What is it ? :
Comedy about an earnest, honest, optimistic girl from the heartland who is forced to move in with a sexy, unstable new york city party girl who has the morals of a pirate (futoncritic). It was written by Nahnatchka Khan (American Dad) and ABC gave it a pilot order.
Good/Bad :
If Don't Trust the Bitch isn't the the worst comedy script of the season, it's also far from the best. In the pilot, June, the ultimate cliche of naivety, moves to New York for work only to discover that the company who hired her declared bankruptcy. Broke, she decides to find a flatmate and comes across Chloe, the bitch, not in the lovable funny bitchy kind of way, just in the bitch way. Besides not being really funny, DTTB has the apparently recurring issue of having one-liners and scenes that are too vulgar to ever make it to the air on ABC. It isn't a few of them, it's more than half of them.
By the end of the pilot, it feels like the entire show has nothing more to offer, the bitch is actually not such a bitch and the naive is not so naive, it's incredebly predictable, dull and even if the relation between June and Chloe had its moments in the pilot, it seems there is hardly anything to add.
Supporting characters are inexistant besides being used as a punchline for yet more unfunny jokes while the two main characters simply lack of depth or anything that could get anyone to care for them.
I've always enjoyed unlikeable characters as long as I was given a reason to but much like the teenagers in I Hate My Teenage Daughter, Chloe, the bitch, is purely and simply a one dimensionnal bitch I do not care for.
From what I've been told, the script has changed a lot and I don't consider the whole concept of the show to be such a terrible idea, there might be a bit of hope for "DON'T TRUST THE BITCH IN APARTMENT 23".
Will it make it ?
The casting made this one kind of hard to pass on, especially since ABC really doesn't have anything better.
Will it work ?
As it is, I would have to say no.
Should it make it ?
I haven't read anything that made me hope so.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
More as the Story Develops (HBO) by Aaron Sorkin
What is it ? :
It's a drama (working titled More as the Story Develops) who's currently assembling its cast at HBO. The pilot is set behind the scenes of a cable news show and was written by Aaron Sorkin (Sports Night, The West Wing, Studio 60 and The Social Network).
Good/Bad :
Before you people get your panties in a bunch, I should probably say that I have always found Sorkin's work very enjoyable, the man is talented, no one can deny it without coming off as slightly retarded or jealous. I don't know him personally and I couldn't care less about his (dis)beliefs or about the way he runs his writing room. What I care about is that this yet to be titled project is good.
There is a bit of Studio 60, a bit of The West Wing and a bit of Sports Night but it doesn't feel like any of them. The style is similar, naturally, it's smart, fast and it won't allow you time to check your phone every once in a while.
In this one, Will runs the 8pm news show for a network called UBS and discovers that his entire staff decided to quit while he was on vacation because of his bad attitude. A suit at the network took the matter in his own hands and hired him a new executive producer, McKenzie who just so happens to have a complicated past with Will.
Before you people get your panties in a bunch again, yes, if you can put two and two together, I'm sure you will be able to tie this pitch with past arcs in some of the shows I mentioned before but the show explores something new and absolutely captivating (that's cable news if you haven't followed). Sorkin is great at making us love unlikable characters and at telling incredibly compelling stories and this script is exactly what the doctor ordered. It will make you laugh, cry and think and you can't say that much about a lot of shows.
If you were a fan of any of his past shows, rest assured, you won't be disappointed so you better get ready to welcome him back to television, if you only know him for The Social Network, then know that the best of Sorkin is on television.
The show will be another exciting and fascinating adventure with intriguing, absorbing and very intelligent people like only Sorkin can deliver. I can't wait.
Will it make it ?
Well, Sorkin should have been on HBO one failed tv show ago and especially thanks to The Social Network, I doubt the network will pass on this.
Will it work ?
It must.
Should it make it ?
Just like Veep and the rest of the network's projects in development... It should.
It's a drama (working titled More as the Story Develops) who's currently assembling its cast at HBO. The pilot is set behind the scenes of a cable news show and was written by Aaron Sorkin (Sports Night, The West Wing, Studio 60 and The Social Network).
Good/Bad :
Before you people get your panties in a bunch, I should probably say that I have always found Sorkin's work very enjoyable, the man is talented, no one can deny it without coming off as slightly retarded or jealous. I don't know him personally and I couldn't care less about his (dis)beliefs or about the way he runs his writing room. What I care about is that this yet to be titled project is good.
There is a bit of Studio 60, a bit of The West Wing and a bit of Sports Night but it doesn't feel like any of them. The style is similar, naturally, it's smart, fast and it won't allow you time to check your phone every once in a while.
In this one, Will runs the 8pm news show for a network called UBS and discovers that his entire staff decided to quit while he was on vacation because of his bad attitude. A suit at the network took the matter in his own hands and hired him a new executive producer, McKenzie who just so happens to have a complicated past with Will.
Before you people get your panties in a bunch again, yes, if you can put two and two together, I'm sure you will be able to tie this pitch with past arcs in some of the shows I mentioned before but the show explores something new and absolutely captivating (that's cable news if you haven't followed). Sorkin is great at making us love unlikable characters and at telling incredibly compelling stories and this script is exactly what the doctor ordered. It will make you laugh, cry and think and you can't say that much about a lot of shows.
If you were a fan of any of his past shows, rest assured, you won't be disappointed so you better get ready to welcome him back to television, if you only know him for The Social Network, then know that the best of Sorkin is on television.
The show will be another exciting and fascinating adventure with intriguing, absorbing and very intelligent people like only Sorkin can deliver. I can't wait.
Will it make it ?
Well, Sorkin should have been on HBO one failed tv show ago and especially thanks to The Social Network, I doubt the network will pass on this.
Will it work ?
It must.
Should it make it ?
Just like Veep and the rest of the network's projects in development... It should.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Veep (HBO) by Simon Blackwell and Armando Iannucci
What is it ? :
Veep is a comedy about a former senator who finds being vice president is nothing like she expected and everything everyone ever warned her about. It was written by Simon Blackwell and Armando Iannucci who worked on political British television show The Thick of It as well as the excellent In The Loop.
Good/Bad :
Veep is incredibly coarse and entertaining, a lot like The West Wing and Eastbound and Down baby's would be. In the pilot, Fantastic Mr Fox is described as a sly fuck and the VP's Press Spokesman is threatened to have his tits sliced off and fed to his dog.
Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), the Vice President, slowly discovers that her newly acquired title hasn't brought her a lot of respect and spends the pilot getting around or avoiding her staff's mistakes. The dialogue is fast and scathing, the one liners are hilarious, politically incorrect, full of pop-culture references and quirky which made the script one of the best read of this season.
The pilot is character driven, focusing a lot more on damage control than on a larger political picture (it's not clear what party the White House is occupied by), Veep offers a shocking version of a very respected and protected fishbowl which will most likely irritate a lot of people. Every character of the show is aggressive, rude, selfish and obnoxious but this time, it is for the best as from the opening scene where the Vice President admires a cornstarch fork and tests drive a hybrid spoon-fork, Veep is without a doubt a show that you do not want to miss.
It is all the way fast, captivating, hilarious and intelligent, simply good and true comedy like HBO has failed to do... until now.
It's HBO, that means you won't have to stupidly stare at your screen for five seconds waiting for the fake laughter to stop after a punchline is delivered and trust me, there are a lot of them. Seriously, do not miss this.
Will it make it ?
It was picked to series today.
Will it work ?
Great casting, great script, great network... What could possibly go wrong ?
Should it make it ?
Beyond any doubt.
Veep is a comedy about a former senator who finds being vice president is nothing like she expected and everything everyone ever warned her about. It was written by Simon Blackwell and Armando Iannucci who worked on political British television show The Thick of It as well as the excellent In The Loop.
Good/Bad :
Veep is incredibly coarse and entertaining, a lot like The West Wing and Eastbound and Down baby's would be. In the pilot, Fantastic Mr Fox is described as a sly fuck and the VP's Press Spokesman is threatened to have his tits sliced off and fed to his dog.
Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), the Vice President, slowly discovers that her newly acquired title hasn't brought her a lot of respect and spends the pilot getting around or avoiding her staff's mistakes. The dialogue is fast and scathing, the one liners are hilarious, politically incorrect, full of pop-culture references and quirky which made the script one of the best read of this season.
The pilot is character driven, focusing a lot more on damage control than on a larger political picture (it's not clear what party the White House is occupied by), Veep offers a shocking version of a very respected and protected fishbowl which will most likely irritate a lot of people. Every character of the show is aggressive, rude, selfish and obnoxious but this time, it is for the best as from the opening scene where the Vice President admires a cornstarch fork and tests drive a hybrid spoon-fork, Veep is without a doubt a show that you do not want to miss.
It is all the way fast, captivating, hilarious and intelligent, simply good and true comedy like HBO has failed to do... until now.
It's HBO, that means you won't have to stupidly stare at your screen for five seconds waiting for the fake laughter to stop after a punchline is delivered and trust me, there are a lot of them. Seriously, do not miss this.
Will it make it ?
It was picked to series today.
Will it work ?
Great casting, great script, great network... What could possibly go wrong ?
Should it make it ?
Beyond any doubt.
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