There isn’t a production company in the world that doesn’t need extra hands.  Especially when you’re coming down the home stretch of pre production. With last minute script changes, location permits, meals on set to arrange, props, wardrobe, set construction and the like – the final days before actual production can feel like your head is stuck in the spin cycle of a washing machine.  Your budget is tight and as a producer you’re not going to even think about going over budget when you haven’t yet shot one minute of footage.  Interns to the rescue.  However, I’ve found that there are some production companies and producers who not only don’t understand the benefits of an intern but the responsibility that comes with hiring one.  If you’re just using your interns to take out the garbage, or file paperwork, then you’re doing both of you a disservice.

When I work with interns I make sure I give them some one-on-one time and the benefit of my years of production experience.

1.     Never, never let an intern sit idly.  Yes, it’s tempting, with the pace of production, it can have the apparency that it is easier to do it yourself than to take the time to teach a ‘newbie’ to do it.   In fact, it takes more time for you to continually do a task that is so far out of your job description, than it does to just spend the initial 30 or 45 minutes to give the data to an intern.  So, take the time, give them a little bit about the business and let them get on with it.  They’ll surprise you.  And if they perform the task and it’s not quite right – don’t accept it.  Don’t assume the viewpoint that you might as well do it yourself. That is so not the point. Thank them for their effort, point out what was right about it, and then tell them what needs to be changed and why.

2.    Take time each week to teach your intern something they don’t know.  Even if they’re not ready to do that particular job.  Give them something to look forward to, or something they can work on during their own time.  For example, show them how to research, give them a list of all the vendors you use, and have them check out their websites so they’ll know in the future who you order your lights from, where props can be rented, who are the food services people you use, etc.  Let them get familiar so if they do happen to be the only person back in the production office while you’re on a shoot or in the edit session, they’ll be able to help you out without too much preamble.  Seriously, who has time for preamble when you’re on location?

3.     Put your intern in a centrally located spot in the production office.  Stuffing him or her to the outer Siberia of your office will teach them nothing.  Put them in the middle of the fray where they’ll be able to hear and experience everything.  They’re working for free- if you can’t give them money then show them the love- put them in the middle of what’s happening.

4.    Once your intern has proven s/he has the staying power, include them in meetings, invite them to outside office functions and they’ll feel like they’re part of team.  Morale will be boosted and we all now, boosted morale equals increased production.

5.    Give them different things to do.  If you’ve got a ton of transcriptions from tapes you’ve shot – don’t give them ALL to the intern.  It’s tempting; after all they’re a warm body. But if you take the internship seriously, you’ll want to help develop a well rounded production person who can crawl they’re way up the ranks like the rest of us.  Give them a sense of all areas of production.  Not just typing up transcriptions and answering phones.  Have them log tapes, type up production schedules so they can see the logistics and maneuverings that go into creating a production schedule, have them create crew call sheets and then go over it with them.

There’s lots more an intern can and will do – but it’s up to you as the producer to take time out of your hectic schedule each day to give them some guidance and show them the love.  And on a final note, there can never be too much of “what goes around comes around,” – remember we all had to start somewhere.  Make their first experience a good one.

On June 22nd ABC  will premiere the new action game show Downfall from FremantleMedia .  You may be wondering how this new game is played.  Allow me to fill you in.

Apparently, while perched on top of a 10-story building in Los Angeles, contestants will race against a clock to answer trivia questions  in an effort to win MAJOR prizes and $1 million dollars in cash. Doesn’t sound too difficult, except for the ‘perched’ part, I’m not sure what that means, but I suspect it’s not laying back in a cozy leather recliner sipping champagne from gold flutes.  But, here’s the ‘fun’ part, while contestants are trying to answer the trivia questions, the life-size prizes and cash move along on a gigantic conveyor belt.  The players must answer all their questions before the prizes and cash run off the conveyor belt, falling off the building and smashing to pieces 100 feet below.  If the cash or prizes fall to the ground, the player is eliminated.

Have you seen the brilliantly written, prophetic movie by Paddy Chayefsky called Network?  I wrote an earlier post about it.  Well, Mr. Chayefsky clearly had a crystal ball, because this game could have been in his movie.  I don’t mean to be serious, but… there are starving people in the world and television networks are producing shows with major prizes, perhaps even a washer and dryer, being thrown off a roof?  Are you for real?  Haven’t touring musicians been arrested for this type of behavior?  Sheesh.   That’s the word for it.  Sheesh.

What’s the dumbest game/reality show you’ve seen lately?

Less you think TV is all doctor shows, crime dramas, and reality fluff – there are some television shows that are attempting to make a difference. The new reality direction is aimed at childhood obesity.  As I’ve noted in an earlier post, obesity in America is an epidemic.  One in twenty-five children is obese.  I know this because:  1) I have eyes and I can see, and 2) An episode I produced for the Real Savvy Mom series centered on childhood obesity. While in production, I was shocked to learn that there are a growing percentage of children under of the age of 12 who are exhibiting symptoms previously only seen in overweight adults.  Symptoms as life threatening as heart disease and diabetes – in children under the age of 12!

The Biggest Loser put the bull’s eye on the back of obesity in America.  While millions of people watch the show, I think there are far too many of them lying back on their couches shoveling handfuls of cheese popcorn into their mouths and throwing back a few beers all the while cheering their favorite to lose 100 pounds.  If you look through the window of any fast food restaurant in the nation – it’s not typically the slim and trim set staring back at you.  It’s usually the people whose body mass index is wacked out of proportion.  So it seems appropriate that reality TV would reflect a reality that needs attention and a change.

Jamie Oliver has created a show and a movement with Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.  Produced by Ryan Seacrest Productions, well known British chef, Jamie Oliver tackles schools and their idea of what consists of the basic food groups.  We’ve sunk pretty low, when schools consider french fries a vegetable – I’m just saying.

The Biggest Loser trainer Jillian Michaels, has a new series premiering this Tuesday.  She’ll temporarily move in with families and attempt to get them to live healthier lifestyles in Losing it with Jillian.  I believe they’ll either lose weight or lose their minds.

In August, The Style Network tackles the issue with a new docu-series, Too Fat for 15: Fighting Back from Daisybeck Productions. The series will highlight the emotional journey of four obese teens and one pre-teen who attend a weight-loss boarding school in North Carolina.

Obesity wasn’t a problem on the frontier.  If you wanted to eat butter you had to churn it (great upper body strengthening), if you wanted steak, you had to ‘hunt’ it before you threw it on the grill.  And bread, was a whole ‘nother matter.  You had to grow and harvest the wheat (back breaking work) before you could even think about turning into dough.   People worked hard, they didn’t eat preservatives and candy was a luxury.  We’ve become complacent, and we’ve become excessive.  Seriously, it’s time for a reality check when it comes to thinking MacDonald’s or Taco Bell can be anything close to a nourishing low calorie meal.  I’m happy to see that producers are creating shows that tackle tough issues and hopefully prompt a change.

Music publishing is a lucrative business.  For years songwriters, and their labels relied on selling albums, and licensing their music to other outlets, in particular, commercials, TV shows, video games and movies.  In fact, I produced a show that relied heavily on music licensing.  The show’s premise was the untold story of musical songs.  It was a great idea but altogether difficult to produce.  To secure the rights to a song you must pay the music publisher, the writer and the performers. I know I summed it up in one sentence and I wish it had been that easy to produce, but it wasn’t.  In some cases the permissions were difficult to obtain and in other instances the fees requested for the license would have surely choked our budget into a nasty and sure death.  Songs we desperately wanted were way out of our reach.

Having been through six months of licensing deals with that production – I developed a keen ear whenever I watched a show featuring lots of music.  In the back of my mind I would think, “Oh those poor bastards at the production company, their heads must be spinning around like the exorcist child trying to make deals for the music.”

I had those same thoughts when I saw the TV show GLEE.  The FOX hit about a group of misfit high school Glee Club singers.    Each week the show features at least four songs.  I’ve come to discover that the show producers and Sony Music made a deal.  When the execs at Sony Music saw the pilot they jumped at the chance to partner with GLEE. And that was a very, very smart move.  The songs from the show have already generated over 200 million iTune downloads and the number grows weekly.  Can you hear the ‘cha-ching’ at the music publishing company?  A gold mind is being created and the show is giving re-birth to songs that were no longer bringing in the big bucks.

I don’t think many music publishers, labels or recording artists thought much about GLEE when it premiered – but Sony Music was insightful enough to see that this show had legs and would be advantageous to their publishing division.  When the show featured Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” the track went gold with over 500,000 digital sales.  Those sales figures are attracting attention and there are now many musical artists offering their songs, including Brittany Spears – all with the hopes of cashing in on the phenomenon that is GLEE.

There’s no hiding the fact that NBC is at the bottom of the ratings heap.  Clearly an hour of prime-time with Jay Leno was not the answer to their problems.  So, he was cancelled and now they’ve got an entirely new line-up for the fall.

UNDERCOVERS : From executive producer J.J. Abrams  (Alias, LOST, Star Trek).  This one hour drama features a seemingly typical married couple who own a small catering company in Los Angeles.  However, secretly the duo are two retired CIA spies.  When fellow spy and friend goes missing they are reinstated.  “Undercovers” has been described as a mix between “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” and “The Bourne Identity.”

THE EVENT: An emotional, high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker, an everyman who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his fiancée Leila, and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history.

THE CAPE: An honest cop on a corrupt police force finds himself framed for a series of murders and presumed dead.  He is forced into hiding, leaving behind his wife and son.  Fueled by a desire to reunite with his family and to battle the criminal forces that have overtaken Palm City, he becomes “The Cape”, his son’s favorite comic book superhero and takes the law into his own hands.

CHASE: From executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer (”CSI” franchise, “The Amazing Race,” “Pirates of the Caribbean” films)  U.S. Marshal Annie Frost, a cowboy boot-wearing deputy whose sharp mind and unique Texas upbringing help her track down violent criminals on the run.

OUTLAW: Cyrus Garza is a U.S. Supreme Court justice who abruptly quits.  Garza had always adhered to a strict interpretation of the law until he realized the system he believed in was flawed.  Now that he’s quit the bench and returned to private practice, he’s determined to represent “the little guy” and use his inside knowledge of the justice system and take on today’s biggest legal cases – and he’s making plenty of powerful people unhappy along the way.

LAW & ORDER: LOS ANGELES – Does this need any explanation? Although the original Law & Order filmed in NYC has been canceled after 451 shows, NBC picked up the show in a different location.

It appears that NBC is banking on criminals and those that bring them to justice.  Admittedly there are a few I’m looking forward to.  I’ll certainly tune into, J.J. Abrams’ “Undercovers”.  I was a huge fan of  “Alias” and I’m currently on pins and needles with LOST.

I’m also looking forward to seeing what Jimmy Smits does with his role in “Outlaw”.  I loved him in the last season of “The West Wing” – and the story line has that David and Goliath feel that usually attracts me.

These new scripted dramas will replace the cancellation of Heroes, Mercy, Trauma and Flash Forward.  Only time will tell if this new lineup will revert their recent down trend.

Do any of these shows appeal to you?  Are there any they’ve canceled you’ll miss?

There’ a new series being produced.  It’s a form of entertainment that will combine television programming with the web and social media.  The backers behind this new venture are established media giants.  I believe it will either be a game changer or an idea whose hype was bigger than its content.

THE PLAYERS

Ben Silverman
Producer and Television Executive
Founded Reveille Studios in 2002 and produced such hits as The Office, Ugly Betty and The Tudors.

In 2007 he became Co-chairman of NBC Entertainment.  In 2009 NBC chose not to renew his contract.  I’m guessing the network was disappointed with the ratings under his helm and expected to see the kind of genius he displayed at Reveille. The reason for his departure from NBC matters little, because Ben Silverman landed on his feet- as most smart, savvy, eye-for-talent network executives do.

Barry Diller
Media Executive
Does he need any other introduction?  He was Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, Chairman and CEO of Fox, Inc. and CEO of USA Broadcasting.  He’s now Chairman and CEO of IAC InterActiveCorp, an internet company with over 50 brands including Ask.com, The Daily Beast, Evite, Excite, Match.com and others.

Elisabeth Murdoch
Chairman and CEO of Shine Entertainment
Shine is one of the largest British television production companies with a string of hits such as, The Biggest Loser, Masterchef goes Large and Gladiator.

THE SET UP
Elisabeth Murdoch knows media, and her company Shine Entertainment not only produces mega hits, but has created franchises for those mega hits across multiple platforms.  At a recent NATPE conference (National Association of Programming and Television Executives) she firmly stated that television executives needed to stop whining and get on board with the new entertainment model.

“We in the television business have to catch up with what our audience is doing.  Social networks are a tool with which we can tell our stories. And like moving pictures was to radio, you can decide not to embrace social media, but I predict that before the end of this decade to do so would be akin to resisting Technicolor.”

NEW GAME/NEW ALLIANCES
In July of this year, Ben Silverman landed on his feet by forming Electus, a television and digital media Production Company with Barry Diller’s IAC/InteractiveCorp.

Electus then teamed up with MTV to develop and produce the first-ever multicultural, interactive telenovela titled Pedro & Maria.  This is a modern-day Romeo & Juliet where viewers will have the opportunity to vote and decide the direction, characters and story lines.  The show will run across the web and television, while being networked into Twitter and Facebook to further allow audience interaction with the series’ direction.

America Ferrera from Ugly Betty fame, will executive produce the series with her production company, Take Fountain.  And Procter & Gamble Productions, with its long history of producing soap operas, will also have a hand in the production. (Can’t wait to see the credit roll on this one.)

GETTING IT OUT THERE
It’s not enough to be on TV, the web and social media. Distribution is the next logical step both financially, and in creating a programming franchise.  That’s why Electus and Elisabeth Murdoch’s company, The Shine Group announced a distribution deal for all of Electus’ programming.

SCORE CARD

Are you with me so far?

• Ben Silverman, Ex Co-chairman NBC, teams up with Media Mogul Barry Diller and creates Electus.
• Electus teams up with MTV
• Electus and MTV team up with America Ferrera
• America Ferrera teams ups with Proctor & Gamble Productions
• Electus teams up with The Shine Group to distribute the programming worldwide

In other words, there’s a lot of muscle behind this machine.

MY THOUGHTS
Many individuals and companies are already producing interactive series and programming for the web, but on paper, and in press releases, Pedro & Maria seems unique.  Why? Because the players behind it bring the necessary ingredients for success:

Ben Silverman –  produced a string of hits that were outside the television programming norm
Barry Diller – owns internet companies that are making money
Elisabeth Murdoch –  has success in programming, distribution and multi-media
MTV – is a brand name
Proctor & Gamble Productions– has produced thousands and thousands of hours of successful soaps

It’s clear that in the very near future most of the population will not be sitting around waiting and watching ‘appointment television’.  Entertainment will reflect our ‘got-to-have-it-now-while-I-do-twelve-other things” lifestyle.  Entertainment will be on demand.  BUT, whether we get our entertainment how we want it, when we want it, or whether we can change the beginning, middle and end of our entertainment choices, we still want to be entertained.   The platform may change, but the one thing that will never, ever, never change is that people want good content.  I repeat, they want to be entertained.

In a world where there are 1000’s of entertainment choices, I think Pedro & Maria could make it because it is surrounded by a group of people who understand how, when and where we want to be entertained.

Tell me what current web series I should be watching?  I’d love to know what you think.

When creating a Production Schedule start backwards from the delivery date. Whether you’re using sophisticated scheduling software, or you’re just using a gigantic wall calendar,  begin with the delivery date. Otherwise you’ll be working on that production schedule for the rest of your natural born days.

PRODUCTION SCHEDULE ORDER

1.  Deliver final master to the network
2.  Create all the deliverables for the network. (Contracts, final scripts, releases, DVD copies, etc.)
3.  Close caption your show
4.  Mix your tracks
5.  Final on-line edit
6.  Rough cut delivered to the network.  Factor in the various executives who will need to weigh in, comment and approve.  You’ll need time to get their comments, make the changes, deliver those changes, and then get a second or third round of rough cuts and comments before you’re ready for your final edit.
7.  Shoot your series/show.  Schedule your shoots based on location proximity and not script order.
8.  Write the script, factoring in time for revisions from the network.
9.  Scout Locations
10. Rehearse Talent
11. Cast Talent
12. Research
13. Budget developed and approved
14. Idea/concept

Reading the list from bottom to top are the sequence of actions you would take during a production (with a million other details thrown in).  Reading it from top to bottom is how you develop your production schedule.  Why?  Because it is rare that a delivery or air date change.  Anything else in between, can be squeezed, squashed, maneuvered and manipulated.

To ensure you’re on track during production, write daily reports against the production schedule.  It allows all key personnel to know what’s been accomplished, what needs to be accomplished and what’s back logged.  It is also an opportunity for any one with concerns to speak up.  The sooner you know about a scheduling difficulty the easier you can solve it – otherwise you will be running around like a schizophrenic at a multiple personality surprise party.

Whether you’re shooting a video to upload to You Tube, working on a series for a TV network, or producing a film – a workable schedule will give your production a strong foundation.

I’m going to have to answer yes to the above question.  I’ve seen ad agencies get carried away by producing  commercials that are so creative and outside the box that they forgot to sell the product, and in some cases the ad doesn’t even tell you what the product is.

The basics of Marketing 101 are to get your product known and get it sold.  Therefore, it would seem obvious that the purpose of a commercial is to sell the product.  It doesn’t matter how many Clio awards one wins for best ad of the year, what matters, or what should matter is moving the product into the hands of the consumer.  I know, as creatives, we don’t like to hear words like sales, profit, and bottom line – but as a producer or client, those words are almost lyrical.  The message, while wrapped in a creative package, should make the viewer want to pick up the phone, log onto a website, or grab their car keys and buy, buy, buy.

Consumers buying lots of products is what every company hopes for when they put money into advertising.  So why be ambiguous, ethereal, or vague with the ad?  Why be so clever that you hurt the bottom line?  I think that’s exactly what the Droid did with their initial ad campaign.  The Droid is a smartphone from Verizon, Motorola and Google.  This seemingly unbeatable trio had a one million dollar ad campaign to introduce the Droid as the answer to Apple’s iPhone, and yet I don’t think they hit the mark.   The results are in the numbers – the iPhone sold over 1 million phones during the first weekend of its release, and the Droid will potentially sell 1 million during their first quarter.  How could this be?  Verizon is a superior network with more customers, Motorola makes good products, and Google is ubiquitous.  I think it was the ad campaign.  You just didn’t know what the heck they were selling.

The iPhone ads tell you exactly what you’re getting.  They even tell you it’s a phone.  The Droid’s announcement was a commercial called “The Stealth.” It featured several stealth bombers dropping “bombs’ on remote locations throughout the U.S.; in the middle of an ocean, on a deserted highway, in a forest – and finally in the front yard of a desolate ranch. It was beautifully shot and very reminiscent of the “Independence Day” movie trailer.  The last shot features two older men walking toward the crater that is now the front of their ranch while the ‘bomb’ opens up to reveal something we can’t identify.  The older rancher says to his companion –“What in the world is that?”  A question, I say needs an answer, because the commercial told me nothing.  It didn’t even tell me it was a phone.  And furthermore, it is highly unlikely that two ranchers in the middle of nowhere are interested in a phone that will give them a wireless connection to the internet, a convenient way to watch YouTube, a built in application to keep all their contacts straight and the ability to take photos at a moment’s notice to send to friends and relatives.  Here was an opportunity for Verizon a better network, with more customers to steal the thunder from the iPhone.  More people own PC’s than Macs, more people use the Verizon network than AT&T and they’re showing me stealth bombers and remote locations in the US.  I think they were too creative for their own good.  And I believe that’s why the Droid’s sales didn’t crush the iPhone.

What about you – any commercials you’ve seen that were so creative the message didn’t reach you?

By Marisa O’Neill

Today’s Guest blogger  is Marisa O’Neill.  Yes, we look a bit similar – that’s because we’re identical twins.  Marisa is a television line producer by day and by night she’s my go to girl for what’s the latest in television.

Did ABC shoot themselves in the foot by introducing two ongoing series with complicated mythologies and a never ending guess who done it plot? I’m talking specifically about V and Flash Forward.  I admit I was interested at first, and did my due diligence by watching each episode.  I was a bit intrigued, applauded their high production value, set design, editing and often times the acting and writing. When their last episodes aired I wanted to know more. Then, they left the airwaves for 17  weeks.  WEEKS! Weeks where there was plenty to fill my imagination and time. Between the holidays, working and shows like The Good Wife, Burn Notice and LOST, my time and entertainment card was all filled up.

ABC will resume airing these shows this month and will attempt to pick up where they left off. This wouldn’t be so bad if they were shows like, let’s say, Modern Family or even The Mentalist where week to week a viewer can pick up and not miss a beat.  But with V and Flash Forward’s complicated story lines and somewhat convoluted mythology I can’t remember who did what to whom, what little plots or story arcs were revealed and what teasers or threads I should be following. I find the whole thing quite daunting. And that is certainly something I don’t want when I watch a weekly television series. So the question remains, when I (if) I tune in to the new episodes, will I even know what the heck is going on, or will it be just vague recollections of a show I used to watch? I liken it to meeting that person in high school after 20 years, you know the one, they use to sit in the lunch room way in the back, and you shared a history class together… you kind of remember them, but the details are fuzzy.

Will ABC gain back their audience, or are the viewers onto greener television pastures?

Guest Post by Tyler Weaver

The ingredients that have thus far made up the concoction I call a  career can be described, in a word, as “mucho.” Drummer. Orchestral percussionist.  Composer.  Film composer.  Filmmaker.  Add in a dash of non-profit management and my newest seasoning – critic – and the pierogie that is my hyphenated mish-mash of a career takes on a distinctly saucy turn.

Since September of 2009, I have cast a critical eye on J.J. Abrams’ FRINGE and David Shore’s HOUSE for Anthony Schiavino’s Pulp Tone website.  Last month, I began reviewing the new Mark Valley/Chi McBride/Jackie Earl Haley-starring series, HUMAN TARGET.  They are three distinctly different shows (though not without their similarities), and reviewing them has opened up my eyes to a number things that is done well in television, and a number of ills.

Though the three television shows I review are different, and I can’t apply many of the same criteria to each review, there is one criterion to everything I review that must be present:

CHARACTERS I WANT TO WATCH

If I’m given a story with cool effects, aliens, some T&A, mind-bending twists, and cardboard characters, I’m out.  (I’m looking at you, “V.”)

Character is key.  These are characters that I welcome into my home each week, characters that I want to follow.  I loathe hospital shows.  I love HOUSE.  Were it not for the amazing ensemble cast and the wonderful performances from Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard, I would be gone.  “Doctor with bad beside manner solves mystery cases.”  Great.  But I don’t care.

FRINGE would be just another X-FILES rip-off were it not for the performances of John Noble as Walter Bishop, Joshua Jackson as Peter Bishop, and Anna Torv (more or less) as Olivia Dunham.  If I didn’t care about these people, they wouldn’t make it past a minute of my time.

The essence of great storytelling can be boiled down into one statement:

Fascinating people in difficult situations.

That’s it.  It’s why the hero is defined by the antagonist – the situation must be more difficult than the protagonist can handle at the story’s beginning.  The protagonist must grow through defeating their own demons, fears, etc. to overcome that which is bigger than them.

Simply because I want to watch a character doesn’t mean I have to like the character.  In fact, if I don’t, I’m even more intrigued.  I want to see what makes these people tick.  I don’t need to like them.  I just have to empathize with them.

If I’m going to stick with a show, and give up an hour of my life weekly for 10, 12, 13, 22 weeks or longer, I had better want to watch these people.  Otherwise, it’s like going to a party filled with people you don’t like, just because it’s a party.  Why would I waste my time?

There’s another element to my reviews – programming.  Much of my complaining is leveled at the networks for their abysmal lack of balance.  Because, as in life…

BALANCE IS KEY

As most U.S. network shows on the big four (ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX) last for 22-24 episodes, balance is crucial.  Balance between what?

Balance between the done-in-one and overarching story (or mythology) episodes.  They must function and inform one another.  Despite having an overarching plot (House wants to be a better human), HOUSE is not a mythology-driven show.  It’s a character-driven show, with a winning formula (a fascinating character in a difficult situation;  in this case, a medical mystery that pushes the boundaries of his intellect), and an excellent supporting cast (more or less).

HUMAN TARGET is not a mythology-driven show, though it does have an overarching plot.  In this case, it’s the slow revelation of Chance’s (Mark Valley) past, and why that past is after him.  Otherwise, it again fulfills my criteria for watching: fascinating people (the lead triumvirate of Mark Valley, Chi McBride, and Jackie Earl Haley)  in difficult situations – though with a healthy and fun dosage of boys-with-toys machismo and a caution-to-the-wind cavalier attitude.

FRINGE, on the other hand, is a mythology-driven show in the vein of everything else Abrams does.  I’ve been particularly hard on FRINGE this season, but I’ve primarily aimed my critical switchblade towards the showrunners (for the first half – atrocious, badly-written dreck) and the network (for the second – showrunners got their mojo back, but horrifying programming decisions did nothing to garner my love).

I will confess to nearly jumping ship on FRINGE.  However, the first criteria chimed in: It is filled with characters I want to watch.  And I had faith that it would get better.

Balance, unfortunately, is often not synonymous with American television programming.  So far, FRINGE has suffered the most from this disease.  It’s a deadly one.  It’s called…

FLUFFFORFLUFF’SSAKEITUS (Fluff•for•Fluff’s•Sake•Itus)

With a mythology-driven show like FRINGE , the 22-24 episode season doesn’t work.  This season proved it beyond a reasonable doubt, in no small part to the absolutely shoddy programming.  Some episodes moved the main plot forward. Stop. Done-in-one freak of the week.  Myth. Stop. Freak.  Stop.  Three week break. Myth. Freak. Freak. Freak. Four week break.  Ad naseum.

This is no doubt due to Fox’s inability to effectively market the show to anyone.  It wants a big hit on its hands, so it markets to everyone.  Bring in people, keep long-time fans happy.  Pick one.  By marketing to everyone, you market to no one.

The fix I have long proposed (well, since September, anyhow) is that ALL American television should follow the Euro/British model (10-12 episode series/seasons/volumes).  In the US, USA, TNT, FX, AMC, HBO, etc. etc. have found great success with this formula.  It needs to be applied to all television.  It’s the first step towards curing the Flufforfluff’ssakeitus that plagues network programming.

And what is the ubiquitous issue?

THE DONE-IN-ONE.

American programming is a hodge-podge between myth and done-in-one, a balance never being found.

At its best, the done-in-one can both move the story forward and be accessible.  The last new episode of HOUSE, “5 to 9,”  is one of the best examples of this.  It didn’t necessarily move the overarching HOUSE story forward (be a nice guy, House), but it did offer a new perspective on a tried and true formula.  Told from romantic foil and hospital administrator Lisa Cuddy’s perspective, it was a “day in the life of,” with the HOUSE formula sneaking in once in awhile.  It was a highly effective episode (made even moreso by the fantastic performance by Lisa Edelstein as Cuddy), and is, in my mind, a template for how the done-in-one should be… done.

On the other hand, you have FRINGE.  While there have been some very good done-in-ones (several in fact, especially recently) that did move the story forward ever so-slightly, it came across as merely padding to fulfill a season order.  One of my last reviews (before the eight-week break) was actually dedicated to ripping apart the programming decisions of the season (which I will leave alone for now – just go have a read of the review (assault?) if you want to know more).

Bottom line – the done-in-one must contain the following: a fascinating story with a unique perspective that illuminates and expands on the mythology and forward motion presented in the episodes surrounding it.  If it doesn’t, it’s filler, and I’m not pleased or interested.

THE GOOD. THE MEH. THE GAH.

That I’ve pontificated on my review process for nearly 1500 words now is surprising to me.  Discussing methods is something that I’ve never been good at.  In fact, I tend to avoid discussing them, simply because I don’t think about it that much.  My method for critical discourse:

If it’s good, I like it. If it sucks, I don’t.

Obviously, there’s more to it than that.  I suppose one could ask “why do I review shows, films, etc.?”  Simple.  Because I like to.  I like exploring things from people who get paid to make things because it makes me a better creative on my road to getting paid to make things.

In some cases, I learn by seeing what they do right.  In most cases, I learn by what they do wrong.   Either way, I apply, and move on.

At the end of the day, it comes down to my biggest pet peeve.  There is nothing I hate more than wasted potential.  When I see it in my everyday life, I make a point to do any little thing I can to help people gain the confidence to tap into their potential.  When I see television shows, films, comics, etc. that aren’t living up to their potential, I pounce.  Not that it matters – I’m under no illusion that my critiques and reviews have any bearing whatsoever.  It’s the thought that counts.

When I see shows that I adore – with fascinating characters in difficult situations – flounder and flop from week to week, I get riled up.  When I see poor business and marketing decisions that impact the showrunners’ abilities to run their show, or realize the show’s full potential, I get riled up.

Each review is my little way of being part of a solution to an epidemic of bland television.  If, in some small way, my reviews can help potential be realized, maybe through turning other people onto the show, or by giving them a different lens through which to view it – a critical one – then I’ll consider myself happy.

Otherwise, I’ll give my reviews, on my own three-point grading system (Good, Meh, GAH!), a GAH!

Until next we meet…

THE GOOD: Television that features two main pieces: Fascinating people in difficult situations.

THE MEH: When one of the two is out of balance.

THE GAH: When potential is squandered by poor storytelling, marketing, and programming.

Tyler Weaver is a writer and filmmaker.  You can connect with Tyler on Twitter and Facebook