On the Scene of THE WIRE

Courtesy of Running With My Eyes Closed comes a tip about a fantastic New Yorker article on THE WIRE.

If you watch the show, you'll get insight into how the production's run, how the actors work with the writers, how the show's creators met and what their backgrounds are, and what they envisioned when embarking on THE WIRE.

If you haven't seen the show, OH FOR GOD'S SAKE. Rent it on DVD now and get watching.

THE WIRE is unforgettable, epic television. Sound boring? Hells no. It somehow manages to be funny, damning, heartbreaking, and hopeful. Authentic to the human condition, in other words, providing a literal city's worth of stories with surprising twists and unvarnished endings -- no network cop show, this. It really watches like a novel, so start from season 1. You'll have plenty of time to get caught up before the final season airs in January.

Oh, and David Simon's next project? A series about musicians in post-Katrina New Orleans. I am so there.

Tools o' the Trade

I'm always interested to find out the different ways writers work, particularly the outline process.

One writer friend has a suh-weet office setup with a big freestanding whiteboard, which I covet (I'm looking at you, BooM). Other friends swear by index cards, which don't really work for me as I have no place to put them.

I don't have an office at home, just a corner of the living room, so my system could not be lower-tech: Post-It stickies on a wall. But it works great.

They're super-easy to rearrange when nailing down the flow of scenes, and for me psychologically easier to discard than index cards -- just crumple, toss (into the recycling bin), and rewrite. The small size forces economy and clarity, which admittedly doesn't stop me from cramming more detail than I really need for a preliminary outline into those little paper squares. But I try to limit myself to the location, a quick few words on the content and purpose of the scene, who's in it, maybe a shred of dialogue.

Once I have the outline settled, I take the stickies over to my computer and turn them into sluglines and outliney paragraphs in Final Draft or Screenwriter, then put them back up on the wall to map any changes as stuff shifts around. Which it inevitably does. I haven't yet played much with using different colored stickies to track A, B, and C stories, but I think it'd work well.

The one downside is that the stickies are not particularly transportable, and I haven't found a good digital system. I know a writer who uses cells in a spreadsheet like index cards or my stickie notes -- I may try that next.

The card view in screenwriting programs doesn't work for me because I want to see the whole episode at a glance. It's easy to tell an act is running long when the stickies are close enough to the floor that the cat can pull one off to chew. And outlining programs (or even just Word docs) give a too-linear view and for me suggest too much detail too early.

At work, we use a mix of whiteboarding and corkboard-and-index-cards when breaking a story. The initial ideas, arc beats, etc. go on the whiteboard, and when the scenes are a little more baked we make cards for them and pin them up on the corkboard in act order.

What system the room uses seems to reflect the preference of the showrunner -- we had a change in leadership, and went from all-whiteboard to the whiteboard-then-cards mix.

What's your system?

Phil Klemmer Interview on TWoP

Television Without Pity's posted an in-depth interview with Phil Klemmer (CHUCK, VERONICA MARS). Lots of behind the scenes info on breaking stories, the life of a TV writer, how Phil got into the biz and more.

Odds, Ends

A few tidbits:

MAD MEN was picked up by AMC for another season. Fantastic news! It's one of my favorite new series. Check it out if you haven't yet.

A blog I discovered recently that you must read: Kay Reindl's Seriocity. Kay's a working TV writer, hilarious and smart and opinionated. Also, you remember that story about someone getting hired for a show after the producers read that person's criticism of the show on a fan board? That was Kay. She knows much.

Sam and Jim Go to Hollywood are back after a longish hiatus with a new podcast, wherein they have the enviable problem of lots of cool opportunities and not quite enough time.

Oh, and fall has arrived in Southern California. Summer's probably not done with us yet -- another wave of heat or two seems inevitable -- but there's that nice nip in the air at long last. And fall means the new TV season is here, of course... more on that later.

Finally, here's a nifty compilation of some of the movies Los Angeles and environs have starred in, complete with zooming satellite views and life-to-film transition shots. Tip o' the Dodgers cap to Scott the Reader, on whose blog I found this!

Dog Days

(Thanks, Shawna, for the nudge... a month since the last post. Stale Hell indeed.)

Remember when summer TV used to suck? Time was I'd catch up on my overflowing Netflix queue in the hot days between spring finales and fall premieres, but no longer. Noooo. Stupid cable, with your ENTOURAGE and WEEDS. And THE CLOSER, RESCUE ME, and BURN NOTICE. And THE MINOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF JACKIE WOODMAN and ROBOT CHICKEN. And MAD MEN.

And for reasons I can't explain, my usual aversion to reality TV has mellowed a bit this summer. HELL'S KITCHEN, LAST COMIC STANDING, and ON THE LOT are now on the TiVo, which is really the best way to watch those shows: fast-forward through the boring stuff and head right for the meat. Don't get me wrong, there's precious little meat (ON THE LOT particularly so).

But it's not all TV for me. I'm still working through the Netflix backlog-- on back episodes of THE WIRE. Heh.

And you? What're you watching now, if anything?

Is Whiskers Writing That Novel While You're at Work?

A (patient) cat in Germany has been given a digital camera collar by his owners, which documents his kitteh travels over the day, sort of like Justin TV for cats. Cool stuff.

Of course, if my cat had one of these it would all be shots of the corner of the couch, with occasional close-ups of her food bowl. Maybe an action shot of her yarfing up a hairball.

Into the Room

It's been a good couple of weeks for the scribosphere. For myself, I just started as a staff writer on a new network drama scheduled for the fall season.

The EPs and the other writers have amazing track records and are all smart, friendly, creative, and funny, which makes for a dream room. I'm thrilled, to say the least. Also grateful. And lucky.

I won't be posting about it much -- as you may've noticed, I prefer to keep mum about my work, discretion being the better part of valor or whatevs -- but I will try to pull together a few thoughts about things that I found helpful in getting here from there. Be sure to check out the sidebar for far more seasoned voices than mine!

Another County Heard From

A terrific new blog about TV writing has launched, Lisa Klink's What It's Like. Loads of helpful, entertaining information from a working writer with a lot of experience. It's in my newsreader, and should be in yours as well.

Ziggurat Con

Gamer troops stationed in Iraq are throwing their own con:

When President Bush ordered troops to Iraq, he probably never imagined that he would be ultimately be responsible for what very well could be the very first D&D convention/game day ever held in a war zone. Ziggurat Con, being held June 9 from 1200 to 2100 hours at Camp Adder/Tallil Airbase, is open to all allied military personnel and civilian contractors in Iraq.

Check out Gamegrene for the full story. There's even info on how to donate to the event.

Primetime Fall Schedule

Whew. The upfront dust is still settling, but The Futon Critic has the day-by-day on the fall TV lineup, as announced by the nets this week in New York. Ladies and gentlemen, start your TiVOs!

NBC Pickup News

Yes, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS will be back next season! Also, some pilot pickup nooz: CHUCK, JOURNEYMAN, THE BIONIC WOMAN, and LIFE.

Panic Now, Avoid the Rush

The upfronts are next week, sealing the fate of new and returning shows alike. A few new links to check out:

Roundup of the pilot buzz so far from the Hollywood Reporter

Nifty upfront guide from the Futon Critic posse

Also from the Futon Critic, a speculative and in their own words "probably full of crap" buzz index on pilots in development

Place yer bets, ladies and gents!

Clam Chowder

Jane Espenson has published a number of helpful posts on "clams," played-out jokes and phrases long past funny.

Penny Arcade offers one take on a common clam (click to see a larger version):

And the Race Is On

Nikki Finke sums up the rumors, buzz, and speculation so far on the current crop of primetime pilots for fall.

R.I.P. GILMORE GIRLS

Drape Stars Hollow in crepe, GILMORE GIRLS has been canceled.

Brave New World

Amusing sort-of-to-scale-map of online communities. Click to see more readable version:

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Daemon

Tip o' the hat to Zen of Design for finding this cool personality quiz for THE GOLDEN COMPASS.

Special props to the quizmakers for including a nifty feature where your friends rate how good a match your daemon is, which could lead to a new animal being chosen. Pelloneus was an Osprey when I posted this...

My Novelization of Tetris is a Thrill-a-Minute

Penny Arcade takes on videogame tie-in books.

TV Day Presented by the Writers Guild Foundation

A nifty Saturday seminar is coming in May, with some kickass panelists and sessions.

BREAKING INTO THE BOX - TV DAY

Panelists (subject to availability): Peter Casey (Cheers, Frasier), Joe Cohen (CAA agent), Damon Lindelof (Crossing Jordan, Lost), Brannon Braga (Star Trek, Threshold), Jan Oxenberg (Chicago Hope, Cold Case), Jay Kogen (Simpsons, Malcolm in the Middle), Chris Brancato (X-Files, Boomtown), Winnie Holzman (My So-Called Life, Once and Again), Robin Schiff (Party of Five, The Bad Girl's Guide), Bill Chais (Family Law, Shark) and Alexa Junge (Friends, The West Wing, Big Love) with many more to come.

WHERE: WGAw headquarters, 7000 West Third Street (at Fairfax ) Los Angeles , 90048.

WHEN: Saturday, May 19, 2007, 8:30 AM – 8:00 PM.

TICKETS AND SCHEDULE: http://www.wgfoundation.org/
$150, general public; $125, WGA members; and $110-full-time students with I.D.

A light breakfast, snacks, box lunch and an evening wine and cheese reception are included in the registration fee.

I'll be there. Who else?

Panthers Win State!

Dear NBC,

Please renew FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS.

Thank you.

(Missed an episode? Hell, the whole season? Catch them all online at NBC.com.)