They are feeling my pain out there in the blogosphere. Sarah Weinman says that now she knows how Lee Goldberg feels and Paul Guyot cries out "Lee, the emails have started!"
The UPN Schedule
The plugged-in folks at TVTracker are circulating the new UPN schedule. Gone: KEVIN HILL and ENTERPRISE. Back: VERONICA MARS. New: SEX LIES & SECRETS (Denise Richards is a relationship drama) and EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS (Chris Rock’s childhood experiences become a sitcom). The schedule is on the jump.
Must Reading for Aspiring Authors
My brother Tod takes a hard look look at Writer’s Digest and its list of the 101 Best Websites for Writers.
Any magazine which purports to be "for" writers, yet accepts
advertising from scam agents and sleazy publishers and regularly
provides some of the worst advice imaginable for aspiring writers is
doing no one any favors. Needless to say, their 101 websites
mirror their excellent quality control standards.
Tod checked out a few of the sites. His peek at the Long Ridge Writers Group is especially revealing…and hilarious.
The Fox Schedule
The fine folks at TVTracker are circulating the Fox schedules for both fall and midseason, too, when 24 and AMERICAN IDOL return to the air. The new drama series include BONES (about a forensic anthropologist), THE GATE (about deviant criminals and the cops
who pursue them), HEAD CASES (Chris O’Donnell as a mentally-disturbed lawyer) and PRISON BREAK ( a guy breaks into the prison he designed to help his falsely accused brother escape).
The complete schedules are on the jump.
Imagine if a Harlequin Romance Novel Could Vibrate, Too…
Susie Bright went to a Romance Writers convention and came back with this observation:
When a woman buys a traditional Romance, it’s like a hardcore porn fan
buying a XXX video. She wants her money shot. She does not want
distractions. She wants familiarity, to connect with "the childhood
masturbatory feeling," as my friend and offbeat Romanticist Pam Rosenthal
so perfectly described to me. I say this with utmost sympathy, but fans
would probably feel exposed by that description. Still, I believe
romances are stroke books— they are not so much read as used.
I wonder what she’d say about mysteries after going to a Bouchercon or Malice Domestic convention?
Obi-Wan Love Sandwich
Are your erotic fantasies filled with visions of "an Obi
Wan/Amidala/Qui-Gon intergalactic love sandwich?" If so, then Fleshbot has found the STAR WARS slash for you at the Obi-Wan Torture Oasis.
"There is something so wonderfully demoralizing about sodomy; takes all the fight out of a man, to be conquered from within." (from Zen & nancy’s "Little Earthquakes")
It’s more than a kink, it’s a biological imperative. We Ladies of Slash must hurt young Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Hurt him bad. Hence this site, and you know the rest. We’re not too inclined these days to wonder just *why* we enjoy Obi-Wan (or Mulder or Bashir or Blair or a host of other icons) displayed in such a visceral state. At least, we wonder no more so than men who question why they enjoy lesbian porn flicks. Just relax and enjoy the rollercoaster.
Your Great Idea for a TV Series
I got this email today…then again, it seems like I get it every day:
I have a great idea for a TV cop show but I’m not a writer. How can I sell it?
I can’t remember if I’ve posted this before, but here goes anyway. This is a column I wrote several years ago for Mystery Scene about an experience I had with a woman who wanted me to sell her Really Great Idea For a TV Series. Parts of it will be familiar to those of you who’ve read my replies to this question before…
I was a guest at Sleuthfest in Florida a few years back and after one of my panels, a woman approached me saying she had a great idea for a television series. Even better, she already had 22
scripts written and a list of actors she felt were perfect for the parts.
All I had to do, she said, was sell it and we’d both be rich.
The CBS Schedule
CBS has announced their fall schedule. The highlights: The network is jumping on the LOST and MEDIUM-inspired speculative fiction bandwagon with two shows — THE GHOST WHISPERER (Jennifer Love Hewitt talks to dead people and solves crimes) and THRESHOLD (aliens invade from STAR TREK producer Brannon Braga and BLADE screenwriter David Goyer). Cancelled: JOAN OF ARCADIA, JUDGING AMY and Jason Alexander 43rd awful sitcom since SEINFELD.
The schedule, as printed by USA Today, is on the jump.
Following the Industry
A commenter here asked:
I’m just curious. How much attention does a TV writer have to pay to
what’s in and what’s out? I mean, other than projects you’re working on? In other words, do schedule changes mean much to you if they don’t affect you directly?
It’s essential for professionals in any industry to keep up with what’s going on in their field. In the TV biz, the primetime schedule news is extremely important.
Whether you’re already on a show or not, you still need to know your market. What’s hot and what’s not? You need to know who the players are this season… who is running the
shows and who is on staff? And you need to know who the players aren’t… who is out of work now and likely to be competing with you for jobs? Or, if you’re hiring, who is available and who isn’t?
If you want to develop pilots you need to study the schedule (as well as what the networks didn’t buy or renew) and figure out what the networks might be interested in for next season. The primetime development doors open in eight weeks.
The last thing you want to be is out-of-touch with your business…whether its writing for television or selling shoes.