Thursday, May 01, 2008

What would Jesus do?

My thanks to Ben for this, which I missed.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/apr/28/bbc.tvnews?gusrc=rss&f

and this
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/tv/2008/04/what_a_weekend_yes_i.html

I pissed myself laughing.

It's not too hard to read between the lines.

Gotto love the 12 year old commissioning exec defending his alleged notes to Frank Deasy on The Passion, at the the cruxifiction scene ''is there enough at stake'. Untrue apparently. His defence is that the actual note was ''if the audience didn't know the story of Jesus would they know what was going on?'

You can only shake your head in wonder.

8 comments:

Jaded and Cynical said...

Good stuff.

And you've been making those very arguments for the past couple of years.

Charlie Williams said...

I think it's because the beeb are making shows for venutians now. They don't know Jesus from any other puny earthling.

Dave, this is a great blog. Keep on with it please.

Anonymous said...

Great blog,

What about that post about a new writer's serial and series academy looking for writers who have two or more credits interested in crime, is it even true? Been googling it and can't find anything. Surely if someone has two credits they don't need to be taught how to write.

JG

Anonymous said...

To JG,

Of course they need educating. Do you know NOTHING?

It used to be you wrote a spec script(s), got an agent, got on to a show and then it was sink or swim time. Now you have to be 'taught' how to do your job.

What freaks me out is how quickly people on the Writer's Academy course display classic symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome.

John Yorke is a mildly talented TV exec who's somehow set himself up as the BBC's answer to McKee (another ex-post facto genius). On a personal level, John's a nice guy, but what do you say about him beyond that?

Nope, me either.

Gareth McLean was spot on.

Look at Shed's logic defying commissions with reference to BBC 'Scotland' as but one example of insutitutional corruption. Shed are the most hated indie going and yet, after the unmitigated disaster that was Rock Rivals, they get Hope Springs (Bad Girls meets Monarch) commissioned. Imagine your worst brain farts as a writer being treated as gold - yup, that's Shed.

Anne Mensah, (in a tenuous position at BBC Scotland and frantically importing London writers to River City (which incidentally Anne will end your career)) needs to get something 'Scottish' on the boards, so she goes to Ben Stephenson's old company. Seriously, can anyone defend how crap Shed's output is these days? They crossed the rubicon years ago.

Another question, do you have to be shagging an exec to get appointed/ See the bizarre Jon East appointment to BBC Children's when he was so obviously schtupping Alison Sharman. To any libel lawyers looking in, I was in a meeting as the texts were coming in and his little face was lighting up.

Small men, big women, that's the lesson of BBC drama these days.

I pity the viewers.

It's a strange, strange world when you decry the licence fee and cheer on Murdoch.

JF

English Dave said...

jaded, yep I have more repeats than the BEEB lol

Charlie -thanks,

JG - the current mentality does appear to be that those who haven't written a fucking thing in their lives now take it upon themselves to instruct those who have.

JF - interesting surmisation. For the record I would like to state that I have no evidence of, and am in no way proposing or agreeing that Stephenson is Tranter's toyboy. I think his proven talent and experience speaks for itself.

Anon - I'll just outlast the fuckers. The chop always comes round eventually. As in The Player when the writer turns on exec Griffin Mill '' You're on your way out, then what? I can write, what can you do?'

Mind you, The exec then killed the writer lol

Jaded and Cynical said...

Whatever the truth of the behind the scenes gossip, the quality of crap on the schedules speaks for itself.

You don't need to see the notes coming down from the commissioning editors to know that something's deeply fucked up at the creative heart of British television.

Anonymous said...

Ben's body language was rather fascinating on those Broadcast vids recently.

phallophilia comes to mind

Friend :) said...

We all have to die some day, if we live long enough
______________
Cheap Celebrity DressDigital Signage