tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post1959248533215327123..comments2023-04-30T07:27:54.645-07:00Comments on <b>HUNGRY GHOST BLOG</b>: The death of the episodeDavid Chutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05606470667042155559noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post-39249012711761176662012-03-07T21:34:56.699-08:002012-03-07T21:34:56.699-08:00Almost didn't get the acronym.
Dinklage I wo...Almost didn't get the acronym. <br /><br />Dinklage I would watch read a phone book, especially if he's reading it to Sybil.David Chutehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05606470667042155559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post-65837854229407423412012-03-07T18:16:17.331-08:002012-03-07T18:16:17.331-08:00Apt idea -- good luck in tracking it down -- and I...Apt idea -- good luck in tracking it down -- and I have a fantasy of your showing up as a guest in the writers room for Justified and explaining it to them.<br /><br />I find the SOIF books easier to follow, but the series infinitely more vivid and memorable. Don't know how to fit that into the old systems of criticism.Tulkinghornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12380273659057130770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post-11763777167616218282012-03-07T12:42:15.463-08:002012-03-07T12:42:15.463-08:00Good example.
There was also a series shortly aft...Good example.<br /><br />There was also a series shortly after that called "Crime Story," starring guess who:<br /><br />http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090410/<br /><br />And Bochco's "Murder One:"<br /><br />http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112086/<br /><br />It hit me a couple of days ago that a lot of this is really re-inventing the wheel, critically speaking, applying principles that are truisms in the context novels, plays, operas, but are striking here because long-form TV -- TV that isn't more like a book of short stories -- is relatively new. Of course the most elegantly structured long works have parts and chapters that are also elegantly shaped internally, while contributing to the development of the whole. It was ever thus.<br /><br />Back when I was still an earnest Euro-centrist (as ever, cherchez la femme) I glommed onto a notion of Goethe's, applying to aesthetics an insight from biology: that the parts create the whole while also being created by the whole and by each other. I challenge you to contemplate that idea for more than 30 seconds without getting dizzy.David Chutehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05606470667042155559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post-66903101596260693092012-03-07T06:27:39.587-08:002012-03-07T06:27:39.587-08:00Well, maybe.... I date my personal awakening to th...Well, maybe.... I date my personal awakening to the joys of extended narrative television (setting aside BBC adaptations of novels and Douglas Adams's "Key to Time" season of Doctor Who) to the Mel Proffit story in Wiseguy, which predated Twin Peaks by a couple of years -- and also introduced Kevin Spacey to a waiting world.. (You can see baby Kevin here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP_wNGPdu5c)Tulkinghornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12380273659057130770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post-51339210777660040452012-03-06T21:45:47.219-08:002012-03-06T21:45:47.219-08:00A commenter on Deadline's item about the renew...A commenter on Deadline's item about the renewal of Justified had an interesting thought:<br /><br />"And lets not forget: as a garden of Eden, we have Twin Peaks to thank for all this."David Chutehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05606470667042155559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post-16891577688166023332012-03-05T13:10:03.411-08:002012-03-05T13:10:03.411-08:00Interesting, but not what you wrote.Interesting, but not what you wrote.David Chutehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05606470667042155559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post-22756280117183391152012-03-05T07:20:15.765-08:002012-03-05T07:20:15.765-08:00Misunderstood again. I did not, of course, say wha...Misunderstood again. I did not, of course, say what you thought I said.<br /><br />I maintain that, since about ten million people think that The Wire is the greatest television series of all time, any idiot would have greenlit it. The irreplacable genius of the system we now have is that a way exists to pay for it and to gather the talent to write it. <br /><br /><br />Better enjoy it while you can -- the cool kids who unplug and get their stuff from Pirate Bay are slowly killing the golden goose.Tulkinghornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12380273659057130770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post-70783166798103609002012-03-04T19:56:05.377-08:002012-03-04T19:56:05.377-08:00Pricelessly crass. Good thing you don't mean i...Pricelessly crass. Good thing you don't mean it.David Chutehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05606470667042155559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post-61682199352898212712012-03-04T16:52:05.696-08:002012-03-04T16:52:05.696-08:00Any idiot could decide to make "The Wire"...Any idiot could decide to make "The Wire". <br /><br />It takes a genius to find a way to pay for it.Tulkinghornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12380273659057130770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post-13449998526696974892012-03-04T12:48:23.909-08:002012-03-04T12:48:23.909-08:00This writer is being a little slippery about which...This writer is being a little slippery about which of those issues he's addressing. He seems to be arguing from the high ground of aesthetics and quality when he's really talking about the biz. These are arguments that could (and I bet will) be used by network suits trying to shut down something "risky."David Chutehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05606470667042155559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post-89894094294847405492012-03-04T12:23:03.667-08:002012-03-04T12:23:03.667-08:00He praises Justified and Breaking Bad both for the...He praises Justified and Breaking Bad both for the quality you amplify. I just watched the (I imagine) famous episode of Breaking Bad where the two leads chase after a fly for an episode, to little effect, except to talk.<br /><br />I think you're a bit too dismissive of commercial pressures for television: There are underground movies and viral videos, but no underground hour-long television series. TV is essentially grounded in funding, distribution, and audience reaction. Setting out to do a narrative that takes five seasons (if it's not based on a novel) IS a terrible risk, both for the creators and their backers.Tulkinghornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12380273659057130770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post-27789739727264528912012-03-04T10:37:01.231-08:002012-03-04T10:37:01.231-08:00Funny that he doesn't mention either "X-F...Funny that he doesn't mention either "X-Files" or "Lost," which I'd be willing to bet have had more influence on mainstream TV than anything on HBO. <br /><br />"Justified" is as different from those shows as it could possibly be: No high concept, just characters and a fertile situation. It's as much a family drama as a cop show. Crucially, also, it is not a mystery series. It follows the EL method of spending as much time with the crooks, who are known from the outset, as with the cops. A scene that's just Raylen and his ex-wife or Raylen and his dad isn't going to frustrate people who are desperate to find out what happens next.<br /><br />Finally the episode vs. installment beef seems too inside TV, to me. The notion of a "terrible risk" is all about what it's safe to bet your budget on. If viewers really were turned off by the installment plan, would it have caught on in the first place? And what about shows that actually are based on novels, such as GoTs? "Improvisations" in that context are likely to enrage fans of the books.<br /><br />The question of whether it's best to have the whole story planned out or to improvise from episode to episode reminds me of another inside distinction: Writers who say they work from an outline vs. those (like Elmore) who say they come up with a character and an initial situation and then dive in. Both approaches have produced terrific novels, and writers would be well-advised to stick to the method that works best for them -- and to put their fingers in their ears when someone tries to tell them they're doing it wrong.David Chutehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05606470667042155559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post-46327943864568179302012-03-03T08:53:37.731-08:002012-03-03T08:53:37.731-08:00And, of course, he criticises "Luck" for...And, of course, he criticises "Luck" for completely ignoring what he sees as the need for some sort of sub-resolution in each episode: pointing out, as has another friend of mine, that the series doesn't really fall into place until half-way through the fourth episode.<br /><br />You may be more inclined toward the "Ulysses' Gaze" school of filmmaking than you think. Certainly, a preference for the episodic over the installment is an aestically conservative one.Tulkinghornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12380273659057130770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post-2387832211636247442012-03-03T08:48:38.987-08:002012-03-03T08:48:38.987-08:00Here's the article's memorable phrase for ...Here's the article's memorable phrase for Alcatraz:<br /><br />These series portray themselves as having a larger mystery at play, but really are procedurals covered in breadcrumbs....Tulkinghornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12380273659057130770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post-22069863377359210332012-03-02T17:33:34.372-08:002012-03-02T17:33:34.372-08:00I think we and others have been talking in these t...I think we and others have been talking in these terms for quite a while, at least since the "24 hours of '24' on DVD" craze began. But this is a good overview.<br /><br />Another current series that's doing this well is "Luck," while shows like "Alcatraz" instantly seem dated and conventional for insisting on a neat sub-resolution every week.<br /><br />First episode of "Awake" is promising, but we shall see...David Chutehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05606470667042155559noreply@blogger.com