Mom & Pop Culture

Sawyer Time

I am getting kinda excited for the final season of "Lost" and wishing February was just here already. Impatient, much? In case you couldn't figure it out, I'm on TEAM SAWYER.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/01/tca-press-tour-damon-lindelof-on-lost-season-premiere-get-ready-to-scratch-your-heads-america.html

not excited for fall tv season 2008

I know the new Fall TV Season is just starting in dribs and drabs-- but I have to say that I'm already bored. My favorite shows at the moment are Mad Men and John and Kate Plus 8.  I'm not terribly excited about any of the new shows on the schedule (I'll check out the much-hyped Fringe, of course). And other than 30 Rock (and Lost which is months away) there are no returning shows that I'm dying to see. There are very few shows that I'll watch on a regular basis or even bother to even DVR.

Is it just me or does this seem like the lamest -- least hyped -- fall season of all time? Makes me nostalgically miss those cheesy network promos from yesteryear. Watch below and remember how easy it used to be to entertain the masses.

the orchid video

There is indeed a hidden message in Lost's Orchid Orientation video and my daughter helped me find it and take a screenshot of the message below. From the video we also learn whose jacket Ben was wearing in Tunisia and we get a peek into the Orchid's secret bunny experiments. 

i love the world

This truly NEVER GETS OLD. I luv it. Watch. Enjoy.

a 'wit's end' sneak peek

I've been toiling away on editing the Wit's End pilot and things are actually progressing smoothly (though slowly). I thought I'd give you a sneak peek at what I've been doing. It's only about 54 seconds long, but I think the opening credits capture the retro-1980s sitcom flavor of our show. FYI, this is hot off the presses (a rough version that hasn't been color corrected and isn't finalized by any means). So, enjoy.

i'm still here

Shooting a TV pilot is very time-consuming. You may have figured that out by the fact that I've disappeared off the face of the blogging earth for almost two months now. 

I have lots to share, but just not enough time to sit down and write about it. Such is life. So for now, you can check out a quick blurb about Wit's End on my other website, and find some behind-the-scenes photos.

And if I ever find the time (and energy), I'll tell you what the last two months (of writing, rehearsing, shooting, and editing) have really been like.

i'm at my 'wit's end'

And that's a good thing. Because Wit's End is the name of a TV pilot (about a group of struggling comedians who inherit a comedy club) that I co-wrote with Sandra Longo and Mitchell Olson. We're meeting tonight in NYC for a table read with our cast (all talented comedians waiting to be discovered). And we're quickly gearing up for a March shoot.

Did I mention that I'll be directing the pilot, too? As you can imagine, I've been busy, too busy to blog, it seems. But it's all good.

quarterlife: the importance of being earnest

I wanted to like the new webseries, quarterlife, by thirtysomething creators, Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick. But I truly, deeply, hated it. I'm most upset by how disillusioned I am of "HerskoZwick" (Alan Sepinwall's concoction. not mine). Wow, they just keep on repeating themselves with shows about moody, white, affluent whiners who are hyper-articulate, unrecognized geniuses in their own minds. I think I forgave their flaws in the past, because HerskoZwick actually had something new to say. Now they're just recycling themselves for younger demographics. It is also painfully obvious that they don't understand the concept of blogging, or the minds of young people.

If quarterlife were a parody of HerskoZwick's work, I'd call it absolutely brilliant. Taken as a straight-up drama, the earnestness of it all does the show in. Wow, lighten up people. Where's the humor? Haven't HerskoZwick heard about anti-depressants? Why aren't their twentysomething protagnonists out partying, instead of wallowing in self-pity? Nobody wants to watch a bunch of self-absorbed, narcissistic twentysomethings moping about their quarterlife crisis. At least, I don't.

You can read my full review at TV Squad.

hammering the last nail in the sitcom coffin?

My review for "Back to You" is up over at TV Squad. Hey, it's not the worse piece of crap I've ever seen (that honor goes to last year'sThe Class). But it's nothing magical either.  And with the talent involved, it really should be so much better. Perhaps, the sitcom formula is just too worn out.

Back to You isn't likely to revive traditional sitcoms. And if it flops grandly enough, it could be the last nail in the coffin.

Seriously, if Patty Heaton and Kelsey Grammer can't succeed in a sitcom, then who the heck can?

2006 lesson: don't believe everything you see on tv

I loved Bravo's show, Blowout, about stylist/drama queen Jonathan Antin and so when Jonathan launched his new line of products -- I gladly went out and purchased the shampoo and conditioner -- even though they were monstrously overpriced.

Afterall, I had watched Jonathan DEMAND the best for his products. I watched him throw PUBLIC HISSY FITS when things weren't up to his high specifications.  I watched this product come to life before my eyes. It had to be AS GOOD AS IT CLAIMED. I had watched the man develop it, test it, throw it against the wall in rage, and re-develop it.  How could it not be superior?