(no subject)
I hate story endings. I'm fiddling and fiddling, and it needs a little something more, but anything I can come up with has the subtlety of a public service announcement.
Argh.
And some pretty disturbing news for the new season of West Wing - no spoilers as such, just general talk from studio executives:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43466-2004Jul11.html
The Josiah Bartlet administration is coming to an end at the close of the upcoming television season -- only three years into his second term, NBC suits report. But they insist that does not necessarily mean "The West Wing" will be canceled. Thus continues the slow, painful unraveling of the once-great White House drama series.
" 'West Wing' was ratings-challenged" last season, NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly told critics over the weekend, stating the obvious.
"John Wells is not in denial about it," he said of the man best known for executive-producing "ER," who took over "The West Wing" when its creator, Aaron Sorkin, was shown the door.
"I can't reveal too much; all I can tell you is it's not going to be business as usual," Reilly continued. "The one little thing I could say is that the Bartlet administration is clearly coming to the end of its term, and I think that's going to foster some really interesting developments. . . . So we're going to try to juice up that show creatively this year, and
I'm excited about what I've heard."
"Juicing up" is not an expression "West Wing" fans want to hear in connection with the series. When you hear "juicing up" and "John Wells" in the same breath, crashing helicopters and tank attacks cannot be far behind.
On the other hand, Peter Roth, the man who runs Warner Bros. TV, which produces "The West Wing," yesterday told The TV Column it was too early to say whether the Bartlet administration would come to an end this coming TV season. And yet Reilly seemed pretty certain of what he was saying to a room full of critics and columnists here. But then Reilly is a guy who's capable of telling a room full of critics and columnists that the "Friends" spinoff "Joey" gave him "this magical feeling that happens only one in a great while," that he "feeds off the energy" of his boss, NBC Universal Television Group President Jeff Zucker, and that a drama series in which Heather Locklear runs LAX "will have credibility." Can you ever really trust a man who's capable of saying such things with a straight face?
Zucker also acknowledged that the Bartlet administration would pack it in at the end of this season. On the other hand, Zucker last season promised that "Coupling" would be the most talked-about show of the season, and he now says he knew "Coupling" was garbage from the time its pilot was shot.
------
It's ratings challenged, so the creative/business response is to take it even further away from the Sorkin years?
To quote two great CJ lines:
It eludes me
and
Kill me now.
Argh.
And some pretty disturbing news for the new season of West Wing - no spoilers as such, just general talk from studio executives:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43466-2004Jul11.html
The Josiah Bartlet administration is coming to an end at the close of the upcoming television season -- only three years into his second term, NBC suits report. But they insist that does not necessarily mean "The West Wing" will be canceled. Thus continues the slow, painful unraveling of the once-great White House drama series.
" 'West Wing' was ratings-challenged" last season, NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly told critics over the weekend, stating the obvious.
"John Wells is not in denial about it," he said of the man best known for executive-producing "ER," who took over "The West Wing" when its creator, Aaron Sorkin, was shown the door.
"I can't reveal too much; all I can tell you is it's not going to be business as usual," Reilly continued. "The one little thing I could say is that the Bartlet administration is clearly coming to the end of its term, and I think that's going to foster some really interesting developments. . . . So we're going to try to juice up that show creatively this year, and
I'm excited about what I've heard."
"Juicing up" is not an expression "West Wing" fans want to hear in connection with the series. When you hear "juicing up" and "John Wells" in the same breath, crashing helicopters and tank attacks cannot be far behind.
On the other hand, Peter Roth, the man who runs Warner Bros. TV, which produces "The West Wing," yesterday told The TV Column it was too early to say whether the Bartlet administration would come to an end this coming TV season. And yet Reilly seemed pretty certain of what he was saying to a room full of critics and columnists here. But then Reilly is a guy who's capable of telling a room full of critics and columnists that the "Friends" spinoff "Joey" gave him "this magical feeling that happens only one in a great while," that he "feeds off the energy" of his boss, NBC Universal Television Group President Jeff Zucker, and that a drama series in which Heather Locklear runs LAX "will have credibility." Can you ever really trust a man who's capable of saying such things with a straight face?
Zucker also acknowledged that the Bartlet administration would pack it in at the end of this season. On the other hand, Zucker last season promised that "Coupling" would be the most talked-about show of the season, and he now says he knew "Coupling" was garbage from the time its pilot was shot.
------
It's ratings challenged, so the creative/business response is to take it even further away from the Sorkin years?
To quote two great CJ lines:
It eludes me
and
Kill me now.