Frakkin' RAIN!

It's almost-raining here! Geez, what is this, winter?? Everybody's got their light jackets out. Brrrr!

Nothing exciting is happening in TeeVee now. The pilots are all being cast, getting directors, yadda yadda yadda. And soon, agents will start submitting clients and the pilot lottery will begin. For whatever reason, we keep losing this lottery. In other words, we meet on shows that don't get picked up. We get OFFERS on shows that don't get picked up. It's very annoying, and we'd like it if that could change this year. Staffing season sucks. There's nothing good about it. The worst thing about it is when you have a meeting on a pilot you didn't like. That is NO fun. I mean, really, let's just call it the way it is -- I'm a whore. Put the money on the dresser, and no kissing. But I'll PRETEND that I'm NOT a whore. Well, that's not entirely true. In a perfect world, you would get to write exactly the show you want to write. But we don't live in a perfect world. Well. Some of us don't. So you make the best of it. You look at the pilot and find the interesting stuff. As a staff writer on a TeeVee show, it's your job to write that show as best you can. We've been on some, shall we say, "unsuccessful" shows but we've always tried to do our best. We were on one show that everybody on staff badmouthed and that was NO fun. People just gave up and the show was, surprise!, cancelled. Yeah, you want to write for Galactica or Veronica Mars. But the odds are, you won't get to. That's why you do pilots, my friends. You wanna do your own thing? It's gotta come in a pilot. But if you're going to be on staff, love the show you're on. Do the best you can. And that starts with the initial meeting. The showrunner wants to know that you're enthusiastic about their show. That doesn't mean you can't be critical, but don't say the show sucks ass, 'kay?

I'm moving in a week and a half (NOT looking forward to it!) and I think I'm dumping cable and getting Dish. The scariest thing is, I think I'm dumping TiVo and going with the Dish DVR. And I'm terrified. I adore TiVo but it isn't keeping up with the times, and I currently have two TiVos hooked up to one TV. I can't do that with the Dish. So... scary. A million more channels, but scary nonetheless.

There were a few fun comments. I love it when people comment! The latest Duckie comment was intriguing, because it's true. Yeah, Duckies tend to talk to mutual friends and say things they oughtn't. It's just all so junior high, or -- what do they call it now? Middle school? I dunno; I can't imagine Marcia chanting "Fillmore Middle School!" Stephen snarked about rare Bolivian toxins. WORD. What's even more annoying is the photo coincidence. You know the one -- the cops don't notice the incriminating photo of the killer with the victim until they go back to the apartment later. Or, the note in the trash can. That's a fun one. CSI has totally poisoned crime fiction. All it's about now is tech talk and just hanging out until it's time to find the incriminating photo/drycleaning bill/e-mail/dirt. Whatever. I also had a question about our freelance scripts. While we've written four, only three were produced. The fourth was for The Others and it never got made because they cancelled the friggin' show! It's generally irritating to be ahead of the curve. Trust me on that -- it is NOT a good thing. At all.

Speaking of Heroes (heh), it seems that they believe that they're doing stuff that's never been done in the genre before. I find that intriguing.

And Steve from the Irish band Ice Core Scientist was sent here by Nick Sagan. Glad you liked Millennium. I was one of the writers on seasons two and three. And yes, rants are cleansing, aren't they? And Steve, dude... that song? Awesome. You guys are great, like an Irish Kula Shaker! I'm posting the link to your MySpace page here. I hope that worked. Go check it out, Gentle Readers!