--- In [email protected], "Stu" <buttspli...@...> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], Bhairitu <noozguru@> wrote: > > > > Stu wrote: > > > > > > I have been working on "The Office". Just finished the > > > season. Been taking it easy for the last month or so, > > > have a few irons in the fire. All in all I am living > > > the dream in the 'wood. > > > > Good to hear that. I've been hearing about cutbacks in > > productions due to the economy. Must be hitting Hollywood > > hard. I'm hoping that leaner budgets may put more of an > > emphasis on writing to carry a show. Lower budget projects > > like "Burn Notice" are very entertaining. I also liked > > the pilot for "Mental" which is lean more in a BBC way. > > I wish I could be so positive about the budget cuts. Generally > it means they are less likely to hire writers to come up with > fresh ideas, instead the suits look to remake old shows or hope > star power will carry a series. They cut back on writing staffs.
Stu, is there anything general you can say about the percentages in a show's budget? Like how much is spent on "star power," how much on writers, and how much on actual production? One of the reasons I ask is that I can only imagine that on the loathsome US version of "life On Mars" they spent their entire budget on Harvey Keitel and had nothing left over to hire writers with, so they made do with an infinite number of monkeys chained to typewriters. :-) > The corporate world hates taking chances in the best of times. > Now innovation and surprise are dead. As shown by the fate so far of "Kings." One of the most interesting shows I've seen come from mainstream television in years, and it's toast. Then again, no one seems to have watched it, which shows the if the audience prefers to eat shit, few are going to try to serve them more nourishing meals. On the other hand, Dollhouse survived. That's encour- aging. I liked it. For the upcoming summer season I really don't know if there is anything I look forward to except True Blood and Californication. The HBO series Into The Storm looks good, mainly because it's the great Brendan Gleeson playing Churchill.
