David Russell gets us off and running.
Do writers and actors ever acknowledge, even to themselves, that they're on a stinker of a show? I've watched shows that have inexplicably been green lit, they're universally panned, or they're dying a terrible, slow death after having been on too long. Do the writers and cast still really believe in the show or is there some recognition they're working on a lousy product, and what does that do to the morale on the production?
Writers acknowledge more than actors. Actors may know but since they have to go out there and perform every week and it’s their faces up there they tend to be more in denial.
Writers, especially staff writers, see things for what they are and bitch about them.
That said, writers will sometime prefer being on a bad show to a good one if the good one is run by a tyrant and the bad one is run by a lovely person who creates a pleasant work environment.
If actors get bad reviews and are publicly told they’re on a dog then they freak and general chaos is usually the result.
At least a bad movie is in the can, but when actors have to continue making bad TV shows then you have that long death march until the end.
An actor once told me that early in her career she was in some B-movie teen comedy, and they had the cast and crew screening. When the lights came back up all of the actors were literally crying.
At least they didn’t have return to the studio the next day to begin work on the sequel.
From scottmc:
Ken; were you a d.j.when 'Delilah' was a hit for Tom Jones? My daughter is 14 and I try to play for her songs from when I was her age. She likes the Turtles (especially the byplay between the lead singer and the heavy set guy) and the 4 Seasons (some of their songs show up on the soundtracks of some of the movies she watches.) When we heard 'Delilah' she couldn't believe it. I looked at my copy of 'The Me Generation...by Me' and it seems you started working in radio right around the time that song was released. Did you ever play the song, what was your reaction to it?
I played that song many times. I don’t understand what the big deal is. It’s a story song about a guy killing his girlfriend for cheating on him. The police come and I assume he winds up in the cell next to Cosby.
There are any number of songs that had that similar theme of someone murdering someone else who they felt did them wrong. The delightful “Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” “Stagger Lee,” “Murder Ink,” “Fulsom Prison Blues,” “I Shot the Sheriff,” “Hey Joe,” and of course “Bohemian Rhapsody.” I bet you can think of seven more.
RyderDA asks:
In old movies (not sure when, but certainly pre 1960), the credits showed up at the start of the movie and when it was over, the movie just ended. Later movies seemed to feature some intro credits, and some credits after as well. Somewhere in the late 60's or early '70's, all the credits started showing up at the end. They got longer and longer over time; now credits are so long, they seem to list everyone who worked in the production company's office plus everyone living in the cities where the movie is made just for good measure.
I think you have written in the past how the WGA worked on getting writers properly credited, but 1) who fought to get the 4th transportation driver listed, and 2) why the switch over time from credits all before, to before and after, to mostly after?
I believe the switch over time was to get the audience invested in the narrative quicker. Movies didn’t have to start slowly to accommodate credits, or if the film began with an action sequence, they didn’t have to interrupt the flow by doing an opening title sequence. Or the movie didn’t open with a four-minute opening title sequence.
For the most part, I miss opening titles. What would a James Bond movie be without them?
A lot of romantic comedies used to have clever and stylish animated opening titles. I quite enjoyed those.
As for credit placement, unions negotiate that. If the credits are at the beginning of a film the director gets the final credit. If the credits are at the end of the film the director gets the first credit (followed by producer and writer).
Regarding all the crew members, I suspect there are union stipulations for that too. Personally, I don’t mind that there are a million credits. Everyone who works on a film deserves recognition. I’ve talked about this before, many of the hardest working, most conscientious members of the crew are below-the-lines people who never get the kudos they deserve.
And finally, Jim S. wonders:
What was the best note you ever received from a suit, and from a fellow writer/producer?
Network: Tim Flack at CBS. We conceived the pilot of BIG WAVE DAVE’S as three guys having a mid-life crisis deciding to open a surf shop in Hawaii. Tim said one needed a wife to bring along. That turned the premise into more of Wendy & the Lost Boys.
We hired Jane Kaczmarek, she tested through the roof, and the show got on the air because of her. I’d say that was a pretty good note.
Writer note: Treva Silverman read the original draft of my play A OR B? and said, “the first act is wonderful. You have no second act.” I completely threw out my second act, wrote a new entirely different one, and the play went on to receive numerous well-received production. Thank you, Treva.
What’s your Friday Question? Leave it in the comments section and stay away from Delilah.
from By Ken Levine
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