A while ago, TWOP posted this article about hypothetical directions that 24 could go in, depending on who picked up the reins. Some were pretty hilarious. I also got to thinking about what shows I would want some of my favorite creators to make. Because we need more good television and less…Celebrity Apprentice and Deal or No Deal.
Aaron Sorkin
As many of you know, I hold Sports Night in some of the highest regard. I first watched it when it aired (admittedly, a lot of it was lost on me then) and fell in love with it all over again in sophomore year. Unfortunately, he abandoned it to focus on his more successful series, The West Wing. Finally, Studio 60 was rumoured to be what television needed to pick itself up by its bootstraps. Sadly, Studio 60 eventually just fell flat on its face. The tv show believed to save television could not save itself.
Why couldn’t Studio 60 or even Sports Night hold onto an audience quite like The West Wing? I mean, it certainly wasn’t a difference in writing; Aaron Sorkin is notorious for reusing plot lines. No, it has to do with setting. Sorkin’s power lies in creating serious drama in life-or-death situations. Dire situations are captivating when the country faces nuclear attack. It’s a lot harder to sell the same peril in reference to a show within a show.
And what is the only thing more dangerous than trying to govern the free world? Obviously it is the life of the high schooler. Aaron Sorkin could easily write an epic, critically acclaimed series that ultimately gets cancelled (following in the footsteps of My So Called Life and Freaks and Geeks). Sorkin’s signature walk-and-talk is perfect for the hallways and passing periods common to high school. His sharp rhetoric is a perfect match for the erudite elite, competing for valedictorian. And his own mortality can as easily be reflected in these teens as it can in tv show writers.
It’s been voiced before that teen dramas should include as little influence from adults as possible and while I may agree I can’t help but cast the entire school (perhaps a spin-off is in order?): Bradley Whitford as the principal concerned with raising test scores, Joshua Molina as the naïve, young journalism teacher and debate coach (and our protagonist’s surrogate parent), Felicity Huffman as the vetern English teacher, and Matthew Perry would guest star as a substitute Social Science teacher, who has a host of stories from his worldly travels, which excite and inspire the students.
Our protagonist, Charlie, would be a slightly cocky junior from an upper-middle class family, suffering through his parents’ divorce. While building the extra-curriculars of his transcript, he discovers a passion for the debate team and struggles to balance his newfound love with his commitments to the basketball team. He has aspirations to go to Georgetown and try his hand in either economics or political science.
His best friend since elementary school, and the team’s captain, Paul, is worried that they are drifting apart since our protagonist is spending more and more time with the debate team while simultaneously facing coming to terms with the surrounding drug culture that is becoming increasingly apparent with his friends. He also struggles to keep hidden from public knowledge his parents’ dire economic status. He is hoping for a sports scholarship so he can get into a decent state school
The object of affection of our protagonist is the new transfer girl, Claire, serious about journalism class and has a knack for the culinary arts. She becomes relatively popular, it doesn’t hurt that her dad is a studio musician who has a lot of celebrity contacts. Though she forms an early and close bond with a mutual friend of Charlie’s, Katie. It is slowly revealed that she transferred after losing a friend to suicide and her subsequent spiral into the bowels of depression. She drinks a lot, more than people assume.
Katie is a cheerleader and has known Charlie since middle school. Initially, he had a little crush on her, then she on him, but they could never get the timing right. Now, their relationship is more of a brother-sister thing. A little shy, she’s always wished she could be as assertive as Charlie.
In the season finale “What Kind of Day Has it Been?” Paul is falsely charged with drunk driving, which Charlie can clear him of, at the price of implicating his own involvement in the incident. Claire starts coming clean about her substance abuse. Katie faces moving away for good.
Judd Apatow
Following the logical progression in his tv series career, we move from high school, to college, to now yuppie life.
Seth Rogen stars as a 20-something in Manhattan who works a boring job but eventually (mid-season) gets laid off from his job at Merrill Lynch and uses it as his ‘get out of jail free’ card. Leslie Mann will have a reoccurring role as his boss, before he is fired. He’s been kinda passive all his life and decided to change that. He’s gonna try and make it as a stand up comic.
His best friend, played by Paul Rudd, is the cautious but supportive friend, following the path that was always expected of him. He’s in his second year at law school and is surprised at how much he loves what little shreds of life he still has left. When standing next to his best friend, he seems quite the ladies man, but that doesn’t mean all too much.
Carla Gallo plays their mutual friend and the manager of the diner (or possibly coffee shop) where much action takes place. Sassy and sweet, she has inner self-doubt on acting on her feelings toward Paul Rudd.
Busy Phillips plays a fellow co-worker at the diner (or possible coffee shop) and is an integral part of the gang. She met Seth Rogen in undergrad and they’ve stayed pretty good friends. She’s had an emotionally traumatic childhood and rarely talks about her family back home in California.
Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon should make a new tv show. I don’t care if it’s like old British ghost story that would explore the theme of lonliness. Joss needs to stop making comic books and get back to tv. Starring Anthony Stewart Head.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Wishlist
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
The Best of Jason Segel
This is a bit of a follow-up to Ryan's earlier post; after getting home from seeing Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I, too, had the impulse to write a blog telling you all to see it. So, go see it: It's funny. Like, really funny. But I'm not at all surprised, since for years I've thought Jason Segel was one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood. To prove my point, I wanted to make a Top 5 list (with Youtube clips!) of the best of Jason Segel on tv. But as I started putting them together, I realized that almost all my favorite Jason Segel moments involved him either singing or dancing. So, after the cut, 5 Reasons Jason Segel Needs to Be Cast in a Musical Comedy:
1. Lady L, Freaks and Geeks: Some fans of Freaks and Geeks often point to Nick speak-singing "Lady" by Styx to Lindsey as the most cringe-inducing moment of the series. But I far prefer Nick's original song "Lady L," which he tests out on Ken in this scene. The song is awful, but so genius in how its bad while still sort of catchy.
2. Okay Awesome dance, HIMYM: I have long said that How I Met Your Mother is one of the most underrated shows on TV right now, and while Neil Patrick Harris deserves all the love he gets, Jason Segel is the most underrated actor on the show. CBS keeps the Youtube clips on a very tight rein, so I couldn't find all of the moments I wanted. But in this one, where Marshall ditches a wine-tasting party to meet his friends at a club, take some undisclosed drugs at a club, and dance his heart out in the middle of a circle, you can see that Jason Segel obviously has the moves as well as the pipes. And look at how much better he's gotten since the disco competition at the bowling alley!
3. Jesus is Just Alright: I adore this clip just for the moment when Nick starts the chorus a line too soon, then laughs and keeps going. I heard, in the episode commentary, probably, that this was a real mistake by Jason Segel but they decided to keep it in because it felt so natural.
4. Night Night Lily: In this clip, Marshall makes a video for Lily, his fiancee, after they decide not to spend the night together for the two weeks before their wedding. Ted, his best friend, is behind the camera. This might be the kind of clip that won't seem funny unless you're familiar with the show, but Marshall's conducting the harmony cracks me up. And making a lullaby video is a pretty straight progression from Nick showing up at Lindsey's house at night and Eric making a pillow with his face on it for Lizzie.
5. Eric in Shower, Undeclared: I would be remiss if I didn't include a clip of Jason Segel from Undeclared, where he played Lizzie's older, very possessive boyfriend. I don't think he did any singing or dancing on the show (although I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong), but this clip includes the Sexy Robot song so it almost fits the theme. The thing I love about Jason Segel is that he's totally fearless as an actor; you never see any hints of self-consciousness as he does the craziest, most humiliating things. When Eric starts hitting himself, it's so real that I want to hide under my pillow.
Bonus clips!
This clip is from the Megan Mullally Show (remember when she had a show for like 7 minutes?), when the whole cast of HIMYM was interviewed. Somehow a discussion of musical theater leads into Jason Segel and Neil Patrick Harris singing the Confrontation Song from Les Miserables, and it might just be my favorite clip on all of YouTube.
Finally, someone put together a Best of Marshall video that shows, even out of context, how perfect Jason Segel's comedic timing always is:
So, everyone, rent the Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared DVDs, watch How I Met Your Mother Mondays on CBS, and go see Forgetting Sarah Marshall in theaters today.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Why am I taking time away from the other blog articles I am working on to tell you about Forgetting Sarah Marshall? Because it was that good, and obviously features some of my favorite stars of the silver screen.
If you love Veronica Mars, aka are crushing on Kristen Bell, here is your chance to see her again! Trust me, it’s a safer bet than Pulse.
If you love Freaks and Geeks and/or Undeclared, this is when Jason Segel really gets to shine. Judd Apatow knows how to pick ‘em (usually) too. Double treat if you’re an Undeclared fan, cameo by Carla Gallo! You'll also enjoy this if you're just jumping on the recent Apatow/Rogan bandwagon that has exploded.
And if you love Arrested Development, a cameo by Jason Bateman too!
30 Rock's Jack McBrayer is also in there for some good laughs!
Mila Kunis is pretty good too.
I just wish they could've Nathan Fillion in there too. It'd be good to have a complete critically acclaimed, cancelled tv series movie cast.
Anyways, yeah. Go see it. It’s fun.
EDIT: Trailer