11 posts tagged “veronica mars”
Well, that didn't take long. Michael Ausiello of TV Guide is reporting that he's received firsthand word from Rob Thomas that Veronica Mars is as dead as Lilly Kane.
Maybe now the healing can begin...
The CW has officially pulled the plug on Veronica Mars. Series creator Rob Thomas confirmed the news for me via e-mail just moments ago.
"I'm afraid I have to report that Veronica Mars is officially dead," he wrote. "At least in TV show form. There's really no way that it can happen now. I'm not sure the CW should've given the glimmer of hope. I think Dawn Ostroff genuinely would have liked to have continued on with a version of the show, but there was too much resistance around her. At the end of the day, it would've been kinder had the band aid simply been ripped off rather peeled away in than this agonizingly slow manner."
Ironically, the news comes just as Veronica Mars fans — inspired by Jericho's 11th hour resurrection — are in the midst of bombarding The CW with thousands of Mars candy bars in advance of that June 15 deadline.
Oh, well. He and I are going to put on some Ravenhurst and stay away from hotel rooftops for a while.
UPDATE: Ausiello is reporting that Rob Thomas himself just confirmed the show is dead. Please do not send any more money to the campaigns to save the show. Check out http://invisiblechildren.com instead. See our latest entry at http://goodtv.vox.com/library/post/veronica-mars-goodbye.html
Veronica Mars fans are mounting a sweet last minute campaign to save our favorite precocious, persnickety private detective. They are sending oodles of candy to Dawn Ostroff, President of Entertainment at the CW.
The original campaign idea involved sending Mars Bars. Unlike cheerleaders with low self-esteem, Mars Bars are not available domestically, so it didn't take long for the campaigners to buy out all the imports they could find. They have now moved onto other confections made by the MARS company, and will also include marshmallows (fans will get the reference) in their delicious delivery, along with a message that we need S'more Veronica Mars.
Last but not least, the fans have run an ad in The Hollywood Reporter (which reads a little sour to us, but a few marshmallows will take that bitter taste right out of your mouth) from Friday through today. Tomorrow, they're buying the VM season finale, "The Bitch is Back," en masse, at iTunes.
He Good and I don't have any campaigning left in us, and yet it breaks our heart to say goodbye to Veronica Mars, who is so much smarter than we. J. Geils was right. Love stinks. You can dress it up in sequins and shoulder pads, but one way or another, you're just gonna end up alone at the spring dance strapped in uncomfortable underwear.
That said, it costs us absolutely nothing to spread the word to you Veronica Mars fans who are perhaps less jaded, more energetic and/or not slaves to your mortgage. Some people think the Veronica Mars fandom has been spurred to action by the success of the good people at Jericho Lives. There is truth to that, but what's really driving them is that there is actually a small glimmer of hope for Veronica Mars. It is that hope that has sent fans into this last minute frenzy. Here are some of the reasons why their hope springs eternal:
- On or about Wednesday, May 30, the studio was given the order to tear down the Veronica Mars set. The very next day, word came down from on high to stop tearing down the sets, immediately.
- After the CW's May, 2007 Upfront presentation in New York, http://veronicamarsextras.com (the casting arm of Stu Segall Studios -- the San Diego production arm of Veronica Mars) posted a goodbye and thank you note to Veronica Mars. It soon took down that message and put up a new one, telling all its extras they're on stand-by in case of a mid-season replacement.
- A studio source has said there is a possibility that Veronica Mars will be brought back as a mid-season replacement.
- A separate setside source has said that things are very quiet -- too quiet, and far more quiet than when a show is canceled for sure.
- A writer's office intern has said there is reason to not yet give up.
- Rob Thomas is in hot demand, but has yet to ink a contract for a new series, and has already turned down at least one offer.
- Rob hasn't yet spoken to the fans publicly, which is just not like him.
- As of a Kristen Bell interview, published June 8th, Kristen Bell was still saying there was some hope.
- Michael Ausiello of TV Guide, has mentioned the possibility of a feature film, more than once.
- A source from the CW is saying there is still a small chance.
So? Where have we been? That's highly classified. Or not. It could be that life swallowed us whole this year, and we never found the time we'd intended to dedicate to this blog. But summer's here and the time is right for dancing in the streets, and for getting our resolve on. We plan to spend the summer lazing about in the sun getting our acts together, to relaunch this blog (and our sister site at MySpace) with all new content, come the fall TV season.
In the meantime, we are mourning the loss of our beloved Veronica Mars. Inside sources indicate it is not exactly as dead as it looks. Stu Segall (the San Diego production home of VM) took down its thank you note and announcement of the end of the series, and told its local extras to remain on call for the next little while. That said, we've seen the final ratings and we think we have to kiss our Veronica (and Logan, don't forget that yummy Logan) goodbye. We'll keep our fingers crossed, just in case.
We've also had to bid a fond farewell to Jericho. We didn't expect to like it half as well as we did. It really picked up after its ridiculously long hiatus. CBS is now learning what happens when they drive an audience nuts with a cliffhanger-to-cancelation segue. Personally, since the CW is a joint venture between CBS and Warner Bros., we think they ought to ship Jericho over to the CW. If even if half its viewers went AWOL, it would still be one of the CW's biggest hits.
For more information on the various campaigns to save Jericho, we recommend you checkout http://jericholives.com
What were your top 5 TV shows of 2006?
Easy peasy!
5. 24
24 lands the fifth place slot by default, because it has been so long since we have had fresh episodes. That said, this is a best list, so fifth best is still amazing, as is 24, which manages to dish up suspense, intrigue excitement and torture, without victimizing its audience. JJ Abrams should take notes, and bring them back to the Lost writers' room (since we can't see him getting David Fury, himself, to return from 24, but we digress...).
4. Heroes
We are so head-over-heels about Heroes (and Hiro), we're tempted to rank it higher, but it is still too new. So far though, we haven't been disappointed by a minute of it, and highly recommend you start watching. Now.
3. Veronica Mars
Our hearts were insisting we list Veronica Mars in our number 1 slot, because for some reason, we love it best of all. Our heads, however, overruled our hearts, and our heads control the typing fingers. Veronica Mars is still our won't-miss show way above and beyond all other (currently on-the-air) don't-miss-shows, but we have quibbles we hope to get into (in detail) when the new episodes start up, in January. Veronica Mars is still fresh, still exciting in its moral ambiguity, still sharp as a tack, but it's been missing by miles some of the finer emotional notes it used to be nail while blindfolded, fifty paces away. Rob Thomas, because we're rooting for you, we sentence you to watch 22 hours of our number 2 show, and 11 hours of our number 1 show, so you'll know what we're talking about. You'll thank us for it. So will your audience.
2. Battlestar Galactica
We can't even...our love for BSG is so huge. After our number one choice, it's the most realistic show on television -- since Buffy the Vampire Slayer bowed. What's that? You're scoffing at our claim that shows about Cylons and Vampires are steeped in realism? Who are you, Rob Thomas? Watch. Watch. Watch. Feel the pain. Feel the shame. Feel the burn. Feel Jamie Bambers arms--er...the emotions resonate within you. The only show that's liable to grab you harder is...
1. The Office
The Office is the little show that not only could, but did, does, and as far as we can tell, always will. It's so simple, and as an American make-over of a brilliant British original series, it's own brilliance was so unexpected. The characters don't have big jobs saving lives, or convicting murders. They don't have big hair. They don't even have big breasts. They're dowdy cube jockeys in a dowdy office park in dowdy Scranton, Pennsylvania. They're awful. They're wonderful. They're awfully wonderful, and they're ours -- our favorites, that is.
First up, Maureen Ryan of The Chicago Tribune confirmed in an e-mail to She, that she (Mo) received the same news Sepinwall did. If she'd only cloned herself or given up that pesky sleep habit, maybe she'd been up at 2:00am, to read it in real time. We're mentioning this, because we're glad this isn't our job, and because we love Mo. Also, since we haven't heard official news from the CW, that it's picking up VM, confirmation of the reliable Sepinwall, from the also reliable Ryan, makes us feel even better.
In the comments section of his news-breaking entry linked in our last post, Alan Sepinwall explains how he got the scoop on Veronica Mars being picked up for a full season. A reader named LCB asks Alan if Rob Thomas is looking at season three as the final season, pointing out that soon, VM won't have to be up against the ratings juggernaut that is Dancing with the Stars, and the (likely) possibility that neither Gilmore Girls nor 7th Heaven will return in Fall, 2007. Sepinwall responds:
I think the news is still too fresh. I had heard rumblings of a shorter order yesterday afternoon, and when I called Rob to tell him, he wasn't prepared for that and said, "Well, I suppose that'll be my problem to figure out when it happens."
But I also know enough people in the CBS/CW hierarchy to be able to confidently say this: if they didn't think the show had a chance to do better without Dancing with the Stars as competition, they wouldn't have bothered even with this back seven.
We believe Sepinwall is right, with regards to DwtS. The thing is, as Zap2It reports, ABC is considering doubling up on DwtS -- giving it another run in the coming Spring. The good news for Veronica Mars fans is if there's more DwtS in the Spring, it will probably be on a different night.
Of course, that's really bad news just dressed up as good news, because the reason ABC isn't likely to schedule the additional Spring run on Tuesdays at 9:00, is because even DwtS is afraid of American Idol. It's bad enough VM is already opposite House. AI is simply a killer. Still, the silver lining is, if DwtS ends up eating away at another CW drama's audience, maybe VM will look one skosh more attractive.
We think the CW is just playing the odds, anyhow. 7th Heaven really should take its final bow, at the end of this season. Additionally, all summer long there were rumblings surrounding Gilmore Girls, not just in regards to Palladino's departure, but also regarding rumors that Lauren Graham has little interest in renewing her contract. Gilmore Girls is on the wane, no matter how you look at it. The CW is doing poorly, all over. We love our pet shows too much to root against any specific show we don't watch; we're too sympathetic to other TV viewers, so we'll end this line of thought, here.
If Dawn Ostroff goes, kiss Veronica goodbye, and make it count. VM is too well known as her pet project, to survive her departure. If the suits at CBS-WB do the smart thing, and give Ostroff time to nurture the CW, Veronica Mars has but a slim chance. That skinny? Back when the CW was first announced, it was reported that Dawn Ostroff is of the firm belief that when it lost Buffy the Vampire Slayer to UPN, the WB lost the biggest reason it was considered the place for edgy youth-oriented programming. BtVS was never the WB's highest rated show, but it was (along with Dawson's Creek) one of the only shows that brought the WB any critical acclaim -- any panache. So, those are our chances, VM fans: slim and none. When a network shortens a season, it is generally (not always, don't send e-mails about Felicity) the beginning of the end.
Here's VM's only shot:
(1) Lauren Graham says, "Take this job and shove it."
(2) Someone puts the final nail in 7th Heaven's coffin.
(3) One Tree Hill doesn't start out-performing VM in any meaningful way.
(4) Any as-of-yet-unaired-CW-pilots for this season (like Hidden Palms) tank.
(5) The CW is unable to buy decent pilots for next season.
(6) VM does not drop any more in the ratings.
And even then? It's not so good. That's a pretty big confluence of events needed to save one show. Still, that The CW picked up VM for the back 7 tells us they recognize all the above could happen. They are buying time with Rob Thomas; that's what they're doing. They're saying, "Rob, we love VM, but nobody's watching our network, even when your show is on. Ad buyers want eyeballs. We're probably letting you go, and you should wrap it up, but if everything else ends up sucking in the Nielsen's even bigger than your show, we'll call you. Okay?"
PREDICTION: Expect the second and third mystery arcs of VM to air during non-sweeps periods, for the rest of this season, and the season (series?) finale coming before we turn to May, on our calendars. Ostroff will be quoted as saying they're doing it to "protect" Veronica Mars while they make decisions about next year, but they will be doing it to protect themselves, and they should; the last name in Show Business is Business. If, by some miracle, VM is picked up for the fall for a fourth year, it will not be a full episode order. If they get another "13 with an option at the back 9," they'll be luckier than any of us deserve.
PLEA: In the meantime, promote this show. Buy the DVDs as holiday presents for your friends and family. If you know a Nielsen family, offer to clean their bathrooms daily, herd their cats, or watch their colicky babies, in exchange for them tuning into the best show they're missing, once a week. Also? Pray. Mac testifies, "Prayer works," and since BtVS left our airwaves, and took Willow Rosenberg with it, Mac's the smartest person on TV.
One thing remains to be seen. This season was always to have a 3-mystery arc, which was originally going to break down like this: 9 episodes, then 7, then 6. They were each going to air in uninterrupted blocks. This past Tuesday marked episode 7 of the 9-episode mystery arc. Some of the second mystery is already shot, and much of what's not yet shot has been written. Will the season play out as 9-7-4, or does Thomas have some wiggle room, and will it be 9-6-5, 9-5-6, or even...9-11? Until Rob talks, only time will tell.
At the Rack of Lamb community, over on Vox's sister site, LiveJournal, actor Michael Muhney (who posts as thewizrd) sends an encouraging word to Veronica Mars fans who have been anxiously awaiting word on whether the network will order back nine episodes of the third season 3 of this critically acclaimed series, or let it die way before its time, somewhere between episodes 9 and 12. In a post bearing the subject header "the full season 3," Muhney says:
...don't worry. from everything i hear from agents, people at the network, and others, there should be a full season 3 coming our way. now, a season 4? nobody knows, and from what people suggest as speculation, it doesn't look promising. but, we'll cross that bridge when we get there...
Of course it's not firm. Plenty of actors (and creators, and producers) have been wrong, before. It is, however, something above and beyond hearing that the network had ordered 3 additional scripts (which means little, honestly).
...
As for our absense (including failing to come back to confirm the news about Tim Minear's Drive getting picked up, after we teased it) we can only apologize and offer this: we're drowning. This is a hobby for us. We want to bring you regular, dependable content. We're still trying to carve out the time. We should have waited until the first of the year to start this. That was our original plan, but then the third season premiere of The Office was so brilliant, we couldn't wait.
It seems that although finding Nielsen families, and distracting them from 9 to 10:00pm each Tuesday, such that we can take over their people meters and TV diaries, and make a record of our faithfulness to Veronica Mars, looks like a clever plan on paper, it is proving more labor intensive than we anticipated.
Help us out. Take over the TV of your nearest Nielsen family, and give Veronica Mars the ratings boost it so richly deserves.
You know how when you look at some couples, you see they're in this groove wherein one partner's strengths and weaknesses balance out/are balanced out by the other partner's strengths and weaknesses? That groove is not our groove, which goes a long way in explaining how we're so behind before we've even started. We have our good qualities--swear! We just can't remember where we've left them.
A few weeks ago, we posted an entry on what we'd be watching. Before we even defined our rankings or posted our schedule, the networks started rearranging their Fall line-ups (TV Guide's Matt Roush noted the schedule changes in the October 6 edition of Roush Dispatch). On top of it, this is the first season in our memories offering more than two or three series we try to watch regularly. We're feeling the burden of being behind, before we've even begun to post regular content, so today is catch-up day. "Catching up" for us means jumping in head first and moving forward.
SPOILER LEVEL:
This entry contains spoilers as to premise of the current seasons. There are no in-depth spoilers, but if you avoid spoilers and are behind in your viewing stop reading, now.
SCHEDULE CHANGE ALERT: On Monday, October 9, 2006, The CW moved Everybody Hates Chris, one of its few bona fide hits, out of that 7:00pm Eastern/6:00pm Central Sunday night ghetto. Read more in "MONDAYS".
FALL 2006, TV Schedule
MONDAYS:
8:00pm Eastern/7 Central: Everybody Hates Chris; The CW
When compared with typical sitcoms, Everybody Hates Chris is an OASIS--cute and funny, with a dash of nostalgia and a lot of heart. We can watch it with our children (after we've screened it for subject matter). We're not sitcom devotees, but the regular characters on EHC, particularly Chris, Julius and Greg, keep us coming back. Rochelle is often a hit with us ("What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?"), but sometimes, she's written/directed too broadly, which just isn't our thing. Tisha, Drew, and Caruso generally delight, because they, like the Chris and Greg characters, are neither precious nor precocious. The writers and directors present kids as plain old kids, and we believe that's the secret to this show's success.
This sophomore series has only begun to explore the characters established in the first season, so we're wondering why Whoopi Goldberg has been added to the cast, but whatever. We will seldom discuss EHC in depth, which is the only reason it's not highlighted (bold font on titles and air times) like our other favorites in this entry. It's just not that kind must-talk-about can't-miss show for us. If we've seen an episode before publishing, we will note our rating. Between (the late) UPN and The CW, this sitcom has been shuffled around the schedule three or four (or more) times in the past 12 months. We have no idea how or why The CW put one of UPN's few bona fide hits on Sundays at 7:00pm Eastern in the first place. But we're moving forward ourselves, so we'll raise an eyebrow and let them move forward, because welcome and applaud the latest move to Mondays at Eastern/7 Central. Now let it be, CW. Let it be. Episode 2:01, Everybody Hates Rejection: OASIS Episode 2:02, Everybody Hates the Class President: OASIS Episode 2:03, Everybody Hates Elections: OASIS 9:00pm Eastern/7 Central: Heroes; NBC For now, Heroes is on MIRAGE WATCH, but only because it is a brand new series and we've been burnt too many times (we're looking at you, Lost). It might be an actual OASIS; we think it's good enough to keep watching. We have found it a tiny, tiny bit uneven and when it goes gory, it goes way gory, but so far it has been consistently good TV. The series premiere opens with written back-story right on our screen, like at the beginning of the original Star Wars. It reads: In recent days, a seemingly random group of individuals has emerged with what can only be described as 'special' abilities .
Although unaware of it now, these individuals will not only save the world, but change it forever. This transformation from ordinary to extraordinary will not occur overnight. Every story has a beginning.
Volume One of their epic tale begins here... That's the premise. Episodes and two-minute video summaries are available at NBC.com. The writers are taking their time building up the characters and there are a lot of characters to follow. Our favorite so far is Hiro. We hope to cover this series in depth, once we're past this painful catching up business. Episode 1:01, Pilot a.k.a. Genesis (?? a.k.a. In His Image): OASIS Episode 1:02, Don't Look Back: CUP of WATER Episode 1:03, Giant Leap: CUP of WATER Episode 1:04, Collision: OASIS 10:00pm Eastern/9 Central: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip; NBC It seems oh so easy to call this the television industry's West Wing, so that's exactly what we're doing, because we're in catch up mode. The highlights thus far: Matthew Perry is not Chandler Bing. He is now Matt Albie--reportedly an Aaron Sorkin avatar. Matt is a brilliant, neurotic, Jewish-atheist writer who has broken up but is still in love with Sarah Paulson's (Hannah) Harriet Hayes, an equally gifted Southern Christian comic/actress, and alleged avatar for one-time Sorkin sweetheart Kristen Chenoweth. Harriet stars in the fictional show-within-this-show, one that is hell-bent on skewering the religious right. Bradley Whitford's recovering addict Danny Tripp is Perry's friend and business partner, who has been brought in as show-runner for the struggling late night live comedy/variety series. Amanda Peet's Jordan McDeere is the new network (the fictitious NBS) president. Together, they fight crime. Or--you know--bad TV. This series is also on MIRAGE WATCH, again, mainly because it is so new, but also because it is slightly uneven. There is a serial element to it, so we're considering in-depth coverage, but we're not sure the premise will bear that much analysis, and our time is limited by other projects. Studio 60 is in our Write About It if-we-feel-it-and-can-get-to-it Pile. As with Heroes, NBC streams the most recent episode on its website, and offers 2 minute summary clips. In case we fail to mention it later, this seems true of most/all NBC and CBS series, this season, and Sci-Fi is being equally helpful. The networks might be catching on to this here internet thang. Episode 1:01, Pilot: CUP of WATER Episode 1:02, The Cold Open: CUP of WATER Episode 1:03, The Focus Group: CUP of WATER Episode 1:04, The West Coast Delay: OASIS Episode 1:05, The Long Lead Story (we've yet to watch) TUESDAYS
9:00pm Eastern/8 Central: Veronica Mars; The CW This is, hands down, our favorite, five star TV OASIS. Okay, it's tied with another show we haven't yet mentioned. But really. It is hard to rate individual episodes, because a bad episode of Veronica Mars is usually as good as good episodes of most series. Keep that in mind, when we're less than over-the-moon. When you hear the TV critics talking about, "The Best Shows You're Not Watching," the Film Noir-esque Veronica Mars is nearly guaranteed a slot on their lists. Forget the ridiculous attempts at high-concept description, particularly the pathetic "Modern Day Nancy Drew" one. They have nothing in common. Snarky, intelligent Veronica (like her father Keith) is a hard-boiled detective, and there's nothing amateur about her. Forget the comparisons to Buffy the Vampire Slayer as well, aside from the fact that pretty blondes are the lead characters in both smartly written, well-crafted shows, they have nothing in common, and Veronica is no hero. Despite the fact that her demons are more mundane and less slimely, Veronica is not nearly as hopeful as Buffy, and given the realities of her world, we wouldn't have her any other way. In season 1, Veronica investigates her own rape, and the murder of her best friend, Lilly Kane, while falling for her own nemesis, Logan Echolls. We see her establish a (best) friendship with new kid Wallace Fennel, and close connections to resident techno-genius Cindy "Mac" McKenzie, and local gang leader, Eli "Weevil" Navarro. Season 2 opens with Veronica and Logan broken up, and Veronica reunited with her first love, Duncan Kane (brother of Lilly). They're not together for long though, as has to leave town with his child, the daughter of one-time class virgin and bus crash victim, Meg Manning, with whom he had a thing, while he and Veronica were apart. Veronica is so involved in investigating the crash that she forges on quite well on her own, and ends the season in the arms of Logan, again. In season 3, Veronica, Wallace, Mac, Logan, and party boy Dick Casablancas are all students at (local) Hearst College. Despite the fact that the series focuses on a teenager (she's now 19) and the people in her life, it has never been a coming of age drama. Veronica came of age before we ever met her when, in the wake of Lilly's murder, her dad lost his job as sheriff and her mom jumped right of the wagon, into the bottle and possibly into Jake Kane's bed, then walked away from her family. Because Veronica has always been adult (even before she was one, chronologically) the latest season does not suffer with the transfer to college. Instead, college life is opening up a whole new set of challenges for Veronica, and mysteries, too. Creator Rob Thomas has changed the format of the series, in hopes of making it accessible to new and casual viewers, and in order to avoid leaving them feeling lost. This season will not feature one huge mystery arc, but instead, will be divided into three main mysteries. The first, which will play out over the first nine episodes, concerns a series of on-campus rapes. Having watched episodes 1 - 3, we can say with certainty that if you haven't yet watched, you can (and should) start watching with episode 4. You won't be lost. We promise. If you are, ping us, and we'll help you out. Each episode stands on its own, with a mystery of the week. Expect episode commentary from us, now that we're all caught up. Episode 3:01, Welcome Wagon: CUP of WATER Episode 3:02, My Big Fat Greek Rush Week: CUP of WATER Episode 3:03, Linebacker: OASIS WEDNESDAYS 8:00pm Eastern/7 Central: 30 Rock; NBC We recently read that 30 Rock is to Studio 60 what Scrubs is to E.R. We wish we had noted the source, as we think it's clever. Although we hope it is correct, we are not convinced. But still? CLEVER. This series is on MIRAGE WATCH. Since it's a sitcom, don't count on regular coverage, here. Episode 1:01, Pilot: CUP of WATER (possibly only half full) 8:00pm Eastern/7 Central: Jericho; CBS This post-nuclear apocalyptic series has some serious flaws, and we are hopelessly attracted to it. Right now, it's a guilty pleasure. We love to watch it. We love to pick at it. We also think it has potential to be more. It's on MIRAGE WATCH because it's new, but we're always thirsty for it. We plan to discuss it occasionally. Episode 1:01, Pilot: CUP of WATER Episode 1:02, Fall Out: OASIS Episode 1:03, Four Horsemen: CUP of WATER Episode 1:04, Walls of Jericho: OASIS 9:00pm Eastern/8 Central: Lost; ABC At one time, Lost was a favorite OASIS, but it is now on MIRAGE WATCH. Too many set ups, too few pay-offs. The canon feels about as sturdy as a house of cards, but we're not ready to give up on it. We blame our inability to bid it farewell on Sayid and Sun. Episode 3:01, A Tale of Two Cities: CUP of WATER Episode 3:02, The Glass Ballerina: CUP of WATER THURSDAYS: 8:00pm Eastern/7 Central My Name is Earl; NBC We watch this because it's on before The Office. It's nothing more than a guilty pleasure. Enough said. 8:30pm Eastern/7:30 Central The Office; NBC The second of our two most favorite series, and another five star OASIS. We never expected to be this devoted to a sitcom, no matter how clever. Yes, we're suckers for the will-they/won't-they of Jim and Pam, but even when their potential romance is well out of focus, the rest of the series is a true pleasure. Like we do with Veronica Mars, we definitely hold this show to a higher standard than most of what we watch. Please keep that in mind when we say, for example, that an individual episode was only a CUP of WATER (in case we weren't clear before, keep it in mind for VM, too). Bad episodes of The Office are still better than just about anything else we watch. We plan to discuss this series, regularly. The season premiere inspired us to create this blog. Episode 3:01, Gay Witch Hunt: OASIS Episode 3:02, The Convention: CUP of WATER Episode 3:03, The Coup: CUP of WATER Episode 3:04, Grief Counseling: OASIS FRIDAYS: 9:00pm Eastern/8 Central: Battlestar Galactica; Sci-Fi Network We just started watching BSG a couple of weeks ago, when they aired a clips episode: The Story So Far. He knew we would love it. She was sure she would not. He was right. She was wrong. His faith is vindicated. Her skepticism is defeated. (Those disclaimers had better settle all debts, or He will be sorry). We're not sure about covering it in depth, because we're still catching up. We haven't watched any episodes from previous seasons, so we're over our heads. We came upon this series completely by accident and love it so, we're hard pressed to put it on MIRAGE WATCH, and do so ever so reluctantly, and only because it's new to us. Episode 3:01-02, Occupation: The Precipice: OASIS Episode 3:03, Exodus, Part I: OASIS In summation, we love Veronica Mars, and The Office beyond reason (and yet, for reasons too many to count). We think we could have something with Heroes, are sorted of attracted to Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, feel led on by Lost but aren't ready to burn our bridges, and have an embarrassing and inexplicable crush on Jericho. We can take or leave My Name is Earl, don't know what to make of 30 Rock yet, and Everybody Hates Chris fills a special place in our hearts. When they finally premiere, we'll add Scrubs and 24 to our line up, as well. Show Rating Glossary: OASIS: Used for both good episodes and good series. NOTE: Just as a good series can have a bad episode here and there, a subpar series can turn out a good episode, once in a while. CUP of WATER: Used for episodes that are good enough. We probably won't re-watch them, but we don't feel like we should have spent the time sleeping. CUP of SAND: Used for poor episodes. MIRAGE WATCH: Used for new series that haven't lost us, but haven't won us over to the extent that we'd call them an OASIS in the VAST WASTELAND that is TV. MIRAGE: Used for series that seemed promising (or were once good), but now consistently disappoint. WASTELAND: Used for series we can't stand. ... Coming up later this week: Reviews of Veronica Mars 3:03, Wichita Linebacker and The Office 3:05, The Initiation. If possible, we will review Heroes 1:04, Collision, as well. A plea to our VOX readers: We are having a horrible time with the VOX interface. When we compose large entries in VOX, we sometimes lose them. When we spellcheck in VOX, but want to keep words VOX does not recognize (intentional misspellings or made up words), VOX omits them. When we compose in MS Word, and then paste the entries into VOX, VOX still omits words (or things like "8:00pm" which is our preferred format for recording time), even if we've shut off the visible Word spellchecker, and don't use the VOX spellcheck function at all. It also translates paragraph breaks as line breaks, whenever it pleases, but not consistently. If you note odd missing words (and for some reason, VOX is not a "Logan" fan and omits his name somewhat randomly, and omitted "Jericho" once) please give us a shout, so we can edit. We're not perfect, but we're not as careless as this technology would leave you to believe. And VOX? You're so on MIRAGE WATCH. As of right now.
What are you doing. If you're on the East Coast, or in the midwest, you have about zero minutes left. Get thee to http://cwtv.com, find your affiliate, and watch Veronica Mars.
More substantial blog entry...later.
While Joss Whedon has been in UK, rumors have been flying fast and furious--across the pond, over the river, and through the woods, about Firefly/Serenity sequels, including speculation about a D2DVD (direct to DVD) project. Before GoodTV.Vox traces the roots of rotten grapevine, let's move straight to the debunking from Joss, so that we don't contribute to its proliferaton among the attention-impaired. Via Whedonesque.com, Joss says:
Hi boys and odd, smooth, compellingly bumpy non-boys. I'm in Liverpool, on Alexis' lap... sorry, laptop, checking in and seeing all sorts of nonsense about a sequel to something. I did run into someone at Forbidden Planet, and he said something about that I ought to make more things, possibly art things, and I agreed. He didn't know the fellow I was with was Brian Hitch but it was 'cause I'm so, yeah, awesome. Yes, Warren and Natalie and Brian and I had dinner, after nattering on for SFX at the hotel (I like that mag) and it was blazingly fun. They're all three multitalented, urbane, and surprisingly sweet. I'm none of those things but I came the farthest so they had to be nice. BUT...
There's no sequel, no secret project regarding Serenity or somesuch and I'm not even sure how anyone thought there was talk there. I've seen Nathan and Tim (and Summer and Alan) recently because they're my friends because I'm so, yeah, awesome. So let's put that to bed and smother it with a pillow.
Fun fact: Didn't read the thread, but as for James playing Shinzon: that's the reason he left for darkest Africa at the end of season six. We were giving him the time off to do the film. When it didn't happen, the course was already set. But he got a nifty soul and that worked out okay.
Oh, and I heard Marvel pushed back X-Men 18? I've delivered 19, and Johnny's working steadily, so blame the marketplace. In fact, overturn the marketplace, the way Jesus did when he was cranky about that thing that time.
Rolling in Kittens, -j.
Emphasis above is ours. Mentions of the dinner have hit the internet, thanks to a couple of Whedon's companions (the dinner kind, not the Firefly-prostitute-kind--as far as we know). Prior to Joss setting the record straight, their accounts may have unintentionally lent creedence to the canard. The 'Warren' Joss mentions is none other than Warren Ellis, who posts about their evening, in his MySpace blog, and mentions it on his Bad Signal list; SFX's Nick Setchfield also posts about the dinner. Please note: neither Ellis nor Setchfield contributed to the rumor. We're simply noting that because the rumor had a kernel of truth (Whedon was in UK) it probably spread even faster than these things usually do.
We would tip our hats to Ryan Parsons of CanMag.com for the resolution to this fairy tale, but we watched it weave, and were we farmers, we would have bet our livelihood that this was one part misunderstanding and three parts wishful thinking, before Joss graciously set the record straight or CanMag broke the news. Besides, Parsons made the mistake so many do, perpetuating another rumor--that Whedonesque is Joss Whedon's blog. It is so not, as the "About" page makes abundantly clear.
Joss does post at Whedonesque, and the above-quoted post is from his own talented fingertips, but Whedonesque is not his blog. It is a fan community and it makes us cranky when reporters can't even bother to single-check their facts. So we'll merely thank Mr. Parsons. With our hats on.
Oh, dear. That just made us miss John Belushi, when we weren't even setting out to do so. We don't feel up to spilling buckets of salt, but know how these things go, so let's get it all out of our systems, right now, by laughing 'til we cry:
That's better. Now where did we leave our vitriol? Oh right, down by the old millstream at ye olde rumor mill. While we're clearing up Mutant Enemy claptrap, let's set the record straight on another bit of bosh, that leaves us nearly as cranky as Firefly fabrications, and much more cranky than mischaracterizations of Whedonesque or any other website.
The lethally talented Tim Minear, of the late Angel, Firefly, Wonderfalls, and The Inside (as well as Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, The X Files, Strangeworld, and more) -- the very same Tim Minear whom FOX has saddled with shining up Standoff, NEVER wrote for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Never. Not even once. Got that? NEVER.
Minear seldom seems to correct people these days, probably because he is busy writing, smoking, tending his beagles, and because the misinformation has taken on a life of its own. GoodTV corrects people every chance we get, because we're fans like that. We adore Buffy and Minear. We are large with love for both--large enough that we are compelled to do our part in keeping their histories somewhat...how you say...historical, for future generations of Fanboys and odd, smooth, compellingly bumpy Fan-non-boys. By the way, there's still no official news about a mid-season slot for Minear's Drive, but Whedon has seen it, and says, "It should be on TV; TV would be grateful."
Back to our original subject, how did that Firefly rumor grow so quickly, anyhow? Good question. We don't always know how rumors sprout legs, but the gams attached to this slice of scuttlebutt set out from LiveJournal (which happens to be owned by the same parent company as Good TV's home base, Vox). The LiveJournaler doesn't seem to have an extensive friends' list, so it is amusing to see how fast word of his post/rumor spread from the original LiveJournal entry to Whedonesque to the Buffistas board and beyond.
Kelly Wheeler, a production assistant on Firefly, first dubbed the audience "Browncoats," in the blogs posted to the official Firefly board. A fan faction quickly adopted the nickname (which was used on the series, for the band of ragtag rebel space cowboys who opposed the Alliance). The soil in the Browncoats' internet backyard is so fertile for rumor-growing, we're beginning to suspect their coats are brown for other reasons, as well.
Is that too mean? We're sorry, Browncoats. We kid because we love. We do understand TV/film obsession. That's why we're here. Despite the fact that we're fans of FF too, we're bone tired of all the Firefly hype, years after the series bowed, and a year after the feature film, Serenity, made its box office debut. To wrap this up--a couple more things are clear about this latest 100% synthetic yarn spun from your favorite skein--we probably can't blame Kevin Smith for it, and we are happy to see it does read like an honest--if puzzling--misunderstanding.
Sources indicate Whedon and Ellis did have an animated geek-out sort of conversation, praising the potential of D2DVD (direct-to-DVD production), but...
1. The LiveJournaler whose post sowed the seeds of this latest hopes-dasher, was not privy to that information.
2. Those sources DID NOT mention Firefly (or even hint at it) when informing us about that topic of conversation. Anything we've managed to hear about it, seems to have been about the medium itself, rather than specific properties.
We will add that Ellis is reportedly hot for D2i (direct to internet; cf. webisodes of The Office (US) that NBC put out, over the summer) as well, which makes perfect sense, given the groundswell of support the Global Frequency pilot received (based on the Ellis graphic novel), after the WB passed on it, and it was leaked to the internet.
What's a mill without a wheel, and what's a wheel, if not circular? In that spirit, we'll add that Miranda is both the name of a failed colony in the Firefly universe, and the first part of the alias (Miranda Zero) used by the Global Frequency character who is the creator and operator of the GF underground intelligence organization. Long time Whedon assistant, Diego Gutierrez, who penned the BtVS episode, Normal Again, and has written for various shows including Without A Trace, The Shield, and Dawson's Creek, was reportedly waiting to join the GF writing staff. Executive producer John Rogers says he had "essentially the entire Angel staff" ready to go, had the series been picked up. But this is old news, so enough is enough. File this all under, "What could have been," and move forward, yeah?
Moving forward...
Tonight is the season 3 premiere of Veronica Mars. Originally part UPN's stable of shows, this BEST-SHOW-YOU'RE-NOT-WATCHING reportedly owes its continued existence to the critical eye of The CW's President, Entertainment, Dawn Ostroff. Let's give it the audience its exceptional quality (and Ostroff's faith) deserves.
If you have not yet given it a shot, we highly (most highly) recommend Veronica Mars. Can you tell? Veronica Mars is even more fantastic than its ratings are abominable. Watch it. You won't be sorry. If you've read this far, we assume you're a Whedon fanatic. Joss fell so head over heels with the Veronica Mars series that he's pimped the DVDs, and last season he guest starred in the episode, Rat Saw God. The above-mentioned Kevin Smith also had a guest spot last season, as a clerk, in the episode, Driver Ed.
Watch Veronica Mars. Tuesdays, 9:00pm/8:00pm Central, on The CW, right after Gilmore Girls. Your CW affiliate probably parks itself right in the space left by either your WB or UPN affiliate. If you're not sure, check your local listings, or The CW's station page, here.
If your TV is already dedicated to the season finale of Eureka (oh, look, more circularity what with the John Rogers connection) then hop on over to MSN, which has been streaming the Veronica Mars season 3 premiere, Welcome Wagon, for the past week here, and here. Just promise us that from episode 2 on, you'll watch during the broadcast. And you elusive Nielsen households, that's right, we're looking at you.
And we're not blinking.
If time allows, we'll post more on Veronica Mars, before tonight's broadcast airs on the east coast. The CW has registered a bunch of MySpace accounts for the characters, but there were a lot of fan-registered character accounts out there already, and we want you to know the difference, when you're adding them to your list of friends.
We're signing off for now, in order to figure out how you've managed to miss perhaps the finest hour of television drama available to you, for the past two years.
It could be witches
some evil witches
which is ridiculous
'cause witches they were persecuted
Wicca good and love the earth
and women power
I'll be over here.
Posted by She.
He completely agrees, and was uncharacteristically loquacious, while She was composing this entry. This entry is cross-posted to our blog at MySpace.
Feel free to link to, or copy this transcript, in part, or full. When doing so, please credit as follows: "Transcribed by She, at http://goodtv.vox.com."
It might be more accurate to refer to this as a "Gist-script" than a transcript. At least that's what She says. The following is a DRAFT transcript of the teleconference between internet bloggers; the creator and executive producer of The CW's Veronica Mars: Rob Thomas; and actor Tina Majorino, who, as Cindy "Mac" MacKenzie, has just become a Veronica Mars series regular, in the show's third season. Ms Majorino does double duty in the role of Heather Tuttle on HBO's Big Love. The teleconference was held Monday, September 25, 2006.
In the course of trying to link to the bloggers who participated in the Teleconference, She came across an excellent, detailed (but shorter than this) summary of the Teleconference at TheTVAddict.com, here [link]. For what it's worth, She transcribed the interview before She found The TV Addict's summary (which is so detailed and accurate in its quotes that it's nearly a transcript). In fact, She probably wouldn't have bothered transcribing, had she seen Daniel's entry, first.
NOTES:
-
The very beginning and end of the conference failed to record. At times, words are unclear for a variety of reasons.
-
This is mostly word-for-word, but She has taken some liberties.
-
She's left out some of the um-uh sorts of vocalizing, and some of the stammering.
-
Rob Thomas is a TV writing genius, who might benefit from a course in public speaking (or maybe She should never try to transcribe his spoken words, again. Stick to writing, Rob).
SPOILERS: There is talk of new characters, casting spoilers in the upcoming episodes, and general mystery plot discussion. It contains the type of "spoilers" you might encounter at a convention panel, or in a magazine interview, as well as free discussion of episodes from prior seasons. Read at your own risk.
At the beginning of the audio available to me, Sienna is already into the introductions.
...
Audio begins.
SIENNA: [Veronica Mars'] Rob Thomas. We also have Tina Majorino, who plays the character, Mac. So Damien, if you will explain how to ask a question.
DAMIEN: Thank you, ma'am. Ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to ask a question, please press the "1" key on your touchtone telephone. If your question has been answered, or you wish to remove yourself from the queue, please press the pound key. Again, ladies and gentlemen, to ask a question, please press the "1" key at this time. Our first question comes from Jennifer, from tubetalk dot blogspot. You may ask your question.
Dial tone.
DAMIEN: Okay, we seem to have lost Jennifer. Our next question comes from Abigail, from beepergirl dot LiveJournal (sic [it's beppergirl.livejournal.com]).
ABIGAIL: Hi, so this is for Tina. I was just wondering what you've thought about Veronica's--you know--friendship with Mac?
TINA: I think that it's actually one of my favorite parts of the whole show. I love their relationship, because it's great to see two really strong--strong personalities getting along so well, and they're really there for each other, without it getting too like girlie--sorority girl--kind of relationship. So, it's real and they're both really smart, and they can count on each other. I love their relationship. I think it's great.
ABIGAIL: Thank you so much.
Silence.
ABIGAIL: So...do I press the pound?
DAMIEN: Thank you. Our next question comes from Scott from Scooter dot McGavin (scooterksu.blogspot.com). May you--ask your question.
SCOTT: Hey Rob and Tina. This is partly for Rob. I was just wondering--one of the--one of the things I really like about the show, is how some of the characters keep on returning again and again, like with Mac, for instance--you saw her one time, and she just came back. I was just wondering--going into college, are we going to see any other of the alums show up at ? And along those lines--for Tina--would you like to see the Mac/Butters relationship continue into college?
TINA: (giggles)
ROB: Tina, do you want to handle that one first?
TINA: No you can go first. Go ahead.
ROB: Well I'll tell you this, Butters is supposed to be still in high school, this year. He was a junior last year, so he won't be in college. No plans on bringing Butters back right now. We are finding that usually, it's when--whenever there's someone we really like, we just keep using them again and again. Last year, in one of our final episodes, when Veronica and Wallace visited , we met the president of the Phi Sig Fraternity, Chip Diller, and he's (actor David Tom) in a bunch of episodes, this year. We just asked a couple of guys, who--one plays sort of a--the expert on everything cheating, in college, that--that we're really digging using, so I have a feeling he'll pop up from time to time. And then a lot of people--I mean the best--the best example of it would be Ryan Hansen, who plays Dick Casablancas. He was a guy who had one word in his first episode, which was, "Logan!" and then two words in his next episode, which were, "All fours," and we just sort of fell in love with the guy, and now he's a very key player on our show. So when we find an actor-character that we like, we tend to just keep going back to them.
TINA: As far as the Butters thing goes, I think for me it was really fun to work with the actor who plays Butters, but I think that the way that Mac feels about Butters is that he's very strange and annoying, so I don't think that relationship would work out. But I think it was a lot of good comedy with Butters. I thought it was fun.
SCOTT: Okay. Thank you.
DAMIEN: Thank you, our next question comes from Dan, of duckyxdale dot com. Sir, you may ask your question.
DAN: Hey Rob and Tina. Rob, I kind of asked you this last year, at the Bloggers' Press Day, in San Diego .
ROB: Huh? [possibly "Uh huh..."]
DAN: But I was wondering, now that Veronica's at college, if there's going to be more gays and lesbians worked into the show, and in part because of the relationship that Mac had with Beaver. Is there a possibility that Mac could be--you know--switching teams?
ROB: No plans on Mac switching teams. There are a couple characters on our show that I think--a couple of key characters this year who are new--who--whose sexuality I think--how do I put this--whose sexuality we don't make a meal of. We don't do stories about them being gay, but I believe they are gay. And I'm not talking about the actors; I'm talking about the characters that they play, but we haven't written a gay storyline this season.
DAN: Okay.
ROB: I'm sorry. That may have been part of your question. Was there more to it?
DAN: No, that--I mean you answered both parts, thanks.
ROB: Okay, great.
DAN: Thanks.
ROB: All right.
DAMIEN: Thank you, our next question comes from Jennifer of lawyer dot net. Ma'am, you may ask your question.
JENNIFER: Hi Tina and Rob. First, I just want to say Tina, I love the song "Away With Me," from your band, AM Project.
TINA: Oh, thank you!
JENNIFER: So I'm really happy to be a listener of yours. Anyway, my question is for Rob. After seeing the reaction that Jackie got last year, has that influenced you, in how you're introducing and writing new characters--especially Parker?
ROB: Um...huh. I don't think so. You know, I haven't thought about that. It--certainly Parker is a different flavor than Jackie was, last year. I mean, she doesn't come on with that same sort of vibe, but that wasn't some reaction to the fans' negative reaction to the way we brought in Jackie, last year. I mean I that's--it would almost--if it had an effect, I think it would almost be at the sub-conscious level. I have not consciously thought, "Oh, I need to be careful; I need to make everyone likeable and immediately huggable or the fans will be displeased." I do take certain things into consideration--sort of lessons that I've learned over time, like generally speaking, anyone who we put between Veronica and Logan--the fans take an immediate dislike to. Anyone who stands in the way of that relationship gets mercilessly criticized. I mean, actors who I've adored in the roles--the girl who played Hannah, I thought was wonderful, and Max Greenfield, who plays Deputy Leo, I thought was wonderful, and yet they've gotten hammered. So I just--I try to figure out what I think is working, and stick to my gut on that.
JENNIFER: Okay, thanks.
ROB: All right.
DAMIEN: Thank you, our next question or comment comes from Nick at [cowboy?] dot net. You may ask your question.
NICK: Hi, Rob. Thanks very much for talking to all of us, today.
ROB: Oh! No problem.
NICK: I have a kind of general question. I know a lot of shows that start out with characters in high school have a lot of difficulty making the transition into college. I'm thinking particularly of Buffy, and it seemed like after a year they almost had to drop the idea of them being in college because it became just so awkward for the plots.
ROB: Uh huh.
NICK: And I was wondering if you had thought about that when you started the show and--I guess, clearly, you would have had to, assuming it was picked up for more than two seasons--and if you had that in mind for a long time, and if you had ways you had ways of thinking how to get around all the potential pitfalls.
ROB: Uh...yeah. But I think the biggest way we're getting around the potential pitfall is that we haven't kept the characters in high school for four years. We allowed them to play their junior year and senior year--that we're allowing them to progress as normal beings will. I think one of the other things that high school shows that go to college suffer from is that they are shows that are built around coming of age and coming of age stories, and so they have to sort of shift what their intention is as their characters go to high school, whereas we worked--we worked a high school show in the more traditional soap opera sense of it. You know, we're a noir/mystery so I don't think to a certain degree that the same rules apply. If anything, the nice thing for us this year is that it actually opens up stories that I don't think we could have done were Veronica to still be a high school student.
NICK: Well, I'm really looking forward to it. Thanks.
ROB: Oh, great! Thanks.
DAMIEN: Thank you. Our next question comes from Cathy of Give Me My Remote dot com. Ma'am you may ask your question.
CATHY: Hey Tina and Rob, thanks for doing this, tonight.
ROB: All right.
CATHY: I was wondering if we're going to see any after-effect of Beaver's actions last season, mainly with Mac and Dick, and those closest to them [possibly 'him'].
ROB: I'm sorry, we just had somebody buzz us in here and I didn't hear all the question. One sec. [Addressing someone in his office] Alex, can you close this door?
ALEX: Oh, yeah. Sorry.
ROB: Um. I'm sorry. Can you repeat that, please?
CATHY: Sure. I was just wondering if those closest to Beaver--or Cassidy--Mac and Dick--if we're going to see them deal with the after-effect of his actions last season?
ROB: Um. Yes. Absolutely. And you know I'll say that there's a--there's a double-edged sword to it. You absolutely see Dick reacting to his brother's death. As we start the season, he is a wreck. Now, and I--and I want to play some of the reality of that, and then at the same time, the best thing about Dick in our show is the comedy he brings to it, and this sort of very fun, bad boy kind of frat boy energy, and so spending the half season with Dick wallowing would--I would understand the reality of it, but it wouldn't be particularly good for the show. And Mac is also dealing with some fallout from what happened. I mean--uh, and we actually hit both those topics really hard in the first episode, this season.
CATHY: Great. Thank you.
ROB: All right.
DAMIEN: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen--ladies and gentlemen, again, to ask a question, please press the "1" key on your touchtone telephone. Our next question comes from Elizabeth from Primetime Princesses dot com. Ma'am, you may ask your question.
ELIZABETH: Hi. This question is for Tina. I'm kind of following up on the last question. After what Mac went through in the season finale, how do you feel about effects? How do you feel about how you're playing the character?
TINA: I think that there have been a lot of changes in Mac, since the season finale. [NOTE: feedback and other interference makes some of this answer unclear]. But I think it's something--it's quite a challenge, because you want to keep the character the same and that's where people can still relate to her as they were, before. You don't want to change it too much. So, it is challenging trying to put across too much [FEEDBACK] because of the hard time she was going through, but you know you still want her to be the same Mac that everybody enjoys watching. It's really been fun. It's been a great storyline to be a part of it. It's really challenged me as an actor, you know?
[FEEDBACK and semi-dead air].
DAMIEN: Thank you. We have a follow up from Abigail from deepergirl dot LiveJournal [sic: blogger is the same beppergirl.livejournal.com, referred to as "beepergirl" above]. Thank you, you may ask your question.
ABIGAIL: Okay, so this is for Rob. I was wondering if you were going to have any other artists on the show next season--because you know like last season, you had Courtney from Dandy Warhols, and...so...all right...
ROB: Uh huh?
ABIGAIL: And so I was just wondering if you were going to have any other artists coming?
ROB: Oh. Um...we don't have any plans, yet. The--right now I'm writing the episode 9. I'm writing episode 9 which is the conclusion of our first mystery arc, and there's definitely a space for a band to play. And I'm trying to sift through, in my mind--I'm going to direct the episode as well--whether I want to try to get a name band or whether that--you get too big of a band--you know, like if you have Radiohead play a frat party at Hearst University, it doesn't really make sense. And it always--it takes so many shooting hours to do a band, correctly. It like adds five shooting hours, which really slows it down on an episode that will be packed, already. What we've found--last year, we wanted to do it a lot more. The plan was to have probably--over 22 episodes--six different artists come in and do karaoke in there, and what we found is that it slowed production down so much, that we really couldn't afford to do it. And it got a really mixed reaction from the fans. You know, I think a lot of fans who--if they weren't a big fan of the artist that we brought on--were just like, "Why are 90 seconds of my show being eaten up by something I don't care about?" And so it wasn't a big success last year. So I haven't been terribly inclined to spend sort of all the production time to make it happen again this year.
ABIGAIL: Okay.
ROB: All right?
ABIGAIL: Okay, thanks.
ROB: No problem.
ABIGAIL: Bye.
DAMIEN: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Again, to ask a question, please press the "1" key on your touchtone telephone. Our next question comes from Jennifer from tubetalk dot com. Ma'am, you may ask your question.
JENNIFER: Hi, Rob. Hi, Tina.
ROB: Hey.
TINA: Hi.
JENNIFER: How're you doing?
ROB: Good.
JENNIFER: Rob, this question is for you. We had--obviously--last season, a major death of a character. Is there anything planned this year in terms of a death, and the second part of my question is, you said earlier, last year, that there were going to be three story arcs this year, instead of the long season arc. Have you planned out what mystery is going to occur in each of those, and if so, can you tell us about the first two, or even all three?
ROB: [laughs] Man, you ask me a lot of really good questions, none of which I want to answer. I'll give you some answers, but probably not nearly as much as you want. We do know what the three mysteries are going to be. And I can tell you that they're all three going to have a very different feel. And, I think most people know, because I've been very willing to share, that the first one is the ongoing mystery of the serial rapist, but I want the second one to surprise people. I don't want to say what it is. I want it to--you know--surprise people. And I--the things I will say is that you will get introduced to the second mystery in the final episode of the first mystery, which is episode nine. And also, I'll tell you a little bit about the inspiration for it, which--I think will only make sense after you see what it is, and if you actually check out this movie. But, there was a--Steven Soderbergh did a--this low budget digital video murder mystery called "Bubbles," I think, "Bubble." Yeah--and there are pieces of it--there are ways it is set up that I really liked, and I wanted to have a mystery in which, for the first time on Veronica Mars, you start seeing--you see the build up to it, as opposed to just being introduced to the crime, after it.
JENNIFER: Okay. Thank you.
ROB: All right. No problem.
JENNIFER: Oh, can I follow that up with another question?
ROB: Sure.
JENNIFER: The briefcase, is that going to be addressed in the first story arc?
ROB: Yes. It absolutely is. It's going to be addressed in the first two episodes. And...
JENNIFER: Okay. Thank you.
ROB: All right.
DAMIEN: Thank you. Our next question comes from Sunil, from spectral... spectralbovine...
ROB: [laughs]
DAMIEN: [laughing] dot livejournal dot com. I'd like to apologize if I've messed it up. You may ask your question.
SUNIL: All right. Hi Rob.
ROB: Hey, Sunil.
SUNIL: [UNCLEAR] Hi Rob. Where are you guys, with the noise in the background?
ROB: Well, I'm at the Veronica Mars offices, and I'm not sure where Tina is.
TINA: I'm at my house.
ROB: Oh. I just--I just read your e-mail there, Sunil.
SUNIL: Okay. Well, can you--can you answer any of that here?
ROB: Uh, did you--uh, I wasn't thinking about the questions in it. I just got the overall feel of the reaction, there.
SUNIL: All right, we'll do that later. I'll talk to Tina now, because I never talked to Tina, before.
ROB: All right. Thanks [UNCLEAR].
SUNIL: [UNCLEAR] I read [UNCLEAR] a recent interview, and I wanted to know what book you were doing a book report on, for Rob's book.
TINA: It was Rats Saw God.
SUNIL: Did you get a good grade?
(Rob laughs.)
TINA: I did. I actually got an A+ on that paper, and my teacher was very impressed that I actually got to talk to the author. So... (laughs).
SUNIL: And my question is, that back in the day, you were in Andre, and you acted with a seal. And now you act with Kristen Bell, and I wanted to know who was a better actor, and who was better at balancing a ball on their nose.
TINA: Um...Kristen's the better actor, and the seal's probably better at balancing something on his nose, 'cause I've never asked Kristen to do that, and I don't think I ever would.
ROB: (laughs.) I don't know. Kristen might give it a shot. She is a very talented woman.
TINA: She is, but I just would feel uncomfortable asking her.
(Laughter.)
SUNIL: [UNCLEAR] entire question I can't ask is about the credit, the--can you talk about maybe what was involved in the new credits, and what decisions were made, and why?
ROB: The new main titles? Well, we kind of had to change them because the ones we've been using have been so high school oriented with, you know, notebook paper and little doodles, which didn't feel like college. I have--I've never been a big fan of our main title sequence. You know, it just seems like a very generic clips-teen-show main titles. And I wanted to do something a little more artsy, and I wanted to play to the noir element, and I wanted to age it up. I wanted it to feel like Veronica's a little more grown up. So, um...
SUNIL: That credit sequence has won the Tubey award on TWoP, two years in a row, actually.
ROB: Um well, I think that like--you know, it's like Adam Clayton always used to win Rolling Stone bass player of the year and it's because the fans loved U2 and not because Adam Clayton is a particularly great bass player. Or at least, that's my theory. That's my working theory.
SUNIL: That's my theory as well.
Rob laughs.
DAMIEN: Thank you. Our next question comes from Jennifer, from lawyer dot net. You may ask your question.
JENNIFER: Hi. It's me, again. I already got to see the episode that's airing this next week, and I just noticed that the apartment lighting was so much lighter than normal. It really looks like there's sunlight coming through...
ROB: Uh huh?
JENNIFER: And I was just wondering if that's a deliberate choice, because normally, it looks like it's this vague 24 hour [UNCLEAR] you really can't tell what day--what time it is, when you're inside the Mars apartment...
ROB: Uh huh...
JENNIFER: It really looked like there was sunlight coming through and is this a deliberate choice, or does it have anything to do with now being on The CW after Gilmore Girls--trying to draw new viewers? Is this just a new thing you're doing?
ROB: It could be a lot of things. And I--I honestly am not aware, but it could be that because you got a preview copy that you got a non-color timed copy, where we haven't done the finished post-work, on it. We have not made any sort of conscious effort to make it brighter or sunnier in the Mars apartment. I will say that sometimes it gets too moody for me and I'll give you an example. We--in episode four, we're supposed to do this sort of time-lapse sequence, in which we see Veronica working in her room on this case, and it's supposed to be the late afternoon, like four or five in the afternoon, and then Keith comes home at midnight and enters her room. And when I saw it cut together, I'm like--because we always shoot that bedroom of Veronica's so moody and dark, it doesn't feel like we've gone from afternoon to midnight. It feels like 20 minutes has passed, and so I'm having them like re-color time it, to make afternoon actually lighter, and midnight a little darker, so it will actually look like time has passed there, in Veronica's bedroom.
JENNIFER: Okay, thanks for answering.
ROB: No problem.
DAMIEN: Thank you. Our next question comes from Cathy, of Give Me My Remote dot com. Ma'am, you may ask your question.
CATHY: Rob, I have a question about Logan's character, this year. He's obviously a pretty dark guy, with a--with a dark life, and although we do get to see him have fun, sometimes, he definitely has a past to deal with. Do you think we're going to see him deal with his issues a little more and maybe mature a little more, and be the man that Veronica deserves and wants to be with?
ROB: Um...gah--you know--I don't know. I--you know, there's a needle that I want to thread, you know? There's an old--there's an Onion--I don't know if you're a fan of The Onion--but there's an old story that I remember reading in The Onion that made me laugh, which was about...uh: Girlfriend Fixes all Boyfriend's Problems; Now She's No Longer Interested in Him.
(Cathy laughs.)
ROB: And--and there's a part of me that believes in that philosophy. You know, that--the things I worry about on the show, I worry about characters getting too soft, too likable, you know? Certainly, Veronica and Logan both possess some really good qualities, but I'm always interested in not softening their rough edges too much. It feels like it would get bland and uninteresting, if they're always doing the right thing. And Logan has had so much happen to him, that I think it would be sort of a miracle if he--and one I'm not sure I would believe, if he sort of got his life straightened out, and got on the straight and narrow, and did his homework and went to class, and graduated with honors, and then got a good job at a nice company. It would feel a bit false to me.
At the same time, I want to make sure they grow. I don't want to just repeat the same behavior. You know, I don't want Logan organizing another bum fight, because that feels like a high school sort of thing to do--uh, I mean a high school thing to do, if you're--you know--a child who gets beaten by your father. So it's a tricky line that we try to walk--with how much emotional maturity we're going to give our characters, and how much we're going to let them fix their character flaws.
CATHY: Great. I actually have a quick follow-up for Tina, as well. Tina, I was hoping you could talk a little bit about the difference between being a series regular on the TV show, and you've obviously had a long career, since you were a little girl--as a film actress--and if you could just talk a little bit about the difference between TV and film.
TINA: I think that as far as--you know, I get asked a lot about my decision to do television--you know--why I don't do a lot of film is because there--I find that I've been really blessed to be able to play such great characters on television, especially on this show. It's really hard to find good quality roles in any genre of acting, I feel, at least roles that I'm willing to play at this point in my life. So, that's kind of where the crossover happens--that it just so happens that these parts that I'm able to play on television have worked out really nicely for me. But, as far as working--the differences between working in film and television, I think sometimes, it's a little more comfortable working in television, because you get a chance to become so much closer [background noise drowned out words] working on the show. You're working with them for a long time. I mean a whole--a whole nine months usually that you get to see people every day, and you get a little bit more familiar with them, whereas in film, it's just, you know, a three month burst usually, and then it's over with. So, and it's nice knowing that you get to work--you get to go to work every day. It's a little bit more consistent. So there's a lot of comfort in doing TV--I feel like. I think that it's--it's nice to know where I'm going each day, and what I'm going to be doing.
CATHY: Great. Thanks.
TINA: Um hm.
DAMIEN: Thank you. Our next question comes from Daniel, from [the] TV addict dot com. You may ask your question.
DANIEL: Hey, everyone. Thanks for doing this. I just wanted to ask a quick question to Rob, first. Did you consciously, or--in your mind, have you consciously--when writing the first few episodes-- changed anything, knowing that you're on a new network, and following Gilmore Girls. Is there anything that you've done differently, to kind of attract new--as many new fans as possible?
ROB: Ah yeah, particularly in the first episode. I--I will freely admit that I think that the first episode is sort of Veronica Mars for beginners. Um, it's--the case is pretty straight ahead. It's not a high-incident case. It's a case used largely to meet our new characters. And, you know, I tried to really front-load the episode with sort of fun, breezy banter, that would play nicely with the Gilmore Girls' audience and sort of, you know, welcome them, or invite them into the show. The first episode sort of takes a--you know--sort of feeling more like our show in the final five minutes--not that I think it's a huge departure for the first forty. But, it's certainly feeling more like Veronica Mars towards the end of the episode. So yeah, that was really conscious, and then the second episode which, honestly, I think ranks up with some of our best episodes ever, and I'm really proud of it--it's an episode that Diane Ruggiero wrote--I think is Veronica Mars at its best. It's what we do well.
DANIEL: Oh that's great. Thanks. A quick question for Tina, if I may. You're amazing on Veronica Mars as well as Big Love, and I just was wondering if your regular status on Veronica Mars will preclude you from going to Big Love for a second season.
TINA: No. It hasn't at all. They've been really awesome about that, and are allowing me to do both shows, so I will continue to be a reoccurring guest on Big Love, as well as being a series regular on Veronica Mars.
DANIEL: Great. Thanks.
TINA: Thanks.
DAMIEN: Thank you. Our next question comes from Scott of Scooter dot McGavin at blogspot dot net. You may ask your question.
SCOTT: Hi Rob, I was just--I remember from last season that Logan was interested in having Tom Welling play him in the Aaron Echolls story...
ROB: Uh huh.
SCOTT: I was just wondering that now that you're on the same network--would you be interested in giving him a call and see if he'd do a guest spot?
ROB: Well it's interesting because--because Diane Ruggiero, since the CW--she's one of our writers here, who I just mentioned and now the only female left on the writing staff--has been begging for that cross over since we had The CW launch party and she actually saw him in person. And I'm not sure she's started breathing again...
(Tina laughs.)
ROB: It would be so tough to do. It would be like somebody asking Kristen Bell to guest star on their show. We work Kristen so hard and her free time is so valuable to her, and I imagine the same is true for Tom. The network would love it. They would adore it. But I don't think they would go to Tom and say, "Please do Veronica Mars," just because they know how hard he has to work on his own show. My wife and Al Gough's wife are friends. We actually have dinner from time to time, and I may actually set a test buoy out on that particular question, because I think it would be great for us, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that.
SCOTT: Okay, kind of a follow up. Tom Welling aside, if The CW came to you and said you got the pick of the litter of any actors on any show, to do a cross over, who would you pick? And Tina you can jump in this. Who would you like to work with--with a fellow CW actor?
ROB: Uh.
TINA: Oh, wow. I don't even know.
ROB: (laughs) Um. I--you know--I think the one who would do us the--you know for me, the answer would be purely mercenary. It's who would do--who would get the most people watching our show. And if we could get the woman who plays Loralai (Lauren Graham) from Gilmore Girls on our show, I think that--that would be fantastic. That would be a cross over that I would write backwards, to--to--to make happen.
MAC: Yeah, I like her, too. She's fantastic. She's great.
SCOTT: And would you be willing to send other actors out--like have--uh...
ROB: I'd send them all.
(Laughter.)
SCOTT: [UNCLEAR]
ROB: They could choose whoever they want. The problem is I don't actually get to order my actors to go do other shows. So me saying, "Kristen Bell, go do Gilmore Girls," it really means little more than you saying, "Kristen Bell, go do Gilmore Girls."
SCOTT: Would you like to see Lamb and Logan go at it in a steel cage match on SmackDown?
ROB: Well, I would love that. I would absolutely love that.
SCOTT: Okay, thank you.
ROB: Thanks.
DAMIEN: Thank you, our next question comes from Rae of Rambling Sofa TV Whore (sic [correct blog name: Ramblings of a TV Whore]) dot com.
RAE: Hi there, um, two questions--both for Rob--sorry, Tina. First is a follow-up to Daniel's question about The Gilmore Girls. My question is: I know in the past, you've said you hadn't actually watched any Gilmore Girls. Did you watch any episodes to kind of research what they're like, now?
ROB: I haven't, honestly. I--I--I'm embarrassed to say that, but I have not.
RAE: Oh, you're embarrassed.
ROB: (laughs) My wife is a fan, and yet when I've--she always says, "It's a bit girly for you." You know, knowing my taste, she thinks it's girly for me, but I have not watched a whole episode. I saw a big chunk of one the other day, when uh... You know we had the actor who plays Logan on their show (Matt Czuchry), on our show, and when we were talking about doing it, they sent me a clip of a story line with him in it. He was--he's terrific on our show. He's terrific on their show as well, in the clips that I saw, but he did a really nice job for us.
RAE: Okay, great. And the second question was just--now that there's a few episodes done--I guess--and I assume that some of The CW network execs have seen 'em, do you have kind of a feel for how they're feeling about the show?
ROB: They've been thrilled. They--they have been absolutely thrilled. They're--you know the things that they asked for were things I believe I would have done anyway, but it's um--you know largely, they wanted something that was a little less complicated, which--doing a 9 episode mystery, instead of a 22 episode mystery is simplifying it right there. And you know, so, you know, instead of having a cast of 20 players that have bit pieces in the mystery, we--you know--have six. So, it does narrow the scope a bit, but you get it--it comes really fast and furious. It's funny, the whole writing staff has thought, "We're just finishing the first mystery; we should take a hiatus, now." It doesn't feel real--you know, it feels weird for us, right now. It's going to be strange this year, because we're going to have no opportunity to tinker with the mystery as we go, because we'll have the whole first mystery written and going, before we get any reaction from the fans on the first episodes.
RAE: Right.
ROB: One of the things that I did always enjoy about viewing with the fans, or posting, was seeing who they thought did it, and sort of figuring out how to play certain red herrings stronger, or do we need to be a little more clear with the real clues, or do we need to hide them--obscure them a little bit, and we won't have that ability at all this year, so it's all going on what we think works, so hopefully it will.
RAE: I'm sure it will. Thank you.
ROB: No problem.
SIENNA: Hi, everybody. This is Sienna, and as we are running close to 45 minutes, we are taking one final question.
DAMIEN: Thank you, ma'am. Our final question comes from Elizabeth of Primetime Princesses. You may ask your question.
ELIZABETH: Hi. I was wondering. I've had the soundtrack from Veronica Mars in my car for--forever, and I just love the music, so much. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about how you choose music to go along with specific scenes.
ROB: I just lost the last sentence that you said. Can you--you want me to tell you what?
ELIZABETH: How do you choose music to go along with specific scenes?
ROB: Okay. Yeah, I'm happy to do that. I will tell you this and it's one of the things that the studio and network hate it when I talk about, but... I think one of the reasons that we didn't do a soundtrack last year--as we've run over budget, the first place they take--or, I shouldn't say, "they," -- or we have to make up budget on, is in music. And in year one, I felt like we were getting in four, sometimes five songs in an episode, and last year, I think that number went down to two or three, and that's sort of held steady this year. So, there's been less music in the show, which is something I'm not happy about. I tend to write with songs in mind. I sit there with iTunes open, and as I'm writing an episode and songs are occurring to me, I keep putting them in a play list for that episode, and then keep it on play--keep that set list playing...
Audio ends.
Transcribed by She, of goodtv.vox.com
Tuesday, September 26, 2006.
Posted by She (He did not help. He may have laughed.)
