Friday, July 29, 2011

Dead Man Walking

Happy Friday!  Just popping in to talk some recent Hollywood news.  I’d talk about my own writing but honestly, with every new script I finish, I’m settling more into my “process” and to me it’s become kinda routine so it seems more boring to talk about.  I guess that’s a good thing because having a more set way of doing things means I’m completing projects a lot faster than I have before…which has been a major goal of mine (although I still bog myself down with procrastination…mostly by watching awesome reality TV like SYTYCD…oh, and writing this blog).

So, what’s new in the world besides my latest pilot?  Well, you probably heard about Frank Darabont stepping down as showrunner on The Walking Dead.  Oh?  You didn’t?  Well, either way, just to recap, Frank Darabont, man of not much TV but lots of great movies such as Everyone Loves Shawshank and That Other Prison Movie That Isn’t Shawshank, has been running the show over on AMC zombie hit The Walking Dead.  As I’ve mentioned before, I watched Season 1, and while I liked things about it, I was critical of other things (hopefully those issues I had will be addressed in Season 2…or not, hey, I’m not the decider).

Braaaaaaaains!

Darabont/the show had made the news most recently for axing the entire writing staff from Season 1 and apparantly considering going it alone with no staff and only freelancers.  Of course, the way Darabont tells the story, it didn’t really go down like that.  I’m inclined to believe something in the middle.  I'm sure the people who were fired didn't feel so hot about that decision.  On the other hand, it’s important to understand the schedule these cable shows keep are not the same as a 20ish+ episode network show.  In other words, this is not a job a writer would keep almost year round, anyway.  Also important to remember, the writing staffs are indeed smaller.  That being said, if your staff is small to begin with, even firing two people is a lot.  So, was Darabont a big meanie for doing this?  I dunno, I wasn't there.  Side note: thinking about this makes me wonder more and more how the hell Glee managed with only 3 writers for 2 full seasons.  That’s 3 guys writing 40 some hour long episodes of TV.  That’s a lot!  Although, I guess that explains all the weaker episodes this past season.

Anyway, back to Darabont…so, after all this drama seemed done with, he suddenly steps down as showrunner this week (AFTER appearing at Comic Con to promote the show).  Needless to say, this turn of events surprised people and many think something fishy was going on.  So, what do I think?  Am I terribly surprised?  I guess.  Darabont is a big name, and his presence was used to promote the show.  Also, despite those bits of behind the scenes drama, the show was still really popular, people liked it, and Darabont seemed like a big part of that.  What do I think really happened?  Honestly, it’s impossible to say, but Glen Mazzara, who will be running the show now, is much more experienced in TV and some darn good TV at that (The Shield...ahem).  Maybe the network wanted someone with more experience meeting deadlines in TV?   Maybe Darabont just got burned out?  Maybe, all/none of the above?

I would certainly understand the whole burned out thing.  The writing schedule on any show is demanding…even a cable show with short seasons.  The Walking Dead only had 6 episodes in its first season and one was two hours long.  They are set to have 13 eps for Season 2.  Doesn't sound like much?  Well, when was the last time you wrote 6-7 specs/pilots in a few months time?  Or even half that many?  Writing that much material that fast, and having it be good...freaking hard.  Also, don’t forget, even if you relinquish control and only write a couple episodes of a show each season, if you’re the showrunner you’ll probably be rewriting/doing a pass on every episode anyway, or having your hands in multiple episodes at a time.  Not to mention your involvement in things like pre production/casting, production, and post.  Ahh!  Let’s just say, the time pressures/demands of potentially working on a TV show someday are the biggest reasons I push myself to be a faster writer and complete more projects.

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