Updated “shows to spec” list
January 15, 2024
Hello, friends — wanted to update this list because a lot of shows have come and gone since my last posting on the topic. Remember, here “spec” means a sample episode of an existing show (seriously, how have writers been unable to come up with a separate way to describe this when “spec” also means an original pilot written on spec?).
To reiterate — yes, if you’re still trying to break into the TV writing game, you should have at least one current sample episode of an existing TV show. Why? Because some fellowships still require them. Because you can still compete at places like the Austin Film Festival with them (which can help you get repped). And because you might run into upper-levels or showrunners like moi who want to be sure you can do the job you’re after: writing a show in another creator’s voice.
But mostly, you’re writing them to build your muscles so that when you get your first assignment on staff, you’re ready to hit the ground running and you feel confident in your ability to mimic another writer’s style and voice. It’s for you more than it’s for anyone else.
Anyway… I’ve lectured about this enough. If you’re ready to write a new spec… or write your first one… here’s a list of shows as current as I could conjure. Shows will get canceled any day now and more will debut as 2024 progresses — and anything that has aired in this broadcast year (Sept 2023 on) works — or if you know it’s coming back but was delayed because of the strikes — that still works, too.
So pick a show you love and dive in. You’ll be better prepared for your first staff job if you do it.
SHOWS TO SPEC LIST
COMEDY
- Abbott Elementary
- American Dad
- And Just Like That
- Bad Sisters
- Based on a True Story
- Bob’s Burgers
- Bookie
- Bupkis
- Emily In Paris
- Family Guy
- Frasier (2023)
- Ghosts
- Girls 5 Eva
- Hacks
- Harlem
- Harley Quinn
- Jury Duty
- Killing It
- Lopez vs. Lopez
- Loot
- Mythic Quest
- Night Court (2023)
- Not Dead Yet
- Only Murders In the Building
- Rap Sh!t
- Rick & Morty
- Scott Pilgrim Takes Off
- Sex Lives of College Girls
- Shrinking
- Somebody Somewhere
- South Park
- Star Trek: Lower Decks
- Survival of the Thickest
- The Bear
- The Connors
- The Curse
- The Neighborhood
- The Righteous Gemstones
- The Upshaws
- Twisted Metal
- Unstable
- Unprisoned
- Upload
- We Are Lady Parts
- What We Do in the Shadows
- XO, Kitty
DRAMA
- 9-1-1
- 9-1-1 Lone Star
- Accused
- Alert: Missing Persons Unit
- All American
- All American: Homecoming
- American Horror Story
- Andor
- Bel-Air
- Black Mirror
- Blue Eye Samauri
- BMF
- Bosch: Legacy
- Bridgerton (Most current chapter)
- Cobra Kai
- CSI: Vegas
- Echo
- Euphoria
- Evil
- Fargo (Season 5)
- Fire Country
- For All Mankind
- Found
- Foundation
- From
- Gen V
- Ginny & Georgia
- Godfather of Harlem
- Goosebumps
- Halo
- House of the Dragon
- Industry
- Interview with a Vampire
- Invincible
- Leverage: Redemption
- Loki
- Lupin
- Mayfair Witches
- Mayor of Kingstown
- Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
- My Life With the Walter Boys
- Nine Perfect Strangers
- One Piece
- Our Flag Means Death
- Outer Banks
- P Valley
- Peacemaker
- Percy Jackson and the Olympians
- Poker Face
- Power: Book II, III, & IV
- Quantum Leap (2022)
- Reacher
- Reasonable Doubt
- School Spirits
- Severance
- Silo
- Slow Horses
- So Help Me Todd
- Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
- Station 19
- Stranger Things
- Superman & Lois
- The Boys
- The Brothers Sun
- The Chi
- The Changeling
- The Cleaning Lady
- The Diplomat
- The Equalizer
- The Gilded Age
- The Handmaid’s Tale
- The Irrational
- The Last of Us
- The Lincoln Lawyer
- The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power
- The Mandalorian
- The Morning Show
- The Other Black Girl
- The Recruit
- The Rookie
- The Night Agent
- The Sandman
- The Umbrella Academy
- The Wheel of Time
- The White Lotus
- The Witcher
- Virgin River
- Walker
- Wednesday
- What If?
- Will Trent
- Yellowjackets
- Yellowstone
Franchise shows like the 911s, Chicagos, L&O, and Walking Deads, are all fine to spec if you so choose. People will probably be familiar with those tones even if they no longer watch these long-running shows.
You can’t say you care about diversity and inclusion and then make it impossible for historically underrepresented writers to build a career.
Studios have launched a host of careers in television through their pipeline programs.But you can’t open one door then padlock the next… aka why diversity and inclusion are bigger than just starting a career.
When the Writers Guild of America went on strike at 12:00 a.m. May 2nd, it was because our leadership had rightly identified a host of issues writers are facing that were worth a strike – underpayment of residuals, mini-rooms devaluing writers and their work, lack of writers being trained in production and post, a need for payment steps to eliminate free work for feature writers, among others – and these issues affect every single member of the WGA. Even for the more established writers, who’ve been at this 15 to 20 years+, unless they’re making Shonda Rhimes or Ryan Murphy money… their pay is declining, too, because of the same issues listed above.
That’s the right message for the WGA to put out… this affects everyone. Because it does. Without question.
But as a historically underrepresented writer, I want to talk about how everything the WGA is fighting for affects us in particular ways – because as the data shows, things that affect all writers tend to land on our shoulders in harsher, more debilitating ways.
Before I get into a lot of the specifics, let me say honestly that my career exists because of the existing pipeline programs at the major studios. I’m an alumni of the CBS (now Paramount) Writers Mentoring Program and NBC’s Writers on the Verge (now NBC Launch). The people who facilitate these programs are among the most dedicated and passionate folks I’ve met in this business. They do the hard work of helping writers like me, who often have no industry connections, make the necessary first steps to break into TV writing. Now you can bet they make sure you’re talented and hardworking and dedicated as hell before they help you take that step… and the application process and curriculum bear that out. But it’s a way for people who have long been denied access to this industry – and specifically writers’ rooms – to get a shot. (By the way, per the Think Tank for Inclusion & Equity “Behind the Scenes” report for 2022, it’s easier to get into Harvard – a 5.2% acceptance rate – than it is to get into one of these fellowships – 0.3 to 0.7% acceptance rate.)
So if the programs worked for me, for others, what am I complaining about?
Well, like most things in our business, everything has changed. I broke into TV ten years ago when the broadcast model was still pretty much where all emerging writers started out. That script got flipped as streaming boomed and more and more outlets demanded more and more content. That saw emerging writers getting jobs on streaming shows, often in mini rooms (shorter rooms to break/write whole seasons in a fraction of the time of a conventional room, often before the shows were actually greenlit to production), and yes, with all that new content, there were a lot of jobs…
Just not jobs for everybody.
Mini rooms tend to be top heavy rooms, meaning if you have a staff of six writers, you might have the showrunner, three co-executive producers (seasoned, experienced writers,) a mid-level writer or two… or if you only hired one mid-level, maybe a staff writer. But more often, there’s no lower-level writer on staff.
Now I hear you… that sounds bad for every lower-level writer. Yep… it is.
Here’s why it hits historically underrepresented writers harder –
Most of those top-heavy job titles are filled by historically overrepresented writers.
That’s always been true… because for years our business was dominated by white males, and while we’ve made progress, they still make up the majority of upper-level writers.
According to the WGA Inclusion & Equity Report for 2022, data from the staffing year 2020 showed that, “BIPOC women make up significant shares of lower-level writers. BIPOC women writers make up the smallest share of EPs and Showrunners at 7.4% and 6.9%, respectively.” It also shows that, “BIPOC men accounted for 16-26% of jobs from staff writers to consulting producer. At the upper levels of Co-EP, EP and Showrunner, they accounted for 10-12% of jobs.” Meanwhile, “White men’s share declined at the staff writer and story editor level compared to the prior season. However, they account for a majority of jobs at the higher levels, making up 64% of EPs and 58% of Showrunners.” [White Women “represented the second largest share of staff writer, story editor (with the same share as BIPOC men) and ESE positions. White women are also the second largest share of upper-level positions, though they still lag behind white men considerably.”]
So if no lower-level/staff writers are being hired at all… and historically underrepresented writers often aren’t considered for those upper-level positions, do you see the problem?
Historically underrepresented writers end up stuck.
They get stuck because there are no lower-level jobs. Or because the shows can only afford a lower-level position after they hire all those upper-levels, so that Indigenous, Latinx, AAPI, Disabled, Middle Eastern, or Black writer who has already been a staff writer will be asked to repeat that title – and pay rate – in order to work at all.
They also get stuck because mini rooms, which are where so much of the room work is now, result in writers not getting the experience they need in order to climb to those higher titles. (Per the Think Tank for Inclusion & Equity “Behind the Scenes” report from 2022, 56% of lower- and mid-level writers did not cover set on their most recent show.)
Or they get put in the terrible position of being over-promoted (thanks to short season orders) without that experience on set or in post, and then aren’t prepared when they’re asked to perform at a level that requires that experience.
So how can I think the programs are important and useful, cheer the studios for having them and financially supporting them, but complain about the studios not doing enough?
Because it doesn’t do any good to open a door into a room if all the other doors are locked.
I came into an industry that still had a functioning mentorship system in place… writers who had already learned to produce on set and wrangle post taught other writers how to do these parts of the job – parts you can only learn on the job.
But we’ve seen all the stories about writers in mini rooms or on streaming shows who don’t ever have the opportunity to go to set or post because the studios have rigged the system to eliminate writers from the process as soon as the initial writing is done. [I say “initial” because the writing never stops until the episode is locked and delivered to the network/outlet. You write in pre-production, you write on set, you write in post. It’s all writing.]
That lack of opportunity… those are the locked doors I’m talking about. Great, you got your first writing job… now good luck getting the experience you need to grow your career, to learn to produce, to learn post, to become a showrunner… because the studios have taken away, by and large, the mentorship structure that allowed those doors to open, to give rise to the creators and showrunners of the future.
And when the goal of opening those doors is tied to diversity and inclusion, to bringing in historically underrepresented writers and stories, then there’s a baseline truth that has to be accepted: you can’t invite us to the table and then tell us that’s all we get… no chance to learn how to make the meal, create the recipes, or be the boss of the creative mix that results in a new, cool, hit television show.
According to the LA Times (05/24/22), Netflix, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, pledged $100 million over five years to organizations that help underrepresented communities find jobs in the entertainment industry. That’s a great and positive thing to do – but what the WGA is asking for in terms of writer protections, better compensation, and more opportunity for writers in general is more valuable to historically underrepresented writers… because those protections will allow us the chance – the chance – to build a career that doesn’t just make us successful, it provides greater product and content for the studio itself… because having writers on set and in post always makes the product better and usually saves money because decisions in a crisis can be made quickly without a game of telephone tag trying to reach the showrunner or another executive producer that can cost time, which costs money.
In July of 2020, CBS Television Studios began a five-year pact with the NAACP to develop content that not only utilized diverse voices but to expand the storytelling space and create more inclusive content. I’ve worked under this umbrella myself to pitch some potential show ideas, and the work they’re doing is important across the board in encouraging people to expand their ideas about what a show could look like when it’s both inclusive and avoiding stereotypes we’ve all become used to on TV. But I can’t lie… when I first heard about this endeavor, my first thought was… “not enough of us have been trained to showrun to make this work.” What does that mean? It means that historically underrepresented writers who do come up with a winning show idea – but don’t have experience – often have to be paired with experienced showrunners to get their projects greenlit. And “experienced” will often mean “historically overrepresented.”
Why is that? Because again… things changed. A host of us who came into this business when the mentorship system was working have reached that hard won showrunner/executive producer level (including me if my show survives the strike.) Off the top of my head, I can list these talented folks who all came up through pipeline programs: Nkechi Okoro Carroll, Nichelle Tramble Spellman, Simran Baidwan, Denise Thé, Aaron Rashaan Thomas, Debby Wolfe, Akela Cooper, Kirk A. Moore, Brittany Matt, Zahir McGhee, Leonard Chang, and Angela Kang… with many more my brain can’t pull forward right now.
But there are only so many of us who made it through the gauntlet when the system worked… and now that system is broken. Meaning a lack of showrunners from diverse backgrounds to supervise and co-showrun with other writers from underrepresented communities. According to the WGAW Inclusion & Equity Report for 2022: BIPOC writers make up over 50% of employed writers from staff writer to co-producer (i.e., lower- and mid-level). But this up-and-coming cohort of writers is often unable to build the vital skills they need to eventually run their own shows.
Some studios have responded to this by trying to bolster showrunners within their own systems. In 2021, Sony, for instance, launched an in-house showrunner training program. Warner Bros. Discovery (then Warner Media) followed suit in 2022 under their DEI “Access” banner. Fantastic efforts. But it doesn’t solve the problem of not getting hands-on work experience — the best preparation you can have to become an EP/Showrunner — because no matter how many stories you hear or classroom situations you work, it’s just not the same as being there. [I’m also an alum of the WGA Showrunner Training Program, which is invaluable when it comes to the business side of showrunning… but it can’t replace being on set/in post and doing the work for building your showrunner skillset.]
Obviously, I’m not suggesting that the studios have a responsibility to handhold writers from day one of their careers to day one of showrunning. What I am saying is that their investment in the diversity and inclusion they say they want has to include allowing writers the time – and financial stability – to grow into the role of showrunner. Because no one who can’t afford their rent and is worried about qualifying for healthcare every year is going to make it long enough to reach that goal. And a lot of potentially money-making, award-winning ideas will leave town with them when they pack their bags.
[Don’t get me started on how the idea of A.I. writing scripts upends EVERYTHING about diversity and inclusion. Since A.I. can only create from absorbing and reforming written material (plagiarism, for the record,) then it’s going to be reading scripts written, again, by an overwhelming majority of historically overrepresented writers. Women, BIPOC writers, LGBTQIA+ writers, Disabled writers… all of whom have only recently gained any traction in this business… will have little to say about what future A.I. scripts might look like… because their points of view, their voices would be so little of what the computer program would study to create a “new” story.]
I talk about these talent development programs with a drop of fear in my heart. Because we’re all worried that they’ll be next up on the corporate studio cost-cutting chopping block. Warner Bros. Discovery set off alarm bells all over town last year when they eliminated the studio funded writing and directing talent development programs. DEI warrior Karen Horne, Senior VP and lead of WBD’s DEI division, swept in and saved the programs by bringing them under her wing. But we all know that if bosses are looking to find that line item cut they can justify to a board… developing new, diverse, inclusive talent might start to look like something that can go.
But fear isn’t a reason not to fight. It’s why the WGA is taking on this strike, heart bold, resolve solid… fighting for every writer.
It’s why I needed to call attention to writers like me… writers I mentor, writers who haven’t even dreamed of being writers yet… who need me to fight for them the way my mentors fought before me to push that door open so I could step through.
The need for sustained, consistent DEI in the talent development space in our business is real and will be real for a long time to come as we close gaps created by an inequitable history. And the best way to invest in diverse voices and points of view — besides giving us that first shot – is to make sure we can afford to stay in the game. Fair pay. Fair treatment. Protected term employment. The opportunity to learn and grow.
So yeah… everything the WGA is fighting for is good for all writers. But it’s essential for historically underrepresented writers who are still trying to make up ground after being excluded from the business for decades.
TV writing is a mentorship business. Don’t believe anyone who tells you otherwise.
My writing fellowship statements
May 14, 2020
Hey, writer peeps!
While I was moving some files onto my external drive, I decided to see if, by some miracle, I could find my applications from the years I got into the CBS Writers Mentoring Program and NBC’s Writers on the Verge. And shockingly — I found them.
I’m not sure if this is remotely helpful or not, but I know the letters/statements of interest and the essay questions are often people’s biggest concern. So what follows is my letter of interest for the CBS program and my essay questions for WOTV. If you find some guidance here that helps you along the way, fabulous. I am not correcting anything — so forgive any typos or poor grammar.
And good luck to you all!
CBS Letter (2010):
As a female writer of color, it’s been encouraging to see both my gender and my ethnic group represented more onscreen and behind the scenes. My ability to broaden that presence comes from a diverse life experience. I grew up in a small town, but moved to the city to put myself through college. I’ve worked in jobs as generic as hotel operator and as intense as police dispatcher. I come from a military family of Southern descent but was raised in California because my father wanted his kids to experience more freedoms than he’d grown up with. It’s these elements of my history that I try to weave together to create stories that resonate for me as a 21st century woman.
One fascinating aspect of TV writing is the relationship that develops between writer and audience as a show progresses through weeks and seasons. My motivation to study writing came directly from the impact shows like “Hill Street Blues” and “thirtysomething” had on me, and it’s my hope to someday have that same effect on viewers through my writing. I feel that a tour with the CBS Writing mentors would allow me to put a final polish on my work and to become another flourishing representative of what a strong and capable woman of color can do in the writers’ room.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
WOTV essay questions (2011):
1. What from your background do you bring to the table as a writer that provides a
fresh perspective in your storytelling?
When I think of what I bring to my writing that is unique to my experiences, there are two main things that come to mind. One is my own experience growing up in a very racially and religiously diverse family. When we moved to my father’s last military posting at China Lake Naval Weapons Center in the middle of the Mojave Desert, there wasn’t any other family in town that looked like mine. Over time that changed, but in those early years, that sense of being so different, even amongst the ethnic group I was identified with, gave me a strong desire to write material that not only shows what diversity looks like, but also peels away the facades we put up to hide what being different in any way really feels like.
Later, after moving to Los Angeles, my years working in law enforcement and post my own involvement, sharing stories with my friends and relatives that still work on the job, I gained a very personal insight into the impact that crime has not just on the victim, but on the family of the victim, and on the people who are pulled into the aftermath, be they sworn officers, civilian personnel or volunteers exposed to some of the ugliest things people can do to one another. I try to maintain that awareness whenever I write projects involving crime or disaster and the aftereffects.
2. What television show most inspired you to become a television writer and why?
The list of television shows I’ve watched is almost too long to be admitted in public, but of all the different dramas I’ve been a fan of, the one that most fueled my desire to write television was “NYPD Blue.”
The story arc of Andy Sipowicz was one of the most compelling character studies I’ve seen, and his transformation from alcoholic racist on the verge of losing his career to a compassionate, sober husband and father, and a respected leader of his precinct was a years-long roller coaster that exemplified the kind of involving storytelling I strive for. Along with Andy’s ever-evolving story, we were invited to view every aspect of life at the 15th precinct, where things could be hopeless one week and touched by the possibility of hope the next, where the cops, lawyers, victims, and perpetrators who walked through the doors could be simultaneously heroic, human, evil, and yearning for redemption.
A scene in which Andy relates a horrifying story about a murdered child to his fiancée Sylvia always comes to mind when I think of “Blue.” It was a one scene out of hundreds, and yet it was moving as he tried to explain to her why his faith had been destroyed and how she had given a little of it back. Those are the moments I think make a great show, and it’s that level of complexity I hope to achieve every time I begin a new piece.
True confessions of a fanfic writer, vol. 1
October 26, 2017
I’ve done a lot of posts about TV writing. But this is a post about the before… the writing I did when I was still learning how to write TV and hoping someone would pay me to do it someday.
Before I even knew it had a name I was writing fanfic. I filled notebooks with stories about my favorite characters from soap operas and prime-time shows, weaving the stories I wanted to see that had never been told by the writers who made me fall in love with said shows.
Once I learned what fanfic was officially called (from an article about the “Star Trek” fandom) well, then I knew that I was writing it. And thanks to the Internet, I had a way to post it and see if other people liked it. To my great surprise, some folks did, and so I kept writing it. And writing it. And writing it.
Oh, did I ever keep writing it.
I wrote a lot of other things, of course – because when you want to be a TV writer, you have very specific things you must be writing, like TV specs and pilots. Lots of TV specs and pilots. But whenever I got stuck or frustrated or just couldn’t make myself stare at a script page for another second, there was always fanfic to go back to.
My first big fandom was “The Pretender.” I was all about some Jarod and Miss Parker and if Steve and Craig were going to hold out on me FOREVER (I love you guys, but for real!), then I was going to write a hundred different scenarios wherein my favorite genius and my favorite badass ended up together.
Next, there was “General Hospital.” In truth, GH was technically first because I hand wrote a ton of stories in those notebooks about GH (Brenda Barrett epics, y’all) that have long since met their end during one of my mom’s spring cleaning frenzies. But in my official days as a fanfic writer, GH took up a lot of my time. A LOT of my time. I wrote mostly Sonny and Alexis fics, but also Cassadine family stories and more Brenda stories (Brenda and Jason, you guys… BRASON FOREVER!) – and then there was my other favorite Alexis pairing – Alexis and Jax. There are all kinds of other random little stories and one shots of things that caught my attention, but 90% of it is easily Sonny and Alexis.
And then there came my deep dive into the “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice” fandom. I consider them one and the same because I got into both shows for the same reason – one Addison Montgomery, legendary kickass surgeon in Jimmy Choos. I wrote Addison winning Derek Shepherd back. I wrote her making it work with Mark Sloan. I wrote her falling for Alex Karev. I wrote her with Pete and with Sam and with Wyatt and Noah. I even wrote her with Burke and the bomb guy (yes, The Kyle Chandler bomb guy.) Because Addison was this amazing woman who just wanted to be forgiven for not being perfect. And really… isn’t that what we all want?
There are for sure some other random stories from other fandoms, but these were the ones that sucked up the majority of my time.
When I became a working TV writer, I pulled all my fanfic down where I was able to because I was worried people would think it was weird or cheesy. Would think I was too much of a fangirl to be taken seriously. And then one day I mentioned it casually to another writer who admitted she had written some fic, too — and she was impressed with the sheer volume of stories I had written. And then I started talking about it more, and finally what the reaction I really got from people was “That’s so cool! I bet you learned a lot doing that” I stopped acting like it was a secret shame — and the truth is, I really did learn a lot from writing all those stories.
— I learned how to write for my whole audience. There are characters in my fics that are characters I absolutely hated on the show, but I couldn’t write them like I hated them. I had to write them for the people who watch the shows. Not to say that there aren’t a few fics in my collection where I didn’t take a swipe or two, but I quickly learned that meant I was alienating some readers. So to the best of my ability, I tried to write those characters fairly. And it was a great lesson. Because any writer who writes TV who tells you they love every character they’ve ever written equally is lying to you. Sometimes there are just a few who don’t resonate for you the same way as others. But you have to write them for the audience that loves your show. That’s your job. So practicing that in fanfic came in very handy.
— I learned that I have a type when it comes to the female characters that often pull my attention the most on a show – tough as nails, often deeply misunderstood, with demons that lead them to make painful mistakes, but who will sacrifice themselves in a heartbeat for someone they love. This is pretty evident in my pilots. They are script worlds built around women that definitely fit the description above.
— I learned a lot about problem solving. I wrote one of my most popular fanfics on a regular schedule… posted a chapter every Friday or Saturday night over a couple of months. In this particular fandom, friends would message me asking when I was going to be ready to post… so the pressure was pretty intense. And if I was stuck on a story point or a line of dialogue, well… the clock was ticking. So I learned a bit about something being “good enough” to meet a deadline. How not to be too precious with every last word and just get the damn thing done. Because that’s a lot of what TV writing is… just getting it done. You want it to be good – great – brilliant, always, but sometimes it is literally just about turning it around to get a script distributed by a certain time – so “good enough” has to do.
In my most recent writers room, several conversations about my fanfic writing led to a declaration that I should repost it all. Then I looked at how much I have. Guys, I’d need to hire an assistant just to post fanfic if all of it was getting reposted, so that is probably not happening. But I will post some of my greatest hits here on the blog as I have time to assemble them.
But here is what I’m not going to do as I repost these stories:
— I am not going to rewrite them. Not even proofing them. You get them as is, typos, formatting issues, and all. Because the point isn’t to pretend like they aren’t chock full of mistakes. The point is that I wrote and kept writing and got better as I did, and that’s why they’re still worth something to me. Each of these stories is a building block to the writer I have become, so whatever they are or were, they have value to me. The mistakes are part of that. My need to make a proofing pass just to see if I used the same word too many times in a script? I figured out that bad habit writing fanfic. And the subtle difference between reusing a line or phrase for effect and just being repetitive? I learned that from writing fanfic, too. So other than copying and pasting separate chapters into one PDF file, you’re getting what the original readers got.
— I am not going to shy away from things that, looking back now, make me roll my eyes at myself. You will see that baby writer Niceole loved her some cliched phrases like “Make love to me” and “You are the love of my life” and so on and so on. Some of my “love scenes” are so trashy romance novel in style that I honestly should have probably tried to write a romance or two back in the day… and my obsession with happy endings is rarely disrupted (though I did write a “Pretender” story once that had people ready to yell at me because it most definitely did not have a happy ending).
— I am not going to change the ridiculously pretentious names of some of these fics. Oy! I have learned a lot about titles since way back, let me tell you. But they are called what they’re called, so… laugh away.
With those rules in place, here’s the first fic I’m reposting – the Destiny Series. It’s a very early one from my “Pretender” days, set just after the season three finale when Miss Parker got shot and I had a lot of time over the summer to obsess about what should happen when the show came back. For those who don’t remember, season three was basically the season of massive Miss Parker heartbreak because she fell in love with Thomas Gates, and then he got murdered, and then she got shot by Willie Gault, and basically my girl couldn’t catch a break.
It’s long, y’all. Most of them will be. So if you’re brave or curious enough… the file is attached.
More to come…
A TV Fangirl good-bye to “Person of Interest”
June 28, 2016
When I talk TV with people, I’m never shy about heaping praise onto shows that I love. And I’ve long since gotten used to having this exchange when I bring up “Person of Interest” –
“’Person of Interest’? Isn’t that just a typical CBS procedural?”
Me: “No. It’s one of the most well-plotted serialized shows I’ve ever watched.” (And remember, I’ve seen over 1,000 TV shows!)
The finale of POI aired last week, and I’m still strung out emotionally over it. It leaves the screen after 103 episodes. Not every single one was perfect but every single one was necessary to complete what turned out to be an amazing canvas. And in my humble opinion, its legacy is to be one of the most underappreciated shows in recent memory.
As many of you know if you’ve read my blog before (or follow my fangirling on Twitter), I write with TV on in the background – typical latchkey kid behavior manifested in my adulthood. This translates to writing at the office as well, thanks to my friends Amazon Prime and Netflix, which I stream in the background and listen to over ear buds while I write. Last year, I re-watched the first four seasons of POI as my background, and even though I own all the DVDs and have seen multiple episodes several times, it was that re-watch that clued me into something monumental about why I adore POI so much – 85% of what I love about the show was put in motion by the end of episode 10. We’re talking characters, relationships, and ideas that consistently played through five seasons – including the final moments of the series – and most of it was on the board by the end of episode 10. That cohesion over 103 episodes was accomplished without the writers dropping story points and with major cast changes to wrestle with along the way.
Within those first ten episodes, the characters became my heart when it came to this show. This little group of four became the embodiment of the emotional struggle of everyday life… how we make mistakes and try to overcome them, how we search for redemption even if we aren’t sure we deserve it, how we look for the best in people even after we lose our way. And they did all this while fighting the good fight for the little guy… taking down bad guys, helping people stay on the path of right when they were about to step into wrong. Even as the core cast both expanded and then lost members in heart-wrenching fashion over the years, the mission remained unchanged, and underlying every action, every episode was one clear message:
No one is irrelevant.
It might be this key point that explains my great love for this show, above the A-plus writing and great performances… POI was hopeful in a way I never expected it to be and that it turns out I needed so much. Life mattered… good mattered… saving one person at the risk of everything mattered… and that idea propelled the entire series.
Over the past five seasons, we went on journeys to the darkest places within these characters and often found light there – John’s need for vengeance after Carter’s death inevitably brought him home, to the place Carter most wanted him to be – with the people who loved him; Harold’s battle to save the world revealed the best in those he chose as allies; Fusco went from dirty cop to hero because John and Carter and ultimately all of Team Machine reminded him who he wanted to be before the dark side tempted him. And along the way, enemies – Root and Elias – turned into friends. Meanwhile Shaw, the embodiment of what it meant for life to be “irrelevant” joined the team and embraced the mission in her own unique way.
And none of these characters’ pasts were whitewashed to make us like them. Humanizing Elias by letting us into his abusive and tragic past gave us a deeper understanding of the path he chose and the drive behind the rise of his organized crime empire, but the show never tried to convince us his sins were justified. Instead it helped cement how monumental it was when Elias stood beside Team Machine in some of their most dangerous moments, even though he knew Reese, Harold et al would take his criminal enterprise down in a heartbeat if he endangered someone they cared for or one of the “numbers” the Machine asked them to save.
Root – in all her complex, twisted glory – was another character who had done dark, terrible things – had even tried to harm our beloved team – and yet her obsession with the Machine actually gave her the chance to find the connection she’d craved her whole life – both within the team and with the Machine herself. Root found her purpose after a life of thinking people were just “bad code,” and her mission to save the Machine from all threats helped us to understand that the Machine’s importance was even greater than we’d ever suspected.
But I think the most amazing accomplishment of this fantastic show is the humanity the writers imparted upon a set of typed letters on a computer screen and a bunch of cables and servers. The Machine was as real to us as any of the team… and our connection to her deepened as it became clear she suffered the pain of loss with Harold and Reese, that she hated the idea of failing them. As the Machine’s very personal relationship with Harold, her “father,” created conflict over the years, she became a maturing child, struggling to both find her own identity and be the “person” her parent wanted her to be. And in her ultimate act of humanity, the Machine found a way to be what… or who… she was meant to be despite Harold’s fears and reservations, even if that meant she might be destroyed.
I could literally write about specific things I loved and outstanding moments on this show for pages and pages. But what I hope after you read this is that if you watched it once and said no… or you never watched it at all, that this will make you go back and give it another chance (Netflix is your friend!). Look beyond the case of the week setup that helped us get into the world and spend time with these fascinating characters, go on a journey with them that will both rip out your heart and renew a little of your faith in the world (as much as any TV show can do that).
And if you loved POI as much as I did… if it brought you the same joy and heartache and wonder that it did me… thanks for sharing the roller coaster. And thank you a thousand times over to the wonderful writers and actors and the crew that made this show come to life… you’ve inspired me forever.
What I’ve learned from watching 1,000 television shows
March 20, 2016
Yes, you read that correctly… as of March 9th, 2016, I have watched at least 1,000 TV shows in my lifetime. I say “at least” because the first 500 or so titles I listed were done from memory and research, and I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few… but the list is officially at 1,000… and it’s attached in case you want to peruse the titles. tv show list
A little background for those who don’t know the origin of “the list.” I was working on my pilot “Kingdom,” which eventually helped me land my first TV writing job. But as happens when we writer types are stuck and banging our heads against our computers, my brain was all, “Hey, what could we do that feels productive but isn’t work?” And then I remembered this notebook my brother used to keep of every movie he had ever seen. We got those genes split decisively between us… he’s the movie guy, I’m the TV girl. And much like he will watch ANY movie you could possibly imagine, I will watch at least one episode of just about any TV show that sounds even a little bit interesting or stars someone I really like.
Thus, the list was born… and the rules were pretty simple: to make the list, I have to have watched at least one full episode of a show that originally aired in prime time. The program can be a drama, comedy, or a news/reality show – and I counted the shows I had to watch when I was making my living as a closed captioner because, well, I had to finish them, so they counted.
A lot of the original 500 shows were things I saw because of the magic of syndication (which is why I added the “originally aired in prime time” part of the rules). My parents loved to torture me with their favorite shows, so when I got hired on “Ironside,” I had actually seen every episode of the original “Ironside” because my mother loves Raymond Burr. Other shows were seen courtesy of friends whose parents had VCRs and taped shows I wasn’t old enough to watch when they were on but then saw later… some were viewed by way of the Internet and some were just seen through dogged determination to find them somewhere because I wanted to see them. Some were seen courtesy of the one human being I know who has definitely watched more TV than me, who tapes it all and saves it on DVD. And I own a ridiculous number of show box sets, as evidenced by my crowded bookshelves.
When I mentioned the list to my “Mysteries of Laura” writers’ room, co-ep Amanda Green said I had to write something once I reached 1,000 shows… I had to share what I’d learned by watching all that TV. So here are the musings I came up with on what all that TV taught me. But one thing I’ll be up front about right away… I’m not going to shit on any shows by name, for two reasons: One, some of my friends work on those shows, and ever since someone was a jerk to me about a show *I* worked on, I’ve been sure to never do that to another writer. Remember, no one is actively trying to write a show you don’t like… we just all have our own tastes. The second reason I won’t be dropping names is just good ol’ common sense. This is still a business, and I might have to go meet with a showrunner or executive producer who worked on a show that’s not one of my faves. I can still dislike it… doesn’t mean I need to make my career harder by telling that person here in print that I hated their show.
And now… on with the lessons…
1 – The reason I love TV is the long-term relationships with characters. I was writing features when I finished grad school and then finally woke up to the fact that I love TV and thus, should be writing it. That’s not to say that I don’t adore some of the movies I see… but when I fall in love with characters, 2-3 hours just isn’t enough sometimes. The weeks, months, and years that go into watching characters evolve and change and fall in love and get broken by tragedy on TV… it’s what made me want to be writer in the first place.
I’m a long way from a job title that means I get to decide how a show’s future gets plotted out… but I hope that when I get there, I take my deep love of the character/viewer relationship with me while I make decisions about what happens to my characters. As a viewer, it’s one thing to get a twist I wasn’t expecting – and be gut-punched by it – but see the beauty in it and walk away satisfied. A perfect recent example… I was sure I would be unhappy if anyone but Melinda May killed Grant Ward on “Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.” because my goodness, she deserved to get to do it… but ultimately, when it was Phil Coulson instead… I just cared that it was done, that the actions of everyone involved made sense to me, and that finally my little “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” family was safe from Ward (well, sort of, but that’s a whole nother blog post).
By contrast, every TV fan has had a moment watching a show when you can feel the writers’ “aren’t we clever” vibe radiating out of the TV screen at you, and all you’re thinking is, “No, you’re not clever. Because you just made a character do something that five years of viewing tell me they’d never do…” and it’s frustrating, not because you didn’t get your way as a viewer, but because you just can’t buy the character’s actions or the story… and nothing ruins your relationship with a show faster than losing faith in the storytelling. That’s usually the only thing that will make me break up with a show I’ve been watching for some time. I refuse to “hate” watch… so once I dread watching a show, we have to say good-bye to each other.
Now that’s not to say that some good ol’ fan outrage isn’t awesome sometimes. When I’m screaming on Twitter at a show that they just ripped my heart out, it usually means they’re doing their job exactly right… and I’m suffering (in all the best ways) because of it.
I just find that there’s something magical in the idea that writers can make an audience invest so deeply in characters that the viewers will stay through thick and thin, for years on end. I watched plenty of the shows on this list from start to finish… and I don’t regret a minute of it.
2 – I don’t watch nearly as much comedy as I used to. I’m not sure why that is. I used to watch every half-hour show around… and maybe it’s just because what I find funny has changed? I’m not sure. I do watch a few… “Brooklyn 99,” “black-ish,” “Togetherness,” (though it’s more dramedy than comedy), and I will usually try one or two new ones every year, especially if my comedy writer friends are working on a show. Side note: I will always watch at least one episode of anything from Tina Fey, Jack Burditt, and Robert Carlock because 30 ROCK FOREVER!
3 – Please give me the characters I signed up for. I’m all about cool guest stars. I’m the first person to get excited over someone in the promo for next week on a show I love. But I also tend to get attached to ALL the characters in my shows… not just the leads. In fact, sometimes the secondary characters have kept me watching when I’ve grown to dislike the lead characters. When shows sideline regular cast members for too many guest stars – stunting their character development – it is a fast track to me becoming less interested in the show.
4 – If death visits your show a lot, I probably didn’t keep watching it. No doubt because my number one reason for loving television is that relationship I feel with the characters, shows with high body counts have never been my thing. Which is why, when my shows do kill off characters, I’m usually curled up in a ball on the floor. I can barely think about Bobby Simone’s death on “NYPD Blue” without tearing up. Every single little Carter reference on “Person of Interest” is a hug and a knife to the heart simultaneously, and I remain deeply traumatized by Joe Coffey’s demise on “Hill Street Blues.” So, yes, I get it… characters have to die – sometimes because their story is done, sometimes because an actor wants to leave a show – but I need that to be a rarity.
5 – Some more lessons I’ve learned from shows I didn’t like or quit watching:
- I need an emotional connection to at least one character before the end of the pilot. If I don’t have it, I’m probably done.
- I don’t respond well to the “throw in everything including the kitchen sink” approach to storytelling. Once a show becomes about nothing but nonstop twists, it loses the focus on the characters, and I generally am out.
- Don’t get stuck in the same story rut. If the solution to every season is a return to the same story well… who has control of the business, what breaks Couple A up this time, who learns the secret this year… I usually get too frustrated to keep watching. I find that I can handle about two uses of the same plot device before I just start wondering what else there is to the show and have to move on.
- I don’t need the characters to be likable… but I need to know why I should care about what they’re doing.
- A show doesn’t have to be “bad” for me to not want to watch it. Sometimes it’s just not my cup of tea because it’s too violent or too dark or just set in a world that doesn’t interest me. That in itself is a lesson… not everything I write will be something people respond to. You have to know that going in… and be happy with the audience you do find.
6 – Procedure is not a dirty word. I promise. It feels like the turn to “character driven” has made the word “procedural” something worthy of a swear jar in this business. But one thing I know about myself as a viewer is this… if I’m not sure how your show works, I will end up turning it off. Every great show has a formula – again, I know, bad word – but it does. That doesn’t mean your show is a beat for beat paint by numbers project week in and week out. It just means that I know what the show is. If you introduce me to characters who are police officers, they have to be police officers at a certain point, even if the show is really about the dark and twisty parts of their personality. If they’re lawyers, they should be lawyers. If it’s a family drama, I need to know how the family functions. Whatever you want to dub it… procedure, your story engine, your overall blueprint… the sooner it’s established, the more likely I am to keep watching.
7 – The most important thing I’ve learned as a viewer and as a writer is this… every story has been done. It just has. Hell, some of them had been done when Shakespeare did them… so they’ve definitely all been done by now. But that doesn’t mean that your take on Story X can’t be fresh and cool and enjoyable. What does your buddy cop show look like? What does your dark and twisty apocalypse look like? Why is it special?
That goes for pitching in rooms, too, not just writing pilots. I am very careful not to ever say, “We can’t do X because Show A, B, and C did it.” Instead my approach is… “Show A did it that way, so what if we did this instead…”
In a climate where every network seems to be racing to remake what’s already been successful, I find what I’m responding to isn’t something that is a literal remake of something I loved but rather shows that evoke a feeling of one I loved once upon a time. For instance, I grew up loving reruns of “The Rockford Files” and adoring “Hart to Hart.” That type of show – the light procedural — went away for a little while, and then “Castle” showed up and I was like… “THIS! I missed this!” It wasn’t a remake of those older shows, but it gave me the same payoff… characters I cared about and a sense of fun while bad guys got put away. Similarly, I recently told someone that part of the reason I love “Code Black” is because it reminds me of “St. Elsewhere” – and that is a great thing. I didn’t even know I needed that show until CBS gave it to me… and now I am so happy to have it. The characters are very different, and it’s in no way a literal remake of the long-running NBC show, but its spirit is familiar in the very best way.
But it always comes back to the writing. While the idea might not be new… how you approach it can be. Your ability as a writer to convey what you find magical about the setting and the people… and the performances that are born from those pages… that’s what will draw an audience in. Every family drama is, at its core, the same show… but something about the Taylors of Dillon, Texas, was more real to me than any other TV family I’d seen in forever… even though they wrestled the same issues as most of TV families… job stresses, how to keep a marriage together, and teenage kids pushing their boundaries.
I guess what I’m really trying to say is… I’m always being inspired by things I loved. I want to write cool superhero shows because I love “Agents of SHIELD” and “Agent Carter” and “Daredevil.” I want to write my version of uplifting sci-fi because I love “Star Trek” and “Star Wars.” Someday I hope I write a family drama half as beautiful as “Friday Night Lights” or “Once and Again,” and a show about cops that resonates as deeply as “NYPD Blue” did for me, or maybe something that’s even a fraction as breathtaking as “The Americans” or “Manhattan.” Whether it works or not will be about taking what inspired me and finding a way to make it *my* story… what do I have to say about being a cop or a superhero or a family in a small town that someone else hasn’t already said? Hopefully the answer to that question will affect an audience the way these shows did me.
8 – Things that will make me watch a show forever:
- Character consistency: If I already love the characters, as long as their evolution is true to the person you introduced me to in season one, I will stick with them through anything.
- A feeling that the show knows where it’s going: I don’t mean that I can literally see where it’s going, but that every season of the show reaffirms my faith that the writers know where they want to go with the series. The truth may be the writers’ room has no idea how it all ends… but the storytelling on screen is so steady, so solid, that I, as a viewer, get to live in the belief that they have it all figured out while I stress out and analyze and wait for the next season to see what comes next.
- Respect for the audience: again, this isn’t about giving us everything we think we want. It’s about never losing sight of the fact that you’ve asked your audience to invest their heart into a show, and it should always feel to the viewers like it matters to you that they’ve been willing to do so.
- One great relationship: I’ve stuck with shows when they took a downturn because of one key relationship and generally, I’ve been rewarded with the show finding its feet again and ending strong. And that doesn’t have to be a romantic relationship… a great partnership, a real, grounded friendship… that can be enough to keep a viewer hanging in when the story gets a little murky.
9 – All these television shows later, I maintain this as a statement of fact: “Hill Street Blues” is the greatest show in the history of television. It not only holds up terrifyingly well (if you could CGI the giant portable phones out and update the cars/clothes) with storylines about community policing that shouldn’t still be relevant and yet absolutely are, but it changed the face of television in a way that made every other “greatest” show since possible. The thing I personally loved most about it was the relationship between Joyce Davenport and Frank Furillo. It would still be a modern, risky take on a relationship now… then, it was stunning. These were two world weary, sexy people who were focused on their careers and carried a ton of baggage from their individual lives; smart, savvy individuals who loved each other deeply, respected one another, and yet still constantly struggled to make room for one another in their lives as their careers brought them into constant conflict. I often think back on that relationship when I write couples in my own work, trying to find that level of depth and intelligence in their interactions.
And now that you’re all, “Girl, wrap this up,” I’ll do so by offering the piece of advice I pass on to all aspiring TV writers in case you’re the ones who are reading this – be a student of television. Watch TV. Watch shows older than you. MUCH older than you. Those are the shows that inspired the showrunners who created the TV you love. Know them. Love them. Learn from them. And love TV. LOVE IT. Because it’s too hard and brutal a business to be in if you don’t. When people give you shit for loving it so much, remember that it’s just your chosen form of storytelling. Some people come home and read books every night… you choose TV shows instead. There’s nothing wrong with that.
And never lose your inner TV fan. Because if you love it… that fan is why you love it. Protect him or her at all costs… from cynicism, from snobbery, from haters of all shapes and sizes. LOVE TV. Always.
Staffing season… who in the what now?
April 13, 2014
I get asked by a lot of writers who are in or are alums of the two network writing programs I completed (CBS and NBC) and by writers I’ve met in other venues about how to prep for staffing season. So I figured I’d share a little bit of my process and put it out there for folks who might be interested.
First let me say, grain of salt and all that. I’ve been through staffing three times, once without representation where I was up for one job I didn’t get; once with representation where I got unbearably close to three jobs and didn’t get any of them; and the third go around where — success! My reps and I finally got to have that fabulous “You got the job!” phone call. So this is just what I do. Maybe a different strategy will work for you. Mostly my message is: prepare. You have to be an active participant in building your career.
Since I’m getting ready to hit the trenches again, here’s a little peek into how I look at staffing, and if it helps you, great, and if not, you can feel free to give me side-eye since I can’t see you doing it.
Be prepared and have your samples ready. Samples are what get you the meetings that get you the jobs. Have samples you love and be ready to talk about them. And always be adding to your body of work. My current group of samples is made up of pilots, specs, and short stories. You never know what might work to get you in the door.
And really evaluate what kinds of material you already have when you’re deciding what to write next. Do you have samples that will service the different types of shows you might want to work for? You don’t have to write everything. Most of us have a “type” when it comes to shows. But if you want to make female-lead dramas an option and all your samples are male leads, it’s time to travel a different road. Want to write a sci-fi show? Have a sci-fi sample. Give yourself as much of an opportunity as you can.
Be a partner to your representative(s). I am blessed with agency and management representation from people who totally get me. I don’t generally have to explain why I like a show or a script or why I think I’m a good fit. But sometimes a script speaks to me that’s a little outside my usual box, and I know that even though it might not be the most obvious show to try to pitch me to, I have something to offer them. So I make sure to list what samples I think I have in my portfolio that might work if that showrunner is looking for a staff writer and I explain why I think I could sell myself for that job. And while returning shows are always harder to get at that staff writer level, have a list of returning shows that you’re right for, too. You never know when an upper-level writer might leave to go make their own show and an opportunity opens up at the lower level.
Know everything you can about what’s going on. It seems obvious, but you’d be shocked how often I ask writers about pilots they’ve read or liked and they aren’t familiar with who wrote them or what network they’re at. Know your game board. Read every trade summary you can find on what scripts were bought where… some only cover network buys, some cover cable, Amazon, and Netflix, too. You have to know where your jobs are so you can go out and find them.
Strategize your pilot reads. Once you know whose scripts made the cut and are being shot, take a critical eye to the list. There will be writers there you admire, writers whose shows you’ve loved, writers you just heard from another friend were kind of awesome; there will be shows you know you could write in your sleep because they fit your brand to perfection; there will be shows you know you have a strong sample for. List those shows and start reading and don’t stop till you’ve finished that group of scripts. Then list your favorites, let your reps know that if you got to be choosy, this is the group of pilots you know you’d love to work on, and get them any supporting info you can (see be a partner to your reps). You may not get meetings on those shows, but every bit of information you give your reps on what you like and why you like it will help them market you better to all the shows they contact on your behalf.
Once you do that, read the rest of the pilots. There will always be some you know you’d likely never get a meeting for… it’s not your thing, no samples that match, etc. But if you go on a general at Fox, the exec might ask you about that sci-fi skewing pilot you didn’t read because you knew you’d never meet on it… and you don’t want to have to admit you didn’t read it or fumble through a vague general conversation. The more you can engage the people you meet with, the more you make an impression on them, and that will always come back to you in a good way, even if it’s a few staffing seasons down the pike.
Always, always be polite and gracious to everyone you meet, from the gate to the actual executive or showrunner you’re going to talk to. Again, seems obvious. But I know people at the upper level and in executive suites who tune out on writers who don’t say hello and good-bye to their assistants or who act a little jerky to the security guards. You might be working with these folks soon. Be someone they want to see again.
Always be prepping. If you hear you’re in the mix for Show A and you know the creator of Show A worked on three shows you’ve never watched at all, go watch a few episodes to get a feel for what they’ve done. Sure, maybe you don’t end up getting a meeting, but if you do, you aren’t scrambling to catch up on that person’s body of work while also trying to re-read the pilot and come up with notes on story ideas or questions you want to ask. Watching more TV will never hurt you as a writer. Trust me, if it could, I’d be in perpetual pain because the sheer volume of TV I watch… oy!
And watch at least one episode of any show an executive covers before you go meet with them. That’s what they do for a living and you want to respect their hard work as much as you want yours respected. Sure, maybe you can’t be an expert, but when they mention they also cover Shows X, Y, and Z, you can have something nice to say or have a “Wow, I saw that finale. Interesting way to leave things” comment at the ready. That may not be the show you’re there to meet on, but a genuine interest in what those folks in Current and Development do goes a long way.
Be happy for all your friends who do get jobs. We’re competitive beasts whether we like it or not. It’s hard to watch people get that thing you want so badly. Sometimes you will literally lose out on a job to someone you’ve traded scripts with for notes or had Sunday brunch with. But the way I’ve come to look at it, any job I don’t get is a job that wasn’t meant to be mine. Pollyannaish? Sure. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. I mean, I’m writing a blog telling you folks how to go out and get jobs I might be up for! But too many people have helped me and given me advice for me to be unwilling to share myself.
So be happy for your friends, celebrate with them, and know that when you get your job, they’ll celebrate with you.
And finally… don’t give up. Two years ago, I didn’t get two jobs back to back right before Memorial Day weekend. It was soul crushing; I cannot lie. I gave myself a day to be miserable over it. Then I entered scripts in the Austin Film Festival to make myself feel better, like I was doing something to help my career. I made the finals with one of those scripts and ended up going to the festival and having a ton of fun. I also met some writers who have become friends. Making that cut was some much needed validation and it made my inner circle a little bit bigger.
Maybe that tactic won’t work for you, but whatever you need to do to pick yourself up when you don’t get the gig, do it. Have someone else help pick you up if need be! Because endurance wins this race. After I didn’t get those two gigs and another one a month later, I went to work on the pilot that did get me a job last season. And even though that show got canceled, I came out of it and went right back to writing.
That’s all you really have control over in the end. You keep writing, and you keep being sure the right job is going to come. And on the days you forget… ask someone to remind you. It helps, believe me!
Good luck!
Be Bold. Amaze Yourself. Take Chances.
May 16, 2013
So with one big life change behind me — moving out of the apartment that’s been home for a decade and into my friend’s house — it’s time for another. I gave notice at my job today and will be leaving closed captioning at the end of the month.
Obviously I do so with great hope that my next job description is “TV Drama Writer” but with plans already set as to what I will pursue to pay the bills if, God forbid, that doesn’t happen. (PLEASE, TV GODS. Seriously!).
So why now? Because I think you just know, deep down in your gut, when your life needs to change. You feel it, it nags at you, and finally, you have a choice… ignore it and stay stagnate or take the risk and change it.
My move is part of what’s allowing me to do that. Knowing I have a safe place to land and a roof over my head makes it easier to risk being unemployed for a short period of time, and while the rational, responsible, grown-up me is already doing minute calculations of just how many bills can get paid for how long without another paycheck… the part of me that knew it was time to do what was best for me is totally at peace.
I was also certain it was the right time and the right decision because no argument could make me doubt it. Sure, I’m a girl who likes nice things (See my numerous posts about shoes and massages on Facebook), and it could mean sacrifices ahead. Those cuts and slashes to my lifestyle could go far deeper than the trivial. But none of that seemed worse to me than NOT changing what I knew needed to be changed.
And thus… a letter of resignation is submitted, my agent and my manager are hard at work trying to help me find my gig, and I am unpacking and cleaning and getting yet another fellowship spec finished up and breathing deeply for the first time in a very long time because I know that I’m doing exactly what I need to be doing.
So what will I take with me from this long road I’ve walked in the closed captioning biz?
Hours and hours studying some of the best writing on TV up close and personal. I’ve had the pleasure of working on shows from awesome folks like David E. Kelley, Mike Kelley, Shawn Ryan, and Andrew Marlowe to name a few, and I’ve learned so much from how each show runs, how it’s assembled, what changes are made from VAM to Final cut, and from seeing shooting drafts become completed TV episodes. I always joke that this job was a master class in pacing and dialogue structure, but one I got paid to take.
Post people work hard, y’all! Unsung most of the time and forgotten when it’s glory time by and large, these are some dedicated, smart, fun people. I’ve worked with some great ones and some not so great ones, but they’ve all taught me a lot about how I want my post production staff to run when I’m finally the showrunner. I’d tell you which show has the best post production staff in TV… but I don’t want anyone hiring them before I sell a pilot and steal them away from where they are now 😉
How much harder and longer can I work when I feel like I can’t type another word? A lot longer, and a lot harder… because no one’s deadline cares how tired you are or how sore your hands are. Get it done, get it out, get it on the air. Oh, and that power outage in Hollywood that meant “Ugly Betty” still had to be at the network by 6 a.m. Pacific even if we weren’t getting final video till 2am or later? Just one of the fun adventures of delivery deadlines.
In a larger sense, I take away some important truths about myself as well, perhaps none more important than an acknowledgement of my own strength, determination, and ability to do what needs to be done to balance my work life and my personal life… a lesson learned after allowing one to grossly overtake the other.
And I have learned that in the hardest of times, when I’ve been knocked down and have nothing to hold on to, I can find a way to stand up and move forward.
So forward it is… to what, we’ll find out in the coming days. But I’m fortunate to have friends and family willing to support me through it emotionally and spiritually, and while I may not be able to say I’m doing this without fear, I can say absolutely that I am doing it with total confidence.
One last note… my new roommate (aka one of my oldest friends in LA) bought this for our house. It’s kind of our mantra for the months ahead. Let the adventure begin!
The Five Best Things I Did in 2011
December 19, 2011
I know, I know, I disappeared from the blog! The overtime at work combined with the awesome-but-hectic Writers on the Verge schedule has kept me hopping, but I was determined to write some kind of entry before the year was out.
I’m not a resolution type of person. I feel like I set goals all the time, and they don’t get bogged down with the implications of January 1st and a new year, so rather than think about what’s to come, I thought I’d take a minute and think about the five best things I did in 2011. Some of them were fun, some were about hard choices, but all of them helped make this a huge year of change and growth for me that I am incredibly grateful for.
1. Mother’s Day at the Greek
My mother isn’t really a concert person, but I felt a very strong urge to do something really memorable for Mother’s Day this year. I was worried that when I proposed my great idea, she’d turn her nose up at the whole concept of coming to LA for a girls’ night out. So imagine my surprise when she said yes… and not only agreed but was excited about the prospect. So I scored us tickets to Wavefest at the Greek Theatre, which in a few short years of patronage has become my favorite LA concert venue.
We had our moments to be sure… she does not like having to walk anywhere, and it’s always a walk, even from the new unstacked parking, and she refused to stand still while I tried to find our way back to the car, leaving me terrified she’d fall in a hole along those terrible dirt patches and make me rush her to the hospital (both typical conflicts when Mama Levy and I are out together; that’s just how we roll). But those little downs were nothing compared to the ups. She thoroughly enjoyed the E Family, one of the main draws because we both love Sheila E. And then she became an instant fan of Macy Gray, who is a phenomenal live performer. It was a great night; well worth the effort it took to make happen; and a memory I know I’ll hold on to forever.
2. Farewell Modesty Blaise
When I was 13 years old, my mother bought me my first Modesty Blaise book… “Last Day in Limbo.” She bought it largely because she was tired of hearing me go on and on about some clearly important moment in my teenaged life and sent me off to find a book to read so she could enjoy her own trip to the bookstore, and since it was the only book I asked for, she couldn’t say no. Neither of us knew that she was introducing me to my favorite fictional character of all time. In the years since, I have hunted down both classic copies and new printings of every Modesty Blaise adventure and even have a collection of some of the comic strips. But a few years ago, one of my best friends bought me the final collection of Modesty Blaise short stories, and while I tore through the majority of the book within a week or two, I left the final story unread, knowing that the end was really the end.
But this year, I was in this great groove of finishing things and moving on and letting go (more on that later,) and so I picked up “Cobra Trap” and finally… finally… read the last story.
It was a little heartbreaking to be sure, and I am incredibly sad there will be no new Modesty tales to come. And yet I’m so grateful that Peter O’Donnell made the choice to end his character’s story in his own way and let her go. Because one of the main reasons I’ve always loved the way he writes her is also the main reason I think no one has made a good adaptation in film or TV of the material… everyone else focuses on Modesty’s badassness–her criminal history, her physical strength, her ability with weaponry, her use of sex to get what she wants. But O’Donnell always perfectly balanced all of those elements of Modesty with the very complete woman who survived a hellish childhood and emerged determined to live a full life. She loves, deeply, built herself a family of treasured friends because the world had stolen away whatever biological connections she’d once had, and her later life, spent largely saving strangers and her loved ones from all kinds of nefarious characters, is rich and as often tinged with laughter and the ridiculous as it is shrouded in danger.
But now I know how Modesty’s story ends. It suited her. And thanks to the vivid books he left behind, Peter O’Donnell has made sure that just like Sir Gerald and Willie Garvin, I can always find her when I need her.
3. Writing. Portfolio. Explosion.
Considering there have been years where I worked upwards of 65 hours a week, I used to feel pretty darn good about myself if I got one solid spec out in a year, let alone two. So this year, thanks to the inspiration from the CBS Writers’ mentoring program and the demands of the NBC Writers on the Verge schedule, I got myself kicked into a new gear. (It didn’t hurt that my life just demanded I cut back on work hours and hover somewhere around a much more livable 48-hour-a-week range). So I will exit 2011 with four specs and three pilots and two other pilots in stages of plotting and/or outlining. And I can’t wait to see what my brain and keyboard conspire to come up with next.
4. Balance, balance, and more balance
I was born with a workaholic gene, and while it has been of fabulous use to me during the years I was working my way through school or taking on a ton of responsibility that required a lot of sacrifice at my various jobs, it has tended to make it hard for me to just throw my hands up and say “yes, I want to do that” sometimes when my friends want to run out for a spur-of-the-moment happy hour or when a great opportunity for adventure appears out of nowhere.
This year, I made a promise to myself I’d do better; and I did. I found enough Saturday evening dinners and Sunday morning brunches to stay in touch with my incredible friends, I got better at texting for the friends who love to communicate that way, I gave in and bought the last-minute tickets to see Idina Menzel (also at the Greek) for my birthday because I deserved it, and even if I had to cut down a workout from 60 minutes to 30 because of some other personal or work demand, I gave myself credit for doing the 30 minutes and stopped lamenting what there wasn’t time for.
Balance made some very hard days in 2011 much easier to endure because I had the reserves to get through them. It made it easier to come to terms with letting my baking business go because my writing career is simply demanding too much of my attention (which is to be celebrated and enjoyed, believe me!). And when a day was really bad… I let it be bad. Because I knew the next day, I could take a deep breath and start all over again and maybe that day would be better.
I’m going try to do even better in 2012. I sense some travel in my future… because in 2011, I also FINALLY got a passport. Yeah, I have no clue how that never happened before, but now it’s time for some stamps!
5. Embracing the New
This past year has brought so much new into my life… new demands, new people, new interests. And I am welcoming it in and trusting that who and what are meant to stick will and that everyone and everything else will provide the lesson meant to be learned and then become a part of my past.
If you know me, you know that’s kind of revolutionary in my way of thinking. Because new isn’t always my favorite thing. But this influx of energy and experiences has been so important to me this year, giving me chances to be there for others, to find out how can I payback some of the kindness that’s been given to me, to enjoy the strength of some new shoulders to lean on when I need them, and to broaden my universe through the relationships that have come my way.
There’s a promise of a lot new to come in 2012… beloved nephews who are now old enough to drive, a niece who owns a wedding dress and is eyeing a “Mrs” at the front of her name, and another staffing season looms. So thanks, 2011, for all that you brought to the party.
2012… what you got for me?
Football as a life-changer? You betcha!
August 15, 2011
Once, an acquaintance of mine overheard me telling someone a story about my favorite football coach. When I was finished, she asked, “how exactly does someone end up with a favorite coach?”
I explained to her that football is one of the true deep loves of my life, and that while I admired many players and had a few beloved teams, yes, I did have a favorite coach because he’d not only changed the way I looked at the game, he’d changed the way I look at my life as a person and as a writer.
Tony Dungy is a man who lives in faith, and I respect him immensely for it even if my own relationship with it can best be described as “rocky” and “under construction.” But he’s one of those people who walks the talk that comes out of his mouth, and as such, he coached both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Indianapolis Colts in the manner in which he lived… quietly, thoughtfully, earning respect by giving it, and by instilling a sense of discipline in those around him.
He didn’t scream at people to get them to do what he wanted, he didn’t curse at officials or badmouth management, even when he had good reason. In fact, there were times I kind of wanted to see him lose it, but just when you’d think Coach was finally going to lay into a player who was putting self ahead of team — one of the biggest sins you can commit in Dungy football — he’d just get this look of utter disappointment on his face.
And his players would tell us in interview after interview… disappointing Coach Dungy was the one thing you never wanted to do. I remember one player saying he begged coach to yell at him after getting into some off-field trouble, but that calm voice remained steady, and the player said he’d never felt worse in his life.
I’ve often posted on Facebook after an episode of “Friday Night Lights” where fictional coach Eric Taylor was especially awesome that every kid should have a Coach Taylor.
Every kid should have a Coach Dungy, too.
Coach had lost his job in Tampa for not having the killer instinct, but found a job in Indy because Jim Irsay wanted a man to lead the Colts on and off the field, and he more than got his money’s worth. And still those rumblings began again, because every year it seemed the Colts just had to finally be ready to win it all and then every year, they came up short. So there it was… Dungy will never get them to the Super Bowl… Dungy’s too conservative… too nice. Dungy doesn’t have the killer instinct…
Then the world reminded us there were more important things than trophies and win-loss columns.
When James Dungy took his own life at 18, Colts fans mourned with the Dungy family as best we could, but we all knew that they were facing a tragedy we couldn’t even begin to imagine. And yet there Coach stood, delivering a eulogy for his son that celebrated the gift of the 18 years they’d received with James, and somehow lifting up everyone around him on what was surely one of the most difficult days of his life.
And then Coach went back to work, and the Colts didn’t make it to the Super Bowl. In years past, that would’ve left me cussing out my television and hating on whoever had beaten them, wishing them defeat at someone’s hands so they could get what they had coming. But in January of 2006, when the Colts went home, it felt like a relief… Coach could be with his family, the players had time to grieve the kid they’d known so well, and we could all just take a moment to hope that everyone left behind who had loved James would be okay.
The next year, Coach Dungy returned to his team, and the Colts returned to the playoffs. But there was no week off in the 2006-2007 playoffs, no dominance that screamed the Colts were a shoe-in for the AFC title game. First there was a wild card game against Kansas City; then the Baltimore Ravens, who routinely made it their life’s work to beat Peyton Manning to a pulp, but somehow… a win; and then… the New England Patriots, who lived to destroy the Colts’ playoff dreams.
The Colts were behind the majority of the game, and I couldn’t imagine that the team and the fans had come this far to not make it to the promised land once again. My heart ached a little at the thought of watching Coach Dungy have to shake hands from the losing sideline again… not after he’d come back, not after what his family had sacrificed for him to have another shot at the big game. And then one of my closest friends, who is also a huge football fanatic, said to me, “Just have a little faith. You know they can do it.”
So I had a little faith… and just said over and over again, “they can do it.”
And they did.
Now I’m not trying to take any credit for that… no magical thinking here. What was more important was the reminder from my friend. The Colts had done everything the way they believed was right for them… they had followed Coach Dungy’s lead, held firm to their philosophy of how to win, and they had earned that win with every second of hard work they’d put in all year… in all the years since Dungy had come to Indy… through that final whistle.
Their belief was rewarded even bigger on February 4, 2007, when the Colts took home the Lombardi trophy and made Tony Dungy a Super Bowl winning coach.
And what in the world, you ask, does all this have to do with me, my life, or writing? Well, it has to do with what I learned by watching Coach Dungy walk through his coaching life back from his assistant days with the Minnesota Vikings, which is where I first became acquainted with his coaching philosophy. You don’t have to be the loudest, you don’t have to ignore everything else in your life except the job, you don’t have to listen when people tell you that you have to change who you are to get where you want to go if you’re sure who you are is the best person you can be. You can instead keep working and moving forward and doing what you believe in your soul to be right. And even if it takes a little longer… it will still get you to where you wanted to be all along.
This last year of my life has been filled with more excitement and optimism and more stress and disappointment than any year I’ve lived so far. I like to think of it as the featured roller coaster in “Niceole Land,” and the ride is poised to continue.
But when it starts to feel like… well, like the downs are little more frequent than the ups… I think about Coach Dungy and how he got to where he wanted to be by doing the things he believed in his soul to be right.
It might take a little longer… but I’ll get there. And I’ll still be me when it happens.
If you want to read something both entertaining and full of inspiration, pick up “Quiet Strength” by Tony Dungy.
niceolelevy 