tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post4704923806360088738..comments2024-03-27T21:22:38.245-04:00Comments on Cockeyed Caravan: How to Create a TV Show, Part 8: Why TV Loves Cops, Doctors and LawyersMatt Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-16603175312830831322020-09-30T17:30:46.951-04:002020-09-30T17:30:46.951-04:00I'd argue the stakes *are* high on Slings and ...I'd argue the stakes *are* high on Slings and Arrows. Oliver dies a terrible death right at the beginning as something of a level-set and Jeffery's sanity certainly teeters in the balance. Totally agree that the show is brilliant though (as is your book and now, I'm discovering, your blog!)Skyler Whitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16239063660172056190noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-27971562818610960092012-04-18T10:59:13.105-04:002012-04-18T10:59:13.105-04:00Wow, cool!Wow, cool!Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12531231992482858085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-33130865631837988992012-04-15T21:50:23.744-04:002012-04-15T21:50:23.744-04:00STOP THE PRESSES! I've been listening to the ...STOP THE PRESSES! I've been listening to the episodes of the legendary Hitchcock-inspired radio show "Suspense" recently, and I just listened to <a href="http://www.escape-suspense.com/2007/04/suspense_librar.html" rel="nofollow">this one</a> about a mousy librarian (played by Myrna Loy!) who must solve the case once she realizes that the words for a ransom note were cut out of a copy of "Gone With the Wind". It's absolutely hilarious, especially the final lines. It must be heard to be believed: http://www.escape-suspense.com/2007/04/suspense_librar.htmlMatt Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-64055906938408391472012-04-15T18:52:54.065-04:002012-04-15T18:52:54.065-04:00On the other hand, I could easily see a great sitc...On the other hand, I could easily see a great sitcom about librarians.James Kennedyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04342773800742515957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-45160344555972692572012-04-13T18:11:09.857-04:002012-04-13T18:11:09.857-04:00Beth: There was indeed, and he was very heroic, bu...Beth: There was indeed, and he was very heroic, but he was more of a mentor than a fighter.<br /><br />Whenever anyone pitches me a show, I always respond the same way: there has to be someone out there opposed to what the heroes are doing. If you were going to do a library drama, it would have be set at a place like Lindisfarne, with savage hordes always trying to destroy it.<br /><br />J.S.: Amongst other problems, rookie cop shows tend to have the opposite of the long-term commitment problem: their commitments are too short-term. If there's any follow-up to an incident, they have to hand it off to detectives, so it's hard to do a multi-beat story.<br /><br />The only two successful shows I've seen about beat cops both had an ensemble that included beat cops AND detectives. In both cases, Hill Street Blues and The Shield, if the writers wanted to do a multi-beat storyline about the beat cops out on patrol, then they had to concoct a situation where the cops kept getting called back to the same domestic disturbance multiple times.Matt Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-4526485337760254842012-04-13T10:33:48.653-04:002012-04-13T10:33:48.653-04:00Thanks Matt, this explains why there aren't mo...Thanks Matt, this explains why there aren't more shows about librarians. #1 It's never a life or death situation (despite what the middle schooler or homeless person thinks) and #2 there's never any moral ambiguity with the facts (even insane psuedo-facts can't be argued with -- just laughed at). Although wasn't there a librarian character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer?Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12531231992482858085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-74439881687701944852012-04-12T23:22:44.885-04:002012-04-12T23:22:44.885-04:00Well, all hope is not lost. You could still contr...Well, all hope is not lost. You could still contrive a plausible reason why their newness (or relative unknown-ness to all competing intelligence agencies and enemies of the state) could be an asset. At the height of the Cold War, several defectors gave away lists of c.o. true names/identities to our enemies, blowing untold number of covers and ops. Nowadays, I'd blame a Wikileaks-like entity for the breach. What better reason has there ever been for an untested soldier to step onto the front lines than the man in front of him falling?<br /><br />Speaking of rookie shows, I can't wait to see Richard Price's NYPD rookie cop drama NYC 22.j.s.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-35791031634870539292012-04-12T22:46:41.418-04:002012-04-12T22:46:41.418-04:00Alas, my characters were entry-level case officers...Alas, my characters were entry-level case officers. This gets back to my caveat that it's hard to do shows about rookies in any profession because they don't have enough independence or decision-making ability.Matt Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-62906941589920337332012-04-12T22:35:25.404-04:002012-04-12T22:35:25.404-04:00One of my hobbies is learning about this stuff, as...One of my hobbies is learning about this stuff, as much as I can from open sources. I'd say compartmenting is probably not as big a problem for realism as you think it is. Then and now there are any number of authentic spy jobs and real departments/divisions/commands with global authority and reach. Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence and the old SE division in the Cold War are just a few examples. So if your heroes are anyone but entry-level case officers, it shouldn't be that hard to believably send them anywhere you want. If your show is more serialized, all the better, as spying really is a long game.j.s.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-4681291224316986382012-04-12T20:38:14.669-04:002012-04-12T20:38:14.669-04:00There are SO many impediments to doing a realistic...There are SO many impediments to doing a realistic spy show. <br /><br />One of the biggest is that real spies tend to work in only one country and a strict firewall keeps them from knowing what their agency is doing in any other country. And yet, every spy show, they're off to a different corner of the world every week! <br /><br />For the spy show I developed, I tried to keep things realistic and stick to one region, but now that I'm rewriting it, I'm saying screw it and jumping to different areas of the world, even thought I know that's not realistic. <br /><br />Entertainment, sadly, must trump realism. <br /><br />I love The Sandbaggers, but it's my *second-most* favorite spy show. My favorite remains Danger Man aka Secret Agent, which was all the more impressive, because Drake had no confidant, so there was a LOT of just watching him watch and think, but the audience is riveted, because *nobody* could watch and think as well as Patrick McGoohan.Matt Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-82616688559387687202012-04-12T19:05:03.496-04:002012-04-12T19:05:03.496-04:00This speaks to why there's never been a really...This speaks to why there's never been a really great TV series about the actual real world work of espionage (though I still haven't seen THE SANDBAGGERS, which I know you recommend). Real spying is pretty subtle, largely not about breaking and entering covert ops style, not even so much about surveilling bad guys discretely, as it is about thinking and talking.<br /><br />The new TINKER TAILOR film dealt with these problems about as well as you possibly could but there was a terrible show on AMC recently called RUBICON that made just about every mistake there is to make including scenes where we literally watch the protagonist sit and think silently. All the more strange because its creators claimed they were inspired by films like ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN, another exceptional thriller about thinking and talking that finds a myriad of ways to successfully dramatize its largely cerebral and interior action.j.s.noreply@blogger.com