One of the key
characteristics for any good movie or show is good writing. Writing is critical
for shows and movies because they develop the idea of the movie or show, and
how they write it will determine the direction the show or movie takes and its
emotional impact on the audience. The idea of the project has to attract viewers, and the script has the keep them interested. A lot of times, writing also gives actors
screen direction, so they can know what they will need to be doing while they
are delivering their lines. Kristin Thompson, a film theorist describes quality
television as, "...a quality pedigree, a large ensemble
cast, a series memory,
creation of a new genre
through recombination of older ones, self-consciousness, and pronounced
tendencies toward the controversial and the realistic." Writing doesn't
only mean the script; it is also the idea of the show and the storyline. For
example, Inception is a movie with a
great story line and truly unique ideas that the creator and writers of the
movie were able to bring to life.
Another one of
my favorite shows is Psych. This is a
murder mystery show about a fake psychic detective and his best friend working
with the police to solve crimes. I love this show because not only is the script
of the show great, but Psych also has
great actors who deliver the lines extremely well. Their timing and tone brings
out the best in the writing and it makes the show very captivating. The laid
back psychic detective and his control freak best friend are a hilarious buddy
team/dynamic duo with witty banter that keeps the viewers entertained. The rest
of the characters have great personalities, and the show keeps you guessing who
the murderer is the whole show. What more could you ask for?
Another thing I
love is when shows reference outside things in their show. For example, the
writers of Psych love referencing 70's
and 80's movies. Almost every script of the show holds several allusions to
movies, and sometimes entire episodes are based off of movies. One episode
"Tuesday the 17th" was obviously a reference to "Friday the
13th", and the episode followed the fake psychic detectives Shawn and Gus
investigating suspicious occurrences at a campsite that was about to be opened
to the public.
My questions for
the class are: What are your favorite television shows or movies that also have
great writing? What are you favorite aspects of this show? Also, can you think
of any other shows like Psych that
make references to things outside of the show?
My all time favorite show is Greys Anatomy, the way the writes bring to life all of the the crazy story lines really grasps your attention. The writes of the show constantly bring in huge cases that involve a ferry or train crashing, which bring loads of interesting accidents that the doctors must fix. One of my favorite episode there was a ferry collision and Izzy one of the main characters had to drill holes in a mans brains with an ordinary drill while he was trapped underneath three cars. In the episode about the train crash two people were connected because one of the poles from the car was stuck between them. The writers just bring so much drama to the screen its too hard to turn away. In NCIS, Tony is always referencing older movies and actors.
ReplyDeleteThe Office used to be one of my favorite shows. I enjoyed how it related to real life with its many crazy employees. It created a work place filled with disfunction and humor based off the awkwardness of being forced to interact with fellow employees. I enjoy how it relates to real life situations that we all have to interact with some different people at our jobs and how funny it can be.
ReplyDeleteVampire Diaries is one of my favorite television shows. I enjoy this show because every episode I am on my toes wondering what is going to happen next. Who's going to get murdered next? Also the show is about vampires, werewolf's, and witches which I think is awesome! It's awesome because it fascinating on how these three different types of people are intertwined with one another and how they all need each other in order to be successful with what they have to do. No I can't really think of another show like Psych, I have never actually seen the show either.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite shows is That 70's Show. The title itself pretty much tells you what the show is about. I can't change the channel anytime it is on tv because it always makes me laugh. No matter how many times I watch it it never gets old. It also has a lot of references to things that were going on during the 70's that I sometimes dont understand until I've watched an episode several times. I think that it keeps its viewers interested by the use of clever writing and simple, yet hilarious jokes.
ReplyDeleteSome of my favorite shows are Bones, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Both of these shows has really interesting plot lines. Bones plays off of murder mysteries while incorporating a love interest between the two characters. Also the CSI shows each have their own murder mysteries or other crime-related investigations that involves the show. Each also incorporates some love interests in various episodes, but each focuses on solving investigations. Each show has a character or two that talks about outside material too.
ReplyDeleteI love the shows modern family and criminal minds. These shows have nothing in common except for their brilliant writing. Modern family never makes me laugh with each and every one of its lines. The show is hilarious and is written extremely well for anyone to find hilarious. The actors in the show also deliver the lines to make everything so much funnier. I also love criminal minds because the people who write the scripts and come up with the concepts are so creative. Each episode keeps me guessing at the edge of my seat trying to figure out who the killer was. The writers know how to lead you in one direction then totally turn it around in another direction. The writers of both of these shows are extremely talented and in order to have a successful show, the writing has to be good.
ReplyDeleteThere was a show friday night lights that was on air a few years back that had a great storyline. It was great because everything played out perfectly, they never left anything out and there was no unanswered questions. The show was both humorous and serious at the same time. the show was never boring and had a lot of action in it. It also was easy to compare to life around my town and how big high school football is. It was a great show.
ReplyDeleteI have been beating down the door with this one for months. No one understands that in order to have truly rewarding T.V. show not only do you need witty comments, intricate cast, etc. etc. but you need a constructive script. I cannot tell you how much I loved arrested development because of how much it did feel like a huge inside joke. Every episode was rewarding, something was brought to the table from previous episodes and even if it wasn't as good as the last it set up a circumstance for the next weeks episode. It's the same reason I spent way too much of my life with "Lost" Even though the ending was controversially terrible, I still loved the experience it gave me. It was an adventure that included you in the experience. The lack of this aspect in most television shows is why I favor movies and books over T.V.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, there's always money in the banana stand.
I haven’t really been a huge tv show watcher. I have never been attached to a specific show and sometimes watching tv for me is just to take up time. I have never followed a tv show for its good writing or the cast. The only criteria I want in a tv show is for it to have good humor. I like tv shows like south park and family guy because they make me laugh. I could care less if the episode is about a talking taco in space or jersey people taking over a town. If it makes me laugh then I’ll watch it.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite shows of all time is Criminal Minds. I really like this show because they have perfect timing when it comes to revealing attributes of the characters. You don’t watch an episode and then all of a sudden you know everything about a character and the information is a bit mind-numbing. Instead you slowly learn throughout the series what each of these criminal profilers are like. There are two things that I really like about this series: they take occurrences that have happened in real life, for example they bring in Ted Bundy, Jack the Ripper, the Zodiac, etc, and they have great characters that are all different. You would expect these team members who are all in the same field to have similar backgrounds, but really they are all very unique in their own way. First you have the classic lawyer named Aaron Hotchner “Hotch” who portrays the serious side of the law as a non-nonsense dad who rarely smiles throughout the series, except when his little son Jack comes into the picture. Next you have the former police officer, Derek Morgan, whose father was also a cop who died in an armed robbery. Then you have the veteran and book author, David Rossi. The reserved, easy-going Emily Prentiss, who hides a dark past with the CIA. Then there’s the ever-lovable, autistic, and possibly budding schizophrenic, Dr. Spencer Reid, and his equally quirky, technical analyst, Penelope Garcia, who has a flirtatious relationship with Derek Morgan. But one doesn’t learn all of these things in a few episodes, or even in a complete series. No, they would work on cases and something about it would jog their memory about something from their past and we are introduced to it, but we usually don’t get the full story until a few episodes later. When it comes to crime shows, timing is everything and I think the writers did a really good job timing out this series perfectly, so that the audience is constantly captivated by the revealing of the dark past of its protagonists.
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't watch any shows so I wouldn't be able to tell you. The only channel I watch is Animal Planet, and sometimes Keeping Up with the Kardashians. I prefer to watch documentaries, and real life tv. But I do like to watch movies, and I prefer funny ones, with witty comments. One of my favorite movies is Pirates of the Caribbean because Captain Jack is simply hilarious.
ReplyDeleteI am also a fan of the show, "Psych," and I can honestly agree with everything you said about it. I like how each episode can stand on its own and you do not have to watch from the beginning of the season to understand what is going on. "Modern Family" is also a hysterical show that can stand on its own, that has great comedic timing and a great intricate cast. Although, they are both comedic shows, they are very different. Psych will leave you guessing till the end who the killer is while Modern Family will have an event or story going on where in the end will have a moral lesson. I am currently hooked on "Pretty Little Liars" which has a great story line and now that I think about it, each episode always leaves clues to something that will happen not at the end of the episode, but at the end of the season. We are already on the second season of Pretty Little Liars and we still have not found out who A is. It gets a bit tiring, but to keep the viewers interested, they prolong what everyone wants to know to get more ratings and to continue with another season, to build up the suspension.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite shows that had an excellent and very controversial writing was the hit anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. The show was created by Anno Hideaki while he was in an intense state of depression. The show had very interesting plots on how each character acted towards others and the situations they encountered. After about twelve episodes the show began to go more into a darker and psychological aspect of the characters. By the end of the series the show had such an impact on the viewers that when they ended the series on a cliffhanger many fans of the show went as far as to send death threats to continue where they left off. In my opinion a show that has such a huge impact on people and their interpretation on reality (based on what the show's later episodes)has to be good writing.
ReplyDeleteOne of my all time favorite T.V. shows is "How I Met Your Mother." In my opinion, the writing is genius. Not only does it have the most witty and satirical style of writing, the way that the screen writer connects the stories together is very interesting. Each episode can stand on it's own while never losing sight of the main theme of the show. Also, the use of flashbacks helps keep the audience engaged and wanting to find out more.
ReplyDeleteTwo of my favorite shows are "Modern Family" and How I Met Your MOther". They are both very funny shows. The way that Modern Family is writting a lot of people can relate to it. A lot of the things that happen in the show are things that are happening in the world right now. They just seem to also make it very funny.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite t.v. shows is CSI Miami. This show has great writing but also makes the watcher think. I often catch myself trying to guess who committed the murder and just like that, the show takes a turn. It leaves me hanging every time until the end.
ReplyDeleteI was a huge fan of Arrested Development when I started watching it with my roommates. By the way, it is returning for two or three seasons that lead into a movie. My favorite show currently is The Simpsons. Its writing and comedy never gets old after 23 seasons and still going strong. They are always up to date on events to make related jokes and story lines. Not only does it continue to be a popular show, it also provided the format for Family Guy creator, Seth McFarlane to base his shows off of and finding some success as well.
ReplyDeleteI love the show House and Law and Order. These shows have great writing behind great acting. The plots are so catchy and have the audience never know whats coming next. The anticipation makes the audience not want to get out of their seats because they don't want to miss the next part!
ReplyDeleteThree shows that I think have great writing are "Desperate Housewives", "How I Met Your Mother" and "Gilmore Girls". The episodes themselves are typically baed on trivial matters, but have a deeper message behind them, usually revealed at the end of each episode. Each of these shows has lasted at least seven seasons, in which characters, dynamic relationships among charters and the stories of their lives over a long time period were given time to develop and establish qualities within themselves that will make them memorable for viewers because of the many ways in which people can relate to the stories in their everyday lives. The episode's amazingly quick wit and dialogue that stimulates thought and reaction out of viewers is also a very key element to the success of these shows.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite T.V. shows is called "Burn Notice" on USA. The way the writers created this show allow it to be funny, thrilling, and informative. My favorite aspect about this show, a former CIA agent that now helps people in a twisted "robin-hood" sort of way. The main character, Michael Weston, uses the skills he gained as a super-spy to help people with problems. The writers of this show make it in such a way that once you watch an episode you walk away with applicable knowledge should you ever need to pull off a super-spy type mission.
ReplyDeleteI think my favorite show on television is modern family. It has great writing because I can watch it over and over and still be entertained by the same jokes. It is an interview style show like the office, and Parks and Recreation, but the show contains a lot of slapstick comedy along with the more modern awkward comedy with a nice twist of family tension. It makes a lot of references outside the show to real world things which makes it more believable. The more true something is about everyday life the funnier it is in a comedic setting and Modern Family does that perfectly.
ReplyDeleteA show that I frequently watch is Modern Family. It is actually hilarious and the writing is brilliant. Watching the episodes just once will not suffice. When you watch an episode over again you find cleverly hidden jokes and the discreteness of it all makes it that much funnier.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite show is How I Met Your Mother. I think it is genius. It has witty and sarcastic humor that I feel not everyone usually likes. The characters are all very well developed, each one having his or her own unique personality. I think the writers do a great job of connecting the episodes, while at the same time allowing you to miss an episode and still not be lost.
ReplyDeleteI am in love with the show Dexter. it is about a normal working miami cop is secretly a serial killer who only kills bad people! There is always something exciting happening either his secret life getting caught or someone dying or something like that. The writers throw in a great sense of humor along side the drama which makes it so enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteMy questions for the class are: What are your favorite television shows or movies that also have great writing? What are you favorite aspects of this show? Also, can you think of any other shows like Psych that make references to things outside of the show?
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite television shows of all times is Family Guy. Many people think that it may just be a stupid cartoon that has sex and adult themes to it, but theres another reason for it being an adult cartoon. In almost every scene, there is a reference to things in real life that only a really educated person would understand. It's filled with satire, or humor for the educated, that would not be able to work as perfectly as it does without great writing.
My favorite television show that has great writing is The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men. Both shows are very funny and well written. The Big Bang Theory is probably my favorite though, their use of puns is almost ridiculous and the small jokes that involved chemistry or physics are great! This show also references things outside of the show as well as Two and a Half Men. I love shows that keep me on my toes with random references and puns.
ReplyDeleteI don't watch tv all that much, but when I do I watch mostly sporting events. Occasionally I will flip through the channels and watch some shows on MTV, TBS, and Comedy Central. Most of the shows I watch lure their audience in by being funny and just plain stupid, which are what their audiences are looking for. I have also never seen the show Psych so I cannot relate.
ReplyDelete