OMG! Isn't that door horrible? I always wondered why the damn thing was SO CLOSE to the front door. It's so out of place, and wouldn't people question why you needed a steel door with bars on it to keep people out of your basement? And for that matter why are there so many damn jail-esque cells built into the house?

No kidding! Ugly door, stupid cells! There are even cells in the basement of Collinwood, if I'm not mistaken. Perhaps these were used to lock away bad-behaved servants? They probably would've just shot them instead.

And on another note, let me just say that I love the way that HODS is shot the same way as the series--they close up on Carolyn so Barnabas can enter the shot. How polite.

Quote from: MagnusTrask on October 19, 2006, 08:32:05 PM

I think it would be a gruelling thing to put writers through though, to write several scripts ahead of time, for a series that might get turned down, possibly on a whim.

I don't think so, fans write reams and reams of fanfic that few if any people will ever read.

Many people don't realize that it's actually not too difficult to get your writing into the hands of someone in the TV business. It's called 'spec'ing a show. (speck, that's how it's pronounced) I've been researching this a great deal because I'm thinking about doing this. All one needs to do is write a script that is really good and send it to the network, or to the tv show, if you can find the address. It is hard, and you're not guaranteed to get a response, but many TV writers have gotten jobs this way. It helps if you can get your hands on a script from the show your specing, because then you can write your script the same way they write there's, with the correct number of act breaks etc etc.

It's difficult, but not impossible.  <~~~~I wish I could look that pretty everyday. lol

I was just gonna say, Lost got on the air, and probably effortlessly, because of JJ Abrams.  And Aaron Sorkin is a big player too w/lots of clout in Hollywood, but so is John Wells who produced the WB pilot, and what excited me about the prospect of not only a new show, but a GOOD one, not like that crap NBC rolled out a dozen or so years ago.  Don't know why his clout wasn't enough for the WB to give it a shot, maybe because DC was still around?  I hate to say this, but his death MIGHT be what we needed to actually get a new show.

Didn't John Wells back out towards the end of the production? I heard that somewhere. It could have been because Dan Curtis was too controlling about it, or it could be just because they had creative differences. I mean, hey, if I was creating a show, I would be protective as hell over it too, but I would still listen to suggestions. Joss is protective of Buffy, which is why any TV movies etc that have been talked about haven't happened--because he and FOX can't agree on the terms. So I'd imagine that DC was much the same way.

Or John Wells could've backed out because the pilot the shot wasn't what the script was (it was in large part, but was still very different), and the ending just plain sucked. If you were a network and the MAJOR producer on the project backed out, would you still feel confident about it? I sure wouldn't.

The '91 revival didn't connect with a lot of fans who felt it was a tired/uninspired retread of the original series and HODS. But it had very strong ratings and its failure has been attributed mainly to scheduling changes and pre-emptions caused by the war in the middle-east. Could the ratings have been even stronger if they had leaned more towards sequal storylines combined with explanatory flash-backs? As other Cousins have alluded to, long-time fans would likely be impressed by a series involving new angles and new plots involving a combination of fresh and older/aged characters, and newbies could be roped in not only by the new plots, but with flashbacks explaining/exploring back-story (which the old-timers would appreciate as well, if done properly.)

Wasn't only one script for the '04 series written, the pilot episode? Maybe the money-bags weren't able to see the opportunities available in a new DS? It's hard to imagine anyone who hasn't watched a significant portion of the original series understanding the possibilities inherent in the back-stories alone. (What about new characters or aged originals transported back to the 1960s to meddle with the classic storylines, inadvertantly creating even scarier outcomes for future generations of the Collins clan?)

Combining all of what came before with new stories involving classic and contemporary characters...the potential seems endless, but producers needs to be made to see that potential. I don't think a script for one episode will do it, a season of scripts needs to be written. A strong pilot that will grab the attention of someone unfamiliar with the series, and successively stronger episodes that will keep their attention while revealing the complexities of the back-stories (the first couple seasons of LOST are a great example of this.)

I have a copy of the 04 Pilot script and I have read it, of course. It is somewhat different from the actual produced result, and in some ways is much better. It is truly a shame that the WB didn't pick this up because I think it realized what all fans here are talking about.

In regards to an entire season of scripts being written--

The fact of the matter is that would probably never happen. The script-writing world is structured so that a pitch is made, then a pilot ordered, a script written (if it hadn't been before, most of the time it has) or altered, the pilot shot, presented to the network execs and then subsequent episodes are ordered. What they SHOULD do it order the Pilot and then if they are remotely interested in that they should order scripts to be written for the next 2 or 3 shows to show how the story would progress somewhat. These scripts would be presented for reading, not produced as actual episodes. This way if the pilot was good but not stellar, the execs could see how the story is going to progress, even though they usually ask about that in the pitch session anyway. But it would illustrate the point further, I think.

Script was good, production was okay, and in the end, it was the produced thing that gave it the dump. If the pilot had've stayed true to the script, I think we might just be talking about the latest episode of the week.

If you don't want capricious, poor story-telling, then get good producers and writers.  If you don't have those, then it doesn't matter what the fans say or do.  If you do have them, then odds are you'll have really good stories.

Even the best shows and the best writers are subject to mistakes and lapses. And I'd venture to say that if you didn't have good producers first, you're show wouldn't even be on.

I agree with some what what both Zahir and Magnus have said.

I don't think that killing off a TV (because that's what I'll be talking about here) character is a bad thing, but like Zahir said, it could go either way. For me, it largely depends on what the reason behind the "offing" was, and whether or not it will resonate with the other characters in the show.

I do think it is rather formulaic in that when series need a jump, they kill someone, and the TV ads basically say "Oh look, one of these TEN people is going to die," and then it's up to you to guess and guess about it until it finally happens and you hate what happened. Let's look at some examples:

1. As Buzz said, Rescue Me kills someone at least every season. The death toll has been inching up and up each year, and I'm getting tired of it. They killed Tommy's son, his brother, his cousin (dead before the show started really) and left him and his cousin's widow (who he is dating) in a burning house at the end of last year. Do I expect someone to die? Maybe. But do I think they will? No. Why? Because Tommy is the star of the show, and Denis Leary, who plays him, is the creator and a writer for the show. That would be stupid. And the girl in the house is part of an on-going plotline involving several characters, so that won't happen.

2. ER premiered this year with HUGE buzz about the fact that someone was going to die. I swore up and down that if it were Abby I would hate the show because I really like her character. Was I worried? A little, but not much, because she is one of the MAIN characters of the show, and has a lot of story left to tell. Who ended up dying? Sam's ex-husband who I didn't, and I suspect many didn't, give a crap about in the first place. But this may present challenges for Sam and her son since she murdered the man. We'll see.

3. Nip/Tuck killed this blonde-headed nanny that Sean McNamara was cheating on his wife with. I really HATED this. Why? Because while I was shocked at her literal SUDDEN departure, I knew it was coming. I knew when she walked out in the street that SOMETHING was going to hit her. I was more shocked at how mangled she was than by the fact that she actually died. And why did I hate the death of this character? It wasn't because I liked her, but it was because in the following week's episode, it was completely forgotten about as if nothing ever happened, nobody was grieving or anything. Tsk tsk.

Those are three bad examples. A good example, I think, is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. With this show Joss Whedon only killed people off when it tied into a storyline and when it would resonate with the characters. I can't think of any character that died, that I cared about, that didn't affect the story somehow. Maybe Anya, but that's only because they didn't have time to show effects of her death because it was the last episode. Buffy, Tara, Joyce, Angel, Jenny, Kendra, and others I  may have forgotten--all these characters who died had some sort of affect on at least one, if not all of the characters, and it wasn't simply thrown away.

MY POINT is that killing a character simply for shock value and to get viewers is something that I really HATE. I don't mind when characters are killed off as long as there is a good story to go along with it. If it's not tied in to a good story, then what is the point in doing it in the first place? You don't just haul off and have Barnabas walk out into the sunlight one morning and die, with no story supporting it.

So, if a new DS truly did need to kill off characters, great! Go ahead! I can live without some characters. I've done it before and I can do it again. You just have to get used to them being gone. But what I can't get used to, and what I can't accept is if the writers of this new DS were to just kill off Barnabas or Julia or Roger or David or Vicki or anyone just for the sake of saying "Hey, we're edgy, so throw some ratings our way!"

And, at the risk of making myself look like a fool and discrediting myself in this series post, I give you this:  

When I exchanged emails with Craig in July, we talked a bit about his revised edition of "Barnabas & Co.". He said he hoped to have it out in September. Does anyone know the status of the book? I told him I'd buy it the second it came out, and I kinda want to keep that promise.

The post card type advertisement they were handing out at the fest regarding the updated version states that it is being published by iUniverse, and that it will be made available on Amazon.com after October 15, 2006, which was Sunday! So I'd look for it there, or visit iUniverse's website.

I hope you're able to find it.

I don't think Barnabas was a drama queen at all. If he was a drama queen, then Julia was definitely his drama king! Everyone: Hands blocking mouths and gasp now! One.......two.......THREE!!!