June 16, 2016
Even though there are hundreds of great stories about producers and showrunner's I rarely write about them unless they also involve some celebrity because it's hard to describe a showrunner to a point where you could even garner a guess. This story was so crazy though that I had to write about it. The show is an almost television show. Did really well so it was renewed for another season with some conditions. The studio wanted it to be less depressing. Honestly, that was probably a pretty good note. They also wanted production to move at a little faster pace. The showrunner said sure and shooting began. Except that it didn't really begin.
Our showrunner, instead of speeding things up was actually running things even more slowly. Entire days of filming were wasted because of the sets he was having built. Massive sets from scratch built in public places that were taking days to build instead of hours. The scripts were no less depressing and if anything, were even more of a downer than the previous season. This led to a confrontation between the studio and the showrunner. After lots of yelling and screaming, things seemed to have been worked out. Nope.
Our showrunner just kept doing what they had been doing. So, after another week of this, the studio started e-mailing the showrunner. No response. Calling. No response. texting. No response. That left other members of the production team to deliver all of the messages which put the team on edge. Then, the suits came to town again to talk personally to our showrunner but he barricaded himself in a room on the set which was inside a television studio. He stayed there for eight hours refusing to come out. Finally he emerged, but only because he had to use the restroom. He was escorted off the set and fired from the show.
A replacement was brought in, but the showrunner had destroyed so many files about the show it took a long time before everything could be pieced back together as close to the original way as possible.
Frank Spotnitz/The Man In The High Castle
Even though there are hundreds of great stories about producers and showrunner's I rarely write about them unless they also involve some celebrity because it's hard to describe a showrunner to a point where you could even garner a guess. This story was so crazy though that I had to write about it. The show is an almost television show. Did really well so it was renewed for another season with some conditions. The studio wanted it to be less depressing. Honestly, that was probably a pretty good note. They also wanted production to move at a little faster pace. The showrunner said sure and shooting began. Except that it didn't really begin.
Our showrunner, instead of speeding things up was actually running things even more slowly. Entire days of filming were wasted because of the sets he was having built. Massive sets from scratch built in public places that were taking days to build instead of hours. The scripts were no less depressing and if anything, were even more of a downer than the previous season. This led to a confrontation between the studio and the showrunner. After lots of yelling and screaming, things seemed to have been worked out. Nope.
Our showrunner just kept doing what they had been doing. So, after another week of this, the studio started e-mailing the showrunner. No response. Calling. No response. texting. No response. That left other members of the production team to deliver all of the messages which put the team on edge. Then, the suits came to town again to talk personally to our showrunner but he barricaded himself in a room on the set which was inside a television studio. He stayed there for eight hours refusing to come out. Finally he emerged, but only because he had to use the restroom. He was escorted off the set and fired from the show.
A replacement was brought in, but the showrunner had destroyed so many files about the show it took a long time before everything could be pieced back together as close to the original way as possible.
Frank Spotnitz/The Man In The High Castle
I can't figure out how they could make a show about Nazi America less of a downer. Hogan's Heroes? And the sets were some of the things I liked best, given that some of the actors (generally not the major roles) were uncharismatic. Spotnitz was right, and TMITHC would have flown better on an established pay-cable network, with CGI sets.
ReplyDeleteThe first season was good, interesting at least and showed promise but the acting, Rufus Sewell apart, was usually poor, especially the female lead who is terrible.
ReplyDeleteThe second season was very disappointing but I stuck with it because the premise was still unusual enough to get me intrigued and I still had hoped it might improve somehow.
The third was just fucking awful. Plotholes which I was prepared to overlook just opened up to swallow the whole fucking thing. The acting from the leads still sucked harder and more pointlessly than a jonesing crack whore on a drunken gay john. I swear that my veruca cream has more emotional range than the lead actress. And it descended into daytime soap territory. Rufus Sewell still did his best though.
When you find yourself unintentionally but effortlessly rooting for a ruthless, murderous Nazi SS leader in a show, then you know something has gone awry.
I just haven't bothered with the new and final season. And the reviews have been unsurprisingly piss poor. It won't be missed and was a great idea wasted.
I only saw the first season and meant to go back and watch the rest. Thanks Flashy.
ReplyDeleteIn its first season a crew member told me a story.
Locations had papered the neighbourhood with filming notices for a weekend shoot. Downtown Vancouver, financial district. I'm guessing the art deco Marine Building, you've all seen it in movies- Paycheck, it gets blown up in the fantastic 4, the last Blade movie. Anyway this old man didn't see the notices, common in movie towns, there's always something shooting.
It turns out that an old distinguished gentleman had, a lifetime ago, been a guest of the Nazi's, then gone on to build a successful life in Vancouver. He stepped out of his firms building elevator, on the weekend, saw the swastika flags draped everywhere and thought he was having a stroke and began to pass out. A locations PA caught him in time from hitting the floor thankfully. The gentleman said he thought he was having a stroke, as he was back in Nazi occupied Europe. It made the crew sensitive to the work that they were doing.
I guess it's part of the X-Files DNA. Frank Spotnitz got his start with the X-Files and was on it for a long time. I knew this show would be crap, but the book was great.
ReplyDeleteHorrible show. Sets, and costumes amazing, but i tapped as soon as it showed multiple timelines. Garbage
ReplyDelete