivors want to stay in Texas? The fact that they lost loved ones, their homes, their possessions and their jobs in a flood of sewage is "working well for them?" My God.

Les is More

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There was an interesting interview with CBS chief Les Moonves in the Sunday NYT. In explaining why he canceled JOAN OF ARCADIA, he revealed his take on what audiences want from a story.

On this particular Thursday, at 11 a.m., Moonves was considering which of the
network’s current shows to cancel in order to make room for new programs. He had
decided to take a once-promising show called ”Joan of Arcadia” off the air.
The show was about a teenager who receives directives and advice straight from
God. ”In the beginning, it was a fresh idea and uplifting, and the plot lines
were engaging,” Moonves said, sounding a little sad and frustrated. ”But the
show got too dark. I understand why creative people like dark, but American
audiences don’t like dark. They like story. They do not respond to nervous
breakdowns and unhappy episodes that lead nowhere. They like their characters to
be a part of the action. They like strength, not weakness, a chance to work out
any dilemma. This is a country built on optimism.”

The last point strikes home with me. We like heroes who move the story along…and, ideally, there should actually be a story to move along. That means a story with a beginning, middle and end with clear stakes for the characters.  The characters shouldn’t be caught up in events, reacting to what happens, they should be driving what happens through their own actions. That’s good story-telling, plain and simple.

Moonves has constructed a Bush-like universe (without the politics): in his
dramas, there is a continuing battle for order and justice, the team works
together and a headstrong boss leads the way.  Producers looking to sell shows to CBS either comply with this point of view
or take their shows elsewhere.

Curiously, most of CBS’s successful dramas — the three ”C.S.I.” shows,
”Without a Trace” and many of the new about-to-be-discussed drama pilots —
revolve around a group of specially trained professionals who work in unison and
are headed by a dynamic, attractive middle-aged man. These prime-time-TV teams
— much like Moonves’s own — are determined and work-obsessed. They seem to
think of their office as an extended family while, together, they solve crimes.

In a way, it’s an old-fashioned model, harkening back to hits like HAWAII FIVE-O and MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, but with a new spin (reminds me of how NBC touted LAW AND ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT as ground-breaking show because we’d also see things from the bad guy’s pov…I guess no one at NBC had ever seen BARNABY JONES or STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO). Speaking of taking cues from the past,  Moonves’ plans for revamping the news division sound like he’s channeling Fred Silverman.

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Mark on Mark

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Mark Baker, a regular visitor/commentor on this blog, posted a reader review of DIAGNOSIS MURDER: THE PAST TENSE on Amazon, where he’s a "top 500 reviewer."  Harriet Klausner better start looking over her shoulder. His review reads, in part:

This book is ingenious. About half of it is set in the past and
half set in the present. Really, you get two mysteries for the price of
one as we watch Mark solve both cases. Yet they interact in a way I
never saw coming…

…These books are fast becoming one of my favorite series around. If
you were a fan of the show, you owe it to yourself to pick up this
great continuation. Even if you’ve never seen the series, the plots
will pull you in and make you start looking for the reruns. Is the next
one out yet?

Thanks, Mark, for the great review and for the DIAGNOSIS MURDER  NOVELS list you’ve compiled on Amazon.