A little thing called cadence
Words, when spoken out loud for the sake of performance, are music. They have rhythm and pitch and timbre and volume. These are the properties of music and music has the ability to find us and move us and lift us up in ways that literal meanings can't.
Someone on a community somewhere linked to Doris Egan's livejournal / blog. The original reason was to point to her explanation of [H]ouse's timeline (ten, fifteen, twenty years). I'm with her on expecting descriptive casual remarks from characters, I'm not going to hold every character to exact numbers because she's right, real people don't talk like that (12 years, 125 days ago . . . ). The problem I have is I prefer saying "15" instead of "10;" and if it's 15 and you encourage rounding up, it's 20. But then again, I like numbers. For example, I hate when characters say "and" in the middle of numbers (hundred AND five); grrr... obviously they didn't have my math (and science) teachers. Like my third grade math teacher. "And" is for decimals. Ahem.
Honestly, though, her timeline post isn't the one that caught my attention; instead, it was her post saying that she'd have a reduced role on [H]ouse (sad) because she wants to do additional things (good for her) ( http://tightropegirl.livejournal.com/19749.html). She loves working on [H]ouse because she works with people that care about dialogue. She works with people who care that "Brilliant" matches the two syllables of "long shot." And no one looks at her oddly. And everyone understands and wants the same thing.
And that is one of the main reasons (apart from the incredible cast) why I'm a fan of [H]ouse. I'm a Sorkin fan, so this idea of crafting music out of language certainly isn't new (and I've loved language and writing long before I ever saw "Sports Night" and before everyone was introduced to "You can't handle the truth") but I've been listening to his work for so long now that I believe my ear is now tuned to his particular style (and cadence) of writing. I recognize his style in other works and I enjoy that; it made the transition from Sorkin to Wells on TWW that much more jarring (I do not enjoy Wells's writing; he and I do not find interest in the same things). [H]ouse doesn't always get it right (to my ear) and certainly not to the extent of, say, the West Wing, but their character development is better. If they could only get Debora Cahn (edited b/c I didn't get her name right; absurd) away from Grey's Anatomy, I'd be thrilled.
It makes me sad that Egan has worked for some shows that didn't care about dialogue. Or that tv execs think the public has such short attention spans that scenes longer than two minutes are a cause for alarm. She used Baggage (that she wrote with David Foster, who is my favorite writer, I think) as an example. It's HL and Andre Braugher sitting in a room together. That really doesn't get better (can AB please be on a show that doesn't have Ray Romano? please?). My pipe dream is now for the whole cast to spend the majority of an episode in a room together, playing off each other (everyone meaning, of course, Wilson and Cuddy also offering their specialties). If not, I just want scenes of House, Cuddy, and Wilson in a room together. I enjoy them playing off each other; I enjoy the ensemble nature (of the entire cast, but particularly the OT3!).
And as for the "shipperfication" of shows, I agree, it is regrettable. I don't really understand it and I really don't understand "shipper wars." Is it because my side is currently "winning"? I hope not; my "shipping" tends to be limited to "which characters I want to see on screen together" and I tend to go where shows lead me. If I disagree, or I'm not seeing something they want me to, I don't feel I'm "owed" anything by the show. My job is to watch or not if I want; their job is to actually put the art together. This isn't a Choose Your Own Adventure story; as long as people are putting together the best show they can, I'm good. If the goal is to keep the show going as long as possible, I'm not as supportive (especially when TPTB actually say that out loud. I don't need that much reality; lie to me, please, and at least pretend you're trying to be creative. I'll be so much more patience with any missteps if you go the latter route). For example (sorry, horse!), I may not have liked Lucas, but it was the character (and execution) that I disliked, not the idea of him. I support the idea of Cuddy dating someone (other than House and Wilson :D); I have always fully supported the idea of her getting laid, poor thing.
I also don't think show people should listen to the rantings of those on the internet; the medium tends to turn us all into middle schoolers (hence my increased use of emoticons). But I don't think they should blame the fans (or the internet) alone. Viewers are intelligent now; we know about sweeps and when they are and we know, from experience, that the shows will pull out their big guns for those discrete times. And what do shows invariably use at those times? More often than not, something to do with the romance of the "main" couple.
So shows have trained us over the years to associate romance with "major part of show that we believe will bring in top advertising dollars." They've been manipulating us for years. And now TPTB (of all shows, I'm not even singling [H]ouse out because they're one of the better ones) get mad and say "If you only watch for the romance you don't really like the show." In other words, "How dare you be so easily manipulated by our obvious and sustained manipulations of you." Not. Appreciated. You don't like the outcry and added emphasis on romance? Stop saving the romance for sweeps. You want people to focus more on the ensemble cast? Fantastic -- so emphasize something to do with the ensemble during sweeps. You may have no control over how the channel advertises the show, but you do have control (hopefully) over the stories you plan for and write.
And speaking of ways House is successfully manipulating me (SPOILERS)
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON??!?!?!!?
WHAT I CAN ONLY ASSUME IS THE WORKING TITLE IS 'THUNDER ROADTRIP' (FROM IWATCHFORCUDDY). (IF IT'S AN ACTUAL ROADTRIP THEY'RE TAKING, AND SHE KNEW THEY WERE TAKING HIS BIKE, SO FUN THAT SHE WORE THE HEELS ANYWAY). OR, ACTUALLY, THAT'S NOT A WORKING TITLE. THAT IS A CRUEL, CRUEL JOKE THAT SHOW IS PLAYING ON US.
BUT FROM THE PICTURES FROM FILMING ALONE, SHOW IS TAKING THIS VERY, VERY SERIOUSLY. AND THAT MAKES ME A LITTLE NERVOUS BECAUSE THE POSSIBLE FALLOUT IS GOING TO HURT. BUT IF THAT'S HOW I FEEL WATCHING FICTIONAL CHARACTERS ONCE A WEEK FOR AN HOUR, THINK OF WHAT THE "ACTUAL" H&C FEEL. TALK ABOUT JUMPING OFF A CLIFF. THIS IS BIG. THIS IS HUGE. AND SHOW IS TREATING IT ACCORDINGLY.
WHICH IS, NGL, MAKING ME INSANE. AND THIS IS JUST FROM THE UNAUTHORIZED SPOILERS OF THE FIRST EPISODE.
WHAT IS THIS? THIS IS ABSURD. HOW CAN SHOW MANIPULATE ME SO EASILY AND SO SUCCESSFULLY?
YEARS OF PRACTICE.
FUCK ME. IT'S ONLY JUNE.
ALSO. DUDE.
Click to viewAs the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey that's me and I want you only
Don't turn me home again
I just can't face myself alone again
Don't run back inside
Darling you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared and you're thinking
That maybe we ain't that young anymore
Show a little faith there's magic in the night
. . .
We got one last chance to make it real
To trade in these wings on some wheels
Climb in back
Heaven's waiting on down the tracks
Oh-oh come take my hand
We're riding out tonight to case the promised land