The Unit

Thursday’s “more Canadian TV” news

28 July 2011 Rob Buckley Post a comment

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Tuesday’s “Who’s back?” news

26 July 2011 Rob Buckley Post a comment

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Third-episode verdict: Breakout Kings

23 March 2011 Rob Buckley 6 Comments

Breakout Kings

In the US: Sundays, 10/9c, A&E

One of the things about holidays, work, et al, is sometimes it takes me a while to catch up with everything, particularly new shows that don’t look especially brilliant from the outset. That’s why I’m three episodes behind on Breakout Kings, which looked anything but appealing – except for one thing…

For starters, Breakout Kings has had something of a chequered history. Originally in development at Fox, the show got a pilot episode in January 2010. However, Fox didn’t pick up the series but tried to sell it to other networks instead. A&E picked up the show in June 2010 and after a wee bit of recasting, here it is.

Now, not to suggest that the writers are stuck for ideas, but we have here the story of a bunch of criminals who help US marshals track down escaped prisoners. Want to guess which Fox show the writers used to work on?

That’s right: Prison Break. They even brought T-Bag (Robert Knepper) along for an episode.

Cue the trailer.

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US TV

David Mamet’s one-memo course in writing scripts for TV

7 July 2010 Rob Buckley 5 Comments

David Mamet

He may have written some of the worst episodes of The Unit and may have an unhealthy obsession with jiu jitsu, but David Mamet sure did come up with some handy advice for TV writers (via Slashfilm and @robinparker55):

TO THE WRITERS OF THE UNIT

GREETINGS.

AS WE LEARN HOW TO WRITE THIS SHOW, A RECURRING PROBLEM BECOMES CLEAR.

THE PROBLEM IS THIS: TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN *DRAMA* AND NON-DRAMA. LET ME BREAK-IT-DOWN-NOW.

EVERYONE IN CREATION IS SCREAMING AT US TO MAKE THE SHOW CLEAR. WE ARE TASKED WITH, IT SEEMS, CRAMMING A SHITLOAD OF *INFORMATION* INTO A LITTLE BIT OF TIME.

OUR FRIENDS. THE PENGUINS, THINK THAT WE, THEREFORE, ARE EMPLOYED TO COMMUNICATE *INFORMATION* — AND, SO, AT TIMES, IT SEEMS TO US.

BUT NOTE:THE AUDIENCE WILL NOT TUNE IN TO WATCH INFORMATION. YOU WOULDN’T, I WOULDN’T. NO ONE WOULD OR WILL. THE AUDIENCE WILL ONLY TUNE IN AND STAY TUNED TO WATCH DRAMA.

QUESTION:WHAT IS DRAMA? DRAMA, AGAIN, IS THE QUEST OF THE HERO TO OVERCOME THOSE THINGS WHICH PREVENT HIM FROM ACHIEVING A SPECIFIC, *ACUTE* GOAL.

SO: WE, THE WRITERS, MUST ASK OURSELVES *OF EVERY SCENE* THESE THREE QUESTIONS:

Continue reading “David Mamet’s one-memo course in writing scripts for TV”

What have you been watching this week (w/e October 2)

2 October 2009 Rob Buckley 6 Comments

As you may have guessed, I’ve been watching quite a bit of tele this week and you should have seen the result in a big wodge of reviews. However, on top of this I’ve also seen:

  • Accidentally on Purpose: Episode 2, which was truly dreadful so I’ve given up on it. E4 viewers steer clear of it when it arrives on our scene
  • The Vampire Diaries: Episode 2, to which I can only say, ditto.
  • Hank: review later
  • The Middle: review later
  • The Fixer: Little bit daft, but interesting to see MMA on a mainstream UK show
  • Supernatural: As excellent as always, and nice to see Hector off The Unit getting a job as an archangel
  • House: weird. No instant reset button. A good twist at the end, too (although I did see it coming). No longer can House be accused of being formulaic
  • CSI: Miami: back to insulting our intelligence. I knew it couldn’t last longer than a week
  • Community: last week’s was absolutely sensational, with an ending as well written as 30 Rock. It’s really must-see TV already
  • Mad Men: I played catch-up (not seen Sunday’s though), but the last-but-one episode was excellent

So I’ve still got a big pile of programmes to watch as you can probably tell. Any I should avoid?

As always, no spoilers unless you’re going to use the <spoiler> </spoiler> tags, please