Author: Dan

The Three Episode Cut Line, Part 2 – In Which Fox Comedies Make Me Laugh

As I was writing this post, word came down that Made In Jersey has been canceled. I know people will have their reactions – disappointment, or glee, depending on how you feel about the show – but I generally try to remember that every time a show goes under, that’s somewhere between 100-150 people who are no longer employed. Now with that downer of a start to this post…

Last night a funny thing happened to me.

I throughly enjoyed a block of comedies. All in a row.

New Girl had a funny, thematically-sound episode that integrated everyone in the main cast (except for the absent Cece) well.

Ben & Kate told a smaller, very funny story that smartly focused on the principal cast, which I think is where the fun is going to come from in this show.

The Mindy Project also told what was essentially a smaller (although it was in a club and featured a number of athlete cameos) story that focused on the principal cast.

What all of last night’s episodes had that made them successful, ultimately, is that they kept it simple. Fundamentally, each episode could be explained as such: New Girl was about finding/maintaining your passion (whatever that means to you). Ben & Kate was about the siblings’ and their fears about the future (explored through a scavenger hunt that they used to do when they were kids). The Mindy Project was about the dilemma of taking care of your friends vs. your own selfish desires.

None of these topics are particularly new or original. Nor should they be. That’s what gives the audience something to grab on to, something to relate to. But once they settled on a simple idea, each show had the opportunity to explore that idea fully, and that’s where all the wild/crazy/funny bits came in.

Simple concept + good execution = entertainment. Funny, that sort of reminds me of this:

Improv when you’re first learning it.

October 10, 2012 Dan 0

improv rut

This is a post about improv.

I’ve been in a bit of an improv rut for a little while. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure when it began, but I do know that I’ve left scenes, and by extension, shows, feeling like I had left opportunities on the table – whether it’s for laughs, or for doing the best work I can.

Part of the problem stems from the fact that improv used to mainly involve this (fig. 1):

Improv when you’re first learning it.

It was a fairly easy formula. Come up with something that you think would be fun and/or interesting, and do your best to play the role you find yourself in. If you managed to combine the two, you had a successful improv scene.

Now, however, some of what I’m working on looks/feels more like this (fig. 2):

Improv when you’re trying to learn and apply more advanced techniques.

And to be honest, that’s a bit simplistic in and of itself – I can come up with a number of additional variables that I can throw in, but the diagram starts to get increasingly unwieldy.

It’s a little like working on your golf swing – when you’re at the driving range (or playing a practice round), you want to work on your technique. On your shot selection. On knowing when to use what club, and how to swing it. On how to generate more power, or less, more spin, or less.

But when you’re playing a round with your friends, you just want to play. You want to take your technique (wherever it’s at, since you’re not going to fix it during that round on the course) and maximize it, and play the best round you can, given where you are at that moment.

That’s what I’ve been lacking; I haven’t been able to perform in a show like it was a round of golf. I’ve been too busy playing like I’m still on the driving range.

October 9, 2012 Dan 0

Multipass? (A Few Thoughts About Moviepass)

For those of you who don’t know, there’s this new-ish service called Moviepass that a lot of people I know are interested in taking advantage of/signing up for. Here’s the gist:

1. You pay somewhere around $30 a month.
2. You can see one movie a day (no 3D or IMAX or other specialty tech)
3. Profit.

Sounds like a great deal. Although it does come with a few caveats:

– Not every theater accepts Moviepass – because the system (which is tied to your smartphone and a prepaid-type credit card, which they do for verification) relies on a Discover card (remember getting their offers all the time in college?), not all theaters are included (including my local favorite theater). So that’s a problem.

– They say $30 a month but really it’s $360 a year (if not more) – yes, you will be paying $30 a month, but when you sign up, you’re signing up for a one year subscription, so be sure you’re going to see at least 36 movies next year to get your money’s worth. In addition, the monthly fees can go up during your subscription (i.e. the price isn’t locked in), so you may end up paying more than you originally signed up for.

– Power Users could be kicked out, stuck with giant bill – This is the big one. According to the Moviepass Terms of Service:

27.10. MoviePass may terminate the subscription at any time for any reason or none whatsoever;

So they can terminate your subscription for no reason. Okay. And then there’s this disturbing line in the next section:

If MoviePass terminates the agreement, MoviePass may keep any subscription payments that have been received. In addition, if the $ (dollar) amount of tickets redeemed during the length of subscription exceeds the total subscription fees paid thus far, the user will be responsible for the difference.

Remember when Netflix users freaked out because they found out that their discs were arriving at a slower pace because they were renting too many movies? Or when people with unlimited data plans on their cell phones freaked out because they found out AT&T was throttling their data speeds?

This has the potential to be much, much worse.

Basically, in this case, it will be legal for MoviePass to check out how much you’re using their service, and, if they deem that you are not profitable, it’s within their right to terminate your agreement and then send you a giant bill for all the movies you watched (minus subscription fees).

I should state that there’s no evidence that this will ever happen. But the potential is there, and that’s enough to keep me from signing up.

October 8, 2012 Dan 0