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Posts tagged as “Chuck”

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Finally back to blogging!

Lots of stuff to catch up, including some major NBC changes.

First of all, one of the big NBC 2009 move:
Jay Leno in primetime.
Every day.

No more NBC drama at 10PM.

Jeff Zucker said the other day that NBC won’t be doing 22 primetime-hours anymore, similarly to “three” of its “competitors”.
Wait a sec.
Is Zucker really considering MyNetworkTV and The CW as NBC’s competitors?
Wow.

Zucker also said:

It’s not giving up. It’s not retrenching. It’s not throwing in the towel.

Let’s get real here: are you really that surprised?
The way NBC is currently programming its shows is already similar to a 2-hour primetime/night scenario.
Just look at Crusoe, Knight Rider and My Own Worst Enemy.
Or what about their Tuesdays?
It doesn’t exist.

NBC is as well converging its TV divisions, merging studio and scripted.

But you have to wonder there:
Is less original programing what NBC is all about?

Because if that’s the case, tune me out.

Speaking of NBC.
Was it just me or did last night’s Chuck kind of ripped of Leverage’s series premiere?
That whole floor-replacement thingy had a strong déjà-vu effect on me.

I also recently saw Primer.


This was a really (good) mindfrak movie.
Fortunately there is a clear visual timeline available to help sort it all out.

The movie and its script are also proving to be an excellent lesson on “how to write a great no-budget movie.”
The answer being obviously a focus on characters.
And since TV is a character-medium…
You know the rest.

Don't chime in

We’ve had our fair share of strange events throughout 2008 but next year is gonna open with some crazier choices.

Case in point: NBC announced the other day its January schedule, as in only January, not mid-season schedule.

Life, Chuck and Heroes won’t be back in January.
They will probably premiere around mid-February for a continuous run without repeats similar to Lost’s.

Kings is still unanounced.

Without much surprise, My Own Worst Enemy, Lipstick Jungle and Crusoe won’t be back at all.

Wondering what’s replacing those shows?
Two words: Howdie & Dancing.
Meaning a hidden-camera show hosted by Howdie Mandel and another, again, dancing competition.

Oh and there’s the usual L&O repeats.

FNL’s season 3 is on Fridays but chances are if you’re a fan, you’ve already seen it.

SNL will try to re-create the Election magic but with sports, bringing Saturday Night Live Sports Extra to NBC’s Sundays.
They’ll also try to revive Saturday Night Live Film Festival.
Is SNL Fashion Edition next?
God I hope not.

Meanwhile, Crap Rider will be back in Jan., still showing on Wednesdays.

Prepare to be bored to death in January on NBC.

Mark my words

Mark my words

Sound was introduced in 1927.
Color was introduced in 1938.
3-D will be introduced in 2009.

I know what you’re about to say.
Sure, 3-D has been around for some time now, but it’s still only a gimmick.
Current “3-D movies” are not movies made in 3-D, there are movies made for/with 3-D.
If you’ve ever been to Disneyland’s Honey, I Shrunk The Audience, or, hell, even any 3-D IMAX movie, you know what I’m talking about.
Also, sound in movies already existed prior to The Jazz Singer, same goes for color with the Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind.
So when the technique was first used/invented doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.

Avatar isn’t “gimmicking” its way into 3-D.
It is thought, made, shot, edited, and shown in 3-D.

“What has that gotta do with us?” you may ask dear wannabe screenwriter.
Well it probably for now won’t change anything script-wise, but just think about it.
IMAX didn’t change the way people write scripts, when 8mm became 16mm and then transformed into 35mm and 70mm (28K next?), that didn’t change the way people write scripts.
Before sound there were no dialogues in scripts.
Before color there wasn’t any real vivid description in scripts.

I am talking about real, profound, no-way-back changes here.

True 3-D movies have to be thought and created in 3-D.
Again, you can’t just “gimmick-up” standard movies.
Disney is going to do that with all the Toy Stories (and now Beauty and the Beast), but you and I both know those are not true 3-D movies.
If they were, something huge would have been missing from the first time we laid eyes on them.

A real 3-D movie must be thought out from the beginning in 3-D, and that means from the script.

3rd Rock from the Sun, Medium, and now Chuck, proved that 3-D could be successfully shown on TV.

Now think about where we will be 20-30 years from now in the entertainment industry.
No-glasses 3-D TVs are being made as you’re reading this.

It’s just a matter of time.
3-D will catch on as did sound and color before it.
Even on TV.

Obama made American history, Avatar will make entertainment and cinematic history.