TV Tuesday: Process

[yourlibrarian]

When you watch a show do you ever find yourself thinking about the writing process that produced that episode or a particular scene? Do you imagine conversations going on in the writer’s room?

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

My partner and I definitely do this. The current example that occurs the most is when we're watching Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and we speculate about whether the writers regret having him do something (because chances are he's been doing it ALL DAY and annoying everyone) or whether they are having a good laugh at getting him to do something (like eat awful food).

But we used to speculate about this with Buffy a good deal, probably because that was the only show where we had a good idea of who the writers were.

And there are other times, either generically ("What were they thinking?") or specifically ("Do they really think people are interested in X?") when we're thinking about plot choices AS plot choices rather than developments in a verse.

[ecto_one_spengler]

I'd say this about Doctor Who episodes regarding historical events - e.g. the end of Twice Upon a Time, or Vincent and the Doctor, or even one of my personal favorites, The Fires of Pompeii. Such episodes are actually the reason I got into Doctor Who in the first place (and also is the reason I enjoy fix-it fics so much), so I always wonder what kind of research was done to make such episodes so touching or interesting.

[yourlibrarian]

Oh interesting example!

[china_shop]

I've definitely done this recently. Maybe it was Orphan Black, where they must have had so much fun coming up with different scenarios for clones to pretend to be each other? And sometimes for Kdramas, too.

And at the moment, we're having a read-along of the Guardian novel, which the Guardian web series was based on, and it's so interesting thinking about the ways in which it was adapted (around Chinese censorship), how the dynamics in some book scenes map onto very different drama scenes, and so on. :-)

[yourlibrarian]

Ah yes, adaptations definitely make it more noticeable!

[feurioo]

I usually think about the writer's rooms for shows that are terribly written. One show recently wasted my crack OTP for over a decade on a completely bonkers storyline, and I simply wondered why these writers aren't able to tell any of their stories with even a modicum of love and care. Mentioning an off-screen sibling of a character who's just died (informing them about the character's death or explaining why they couldn't come to the funeral) or simply remembering basic information about important plots the characters shared. Who could be happy with such a shoddy scripts?

I usually imagine myself spraying these people with a water bottle for every unnecessarily terrible writing choice.

[yourlibrarian]

Haha, now I'm imagining you spraying the TV!

I can relate though. I have quit watching shows where I feel insulted by the writers' sloppiness and indifference. I feel like I shouldn't care more than they do about their project.

[delphi]

To some extent all the time, but especially when something has either gone very wrong or very right.

[yourlibrarian]

Makes perfect sense!

[rogueslayer452]

Oh yes, I definitely do.

Perhaps not always during as I'm processing the story as it's unfolding, but certainly afterwards when I had time to think about what happened. Usually this stemmed from ranting about things that I thought didn't make sense and wondering why the writers did certain things the way they did, however as I've gotten older I have become a bit more understanding of the writing process in television and how it's not always easy. I also love reading or looking up interviews with the cast/writers/showrunners who talk about their process of writing, what they pitched, what was considered and thrown out, what could have been, and other outside factors like network executives interfering or simply lack of time and resources. So this can range from being a bit of a ranty mode to simply being curious of the creative decisions.

Nowadays it is a different beast when it comes to streaming, because with less episodes per season it does make me wonder how on earth they can manage to do something in six or eight episodes. Which yeah, while some shows can make it work not all can and it's telling when it all feels stilted and not cohesive and it often makes me wonder how it would've been different had it been given more episodes to help the story breathe a bit more.

And since I've been watching a lot of Asian dramas, I find myself thinking about their writing process a lot, particularly with cdramas where they have to pass censorship review.

[yourlibrarian]

I have mixed feelings myself about the short seasons. If I'm not that taken with the show but like it enough to keep watching, I prefer the shorter episodes because I'm more plot oriented. That said, I have seen (and complained) about shows trying to pack entirely too much into too few episodes.

And especially if I quite like the characters and want to spend more time with them, I wish there were more low-key episodes with mostly character development rather than rushing through plot points.

And in those cases I also really like knowing about the behind the scenes process and why decisions were made.

Whew, yes, that would add a whole layer of wondering what you're missing when you have to worry about censorship -- although broadcast standards have affected so many things over the years.

[tinny]

Not so much with tv, actually, although it has happened with some of the more extravagant episodes. :D

But since I don't write scripts, only stories, the desire to go meta on the ideas behind a book is definitely stronger for me. And it only started when I started writing, so I guess if I started going into tv writing, that would happen, too? :D

[yourlibrarian]

Maybe? I could see it though, especially since a book goes at your own pace so it's easy to slow down and muse over things.