Over
Thanksgiving Break I discovered the television show Scandal. It’s created by
Shonda Rhimes who is also the creator of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “How to Get Away
with Murder”. All three are amazing shows. On Thursday nights, Twitter becomes a giant “Scandal” chat room, fans of the show dispatching around 200,000 tweets per episode. A good portion of these tweets contain “OMG.” Now the same goes for “How to get Away with Murder”. Shonda is running the show(s) at ABC!
Shonda is one of the most powerful African-American female show
runner in television.She has three hit
television shows on back to back to back on Thursday nights. Rhimes oversees
around 550 actors, writers, crew members and producers. The televisions in her
office and home are connected to a system that allows her to watch real-time
editing by her editors. Basically she is AWESOME. The End.
Shonda Rhimes is one of the most powerful and successful women in television. There's no doubt about that. Her empire began back in 2005, when she became creator and executive producer of a television show for her first time. It was Grey's Anatomy and it premiered on ABC as a mid-season replacement. For those of you who have been living under a rock, Grey's is a medical drama about surgical interns and residents as they gradually evolve into seasoned doctors, while trying to maintain personal lives and relationships. The show is wildly successful, beginning its eleventh season this week. Rhimes expanded her empire in 2012, when another show of hers, Scandal, hit ABC. Thursdays became known as "Shonda Thursdays" at ABC, as Grey's aired from 8-9pm and Scandal followed from 9-10pm. Scandal also became an instant success. The show is a political thriller that follows Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope, a former White House Communications Director for the President, who has left to start her own crisis management firm. With two back-to-back primetime shows on the second most popular day of television (after Sundays), Rhimes is clearly one of the most powerful female showrunners and most powerful black showrunners in television. But her reign continues, as she conquers the final hour of ABC primetime on Thursdays. This past Thursday, Rhimes' newest showpremiered after Grey's and Scandal. How to Get Away with Murder is a legal drama starring Viola Davis as a law professor at a prestigious university who, with her students, becomes entwined in a murder plot.
This Thursday was the first of many new and improved "Shonda Thursdays," with three hours of Rhimes television back-to-back-to-back. And to say it was a success is an understatement. How to Get Away with Murder beat Rhimes' other two premieres, drawing in 14 million viewers for the series premiere. Grey's and Scandal brought in 9.8 and 11.9 million viewers respectively. Now the real question is how many of those viewers will return next week and the week after that. The success of a series premiere says more about the marketing than about the quality of the show. The show's success will be determined by whether the number of viewers strengthen as the season continues or starts depleting. Overall, ABC beat its competition during every hour of primetime (with the exception of CBS's Thursday Night Football, because, well, it's football).
Wow to think this is my last post, how time flies. First off I wanted to say it was a pleasure to work with all of you throughout the semester. Additionally this class has been one of the most unique experiences in both college and life in general (especially due to the interesting stories and objective of the class). While some days there might have been stormy seas it is nice to know we will all be sailing into the sunset on calm waters after our screening this Saturday. In all seriousness this class allowed me to gain a true appreciation for the industry and taking myself serious as a filmmaker, I mean how can one not learn from such a seasoned veteran like Arturo. Lastly I wish you all the best in the future as you pursue your careers, good luck on your finals and have a safe break!
Now that I got all the sappy shit out of the way I would like to share my favorite holiday animated special, A Charlie Brown Christmas. This was actually the first prime-time animated TV special. The animated TV special is based on the comic strip, Peanuts created by Charles Schulz. For any of you that aren't familiar with Schulz or his work he was an American cartoonist that dedicated 50 years to his most notable work, Peanuts. A Charlie Brown Christmas was first debuted on CBS in 1965 and was switched to ABC in 2001 where it is currently aired on multiple occasions leading up to the Christmas. The animated TV special has received much recognition throughout the years and has won an Emmy and Peabody Award. The last reason this is one of my favorite of all time is the soundtrack and how it works in unison with the animation throughout the entire special. Additionally the music simply spells Christmas as it provides a magical feeling we have all felt at one point or another during the holiday season. Without further adieu here is the classic opening to A Charlie Brown Christmas...
Fans of the Marvel movies or simply Avenger fans have much in stored! From Josh Whedon, and the Director of Marvels The Avengers, the newly much anticipated series Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D premieres on ABC September 24 at 8/7c. Before the last battle of New York we see agent Coulson die, a tragedy to all fans who loved and supported his character. Well good new he's back from the dead to star in this up coming American television series. From the limited information that has been leaked this show it is not a spin off that is unrelated to the movies! Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D works in current time with the movies. It's in direct continuity with the movies. This show is about a hand selected, "non-super", group of people that are called upon to see about old and new opposing threats to the Earth. Humans are now aware that people from other planets exists while others with supernatural powers live and breath among them. It shows how, the "extras" from the Marvel superhero movies, are coping and living day to day with this new found realization. It's an exciting new show that doesn't seem to compare to any other show on television so far.
I'm a big fan of ABC television series. I'm constantly impressed with the shows they are coming out with and I'm especially excited to see the new series executive-produced by Steven Spielberg. It's a new Drama series about seven gas station employees in Queens, New York, who have been chipping into a lottery pool for years, never thinking they'd actually win. With some luck they actually win. This show reveals the life changing events of theses characters and their secrets that are now exposed. People think their lives change when you win the lottery and it solves all your money problems but there is always another side to things and "Luck 7" shows that.
This new series hits ABC this fall, premiering Tuesday, September 24 at 10. Lucky 7, is based off the hit British show "The Syndicate", written by David Zabel and Jason Richman executive produced by Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey, Zabel and Richman. This is a show you don't want to miss! Tune in and watch!
Abc's newest sensational drama Scandal, is full of steamy hot and sexy content about scandals in the white house. Scandal is an American Political thriller television series starring Kerri Washington. Kerri Washington plays the revered and feared Olivia Pope. Olivia leaves her job at the white house to open her own crisis management firm, Olivia Pope and associates. Her methods aren't conventional and most of the time illegal but she is known as the "fixer". Miss. Pope and her team are called upon to protect the public image of the nations elite and to make sure their secrets never get out. Her intelligence, strength, and her ability to challenge every man or woman she comes across is uncanny, but like every superhero she has one weakness, her kryptonite, a man.
This show is full of shocking twist and surprises where the writers leave you gasping and grasping for more. Scandal is brought to you by the same creator Shonda Rhimes and executive producers from Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. I've been inspired by Olivia and I'm officially obsessed with the show. It's fast paced and exciting and I can't wait for the third season to start October 3!
Consider this a "tip of the hat, wag of the finger" style post.
The tip of the hat goes to "Boss", a new serial on STARZ. The show follows Kelsey Grammer as Tom Kane, a fictional "boss" mayor of Chicago who suffers from a degenerative neurological disorder. Only his physician knows; the rest of his team and family are too busy with their own lives to notice that anything is out of the ordinary.
Everything about this show screams subtlety. The cinematography is simple, but effective; color correction and eye-pleasing special effects don't intend to shock but instead enhance the viewer's understanding of the show. It's really in the acting and the story where the series excels. Kathleen Robertson plays it professional and sexy as Kitty O'Neil, Kane's aide, and Jeff Hephner plays Ben Zajac, Illinois governor hopeful, whose ambition bleeds through his suit so heavily you'd need to run after him with a towel to wipe it all up.
It's a great show with standards that most showrunners live to strive for. It stands in contrast to Once Upon A Time, a show where so many insane things are happening at once that it's hard to keep up with what's what.
Unlike Boss, which relies heavily on the realistic storytelling and minuscule intensity, Once Upon A Time takes no issue with going overboard on the fantastic. The production value in the show is catastrophic. That's not a bad thing; it's just that there's so much of it that it's hard to believe that ABC would let a show like this air. On second thought, they did have Pushing Daisies, which was also a pretty quirky show. So there's that.
But where Once Upon A Time fails is in its story. It's just a mish-mosh of fairy tales spliced together in some hackneyed attempt of a grown-up Disney story, mixed in with a little bit of reality to give the show some backbone. None of the characters have a real third dimension; by that, I mean that they are fully-formed, but not to the degree of absolute completion. It's as if all of the ingredients for a good character are there, but they haven't yet blended together to create that awesome character smoothie that I can easily digest.
And because the writing doesn't quite cut it, the entire show comes across as a lumpy mess of a fantasy series that doesn't quite sit well in my stomach.
I'd recommend both this and Boss anyway, just because it's up to you to decide what you like. And if neither of these shows seems like your cup of tea, there's always NBC Thursdays.
I had posted earlier in the year about the show Pan Am that was new to ABC this season. I was excited to see the world of the flying age and expected a much better first episode. Sadly the writing of the pilot was so mediocre I found myself wondering if we as a class should rewrite the script for them because I am sure we could have made it much better. And for the record, I had no idea that this was a total female demographic show and feel a tad bit embarrassed.
However as much as it was a terrible first episode, I did see a few things in the pilot that caught my attention. The first thing was the sets and costumes. Everything looked very real and authentic and the who atmosphere of each of the sets envoked 1960's. There was always plenty of bustling and commotion from the excited passengers of the new Pan Am plane.
Another thing was the graphics that were created to remake the take off of an older Pan Am vessel. The plane and movement of it was very realistic as well as the sounds and colors. The only problem I saw with the authenticity of it was the glossiness of the outside of the plane. I think they were stressing the idea that it was a new plane and that the day was very bright and sunny, but I found it a little distracting.
Other than that the show does not have much to talk about. The twists and themes in the show are very predictable, but if anyone is going to take this show anywhere it's going to be Christina Ricci. She is by far the best talent in the show and if I had some advice for her, it would be take the next plane off set of ABC's Pan Am
As the cold weather has reached us here in upstate New York and night is getting sooner everyday, I found myself wondering what new show would peak my interest during the cold nights of an Ithaca winter. Last year it was The Office. This year I am excited to see what the first season of Pan Am brings. Ever since I viewed the movie Catch Me If You Can, I have been intrigued with the "Jet Age" of the 1960's. It was a world that is so foreign to me and I have found myself wondering what it would be like to be a part of it.
The show started as an idea from the producer Nancy Hult Ganis, who was a Pan Am stewardess during the Jet Age. She wanted to exploit this time period and turn into a show that would be watched by the masses.
This show has really peaked my interest personally because it has a similar motif that many of my favorite movies share. The world of the stewardess during this time was one filled with drugs, corruption, sex, and more.
In Goodfellas, this was a central motif because the way the drug sales were completed were through stewardess's and staff on the plane. This is the same idea in the movie Blow. This show has picked a topic that is interesting to many audience types. However if the show doesn't follow an interesting storyline, it could really tank and not make it through this first season. I hope for the best.
