Brian starts us off.
Do you think modern cable shows go too far with their depictions of nudity and sexual content? It just seems that every show produced in recent memory tries to force in as much nudity and sex as possible, regardless of relevance to the plot. Is it merely a cheap ploy to entice viewers or do you feel it can add something to a program?
There’s no question that there's some gratuitous sex and nudity. Early episodes of GAME OF THRONES seem to have all boring exposition scenes take place in a brothel where there was much to look at while the dry text was being delivered.
My favorite exploitation cable scene was in one of those women-in-prison movies where all these hot coed inmates were naked in the shower… reading their mail.
But as long as the viewer is given warnings at the top of the show they can decide for themselves whether the material is right for them. To censure the artists of the content is wrong. As long as the viewer is not blindsided I see nothing wrong with it. There are a billion other viewing options. Watch one of those if you're offended by the sex and nudity. Remember: There's always the Hallmark Channel.
From Tammy:
What is your favorite sitcom setting (family, workplace etc.) as a viewer? And which is your favorite as a writer? Thanks!
Workplace because if you do it well it can be both. One could certainly argue that the gang at CHEERS is a “family.” But workplace settings allow for more different types of people to come together. And you avoid the annoying precocious children who don’t talk like any children in real life.
Dave-El wonders:
Hi, Ken! Your comment about using a table in the mess tent for re-writes reminds me of a possible Friday question I have: What exactly was Igor serving up in the mess tent chow line? Those pots were usually filled with some form of goop that was supposed to be mashed potatoes or creamed corn or something like that. Was it actually anything edible?
Jeff Maxwell, who played Igor, often checks in to the blog so he might be able to answer directly, but from what I understood it was all very decent food prepared by the Fox commissary. I never ate it. One of the unwritten rules of production is you don’t eat “set food.” It’s prepared for the scene, not you. There is always a craft-services table nearby with plenty of snacks if you get hungry.
And finally, from Kevin from VA:
Speaking of "inside" jokes, last year you posted a great story of your meeting with Al Hirschfeld and how he always snuck his daughter's name into his caricatures. I left a very slight "inside" joke in the comments section from that post that may have slipped by you and possibly even some of your loyal readers.
My question is when you've done inside jokes, have you enjoyed it more when others "got" the joke or more when they didn't?
Working "Nina" into Hirschfeld's drawing did nothing to detract from it. An inside joke is different because maybe you're going with an inside joke instead of a joke designed for a general audience.
But if you're going to go that route, first and foremost you hope the “inside people” you wrote the joke for get it. And it’s always great when others get it because it gives them the feeling that they'e on the inside as well.
I would only add be very very sparing with inside jokes. You want the inside jokes to just whiz by. And you want to surround them with jokes meant for everybody. There’s certainly a danger in inside jokes. Once the viewer senses that he’s being excluded he’ll leave.
I found this to be more the case in radio back “in the day” (and by that I mean, when radio actually existed). Some disc jockeys would do inside jokes meant for other radio people in the industry. There would be jokes about the format or station policy or the competition. Very funny for their peers but not the general public.
Robert W. Morgan, in the heyday of KHJ in Los Angeles was guilty of that in my opinion. Morgan could be devastatingly funny, but over time he would sprinkle in a little inside zinger or two. Eventually inside jokes became 90% of his act. So radio people listen to tapes of him today and think he’s a genius. Play the same tape for someone not in the business and they have no idea what all the shouting’s about. Then have them listen to a tape of Dan Ingram on WABC in New York. They'll be laughing today, 50 years later. Beware of inside jokes.
What’s your Friday Question? I could use a Tesla.
from By Ken Levine
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