henrygandorf

it needed a prequel, reboot, or just leave it alone. i don't need an 80 year old ford out there running around (i haven't seen it, so maybe he just has office hours). to me, that's depressing, because we've all seen the original 3. if they're going for a new audience, then find a new star. it's hard enough watching him stumble around on shrinking. people get old, that's ok. i don't really want to see larry bird and michael jordan play 1-on-1 in their 60's either.

as for my screenplay comment above, when i first interned in 1997 at paramount, i mostly read scripts and wrote coverage. most people hate that, but i loved it because i already knew i wanted to write, i didn't want to be in production or development. i read 3-4 scripts a day and copied and brought home dozens more (we were encouraged to do that). whenever there are a bunch of characters introduced early in a script that all share similar looks, ages, demographics, which is very difficult to keep straight in written form, everyone called it the "hamburger hill" effect. i still think about that all the time. also that summer i played golf and got paired with some ucla dudes. pretty nice and normal, and we all acknowledged that texas would fuck them up later that fall. glad we did not keep in touch.

the rush of reviews certainly came from the press screening i attended last night. it was supposed to be last week but they pushed. i'm spoilering everything, even though these aren't really "spoilers".

even if we get the 6 seed, does anyone in the al scare you? go look at the projected bracket. bunch of nancies in this thread.

i only like youtube for their political content.

that's a shame, i was really rooting for him.

just got back.

no notes.

they will still give out the awards, there just might not be a ceremony.

those people will still have a platform. friends and er could've been 12 episodes and they still would've become big. pedro pascal has become a huge international star from finally breaking through with narcos and their 10 episode seasons (after a short stint on got - 10 episode seasons). now he's a part of huge franchises. nobody is saying to get rid of all broadcast network tv shows, or even to get rid of longer seasons (abbott and ghosts are 18+). i'm just explaining one of the reasons a high-profile streaming service might prefer shorter seasons. there are no ads so what difference does it make? best case, what, you keep someone a subscriber for another 1-2 months? better off trying to keep your shows compelling and keep releasing new ones when you need to, which is what apple+ does. one trend that i think will go away because it makes no sense is the netflix "drop all episodes at once" model. they're already showing cracks with the part 1 and part 2 of certain shows. it's only a matter of time.

the feeling also is that if your seasons are only 8-10 episodes, you can attract better talent, because they can take a gig without it eating up their whole year. harrison ford isn't going to do 24 episodes of shrinking. mcconaughey and harrelson aren't doing 4 seasons of true detective. ben stiller isn't directing 22 episodes of severance. and so forth.

my wife runs a fashion pr agency which means they dress celebrities for events. it does not look good. sorry.

the other way to look at this, in terms of "explain this to me like i'm a five year old", when it comes to television residuals (and i've probably made similar posts, but here's another one) to put things in perspective for those who don't pay close attention. through the fault of nobody, the structure has changed. in the old days 80's, 90's, 00's, you had a lot of successful broadcast network sitcoms. think cosby and cheers, through friends, seinfeld, will and grace, all the way up through the office, big bang, parks and rec. those shows were great, their audiences grew, the ad revenue grew, the salaries grew, and everything made sense. it was just math. and everyone associated with an episode of tv (actors, writers, director, etc) was attached to that episode. like some contracts i've signed, "locked for life". they aired their 22-24 episodes a season, then aired reruns, then took 3 months off, then did the whole thing over again. if the show was successful enough (typically 4 seasons), it went into syndication. and that's when the other non-cable channels (80's and 90's) and eventually pretty much everyone - tbs, tnt, usa, comedy, vh1, paramount, the wb, the cw, even hallmark, purchased the right to re-air these episodes, and every single episode basically got sold again. which meant that everyone attached to every episode got paid again. it was a money-printing machine. then, they made dvd sets for each season. boom, those episodes get sold again. they get syndicated, re-syndicated, they get licensed by airlines, they were all over the place. then netflix comes along and says we want to do that too. great. sold again, and everyone associated, paid again. actors/writers/crew got work for a year, short break, and were back at it. no concerns about size of writers rooms, health insurance minimums, anything. then, as more streamers emerged, they decided that it would make more sense for them to produce their own content and own it, rather than pay large fees to the actual owners of the show. and i've picked on netflix plenty, so we'll use another example of what happens nowadays, and i'll pick the most popular example - ted lasso. so apple wants to make their own comedies, but they don't want to make 22-24 episodes, they want to make 8-10. and they don't want to take the summer off, they want a year in between seasons. so here's where things get tricky. now the rooms aren't as big because the seasons aren't as long. and the schedules aren't as crazy, so the actors don't get as much work, and "booking a tv show" doesn't mean then next year or (fingers crossed) several years are taken care of. now you get a few months of work. and since most of the shows are shot single camera instead of multi-cam, work schedules are different (think more like a movie). not everyone is on set every day rehearsing a full episode. and here's the best part - when the season is over, do you know where it goes? nowhere. it just sits on apple+ because why on earth would they want it anywhere else (outside of maybe an airline). so instead of getting paid 3-5x for several seasons of tv at 22 episodes per season, you're getting paid once for 3 seasons at 8 eps per season. so yeah, when they made a deal to "pay more up front" because of the lack of residuals, they didn't even come close to reaching the full compensation possibilities, even for a mediocre show. and when something truly does take off, like ted lasso, it doesn't affect ad revenue, and nobody's salaries shoot through the roof because there's not enough time for that to happen. it only affects subs, which helps, but as netflix has shown us, there's a ceiling on that, and nobody seems to want to be transparent about viewership on individual shows, so there really is no benefit to being on a great show, with the exception of future seasons. to make a long story short (too late), when the previous deals were made, and even several years after that, the assumption was that the netflix(es) of the world would function like a basic cable channel, continuing to bring in the friends, west wing, mad men, and the office types. as we've seen, that is no longer the case. not only have streaming services decided to produce their own content, but they've slowly been weaning themselves off their most popular streaming shows owned by others. all except hulu, which is one of the reasons hulu continues to be the best service out there. so yes, a lot of what the studios are claiming is true - there is no real ad revenue. shorter seasons actually do require fewer writers and smaller rooms, not to mention shorter stretches of work, which affects writers and actors and their ability to retain benefits. the streamers went from a potential syndication replacement to in-house production models. and as always, the studios and networks will always be ahead of the talent. they make the rules, they control distribution. there will always be a lag where they can take advantage of everyone else while they cry about losses and their shareholders get rich, at least until the cba runs out. same as it ever was. to me, there is a split of (to quote paul kinsey) "why can't it just go back to the way it was?" type people, which sucks, because that world is long gone. at least once a year, my agent will tell me that he "hears multi-cam is making a comeback". i refuse to fall for it, though i have a few projects that could pivot. and every year, they get nixed before shooting, which is why we don't see them. can you even imagine a multi-cam sitcom on apple+, disney+, or amazon prime? weird. sorry, got off track - the split is between the folks who long for the past, and people who are confused about a future that can make sense, economically. this means, unfortunately, like any good business deal, both sides will walk away unhappy. the threats about ai background players are just that, threats. movies have been using matte prints for backgrounds for half a century. actors won't suffer because of this, and i refuse to spend anymore time hand-wringing about ai for actors, sorry. going back to what queen bitch said, maybe it's time for a complete teardown and restructure. shit, it's happening already. half the studios/networks are a mess because of mergers, layoffs, and re-orgs. to me, the one constant through 100 years of showbusiness is this - people like stars. they just do. movie stars, tv stars, whatever you want to call it. it's hard to put into words sometimes, but you can tell the difference. i like to call it "presence." and netflix and amazon can trot out lincoln lawyer and jack reacher and a bunch of shows with people who kinda look familiar, but none of it works without top-line talent, whether that's the movie stars or the showrunners or the funniest writer on snl. this is not a traditional employer/employee mining strike. this isn't even a ridiculous sports strike/lockout, though there are some overlaps. this is, or rather, this needs to be a symbiotic relationship where both sides need each other. all the computers in the world won't change the fact that studios and networks need writers and actors, and writers and actors need a distribution channel for their art. i don't know what will happen or how long this will last, but what comes out of it will look different. maybe not in 2-3 months, but certainly in 2-3 years. consolidation of the streamers, more monopolies that conveniently merge distribution with content ownership. it wouldn't shock me if things start to look more like 2005 with fewer choices and higher price points. showbiz was never meant to be darwinism where the consumer wins. in fact, one could argue that's who's gonna get fucked the most on this - the audience. tl/dr - go watch the bear. and dave.

same. now we got coors.

we? you mean you, me, and uncle mike? we've been off for months.

so uh, not on freevee anymore. cool cool.

no, i don't believe so. it's a weird year, but not sure it's that weird.

i'm not sure i'm happy with one aspect of our team right now (sp, rp, offense) and we're 10 games over, 3 games back and currently in the playoffs. the offense gets solved by yainer playing over maldy, and altuve/pena/yordan coming back. adding someone is gravy. if abreu can just be average the rest of the way, we're fine on offense. the sp gets better when urquidy gets back and javier gets his shit right. not sure what's going on with him, but he's not his usual self. framber is great, france has been solid. otherwise, we're all over the place. need hb to get his head out of his ass. rp - i have no idea. i think we need to add 1-2 arms just because, but there's no guarantee that anyone is better than who we have if who we have get their shit together. we used to have 5 guys i trusted and maton wasn't one of them. i'll settle for 3 + pressly but it would be nice to know who those 3 are. need abreu to get back to being abreu. need to go 5-1 this week. i can't decide if i'm happy or pissed we went 2-1 over the weekend.

also the schedule really works out this season. big-o, derka, and i are in a virtual 3-way tie for 1st place in the east, where the records have generally been shittier than the west. which means if the season ended last night, by percentage points, i would be the 7 seed and miss the playoffs. but i play both of them in the final 6 weeks, along with the disgusting brothers. time to take ph down a peg.

-ok i went and skimmed the first 4-5 pages. july 31st was agreed upon for the trade deadline, so that's that. -it's always been 6 playoff teams. two division winners get byes. 2nd place in each division get in. next two best records get in after that. -fawesome is correct (felt weird to type that). aug 28th-sept 3rd is the wild card matchup. there are six regular season matchups left, including the one that starts today. let's gooooooooooo.

well it sounds like some actors and writers might be selling their houses soon, so maybe there's some synergy.

i haven't listened to the podcast, but from what i am hearing, the "novelty" of the actors and writers being on strike at the same time is something that will be milked a bit, and won't help resolve it anytime soon. that's two months from now and definitely possible. mid sept is about when viewers are going to start asking, "where is abbott, ghosts, and insert popular broadcast network show here".

sure, but it comes off especially tone deaf when the ceo's are telling the press "sorry, there just isn't any money to go around, we're basically going broke over here." netflix specifically (and this is about the 5th time i've mentioned it, so apologies) went out of their way to create their own content in order to replace the successful content they were no longer going to license from other networks. they foolishly spent over a billion dollars on a few high-profile showrunners and accomplished pretty much zero of what they set out to do. so yeah, decisions were made from high places and that money could've certainly been useful elsewhere.

mike pence pees sitting down. facing the toilet.