Okay, so you’re now stating that what you really meant is that you can do better than absolute dreck. A rather weak claim, IMO.
If that weak assertion was all that you truly meant (and we all know that it wasn’t), then it would have had no bearing on the issue of whether the writers were being reasonable in going on strike. In order for your comments on the competence of TV writers to have any weight – not to mention your praise of your own writing skills – you’d have to demonstrate that you can produce something that’s not just “better than absolute dreck.”
I suggest a couple of other explanations:
3. Some shows don’t give a crap about snappy dialog, at least original snappy dialog, and merely rely on gruesome murders and special effects.
4. The reality of a variation in quality, from Sweating Bullets to West Wing, indicates that some crap writing is indeed tolerated but not required, even if the scriptwriter is a genius when given his freedom. Economics here is crappy script=cheaper.
5. Unions. (just kidding!)
Yeah, I’ll agree with 3 & 4 as well. Sometimes it’s just not worth the time and money it takes to get a good script. If the audience for that particular show doesn’t care, then those resources are better spent on some other part of the show they DO care about.
I don’t think anyone is going to deny that 90 percent of scripted television is crap. Sturgeon knew it, we all know, 90 percent of almost everything is crap. That’s not a huge revelation. (Well, he called it one, but it isn’ t one NOW.) So, yeah, most television is crap.
Agreeing with that has no bearing on the original argument. The networks are making money off of 100 percent of the crap. The industry has worked with a residual system for decades. Writers get paid less upfront, and make up for it as time passes. This works for the money, and this works for the talent.
I really think this whole exercise is pointless. It started because Digogenes was spouting shit he knew next to nothing about. (He, admiraby, admitted as much, later in the thread.) Whatever happens to his script is 100 percent meaningless to the original discussion.
Having said all that, I am interested in seeing what is produced. It almost certainly will be fun. But, i think we need to all agree whatever he produces is neither here nor there in the discussion of the WGA Strike. And, we also must all agree that it is guaranteed to win major awards. Without agreement we can get nowhere.
Should have done a Voyager episode, Dio. You could make up words and whole concepts. Defeat the Borg with the captain’s hairpin. Or best of all, just do a bunch of shots of Seven-of-Nine jogging to and fro.
Actually, check some of the show threads - people do notice when a show moves the commercial breaks around from what feels standard for television. You won’t read “precisely 8:20 PM” you will read comments about too many commercial breaks or questions about whether the show was short this week, or statements how awful it is that the network only wants to sell airtime.
People notice those technical details. They don’t know what they’re noticing, but people notice those kinds of things.
At least with a chest of drawers, one can purchase plans. I would guess that somebody of average intelligence and dexterity could construct a passable piece of furniture with a few tries.
A decent script would seem to require more creativity. I hardly ever watch evening television, but I tuned in to “The Office” a couple weeks ago.
One piece of dialogue stuck in my mind:
Now, that was really funny. I don’t know about other people here, but I could work on a script for a couple months and still not come up with anything that funny. I think script writing takes talent.
On the other hand, an intelligent person without talent can still tell if a script sucks.
Funny thing about this is I have a friend who made a partitioned oak cabinet with three file drawers on one side. It’s of a quality beyond what you’d see in a large, shopping-mall furniture store. At the time, his only professional experience had been as a roofer, but he’d always enjoyed working with wood as a hobby.
I would say that there are probably a good number of talented and capable amateurs/hobbyists in just about any field that doesn’t require a license or super-expensive equipment to practice.
Well… this thead sucks. The title made me believe that someone was writing a teleplay based on Diogenes. I though, “Heh, Wilford Brimley* may be taking a break from infomercials for this project. I wonder if he can go into a frothy and incoherent rage without having a heart attack.”
*I always picture Dio as Brimley, but waaaay more manic, complete with flying spittle and the full whites of his eyes hallowing the iris.
Yes, it’s also about walking down hallways while they do it.
(kidding)
If I wrote for SNL I’d propose a mock promo for “Aaron Sorkin’s ‘CPA’s,’” with a lot of fast moving cameras following gray suited men and women through hallways as they had rapid-fire jargon-heavy dialogue about accountancy that was also extremely boring. Well, it’s funny in my head.
Solves crimes? I was thinking an unemployable shut-in with acute rage issues who has a team of clinical psychiatrists that visit him on a daily basis. You could save a lot of money on sets.
Are you serious? Go into any discussion of Second Life on any halfway literate game forum and you’ll the same joke made every time.
And I reiterate, while the actual screenwriting may not come easy, the average Heroes thread has a ton of interesting speculation about the future plot of the show that I would love to see. Maybe there’s actually something to this Wiki-influenced community editing future.
Combine the two so that he solves crimes but the last episode reveals that he is actually institutionalized and his adventures have all been delusional fantasies, sort of like the end of St. Elsewhere.
For all the crap that Dio gets, and frequently it is well deserved, I applaud him for even attempting this challenge. I am sure there will be a lot of formatting issues and first-timer mistakes, but I would be willing to let it slide. I am interested in his plot points, character development and interaction, his ability to maintain decent pacing and, since this is a medical show that is known for its mysterious diseases and diagnoses, how he handles the revealing of the disease without telegraphing it too early. I also hope he can add some rants against the government, republicans and religion. Maybe he could have House use a 1920’s style death ray or the patient is brought in with an impacted 18"DHIBJD :eek: :eek:.
I, for one, am looking forward to this script. I’m not expecting something that would win an Emmy. I am just hoping to be entertained.
