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blue_lotus13) wrote2005-10-04 04:33 pm
blue_lotus13) wrote2005-10-04 04:33 pm
Master television class with Michael Oates Palmer
I haven't had a chance to write about the master television class with Michael Oates Palmer, who wrote for the West Wing in Season 4. It was such a great and informative talk and got me all pumped up about writing.
I'll just bring up some of the interesting points of his talk. This is going to seem a big jumpy-
He started discussing the history of television, and how television was considered the poor bastard cousin of feature film writing. Then "The Sopranos" came along and started changing everything. Shows on HBO began catering to people who were college educated and more affluent, who were looking for a higher quality from tv. THe major networks started following and other shows began changing the television landscape. "THe West Wing" was the first show to tackle politics, and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" took television to a whole other level, with its witty writing and strange plots. (There were cheers from the audience during this section).
During the early 2000s, comedy was pretty much dead, and all comedies were failing. It was during this time, and the impending writer's strike of 2001, that reality tv snuck in. However, reality tv has already had its time in the sun, and will never be as popular, since reality tv doesn't work well on re-runs and doesn't sell well on dvd.
There are a lot of cops, doctor and lawyer shows on tv because the stakes are very high in these areas. You're dealing with crime and punishment, law, retribution and life and death, and these are all themes which keep audiences watching. SHows about other industries have been attempted and failed. There was a show about high profile real estate agents, which no one watched because no one cared. SHows about fictional bands have never been successful either.
Personally, I don't really enjoy doctor, cop or lawyer shows, and this is because many of them tend to be "procedural dramas." Procedural dramas do not have major character arcs, and are not built around characters. A show like "Law and Order" is a procedural drama, because you can miss episodes, and the characters have not changed very much, while a show like "NYPD Blue" has definite changes in its major characters.
I am all about character, and learning about what a procedural drama is really made sense to me. "CSI" is considered a "procedural drama", and I can't pay attention to it at all becuase I just don't find that I care about the characters.
There were many shows that succeeded despite expectations. "Desparate Housewives" is basically a relationship drama, and one of the reasons that it was so successful was due to the fact that it was able to nab a lot of "Sex and the City's" viewers, who were looking for something new to watch when the show was ending.
No one really predicted that "Lost" would be as successful as it is. People weren't sure if audiences would enjoy such complex backstory.
Most of this year's television lineup is an attempt to reach out to the male viewers, who have been lost to computer games and sports channels. This is why we have so many shows like "Invasion", "Supernatural", "Prison Break" and all that kind of stuff.
***
Apparently some television creators do read the boards at http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com. Aaron Sorkin was reading the boards and then got pissed at some of his fans, who weren't understanding the plot lines. He wrote a retort to them, which turned out to be a bad idea.
****
Oates Palmer did some work in journalism and worked as a speech writer in New York before he joined the writing team of "The West Wing." I never considered it, but a background in journalism would definitely be an asset in a tv writing room. As a journalist, you learn how to write quickly, adhere to deadlines, find solutions to problems, and research as fast as you would run if the devil himself were after you.
Now I have another potential career to research...
I'll just bring up some of the interesting points of his talk. This is going to seem a big jumpy-
He started discussing the history of television, and how television was considered the poor bastard cousin of feature film writing. Then "The Sopranos" came along and started changing everything. Shows on HBO began catering to people who were college educated and more affluent, who were looking for a higher quality from tv. THe major networks started following and other shows began changing the television landscape. "THe West Wing" was the first show to tackle politics, and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" took television to a whole other level, with its witty writing and strange plots. (There were cheers from the audience during this section).
During the early 2000s, comedy was pretty much dead, and all comedies were failing. It was during this time, and the impending writer's strike of 2001, that reality tv snuck in. However, reality tv has already had its time in the sun, and will never be as popular, since reality tv doesn't work well on re-runs and doesn't sell well on dvd.
There are a lot of cops, doctor and lawyer shows on tv because the stakes are very high in these areas. You're dealing with crime and punishment, law, retribution and life and death, and these are all themes which keep audiences watching. SHows about other industries have been attempted and failed. There was a show about high profile real estate agents, which no one watched because no one cared. SHows about fictional bands have never been successful either.
Personally, I don't really enjoy doctor, cop or lawyer shows, and this is because many of them tend to be "procedural dramas." Procedural dramas do not have major character arcs, and are not built around characters. A show like "Law and Order" is a procedural drama, because you can miss episodes, and the characters have not changed very much, while a show like "NYPD Blue" has definite changes in its major characters.
I am all about character, and learning about what a procedural drama is really made sense to me. "CSI" is considered a "procedural drama", and I can't pay attention to it at all becuase I just don't find that I care about the characters.
There were many shows that succeeded despite expectations. "Desparate Housewives" is basically a relationship drama, and one of the reasons that it was so successful was due to the fact that it was able to nab a lot of "Sex and the City's" viewers, who were looking for something new to watch when the show was ending.
No one really predicted that "Lost" would be as successful as it is. People weren't sure if audiences would enjoy such complex backstory.
Most of this year's television lineup is an attempt to reach out to the male viewers, who have been lost to computer games and sports channels. This is why we have so many shows like "Invasion", "Supernatural", "Prison Break" and all that kind of stuff.
***
Apparently some television creators do read the boards at http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com. Aaron Sorkin was reading the boards and then got pissed at some of his fans, who weren't understanding the plot lines. He wrote a retort to them, which turned out to be a bad idea.
****
Oates Palmer did some work in journalism and worked as a speech writer in New York before he joined the writing team of "The West Wing." I never considered it, but a background in journalism would definitely be an asset in a tv writing room. As a journalist, you learn how to write quickly, adhere to deadlines, find solutions to problems, and research as fast as you would run if the devil himself were after you.
Now I have another potential career to research...
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and if prison break is for men why did they stock it with such fine, sweaty hotness? meow....
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Personally, I don't really enjoy doctor, cop or lawyer shows, and this is because many of them tend to be "procedural dramas." Procedural dramas do not have major character arcs, and are not built around characters. A show like "Law and Order" is a procedural drama, because you can miss episodes, and the characters have not changed very much, while a show like "NYPD Blue" has definite changes in its major characters.
I am all about character, and learning about what a procedural drama is really made sense to me. "CSI" is considered a "procedural drama", and I can't pay attention to it at all becuase I just don't find that I care about the characters.
One of my new favourite cop shows is The Wire - definitely deeper than your usual cop show. (Excellent article about it here: http://www.flakmag.com/tv/wire.html.)
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