... to come up with three questions? Not hard at all... one would think! But...
What goes into a groundbreaking TV show? I sort of know the answer... writing material that is "groundbreaking," as in covers content that hasn't been touched before, such as... dealing weed in the suburbs, living and fucking in L.A., polygamy, producing and selling meth...
Behind these stories are memorable characters with ~ and I think this is what motivates me most to watch them ~ uber cool dialogue.
To hear Marty Kaan (played by Don Cheadle) ask of his ex-wife, "which of these cunties are you fucking?" is laugh-out-loud shocking, especially when it's shouted out in a professional setting. To hear him tell his employees that the client's wife wants his black cock (and prove to be right) is OMG did he really just say that?
So, this stream of consciousness is proving useful... the CRACK factor of House of Lies lies in its shock value and making you feel uncomfortable. For those not familiar, Marty Kaan leads a posse, aka pod, of three employees who keep a "score" score, which is to say they've created a game that awards points for getting laid. One of the characters is hapless, socially-inept Doug Guggenheim, a Harvard grad who's a numbers genius. As the others tease him mercilessly, we squirm, embarrassed for the guy while, at the same time, laughing at the joke. I introduced this show to one of my dearest friends this week. I was happy to watch it with her... for my third time. I lost count of how many times she smacked me (gently) with each WTF as we watched one show after another... after another... and another.
So, maybe, one of my questions is "What's the crack factor?" and how do I crack it?
And so that it's clear to my readers when I say crack, I don't mean the Irish version of craic (although I definitely want that in everything I write). I do mean the highly-addictive drug that makes people want more.
Speaking of more... to be continued.
Hi Lorraine,
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking about your struggle to find a question, and perhaps it's because your research is too broad, and you need to focus it a little bit more. From what I've read, it is certainly the writing that's lighting you up. Here is just a suggestion, why not compare the script with one of your favourite episodes with another one that didn't compel you as much within the same show. See where the differences lie, and then maybe compare it with another show entirely that way you just might be able to find that crack factor. So your question could look a little something like;
How do the visual cues in combination with the wording and pacing of my favourite episode compare to another episode?
Maybe a little too simple, but it's a start, that way your answer could also apply to your broader interest which is the crack factor. I don't know that this makes sense my kids are tugging at my sleeves while I write this, so I hope it helps.