Basically, the Network and I had different ideas about what the tone of the show would be. They bought something somewhat different than what I was selling them, which is not that uncommon in this business. Their desires were not surprising: up the stakes, make the episodes more stand-alone, stop talking about relationships and cut to the chase. Oh, and add a chase. That you can cut to. Nothing I hadn't heard before on my other shows (apparently my learning curve has no bendy part) but frustrating as hell given our circumstances - a pilot shot, scripts written, everybody marching together/gainfully employed... and then a shutdown. Glad I was for the breathing room, but it's hardly auspicious. So back into the writer cave I went, wondering why I put up with this when I can make literally dozens of dollars making internet movies. Why I do put up with this is divided into three parts.

One: They're not wrong. Oh, we don't see eye-to-eye on everything, but wanting the first episodes to be exciting and accessible is not exactly Satanic. Being Satan is, but that's in their free time and hey, there's no judging in the Dollhouse. This kind of back and forth has happened on every show I've done, so if you liked those, chances are that was a part of why. And the need to focus on the essentials of what makes this universe tick - and which wire to cut to make it stop - really does bring up our game. So we as a staff have gone from blinking like unhoused moles to delving in with the same relish we had when we started. The show is really coming together now, in a way that I believe excites us and satisfies the Network. Of course, I have no idea if anybody else will like it, but I have the same faith in the staff, the crew and the remarkable cast that I always did. More, in fact. And what's more crucial:

Two: Nothing essential has changed about the universe. The ideas and relationships that intrigued me from the start are all there (though some have shifted, more on that), and the progression of the first thirteen eps has me massively excited. The episode we're shooting now I wrote as fast as anything I have before, not because I had to (although, funny side-note: I had to) but because I couldn't stop the words from coming. Because I can feel the show talking to me; delighting, scaring and occasionally even offending me. It's alive. Alive! Which is a far cry from how I felt a month ago. It's been hilarious trying to keep up with what's in, what's out, who's met whom and when - we've shot all of the first seven episodes out of airing order - but it's come together in a pretty thrilling way. My huge gratitude to our cast for their precision and patience.

*****

As for what's been changed, well, some things I obviously can't tell you. Some I can, for the record: The original pilot was in fact thrown out. Again, at my behest. Once it became clear what paradigm the Network was shooting for, it just didn't fit at all, even after I'd reshot more than half of it (see above re: despair). To get a sense of how completely turned around I was during this process, you should know there was a scene with Eliza and the astonishing Ashley Johnson that I wrote and shot completely differently three different times, with different characters in different places (actually I wrote it closer to eight times), and none of it will ever see air. Which is as it should be (though I'm determined to get Ms. Johnson back in the future). The scene just didn't belong anymore. Similarly, the character of November has fallen out of the mix, because the show simply moves too fast now for me to do what I wanted with her. Season three, anyone...? Happily, Miracle Laurie is still with us in a new role, playing against (and pining for) Tahmoh's character, Paul Ballard. Their chemistry is deeply nifty. The only other major cast shift is that the Dollhouse head of security, Laurence Dominic (played by Reed Diamond), who was written just for the now-defunct first ep, has stuck like fly-paper, and Reed is very much in the family for the present. (Most of my problems seem to involve my actors making themselves indispensable. This is the good problem kind.)

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Teresa Nielsen Hayden Hospitalized

Teresa Nielsen Hayden was hospitalized following a heart attack. Tests are continuing, but she is reportedly doing well. You can leave get well messages at her and her husband's popular blog. We wish her a speedy recovery and a healthy future!

Posted on September 15, 2008
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Ghostbusters 3 is a Go

Harold Ramis has written the Chicago Tribune to confirm that Ghostbusters 3 is in the works.

"yes, columbia is developing a script for GB3 with my year one writing partners, gene stupnitsky and lee eisenberg. judd apatow is co-producing year one and has made several other films for sony, so of course the studio is hoping to tap into some of the same acting talent. aykroyd, ivan reitman and i are consulting at this point, and according to dan, bill murray is willing to be involved on some level. he did record his dialogue for the new ghostbusters video game, as did danny and i, and ernie hudson. the concept is that the old ghostbusters would appear in the film in some mentor capacity. not much else to say at this point. everyone is confident a decent script can be written and i guess we'll take it from there."

OK, so we're picturing Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson showing the ghost-busting ropes to Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, James Franco and Michael Cera. (Ramis already memorably and warmly played Rogen's dad in "Knocked Up.") Maybe Jason Segel or Craig Robinson fit in there somewhere.

Harold Ramis was great in Knocked Up. And if Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd are also on board, we're on boards. Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters: The New Generation, that's who.

Posted on September 9, 2008
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Fringe Will Start Off Jumping the Shark

Wired has an article about Fringe, the new show from J.J. Abrams. Abrams says Fringe won't be like Lost and that it will jump the shark right from the start.

On Fringe's slam-bang setup: "When we did the pilot for Lost, we had the monster appear at the end of the first act because we wanted to say to the audience, 'We're jumping the shark now. We're not going to wait. We're doing crazy shit from the beginning.' On Fringe, we very consciously made what is in many ways a preposterous, front-end scientific story choice in order to say to the audience, 'This is what you're going to be getting on the show.' It may be more extreme in some episodes, less so in others."

On the Fringe mythology: "I'm drawn to overarching, long-term stories so there will still be a mythology through the evolution of characters and revelations about what 'the pattern' means. But we're writing the show so it is not as serialized as Lost.

"What made X-Files so great is that they'd do a number of shows that have nothing to do with the mythology. Fringe is closer to E.R. almost, where you have these ongoing relationships and story lines, and yet week to week, when the door bursts open, you're faced with the insane urgent situation of the week."

Science fact, not fiction: "Though you could say it's science fiction, the weird thing about Fringe is that a lot of the stuff is at least in the realm of possibility. It's not sci-fi -- it's just sci.

The show debuts on Fox next Tuesday, September 9th. We will be watching. You can see the Fringe website here. A few other articles about Fringe can be found here, here, here, here and here.

Here's a video with J.J. Abrams discussing Fringe



Posted on September 4, 2008
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DragonCon in Atlanta This Weekend

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports on the arrival of Dragon*Con in Atlanta this weekend for Labor Day weekend. There are some interesting panels at this Con including "How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse."

It's Labor Day weekend and Dragon*Con is upon us again, the huge pop culture convention where tens of thousands of superfans from all over dress up, act out, and fly their geek flag proudly today through Monday.

The Con, as veterans call it, is always a precarious balancing act between the serious and the silly. "Apocalypse Rising," one of the Con's tracks - groupings of panels and events - shows off that spectrum.

On Saturday, a bloody tongue-in-cheek panel on "How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse" will probably attract an invasion of "real" zombies to spice things up, while on Sunday, Richard Alstatt, an actual rocket scientist, will lecture on the likelihood that Earth will get hit by a giant asteroid.

Other panels will deal with the apocalypse in religion (with the title "My God is Smitier Than Your God," the Con can be a pretty irreverent place) and modern pop culture, where it spreads like a killer virus through movies ("I Am Legend," "Children of Men," "The Road Warrior"), books ("The Host," "Left Behind," "The Stand") and TV ("Jericho," "The Day After").

There are a huge number of authors and actors attending the Con. You can read more about the convention on the official website at dragoncon.org.

Posted on August 29, 2008
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Screenwriters Suing to Stop Release of Death Race

Screenwriter Adam Stone is suing to stop the upcoming Jason Statham film, Death Race. Stone says the producers stole his script, then used it to create the current film.

Stone claims in a copyright infringement lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles federal court that the upcoming Universal thriller is based on a script he pitched to the film's producer-director Paul W.S. Anderson and producer Jeremy Bolt. He seeks a court order stopping the film's release.

Stone claims that after the producers passed, Bolt made and kept a copy of his screenplay, titled "Joust," to use as a "blueprint" for Anderson's revision of the script for "Death Race." While "Death Race" is purported to be a remake of the 1975 film, "Death Race 2000," Stone contends in his lawsuit that it actually is based on "Joust" and that there are at least 39 elements in the soon-to-be released film that mirror his screenplay. Universal, which is a defendant in the lawsuit, declined comment on the lawsuit.

"Death Race," which stars Jason Statham and Joan Allen, is set for release Friday Aug. 22. Stone is asking the court to stop the release of the film. "Experience in other cases has shown that unless such orders are issued, defendants will simply continue to exploit the infringing motion picture in all media and by all methods at their disposal," the lawsuit states.

The Death Race trailers have been playing before almost every movie we've seen for the last three months. Or maybe it just seems that way. In any event, we are mightily tired of seeing the trailer.

Posted on August 20, 2008
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Universal Acquires Film Rights to Wheel of Time Series

Universal Pictures has acquired the film rights to Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. The films will begin with the first book, The Eye of the World.

Rick Selvage and Larry Mondragon will produce for Red Eagle Entertainment, which published graphic novel adaptations of Jordan's books. "The Wheel of Time" follows, among its dozens of characters, Rand al'Thor, the latest incarnation of a force for good called "The Dragon." Rand is born to fight an evil character called Shai'tan.

"Wheel of Time" books have sold 44 million copies worldwide and spawned computer, trading-card and role-playing games; a soundtrack; comicbooks; and numerous fan sites. The four most recent installments have reached No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list.

Jordan died last year at the young age of 58. The last book in the series is being written by Brandon Sanderson, who is working from Jordan's tapes and notes. It is due out in fall of 2009.

Posted on August 13, 2008
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Jason and the Argonauts Heading to the Big Screen

Screenwriter Zack Penn, who wrote The Incredible Hulk and The X-Men, is writing the script for a feature film version of The Argonauts for 20th Century Fox. But that's not the only sword and sandals epic heading to the big screen. Many more films are planned.

In the wake of the success of "300," sword-and-sandals pics have become a hot commodity. Warner Bros. is moving forward with a "Clash of the Titans" remake, with Louis Leterrier at the helm, as well as a "300" sequel. Joining the chariot race is Relativity Media, which has fast-tracked "War of Gods" about Greek warrior Theseus, who led a fight against imprisoned titans.

And at least three Hercules pics are in development around town, including Universal Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment's "Hercules: The Thracian Wars," which Peter Berg is attached to direct. Meanwhile, Universal also has a "God of War" pic in the works, based on the epic Greek myth-inspired vidgame, with Brett Ratner attached to helm.

Fox's version of "The Argonauts" is based on Penn's original take on the classic Greek tale. In Greek mythology, the Argonauts were a band of heroic sailors who, in the years before the Trojan War, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. The Argonauts name comes from the sailors' ship, the Argo.

We can't believe there are going to be three Hercules films all coming out around the same time. That seems quite ridiculous. Still, we do like Hercules. But it's one of those stories that lives or dies with two things: the casting of the main character and the script. Mess those up and you get something totally ridiculous.

Photo: Scene from the 1963 version of Jason and the Argonauts directed by Don Chaffey.

Posted on August 12, 2008
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