Friday Questions

 

Closing out April with Friday Questions.  What’s yours?

Alan Gollom leads off.

It seems to me that generally comedic actors adapt to drama better than dramatic actors adapt to comedy? What is your opinion?

I think good comedic actors tend to transition to drama easier because underneath the comedy they’re playing real people with real dramatic problems.

You need a certain ear to play comedy.   You have to feel the rhythms and timing.  And I don’t believe that can be taught.  Some dramatic actors have it; others don’t.  

Ed Asner played heavies his entire career until landing THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW.  Leslie Nielsen, Alec Baldwin, Gene Hackman, Brad Pitt, Nick Colasanto, Robert Duvall, Kurtwood Smith, George Clooney, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Hugh Laurie, Cate Blanchett, Diane Keaton, Bryan Cranston, Meryl Streep, William H. Macy, Allison Janney, Candice Bergen — are just some of the actors who adapted well to comedy.  And there are many others.  

From Liggie:

Question for an entertainment industry veteran. Of all the movies about Hollywood ("The Player", "Day for Night", "Singin' in the Rain", etc.), which is the most accurate at depicting the day-to-day moviemaking business? Also, which of those do you enjoy watching the most?

None of the above.  My favorite Hollywood movie is THE BIG PICTURE from 1989.  It’s a small movie that came and went starring Kevin Bacon, Martin Short, Michael McKean, Jennifer Jason-Leigh, Teri Hatcher, and more.  Biting satire that’s both hilarious and somewhat chilling.  

James asks:

Was it a conscious decision never to mention Sam's ex-wife on Cheers? She's mentioned (and fleetingly seen) in the pilot but never afterward. It seems like an ex-wife could have made for some interesting complications in Sam's life, especially in later episodes when the writers are struggling for ideas.

His ex-wife is mentioned in only the second episode of the series and basically as a punchline.  We got Donna McKechnie to play her.  

As the year unfolded the general consensus was an ex-wife only got in the way so it was swept under the rug.  I’m not sure she was ever mentioned again.  

In other words, if we had it to do over again Sam would be a lifelong bachelor.   

Remember, Sam almost remarried in an episode of FRASIER that David and I wrote.  He was engaged to Tea Leoni.  

And finally, from Saul:

Do you think it’s fair to say that audiences are becoming harder to please? Negative reviews from critics and viewers are becoming less objective and more vitriolic, and everything out there seems to generate some sort of controversy. Perhaps one could view this as tastes becoming more discerning, but shows or films people previously simply wouldn’t like are now generating outright hatred and anger towards the creators. What is your take on this?

We do live in angry times.  And that spills over into reviews. Not to mention the hate trolls (who would call Mother Teresa a whore).  

But I think the problem is the audience has gotten jaded.  Very little seems fresh to them.  Viewers are way more savvy now in how the sausage is made.   

So it takes more to surprise and delight them.   They can spot certain jokes coming a mile away.   

That’s not to say you can’t thrill and delight them; it’s just harder to do.


from By Ken Levine