Phenomenal Person Awards
It’s always the little things that end up making a huge deal in everybody’s life. Those are the things that make and break your day. So for the second year, I present the Phenomenal Person Awards just to thank those that have done little things that have made huge differences to me in the last year. Unfortunately, I don’t have any prizes to give out, but my eternal thanks will have to do:
Ali & Paul—For having conversations about my scripts, even though you’ve never read an entire one!
Anthony, Stevie, & Joey—For never allowing me to wallow
Becca—For always having a smile
Debo—For reminding me of the joys of “Mmmbop”
Faith—For being my “lunch buddy”
Gabriel & Mary—For always being so willing and pleased to have me in your home
Jessie—For sending out my resume right and left
LAQ—For always posting a comment on the blog, letting me know somebody’s reading
Melissa D.—For introducing me to the addiction that is
My SpaceRyan—For making me feel cooler than I am
Shae—For always wanting to market me out
Troy—For being the first to come visit!
And thanks to all of you who read. It means a lot. These are just little things that probably don’t get enough thanks, so I wanted to go on record saying how much they mean.
You Say You Want a Revolution
Ten years ago, nobody in their right mind would've ever thought that
Rent
would be celebrating its tenth anniversary on Broadway this week. Or that the show would be the seventh longest running show in Broadway history.
Nor would anyone be able to envision the millions of Rent-heads that would propel the show to a cult phenomenon (yet would curiously stay away from the theaters when the horrible Columbus-directed film premiered).
Yet, Jonathan Larson did exactly what he hoped to accomplish with his musical. He bridged the gap between the musical and MTV. Not since
Hair
has there ever been a work that has so effortlessly tapped into the pulses of rock music, thereby harnessing its energy and strength to propel a story forward. The
New York Times
runs a
piece today by Anthony Tomassini, the last reporter to interview Larson before he died. In it he details how Larson wanted to more fully marry the most contemporary music form with lyrics and a narrative.
Sure, there's a lot to object to in terms of the play's morality and what it condones, but one thing's for certain--the creator achieved what he wanted.
To Make You Feel Fuzzy
There's nothing like my name twin trying to share half of his 8 pennies with you to make you feel like you know somebody cares about you.
And for those of you asking, I did try to decline taking them, but apparently he's a tricky little name twin and slipped three or four of them in my pocket when I wasn't looking.
He might not be a child trying to book an Old Navy commercial so she can adopt a Cambodian refugee, but I still thought it was pretty unselfish.
Two takes
It's interesting when two shows deal with the same storyline on the same night, which is exactly what happened on
Everwood
and
What About Brian?
last night. Both shows had characters stepping out on their partners. Unfortunately, it's likely that only
Everwood
will ever be able to overcome it. (Partially because
Brian
has about two weeks left and then it's probably history at the rate its ratings are going.)
Everwood
had Bright sweating the fact that his girlfriend still doesn't want to have pre-marital sex with him, so he ends up sleeping with Kimber from
Nip/Tuck
. (Thankfully, the Carver didn't show up and hopefully she wasn't making a secret porn movie!) Immediately, he knew he'd done something wrong, and refused to talk to Hannah. Even when she barges in to finally talk to him about the fact she hasn't seen him in a couple of days, he doesn't tell her anything. Bad Bright! I guess that just means that he'll spill the beans next week and we'll get more relationship drama. (Because that boy is not good at keeping secrets!)
As for
Brian
, the show went exactly where I feared it would go and Deena consummated her desire to have an open marriage. It happened at the end of the hour, so we didn't get a sense of whether she thought it was a good idea or not after the fact, but after Brian's two in twenty-four last week and this, it's quickly becoming difficult to promote the show as something other than smarmy. However, before it deserves to be labeled with that, we get a great counterbalance story where Adam is told by smarmy client not to get married, but when he gets home and finds his fiance there, he realizes he really does want to get married. (But don't tell him that if the show does manage to make it to season two, she might decide she doesn't want to marry him!)
The problem with
Brian's
storyline is that we don't know Deena like we know Bright, so it's less likely we'll just be able to forgive her. (And let's not even get into the difference between cheating on a spouse versus a girlfriend.) Additionally,
Brian
has yet to prove itself to be as earnest as
Everwood
, so it makes it more difficult because we know Bright's sincere heart. The only thing we know about Deena is that she's a mom who's only slept with four people and wants to sleep with more, even though she clearly loves her husband.
But does she love her husband as much as Martha Logan? I hope not, because at least Deena's husband's not some psycho-President who's intent on creating a legacy and killing millions of people in the process. Go Martha! Work with Jack and bring your crazy loon of a man to his knees. Make him know what "till death do us part" feels like!
Trip Down Memory Lane
I had the rare opportunity to catch up with two friends from high school this weekend. It was a great experience and there were several things I learned. Here are some of the highlights:
• Turns out, I know nothing about Laguna Beach or VH1.
• Apparently, half the people I went to high school with have been in prison or are on drugs
• I’ve lost more of my accent than I give myself credit for.
• Unfortunately, I haven’t lost all of the accent.
• Debating whether Joey McIntire was the cutest New Kid on the Block could be decided by blows
• “We are lookin’ for our brother. Where could he be?”
• The name of my high school nemesis can still set me off, just as much as the name of my other little nemesis.
• Crazy prisoners do some crazy things. Has anybody ever set a sitcom in prison? Would that be too wrong?
• Apparently, I have a humorous vocabulary.
• Men’s family jewels are smearable.
• Pulling somebody’s hair out a single strand at a time over the course of a school year won’t cause them to go bald, nor will it be the most annoying thing they ever go through
• Apparently, there’s some restaurant right near my apartment that’s owned by a woman from Bristol, TN. (Gotta check that place out.)
• Plastic dinosaurs can totally make a décor scheme.
• I’m so glad I got out of the LEB.
Am I Willing?
I do love JJ Abrams, but am I a big enough fan to see the next
Star Trek
movie? Even if he's
writing and directing it? Get back on TV buddy!
Of course, that's the same thing I wondered when Ang Lee announced he was doing a martial arts picture, but how awesome was
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
?
Will Abrams'
Star Trek
be anywhere close? Only time will tell!
Make Friends Like These
Television is cyclical. That's because the audience likes it and demands it (whether they know it or not.) Every show is a variation of a show before, and the mold is only broken every so often. Even when it is broken, it's usually not shattered as much as modified from the current standard--typically by harkening back to something from an earlier era.
As a result, audiences are conditioned to expect certain things, anticipate particular rhythms, etc. Procedural are in vogue now, but in another ten years will seem antiquated and off. Shows hit at a certain time and are true zeigeist programs, whereas the same show would've failed if it had premiered years later or earlier. "Desperate Housewives" caught on because it brought elements of the soap opera back--in a slightly more comical, manner that focused less on the camp and more on the humor. "The X-Files" tapped into the nation's proliferated mistrust and wariness of the government. Neither of these two shows would've worked ten years before they premiered because the cycle wasn't ready for them.
And the cycle might just not be ready for "What About Brian?" yet. The show's essentially a charming, yet slight, serialized version of Sondheim's
Company
. Sure, a lot of people are calling it a modern-day "thirtysomething" and it is very akin to that, but the show is closer in spirit and tone to the Sondheim musical. The basic setup is that a guy (in the musical it's Bobby, here it's Brian) has a bunch of married (or engaged) friends. Lead guy then wallows in self-doubt while married friends use him to debate the pros and cons of marriage. It's not a story with a strong through line or an obvious hook. It's a show that depends upon liking the characters and caring about the relationships. Hence the genre--relationship show.
What makes "What About Brian?" an interesting footnote in the notion of the television cycle is that no matter how good it is, it probably won't survive because its infrastructure is out of vogue. Like "thirtysomething" and "Once and Again"--let's take a moment and mourn the lack of a Ed Zwick/Marshall Herskovitz program on the air--it's a show where not a whole lot happens in an episode. This is especially true when comparing it to "Grey's Anatomy" or "Desperate Housewives" which burn through four or five stories per episode at break-neck speed. "Brian" saunters through one or two self-contained stories, while peering into two more continuing story lines--not what audiences are used to right now. That probably explains a lot of why its number dropped so much between Sunday and Monday night. (In addition to the fact that it didn't have much of a lead in with
Supernanny).
Brian
is meant to be the kind of show that grows on you. And it does. Just from the first to second night, I could feel myself warming up to the title character. The supporting cast (the real strength of the show) continued to be fleshed out and I realized that I'd enjoy spending time with these people for one hour a week.
Not everybody's going to agree. When a show relies on charm, there will undoubtedly be some people who aren't charmed. When it requires a chance to grow, there will be those who are impatient and pre-determinedly judge it as unworthy and write it off. That's fine.
thirtysomething
and
Company
, two programs that are now considered standard-bearers and hallmarks of quality weren't that popular in their initial runs either.
Just give
Brian a chance. You might be surprised.
Flying By
What a difference a weekend makes.
Last week I was in some kind of funk, not sure what was going on. I couldn't get any writing done and I was barely able to see my hand in front of my face.
But force a little self-discipline, throw in a good movie, an evening out and everything is fine again.
The writing wasn't coming naturally, so I forced myself to sit down Thursday night. I blocked everything out, didn't answer my phone, and suddenly, I was rocking and rolling. So much so that I'm into my last act. This time last week, I had gotten half a page of my first act done. Am I happy with it so far? Not really, but it's a place to start.
Which leaves me wondering, why was I able to accomplish this now intead of a week ago when I was struggling? I'm sure part of it had to do with seeing an impending deadline and knowing something had to be ready before that point. Getting over the initial hump of "Can I do this" suddenly lead to a, "Well, can't I stay home and finish already?"
The other two things that were really helpful were decompressing. Friday night I went with a friend to see
Inside Man
. Nice muscular film. A couple of plot hole problems, but solid performances from Clive Owen and Denzel Washington. You'd never know this was a Spike Lee film (minus the language). It's a seamless project of hiding his usual baggage behind the camera.
Then Saturday night, I went with some people to the beach and we played volleyball and later goofed off by diving into the ocean. (We also celebrated the engagement of some friends.) I was still digging sand out of myself on Sunday. Very odd. Overall though, it was a good weekend, topped off by the charming premiere (or sneak preview) of
What About Brian?" on ABC.
Back From Mediocrity and the Loony Bin
“S.O.S.”—best
Lost episode of the season maybe?
Rose and Bernard may be the best couple on TV, only behind Logan and Veronica. (I know, technically they’re not a couple, but come on!)
The fact that somebody realizes they might be better off on the island? Oh, that’s good. Now just watch her die.
Too many thoughts on this stellar episode to bang them out in two seconds. More later.
Why no blogging?
It's a really good question because it's not like things haven't been going on in my life. I mean, I could talk about bad apple juice, the sad sitcom pilot taping I went to, the celebrity golf tournament I worked, Tom Welling's scary fans, the beautiful weather today, or even how odd it's been that two shows this week have used song from Ben Folds' "Rockin' the Suburbs" CD. I could even talk about how excited I am to see "What About Brian?" Sunday, but I just don't have it in me. I don't feel the need or desire to write about any of it.
On the other hand, I'm sure there's a connection between the fact that I haven't written on the blog in about a week and the fact that my script writing has been so painfully laborious this week. I spent like 12 hours on Saturday writing, but I barely got just a few pages done. And most of those will probably need to be thrown out. I don't know what the connection is.
Maybe it means something's off in my life. I could feel it last night, and I have suspicions that might be the problem, but how do I get it back on? Or can I? Is this just something to pray about and wait for or is there something I need to do more proactively?
Questions, questions, questions...
A Rainbow Connection
| You Are Kermit |
Hi, ho! Lovable and friendly, you get along well with everyone you know.
You're a big thinker, and sometimes you over think life's problems.
Don't worry - everyone know's it's not easy being green.
Just remember, time's fun when you're having flies! |
So many updates
We're in for the long haul here. It's been a while since I've updated.
Everwood
--last night's episode continues to show where there is no better show on television at capturing the reason why people do things. I loved that they came back to the child Ephraim had, but didn't know about. It explains so much of why he's reaching out and trying to grow as a man. And, for me, I didn't see it coming, but I should have. Beautifully done. Beautifully.
THIS SHOW MUST MAKE IT TO THE CW!24
-Umm, I don't know that I buy the twist at all. I know that I'm not supposed to really see it play out until next week, but I've started playing back the whole season in my mind and right now, I don't think it works. It doesn't make sense. And let's not even get into the fact that it's pretty offensive--floating the idea that our nation's leader would be so duplicitious and evil. Never mind the fact that they've shown nothing in the man's character to make us think he's even capable of orchestrating a wedding, much less a terrorist plot.
Scrubs--again late, but yeah! Turk and Carla are having a baby! More good news for this show--especially in the wake of Mitch Hurwitz announcing he wasn't going to continue with
Arrested Development, in today's
USA Today,
ABC President Steve McPherson says that if NBC doesn't renew the show, it will migrate to ABC in the fall! So yeah! If it does, then I'll probably never see anything on
NBC cause for sure, I'm never suffering through another episode of the garbage that is called
Heist.
Grey's--so nice to see Mare Winningham on the show. Wish they'd given her something to do. Also, Meredith's introduction to McVet was nice too. Very much in the spirit of the show. But really, as much as I am enjoying this show, won't it get off so
What About Brian can start? JJ Abrams in
Felicity mode? I'm sooo stoked.
Thank You For Smoking
--Great movie. Funny, satirical, effective, and greatly enjoyable. Aaron Eckhart gives his best performance since
In The Company of Men
. Perfectly nailing the every-graying lines of ethics and morality in the lobbying realm, the film does a nice job of recognizing that sometimes a moral center is hard to hold onto, but very capable of being done. And did I mention it was just funny?
Brothers
--I watched this Danish film on
DVD last night and really recommend it. It's definitely not a Hollywood film. About halfway through the film, it pulled the rug out from under me in a way I was not expecting. The film stars Connie Nielsen and is about two brothers. The younger one is just getting out of prison and is a major screw up. The older one is married and a seasoned Major in the military. He is deployed to Afghanistan and it throws his entire family into limbo as they struggle to come together.
