notes.husk.org. tagged television.

“ I think TV is pushing ahead. It used to be we make TV on video and they remake it on 35mm. We all now work in high-def, we all have the same cameras. You can get things made the same year you think of it, rather than 12 years later. We can make three Sherlock films in the time it takes Hollywood to have lunch. ”

Steven Moffat, answering “Isn’t choosing British TV over Hollywood nuts, career-wise?” in an interview in the Guardian: ‘There is a clue everybody’s missed’: Sherlock writer interviewed.

2011-07-18

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quote 19:56:00

“ I’ve paid a lot of attention to ways that things like “Lost” and “Battlestar Galactica” ended. I took a lot of notes on what people liked and what they didn’t like about those kinds of endings. I take it very seriously, the idea that people are getting into an ongoing here and into a long form mystery, and I want to make sure that they feel confident that there’s going to be a payoff that makes it worth it. This page is really about reinforcing that. ”

Nick Spencer, in the commentary track of “Morning Glories” #1 - Comic Book Resources (via timoni). This seems as good a quote as any to hang the following from.

Battlestar Galactica, while good, evidently didn’t have a plan (which is hilariously obvious if you watch the spin-off movie of the same name, which tries to retcon a narrative on top of the twists and turns of the first couple of series). Buffy, perhaps the first mainstream show to attempt long story arcs, only really did them on the scale of a single season.

However, way back in ‘93, Babylon 5 started what turned out to be a five year arc, and managed to carry it off despite both cast changes and uncertainty over its fifth season. The series may have a lot of flaws (the writer, JMS, has a nasty habit of portentous writing and the effects have dated somewhat badly) but I think it’s missing out on some of the credit it deserves for actually having a plot that was thought out at the beginning, rather than coming together as the series careered onwards.

(via timoni)

2011-06-22

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quote 01:02:00

“ A new episode of Misfits will be available every Monday, exclusively on Hulu. ”

Yes, Hulu has Misfits now. Americans: read my witterings about it, then go and watch it.

2011-06-13

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quote 21:59:36

“ The value of the web is in its history. The value of the web is that it grows over time and that it spiders out making connections, just as often doubling back on itself to find previously unseen patterns and connections. It is not a linear progression through time and space always discarding the near past. Or if it is then I’m sorry for wasting everyone’s time because that sounds about as exciting, and about as valuable, as any given season of canned television programming. ”

straup again. (Everyone else picked this quote and somehow I missed it.)

(via joshuanguyen)

2011-05-23

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quote 22:50:41

“ Moffat and co are deliberately throwing too much at us at once, to make re-watching a rewarding experience. They’re making TV, in other words, that is meant to be watched twice or three times, not just once. That’s ambitious. ”

Mike Taylor in his recap of The Doctor’s Wife (Doctor Who series 6, episode 4). (Warning: contains spoilers for last week’s episode.)

2011-05-03

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quote 21:29:07

“ Young people who have grown up with laptops in their hands instead of remote controls are opting not to buy TV sets when they graduate from college or enter the work force, at least not at first. Instead, they are subsisting on a diet of television shows and movies from the Internet. ”

Brian Stelter in the NY Times: Television Ownership Drops in U.S., Nielsen Reports.

“Subsisting”? Really? Is that the word that first came to mind? Maybe I missed the bit where television was necessary to maintain life.

Still, interesting statistic.

2011-02-03

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quote 05:41:07

“ It has the flavour of an anarchist X-Men drawn by a pissed Banksy. If you missed it, either because it looked a bit too teenage, or because it was on E4, I can’t recommend it highly enough. Along with Sherlock it’s proof that we can produce good, adventure drama here in the UK (instead of endless cliched costume dramas, aaargh!) ”

Gurudad: Misfits: the ASBO X-men*. See, it’s not just me? He’s right about Sherlock, too (although that’s a post for another time).

On Misfits

text 05:16:00

As an introduction and a disclaimer, it’s probably worth mentioning that I first heard about Misfits at work. Six to Start, my then employer, were pitching for the work of being the online companion to a series that I’m pretty sure was described at some point as “Heroes but with ASBOs”. (Minor spoilers for season one follow.)

Like in Heroes, the characters end up with powers (or as Kelly would have it, “powahs”), but unlike heroes, they don’t try and save the cheerleader, let alone save the world. They’re more likely to have to figure out how to deal with the fact they, er, killed their probation worker, or have to deal with how to look after someone old enough to be their grandma. Meanwhile, it turns out their abilities aren’t unrelated to who they are…

Howard Overman’s writing is great, and performed fantastically by the cast. (Mind you, if you’re not happy with swearing, sex references, drinking, sex references, drugs, sex scenes, and Nathan in his pants, you might want to watch something else). The location - the Thamesmead estate in south-east London, as also seen in A Clockwork Orange - is used to wonderful effect. There’s some great cinematography, and even the foreshadowing in the titles is genius.

Of course, it’s full of stuff that would never see the light of day in the US, which is exactly why Americans should download it now and watch it, before any TV executives make too many noises about an (inevitably awful) remake. (British folk should hold out for E4 repeats, or shell out for the DVDs.) Once you’re done, you can join in the happy world of animated gifs and quotes on Tumblr.

Seriously: it’s one of the best new series in the UK in the last couple of years. Go watch.

2010-11-25

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quote 01:06:00

“ Misfits is the greatest bit of British TV in the past 10 years. You will not sway me from this belief. I am a Misfits fundamentalist. In Misfits, writer Howard Overman, has done what Heroes failed to do – created a show with super-powered protagonists and that viewers can actually relate to. He understands the Stan Lee theory of heroism – super-powered characters need to be flawed. We love Spiderman most when Peter Parker’s personal life is in a right state, just as Misfits are appealing because they use their powers as we would i.e. right bloody selfishly. ”

Mic Wright in his post Remotely Furious: this week’s TV dissected.