Friday, September 19, 2008

Is TV the "New Film"/Fall Awards Season Approaches


Hey everyone...absence DOES make the heart grow fonder...since I've been away from here since june.


I just wasn't impressed with th summer movie season: Save for The Dark Knight, the summer blockbluster season was underwhelming: Tropic Thunder was a series of satirical jokes that went on for way too long, Pineapple Express was yet another psuedo-innovative, yet ultimately vapid and disappointing take on the Aptow "bromance" character relationship vibe in all his films--either produced by him or directed by him. And, Seth Rogen is so NOT a leading man and it's really typical of Hollywood to treat him like one--would Hollywood be so loving if Seth was a fat, nappy haired Black guy named Sequan Rogen? or a Seanday Rogen? I mean, would they?


No shade against seth--people think he's funny; i just find him really irritating and so NOT funny. But, I still had to throw that out there...if only to provoke thought.


But, I'm back and with the onslaught of grad school apps (yea, im going back to school hopefully), screenplay and tv pilot writing (im going to make that happen also), i've been noticing that i'm seeing BETTER quality work on TV shows than on film..with shows like Alan Ball's True Blood (HBO), CBS's The Mentalist, etc. TV is really stepping up to become the go to place for talented actors and writers.
I mean, one of my NEW favorite shows, The CW's Privileged, has cast Anne Archer (arguably one of the MOST underrated and underutilized actresses to date in american film and television) as Laurel Limoge, the VERY fierce and VERY on point grandmother to two spoiled heiresses who need to get into Duke University in order to ensure they GET their inheritance...it seems paper thin, but the writing is very spot on (think Gilmore Girls since Privileged was creator by one of the former producers of Gilmore) and the character development has been great to watch week after week.....
But, is TV replacing film as THE medium to watch for quality acting and quality writing? With the end of The Shield, ER, and Mad Men close to capping ANOTHER brilliant season, with british and other foreign tv imports heading stateside (Little Britain is a must watch for me) and with some foreign tv shows getting airplay here int he states (nee Secret Diary Of A Call Girl--a well written guilty pleasure, did very well on Showtime after Weeds this summer),e tc.
Has TV finally overtaken film in regard to more progressive, well written, and thought provoking shows/films than film itself?