by Diane Wild | Jul 31, 2009 | TV, TV Interviews
I rant a little at Blogcritics about the Emmy change announced yesterday. The Emmys diminishing the role of the writer should be as unthinkable as the Oscars diminishing the role of the director.
- The Emmys Snub Writers … Again
“Jeff Greenstein, currently a writer/producer on the upcoming Parenthood, formerly with Desperate Housewives, and a long-time Emmy judge, said the news was the talk of the writers’ room. ‘I find it ironic that the year after the skit with the five reality show hosts saying ‘we got nothing’ – the biggest bomb in Emmy history – that they’d kick the writing awards off the show.'” Read more.
by Diane Wild | May 8, 2009 | House, TV Interviews
My first (mostly) House article for Blogcritics in forever includes interviews with two mental health professionals: the president of the American Psychiatric Association and a psychologist/psychotherapist:
House Confirms TV Trend: “Normal’s Overrated”
As the 2008-09 television season ends and networks begin to reveal plans for their 2009-10 schedules, a surprising pattern emerges.
Pilots in contention for the upcoming season include NBC’s Legally Mad, with Kristin Chenoweth as an attorney with flashes of psychosis, and FOX’s Maggie Hill, whose title character is a heart surgeon with schizophrenia. Canada’s Showcase recently ordered Shattered, a 13-episode series starring Callum Keith Rennie as an ex-detective with dissociative identity disorder.
Renewed freshmen series Fringe and 90210 feature main characters coping with psychiatric conditions. And among the more senior series, House led up to Monday’s season finale with a storyline involving suicide and Hugh Laurie’s dysfunctional doctor questioning his sanity after confronting his inner Cutthroat Bitch: Wilson’s dead girlfriend Amber appeared to him as a facet of his tormented psyche.
Read more.
by Diane Wild | Mar 16, 2009 | Canadian TV, TV Interviews
My interview with The Line co-creators George F. Walker and Dani Romain. Sorry again for the punny title – it’s my default when I can’t think of anything else:
- Cops and Drug Dealers Cross The Line In New Series
“The Movie Network and Movie Central are premiering a new cop show today, but don’t expect another case-of-the-week premise. ‘These cops weren’t going to investigate anything because they think they know all they need to know, so it’s just a matter of what they’re going to do about it,’ said The Line co-creator George F. Walker in a recent interview. ‘They don’t follow procedures. They are past caring about their jobs.’” Read more.
by Diane Wild | Mar 8, 2009 | Canadian TV, TV Interviews
My interview with the actor from Da Kink in My Hair and Soul:
- Actor Eli Goree Conquers Canadian Television, Two Shows At A Time
“Some people see acting as a frivolous job, but I think it’s so much more than that,” he told me. “I think it’s the responsibility and accountability of artists to guide society a little. We have the opportunity to show people where they’re at, where they’ve been, and where they could go. It’s not be to be taken lightly.” Read more.
by Diane Wild | Jan 18, 2009 | Canadian TV, TV Interviews
My interview with executive producer/writer Malcolm MacRury and actors Enrico Colantoni and Rick Roberts:
- In ZOS: Zone of Separation, Even Peace Is Hell
“This is a story that could take place in Toronto, it could take place in New Orleans. All you have to do is shut the water off for a month and see what happens. This is in the heart of Europe. It’s supposed to be civilization. And it broke down into tribal religious violence, same way Belfast did. That’s why it’s important to tell the story now. We simplified it, too: it’s Christians and Muslims. Well, open the newspapers. That’s the debate all around the world right now.”
Read more.
by Diane Wild | Jan 12, 2009 | Canadian TV, House, TV Interviews
For TV, eh?/Blogcritics I interviewed the director of Defying Gravity‘s first episode. He’s also a regular director of House, so there’s some House and Hugh Laurie talk, plus comparisons of US versus Canadian productions and his take on Vancouver as the appropriate filming location for the future-set series:
- Defying Gravity Director David Straiton Looks To The Future
“Set 50 years in the future, Defying Gravity has been called Grey’s Anatomy in space. It may also be Lost in space. But it’s definitely not Lost In Space. ‘Fifty years ago we didn’t have iPods or cell phones or Internet or ATMs, but we still had cars, we still had houses with four walls, we still had television,” said director David Straiton in a recent interview. “Fifity years from now, it’s not The Jetsons.’” Read more.
