Wow. And coming in here claiming that writers are whiners who don’t deserve their fair share of pay and that you could easily write a script *isn’t *condescending, supercillious, and snotty?
This thread has changed my opinion of you, Dio.
In an online journal I mentioned once that I had a cousin working on a soap opera. I mentioned it because she had gotten an award and I thought it was neat. I specified that I haven’t talked to her in years and years, and that I was only posting out of remote familial pride.
Two people I’d never even HEARD of emailed me to beg me to get her autograph for them.
For this reason, I can totally understand if someone on here works on any kind of regular television series and is not willing to say which one. Say Elenfair works on 24. Even if she specified that she never met any of the actors or whatnot (I have no idea if she would or not), she would still probably get 5 different emails from people on here asking her to get them Keifer’s autograph.
Yeah, some of the posts I’ve seen from him here makes me wonder if somehow we’re being whooshed. It don’t make much sense otherwise.
Not exactly. Daid Letterman was saying that he would be allowed to continue working through the strike, even though he’s in the guild, because he’s a showrunner. He suggested that it might be fun to see just how bad the show would suck if he wrote the whole thing himself.
Wanna know how much Dick DeBartolo, the writer for Match Game has made off of all the years of reruns? $1.12
Of course, that beats what he’s been paid for his work on Family Feud.
BTW, you can buy original Match Game questions from Dick. He kept bunches of them from when he worked on the show and is now selling them.
Oh come on, that’s just silly. Everyone knows all Canadians know one another. She could get it if she wanted. 
I appreciate Elenfair’s work. She fully deserves to be paid fairly for it (even if she does distract me from watching it, while giving me background and exposition. How thoughtless of her).
As far as I can tell, Diogenes is saying that 1) writers are a dime a dozen, and any old person can write a script, and to prove this, he himself will write a script, and 2) not just any old person can write a script, but he can because he is special and talented and a very good writer, and to prove this, he himself will write a script.
So I’m confused, are we trying to prove that writers are a dime a dozen and that they can easily be replaced, or that Diogenes is a Very Special Individual and can quickly write a script even with no training or experience whatsoever although most non-special individuals would not be able to do so?
(Either way, I suspect that the script he turns in will be an unwatchable piece of dreck. Bricklaying looks easy, too, but just try it sometime with no experience under your belt and see how long your wall stands up. But who knows, maybe he’ll surprise us all.)
I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I had a babysit a thread I started.
But personally, I think Dio is doing a great job and I have a feeling he’s going to turn in a great script.
Diogenes, you’re standing on my very last nerve. When you’re done with your script, print it, attach it properly with brads, and I’ll have you deliver it to me, personally, in Uptown Minneapolis and I’ll show you a copy of my last non-disclosure agreement? You show me yours, I’ll show you mine? Wait… do we have to “whip 'em out and measure them?”
… is that what this is about?
Oy.
Oh, but since my participation was requested…
You are being ridiculously hard on Dio. You gave him a challenge, which he is performing, and yet you continue to berate and belittle him because he just doesn’t understand what your job is like.
Personally, it seems like a rather childish, one-sided argument that Dio is politely not engaging you in. Yet, you keep sniping at him.
Did I say that? Some do, some don’t. I picked one that did. Don’t worry. It’s not hurting me.
She’s posturing as a professional and attempting to use that claimed expertise to lecture and harrangue. She’s given no information she couldn’t have found on the internet. I have no reason to believe that Elenfair has ever written so much as a birthday card. When this is done, I am the only one of the two of us will have proven I have ever written a script. I am not obligated to respect her her posts just because she SAYS she’s writes for TV. If she wants to argue from authority (which she does) then she needs to prove her credentials. If she isn’t willing to do that then she needs to drop the expert act.
I never said writers are a dime a dozen. My position is only that I can do it, not that anybody can do it. I am not ordinary.
As opposed to the kind and gracious words that he has showered upon TV writers in general… Not to mention the majority of the populace at large, who he described as “idiots”?
Irony. Burning.
Back in post #83, Dio retracted his objections to the strike proper on account of his ignorance on the topic. He isn’t claiming writers are whiny because of money issues…at least, not any more. As for the script, until you see a final product, how do you know he can’t?
Asking him to put up or shut up is valid; judging his abilities before you see the product is pretty weak, and smacks of sour grapes more than anything else.
Whereas passing harsh judgment on the incompetence of television writers while scarcely knowing a single thing about the goings-on behind the scenes – and declaring that one’s urine would produce better work, despite a complete lack of experience in this field – is the very essence of graciousness and charity.
Diogenes… did you miss her post? She’s willing to meet you, locally, and show you her nondisclosure agreement. You’re ignoring that and waving your hands saying that she’s just a self-proclaimed expert, she hasn’t proven she’s done anything, and look at how smart you are and how most everyone else is an idiot! It sounds like you’re making excuses for failure.
You’ve got people coming out of the woodwork saying that their opinions of you have changed for the worse. I, also, have completely lost all respect I used to have for you (which admittedly was significant, once upon a time). Did a TV writer run over your dog, or something?
I wager one American dollar within one week, Dio will post his script. It’ll be reviewed and sent back with notes by those who already said it will receive the same treatment that real scripts receive. Writing a script isn’t just putting words down on paper, it’s dealing with all the other bullshit that comes your way. (See Cervaise’s brilliant posts.) He’ll say that they’re deliberately being hostile, that they don’t recognize the genius of his script, that the deck is stacked against him, that he proved his point, and he wins.
Just wondering; if it’s so easy, why haven’t you retired on the residuals that you could have easily earned? Is it just because you haven’t gotten around to it yet?
Funny, I see the following credits at imdb.com for House:
How many professional writers have access to technical advisors for complex (particularly scientific) subject matter? Or, prehaps more pertinently, how many don’t?
No, you said that most people are idiots, and that you can produce a quality TV script because you aren’t. That’s not the same thing at all.
BTW, my mother does not fancy herself to be a writer. She balks at the notion of writing anything for publication, much less a TV script. I take considerable umbrage at the implication that she’s an idiot.
Diogenes is the one who said that writing a TV script is mostly just coming up with dialogue. I say that’s his problem.
Personally, I don’t think I would have the chutzpah to make this statement in a thread where I’d been pontificating at length about a topic that I later admitted I did not know jacksquat about.
Do you feel that everything on TV is quality? Do you not feel that there are some hacks out there writing for TV-land? I don’t recall Dio saying either that a) all writers are incompetent, or b) that his writing would be superior to everyone else’s. As I’ve already pointed out, he made specific claims with respect to being able to churn out a better script than those provided for a specific show. He also claimed that he could do a script for another show easily. Neither of those claims matches what you are saying he claimed.
There’s plenty of ego to go around in this thread. There’re also a lot of sloppy arguments. I honestly can’t fathom why there’s so much hostility floating around, but whatever floats your collective boats. If you think his boasts are empty, then you’ll have plenty of opportunity to gloat once you see (or don’t see, as the case may be) a final product. Until then, what harm is there in granting benefit of the doubt?