The Circle of Life, TV-Style

Turn on the TV and you'll see MOONLIGHT recycled all over the place.

COLD CASE's premiere on Sunday featured a double shot of MOONLIGHT guest stars, the chancellor of Hearst College from "Sonata" and Mick's WWII buddy Ray from "What's Left Behind."

Doing better yet are the smug promoter from "Black Crystal" and the doomed starlet from "Click," who have guest arcs as Jimmy Barrett and "new girl" Jane respectively on MAD MEN.

And what should I see on the CHUCK premiere tonight, in the Chinese restaurant where Chuck has his first date with Sarah, but the cut-out wood screens from Mick's apartment. The actual screens-- both shows are from Warner Bros.

Sigh. Well, at least we're green...

Paul Newman

Has died. He left quite a legacy, in his films and public works.

In his memory, watch one of his movies with a bag of Newman's Own cookies, why dontcha? Or eat fifty eggs. Your call.

No Rest for the Wicked

With delight, I see DEXTER on my TiVo's to-do list for Sunday, September 28! The hardest working serial killer in showbiz is back!

Now I just hope that they don't kill my spec by going down the same story roads I did...

EDIT: Crap. Just saw in a blurb in Entertainment Weekly that they did/are going to. Probably on Sunday. Gah.

Recalculating... Recalculating...

If you've ever used one of those GPS devices like the Garmin, you know recalculating. This is what the GPS lady voice (my parents call her Mrs. Garmin, which I love) says when you veer from the path she's plotted for you, say because you encounter traffic or know a better route yourself.

The voice recording for "Recalculating..." has this hilarious (to me, anyway), faint tinge of disappointment mixed with resignation, as if Mrs. Garmin's thinking, "Okay, pal. I tried. You win." Ultimately she's gotta suck it up and recalculate a new route, because, after all, you're the one driving the fucking car.

Tomorrow will mark the 5 month anniversary of my last paid day as a writer on MOONLIGHT. The show got its walking papers from CBS a few weeks later. It's been a busy summer full of good meetings and pep talks with Los Agentes and El Managero, but as of today I'm still unstaffed. You know how you keep hearing that it's tough out there right now? It's tough out there.

In an effort to cheer me up, the Boyfriend said to me recently, "Right now you're doing pretty much every kind of writing you can do, except being on the staff of a TV show."

He meant this as a good thing.

And it is. Here's what I've been working on during my summer "vacation":

Spec feature

Spec graphic novel

Story areas for 12 episodes to accompany my spec pilot

Pitch for an hourlong TV show

Pitch for a half-hour single-camera TV show

Pitch for a direct to DVD movie

Prep for a young adult novel

And that's not even counting game design consulting gigs and truly nutty stuff. Monday I sent one of my plays to a local theater that has a new works staged reading series. Today I mailed a short story to my college alumni magazine's annual fiction contest. Then, on a whim, I sent it to The New Yorker too. Why the hell not?

Back to the list. Apart from the first two, these opportunities are for real companies, and could lead to real jobs with real money attached. Of course, most if not all will fall through despite my work on them to date, because this is the real world. In a grumpier moment earlier this week, I was feeling like that girl in high school who all the guys wanted to grope behind the bleachers but wouldn't ask to prom.

I may not get asked to Hollywood prom for any of that stuff, but it won't be for lack of trying. And I'm still working to get staffed on a show, maybe for midseason, maybe next spring. In the meantime I'm enjoying the chance to stretch creatively and keep my writing muscles exercised.

Enough about me. What does this mean for you?

If you're getting thwarted on your main path, try something else. Recalculate.

At a number of events this summer I met all kinds of talented writers, many of whom unfortunately are also "between projects" or "working on their own stuff," code for being out of work. Everybody, working or not, has stressed the importance of diversifying.

Writers write. Shoot that short film and put it on YouTube. Write that play. Take that class in writing comic books. You may know where you want to go, but be open to trying a new way to get there. Isn't that better than being stuck in traffic?

Sure, there may be some disappointment. Get through that and the resignation so you can blaze a new trail to your goal. Because you're the one driving the fucking car.

Ahoy!

It's Talk Like a Pirate Day, matey!

Be sure to get your Arrr on. 'Cause, you know, why not.

Frakkin' Cool

The cast and crew of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA received a gorgeous coffee table-style memory book at the series wrap party, and Cinemaspy has posted a peek inside.

Once More, With Avatars

Not sure how I missed this, but earlier this week in his keynote at the Virtual Worlds Conference right here in LA, Jon Landau announced the development by Multiverse of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer MMO. Also in development is an "interactive learning experience" based on James Cameron's Titanic footage, while a Firefly MMO has been postponed.

Adds! We Got Adds!

Adds, in MMO-speak, are additional enemies that attack you when you're already fighting.

I'm still plowing through summer TV, battling recorded episodes of THE CLOSER, BURN NOTICE, PROJECT RUNWAY, even MAD MEN, and here come the fall's fresh new premieres, sneaking onto the TiVo through their season passes that I recorded and forgot about weeks, even months ago.

FRINGE! SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES! THE SHIELD! TRUE BLOOD! ENTOURAGE! Ack! Medic!

Where's that AoE/DoT when I need it?

Sublime Primetime Coming 9/17

A heads-up that Sublime Primetime, the Writers Guild Foundation's annual Emmy nominee event, is two weeks away, Wednesday Sept. 17 at 7:30pm at the WGA Theater in Beverly Hills.

The guests so far include:

Kirk Ellis, JOHN ADAMS
Bryan Fuller, PUSHING DAISIES
Danny Strong, RECOUNT
Matthew Weiner & Robin Veith, MAD MEN

...with Emmy and Humanitas winner Larry Wilmore (THE OFFICE, THE BERNIE MAC SHOW) moderating. All that plus dessert and wine included! It typically sells out, so get your tickets soon.

Why TV?

BooM over at Wannabetvwriter is asking the telescribosphere why they write for TV. A worthy question!

I came to TV writing with a background in playwriting and designing videogames. I'm currently working on a comic book and a feature. Creating fictional worlds is what drives me, and happily, bizarrely, is something people have paid me to do (sometimes), when I would readily pay them to do it if I had the dosh.

A quick digression from the Why to When. One of the games I worked on, MAJESTIC for Electronic Arts, was episodic. We had a writers room, just like a TV show. We even got canceled after 4 episodes, just like a TV show.

One of the game writers was a talented woman who had worked on BEVERLY HILLS 90210 and MELROSE PLACE as well as movies and numerous interactive projects before and since. She became a mentor and a good friend, and encouraged me to think about TV writing should I ever find myself in LA.

As it happens, a later game job brought me to LA. I started writing TV scripts, sent one to the Warner Bros. TV Drama Writers Workshop, got in, and got staffed. I'm so grateful to the people who took a chance on me. It still feels unreal.

Back to the Why.

Stories come in all shapes and sizes, and it so happens that a lot of the richest storytelling can happen in TV, when you live with characters week after week and experience how they evolve and surprise over time.

There's something very intimate and compelling about how these stories unfold in your home. I was in tears during the season 1 finale of MAD MEN. Is it any wonder that fandom emerges around TV shows the way it rarely does for movies?

A key element to TV writing is its collaborative nature, unlike writing a novel or poetry. I love the mix of cooperative and individual creation that takes place on a TV staff, everyone working through ideas to craft the best story possible, then the writer going off and writing the script.

And, it's a shitload of hard, mentally exhausting work, but really really really fun.


The below can consider themselves tagged, although I doubt more than a couple even read my blog:

Alex Epstein
Shawna Benson
Ken Levine
Jane Espenson
And... BooM! What? She didn't say no tagbacks.

Does Shonda Know?

This has been bugging me for a while. You know the title card for PRIVATE PRACTICE? This one?


The image itself annoys me, because I think a successful series spun off from a massively successful one deserves better than a 20-minute Photoshop collage of an improbably toned female torso and clip art of a Santa Monica beach.

But that little building above the belly button? That's not a lifeguard station or a café or a quaint shack where you can rent rollerblades, although there are plenty of all of those along the bike path.

That little building is a public restroom. An oft-used one.

And last week while I was out running along that very path, some Parks and Rec employees were by the outdoor shower, above Miss Torso's bony right hip, baffled about what to do with the half-naked person passed out drunk in the sand.


At least, I hope he was drunk.

And he wasn't naked on his top half.

Next Stop, Cylons

Scientists in Britain have created a robot controlled by a brain of cultured neurons:

“The robot’s biological brain is made up of cultured neurons which are placed onto a multi electrode array (MEA). The MEA is a dish with approximately 60 electrodes which pick up the electrical signals generated by the cells. This is then used to drive the movement of the robot. Every time the robot nears an object, signals are directed to stimulate the brain by means of the electrodes. In response, the brain’s output is used to drive the wheels of the robot, left and right, so that it moves around in an attempt to avoid hitting objects. The robot has no additional control from a human or a computer, its sole means of control is from its own brain.”

Wow.

A Title Perhaps Too Apt

Electronic Arts is partnering with the For Dummies series to develop games that... teach you to play games. Poker, Sudoku, Solitaire, "brain-training" games.

Isn't a game that teaches you to play poker, um, poker?

Alex O'Loughlin Sits in a Conference Room

Hi Moonlighters! Firstly, thanks so very much for your kind comments and your support throughout the life (undeath?) of the show.

Secondly, I felt bad for y'all cruising by my blog for what was really not that exciting a post yesterday, so... Here's a picture of the cast at the table read for MOONLIGHT's finale episode, "Sonata"! Click the pic to see a bigger version.

Check out the glamorous world of making television:

From left to right: David Blue (Logan), Jacob Vargas (Guillermo), Jason Dohring (Josef), Alex O'Loughlin (Mick!), Sophia Myles (Beth!), Robert Scott (Assistant Director), and Fred Toye (Director. He also directed "Fever" and "Out of the Past").

Don't they look, um, riveted?

I'm out of frame with the other half of Fred Toye, along with Ethan Erwin (my co-writer on the episode), executive producer Gabrielle Stanton, co-producer Jill Blotevogel, and our executives from CBS, WBTV, and Silver Pictures.

Big thanks to Jill who had the foresight to snap the photo with her iPhone. I was way too nervous to even think about something sensible like documenting the occasion.

Well, At Least They're Still Talking About It

From a post on The Hollywood Reporter's TV blog, deconstructing the stated fave TV shows of Obama and McCain:

Among media portrayals of U.S. presidents, McCain adds he admired President Palmer from Fox’s “24.” Not only is “24” considered an appropriately cool show, but Palmer was a winning portrayal of a tough, conservative African American president. It's a crafty choice on McCain's part, like putting the race card through a paper shredder. (For bonus points, McCain should try chastising CBS for canceling "Moonlight"; he could instantly shore up his weaker demos among women by a few million votes).

Emphasis mine. Ahem.

Hamlet, the Facebook News Feed Edition

Ophelia joined the group Maidens Who Don't Float.

Comic-Con 2008 Wrap Show: Zap! Pow! Ham!

Back from San Diego! Since this was our first Comic-Con, we learned a few things.

1) If you want to attend Thursday sessions, arrive Wednesday night.

Like many others, I was stuck in that hellish traffic around Camp Pendleton, due to the Ham Truck Explosion, which The Boyfriend and I agree would be an excellent Rock Band band name but which sucks as a road hazard.

Now of course you can't plan for crazy, newsmaking accidents, but in the future I'll look at Thursday as a real day rather than a travel one and get into town earlier.

So I arrived too late and/or too enervated and annoyed to make it to any of the sessions I wanted to go to, so I just did a quick recon of the neighborhood and hung out at the hotel until The Boyfriend arrived in the evening.

2) You can in fact book a hotel room at the last minute.

We stayed in Old Town, which worked out fine thanks to the handy San Diego Trolley, and I booked that through the Comic-Con site only a few weeks ago. A friend called last Monday, which is when the companies release the extra rooms they've booked, and got a room at the Marriott right next door.

Old Town bonus: No lack of yummy Mexican food. And margaritas!

3) There are two Convention Center trolley stops. The second one, Gaslamp, is closer to Hall H. Save yourself the walk. You'll need your energy.

After getting our badges Friday morning -- Professional registration = shorter line, happily -- we went straight to Hall H. We arrived about an hour before the WATCHMEN panel and I figured we'd have no chance of getting in, but we did!

And it was awesome.

Cool new footage they screened twice, Zack Snyder and the whole cast, Dave Gibbons too. The Q&A was hilarious, and apparently curated for color: first question came from a guy dressed as Batman. Second? The Joker. There was also a pair of twins who tag-team-asked their question, and a Rorshach.

And we each got a ticket for a WATCHMEN t-shirt! Swag!

4) Swag associated with a Hall H event disappears fast.

Which we learned when we went to get our shirts.

After WATCHMEN, we went straight to the Entertainment Weekly Showrunners panel, featuring Josh Schwartz, Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof, Bryan Fuller, and Josh Friedman. It was very entertaining, as you might expect from such an accomplished and visionary and funny group, although kinda LOST-centric, especially the Q&A. No bigs, though -- the panelists made jokes out of the situation, and everyone on the panel was having their own session later in the con anyway.

So we didn't flock to the floor right after the WATCHMEN panel, and they were all out of t-shirts.

All three of the booths with the shirts. Out.

We got to one booth just in time to see the last two shirts given out to people right in front of us.

I was in a really bad mood after that.

But we kept our tickets.

5) Swag gets resupplied over the day.

Never say die! We wandered back to the WB booth later and saw WATCHMEN tickets and t-shirts changing hands. Sweet! So, all ended well.

(Of course, those same precious shirts were probably getting handed out willy-nilly on Sunday, no tickets required, so the exhibitors wouldn't have to ship them back.)

We spent most of the rest of Friday checking out the floor. On our way out to dump swag at the hotel and freshen up before dinner, we ran into my bosses from MOONLIGHT, who were on the writing for genre TV panel that night. I was glad to have the chance to catch up with them there because...

6) If you arrive at a popular panel late, or even right on time, forget about it. It's full and they won't let you in.

So, bah. Coming back from Old Town we were late to the genre writing panel, and couldn't get in. We couldn't even get into panels that hadn't started yet, because they were already full. So we people-watched for a bit before getting dinner.

And we got plus-oned into the DC party! It was loud, not too crowded. People emerging from the VIP area had tote bags with stuff in them, but we had to content ourselves with drinkable swag in the form of specialty cocktails named after DC characters. I had a vodka and Red Bull-- erm, I mean a "Booster Gold."

7) Get your floor time in as early as possible. And not on Saturday, if you can help it.

Mob scene. MOB SCENE. We made a final pass through before meeting friends for lunch, but were glad we'd seen most everything on Friday. Thursday would've been better yet.

Saturday is clearly better spent in panels, and we did catch Mike Mignola and the HELLBOY team (The Boyfriend is a fan from way back).

Then we picked up the car and our luggage back in Old Town and hit the road, which was happily free of incinerated meat products. That means we missed the Masquerade, which was Saturday night, along with a bunch of other panels. Next time we'll leave on Sunday, I think.

8) Miss something? If it's relevant to Hollywood or is big news in comics, it's probably online.

After getting home Saturday evening I glutted myself on Web coverage of the missed panels, including DEXTER, BSG, Joss Whedon, and HEROES. Announcements from the big comics publishers and presos by the industry's heavy hitter creators also got liveblogged/recapped/etc.

Whew! It was a ton of fun, and we're looking forward to next year. In the meantime, I have my own comic book to write.

Oh, and while as noted we skipped the Masquerade, there's no reason I can't hand out a few costume awards of my own. The envelope, please!

Best Costume, Male: Tie! A picture-perfect Davy "Squidbeard" Jones from PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN and a Borg-assimilated Klingon

Best Costume, Female: An all-chixx0r squadron of Rebel pilots

Most Desultory Costume: V FOR VENDETTA mask. Dude. Make an effort.

Most Popular Costume: DARK KNIGHT Joker

Zeitgeist Award: Dr. Horrible and Captain Hammer (one with groupies!), alone or together

Best Use of Cardboard, Runner-Up: Weighted Companion Cube

Best Use of Cardboard, Winner: Two guys dressed as TIE fighters, wings on arms

Best Game-Inspired Costume: HALF-LIFE scientist, complete with lab coat, Black Mesa badge, and plush headcrab hat

Least Effective Costume, Runner-Up: All the anime and Final Fantasy outfits, which only make sense if you're a devotee of those series and games

Least Effective Costume, Winner: Anyone with a "Free Hugs" sign

Guy Who Probably Regretted His Costume the Minute After He Put It On: Colossus, face and arms covered with silver paint, who was unable to put his arms down for fear of smearing

Comic-Con!

Speaking of comics, The Boyfriend and I are heading to Comic-Con tomorrow and Friday for that key annual gathering of the tribe, one of the most sacred seasons in the Geek Calendar.

We may try to catch the WATCHMEN presentation on Friday, although something tells me we should already be in line for it. I'm hoping to get in a few TV panels, some comics industry stuff, and of course the lion's share of the time will be wandering around and people-watching.

We've never been, so newbie tips are most welcome!

Broken

I still find it fascinating, and kind of dark and funny, the TV terminology of "breaking" a story. It sounds so violent and painful. Which it sometimes is. Breaking -- outlining -- is the heavy lifting of writing, where the hand-waving ends, the holes emerge, and you have to figure out exactly what the hell it is you're going to write.

And if a story doesn't work? Like a badly-set limb that's healed wrong, you re-break it. Ow.

So, a broken story is a happy and good thing, despite the image it calls up -- to me anyway -- of a little baby bird flapping a busted wing, on the ground yards below the nest, with the alleycats circling.

I've broken my comic book story, and it's a three-issue arc of 24 pages each after all. On paper, it works pretty well: I'd outlined the story originally in three acts, and as it turns out the content of each works out to 24 comic book pages.

Each issue/act has its own beginning, middle, and end, of course. The end of the first issue is the revelation of my hero's calling, the second ends with a dark moment that steels his resolve to embrace that calling, and the third ends with a big ol' superhero fight, his team assembled, the Big Bad vanquished... and the introduction of a Bigger Bad to be fought another day.

Everything slotting out so neatly in this phase means it may all go south once I start the actual script, of course, but I'm feeling pleased right now and excited to write.

MAD MEN Marathon Today

Tune into AMC all day today for martini-soaked season 1 goodness. Season 2 starts next Sunday, w00t!