Script Vs Screen

We take a look back at the pilot of the powerful HBO series True Detective. The first season starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson was a delightful trip in the true crime genre, featuring stark Louisiana landscapes and a deep and dark look into the occult.   In this episode we discuss some really neat differences from the script such as the shows original location was Arkansas. More significantly near the end we delve into three main topics on True Detective  1) the role of women in season one,  2) the accusations of plagiarism by writer Nic Pizzolatto and  3) hate watching Season 2 and how it may have impacted the franchise and the actors in that series.    Alright, alright, alright... we hope you enjoy the show!

Ken Jeong is back on television. You may know Ken Jeong as the naked Asian guy from the Hangover but more so in his breakout role was as Senor Ben Chang in Dan Harmon's Community. In Community Ken Jeong played the wonderfully acerbic Spanish teacher with a harsh and in-your-face attitude towards his students. Ken Jeong's new show is loosely based on his real life in that Dr. Ken Jeong was in fact a doctor before becoming a full time comedic actor. Unlike his real-life Dr. Ken the character is an supposedly amazing doctor with a poor bed-side manner towards his patients.  Dr. Ken also has a bizarre attitude towards his children, wife and co-workers which make him very unlikeable and hard to watch.  Rounding out the cast are veterans like Tisha Campbell-Martin (Gina from Martin) as Damona, Jonathan Slavin (Phil Myman from Better of Ted) as Clark, and the incredibly talented Dave Foley (Dave Nelson from Newsradio, Kids In The Hall) as Pat.  Also part of the show are Kate Simses as Dr. Julie their clinic reside

It's been said that Steven Spielberg had turned down every opportunity to make Minority Report into a television show until it was pitched to him as "what happened to the three pre-cogs after Pre-Crime was shut down?" Suffice it to say with a wonderful movie as their source material the show managed to waste anything that was good about the film and have it fall into a regular sci-fi police procedural.  It's your buddy cop film like Medium meets Turner and Hooch.    An early leaked version of the show did not seem to worry the network since they said they were still adding more tweaks to the show, but ultimately both versions of the show were very different from its pilot script.  The leaked version managed to stay a bit truer to the script, where as the final version took out much of the mystery written.     In the end Minority Report suffered from poor casting with zero chemistry, and a really lame first crime to solve. Minority Report had its initial thirteen episode order cut down to ten, and will not be

Script vs Screen takes a look back at another older show - a retro callback - that has already had an extremely well run on tv - the Amy Poehler vehicle Parks and Rec. Originally supposedly called Public Employees the show did not want to make fun of government employees and so the name changed to Parks and Rec in the fictitious town of Pawnee, Indiana.    Several text to production changes aside the cast was a power house of incredible talent. Aziz Ansari and Rashida Jones were already cast before their roles were assigned and the true gem found in Nick Offerman's Ron Swanson.    Take a listen to learn some more interesting aspects that transformed the script to the screen. It's phenomenal! 

Quantico on ABC is a unique sort of whodunnit that combines elements of The Fugitive, and 90210, with a dash of Back to the Future (we explain it in the episode). The story revolves around  Alex Parrish, played by former Miss India Priyanka Chopra, as the FBI's most talented recruit and number one suspect. Ms. Parrish is found at the epicenter of an explosive terrorist event without any clues as to how she got there. The pilot episode flashes forward and back giving you glimpses into the FBI's Quantico training program where someone, perhaps one of their recruits, is likely the person responsible for blowing up Grand Central Station.  In this episode we talk about how well the pilot script is written and the intensity of it on screen.  The hosts Jason and Alex chat about strong female characters, some of the missing lines from the script and why this show as exciting as it is, might just be the FBI's version of a high school drama.     

Blood and Oil is a new drama on ABC centering around the Boom Town going on in North Dakota's Bakken Oil fields. Originally called Boom! The story follows Billy and Cody as they move from Florida to Rock Springs, North Dakota to make it big as the owners and proprietors of laundromats. Things do not go their way almost immediately but Billy manages to work his way into the world of oil speculation and wildcatting.  Check out the first episode of our second season where Jason and Alex discuss some of the fun differences found in the script to the screen.     

A surprisingly hilarious show marking the return to television of two incredibly strong actors - Rob Lowe and Fred Savage. In the Grinder Rob Lowe plays Dean Sanderson, a super-star actor who just finished a long stint as a super-lawyer known as "the Grinder." Rob Lowe's comedy chops go all the way to Wayne's World and in Tommy Boy, with this intentional straight-man character with impeccable comedic timing. But for the most part he has played dramatic roles that included the West Wing, Brothers and Sisters, and Dr. Vegas. More recently Lowe played state auditor Chris Traeger for five seasons on the very funny and much loved Parks and Rec. Together Lowe and Savage are a comedic dynamic duo. With William Devane as their affable lawyer father, Mary Elizabeth Ellis as Stewart's wife, and Hana Hayes and Connor Kalopsis as Stewart's children rounding out the immediate family and cast. And the casting is superb - Mary Ellis and Kevin Arnold... I mean Fred Savage have a genuine relationship that is funny and enjoy

The Bastard Executioner is FX's answer to the popular medieval/fantasypowerhouse Game of Thrones. Kurt Sutter returns to television after a success run with Sons of Anarchy with this 14th Century tale of the turbulent times in Wales at the hands of the land owner Barons and King Edward II. 

Fresh Off The Boat is a fairly popular single-cam sitcom, loosely based on the memoir of Eddie Huang.  If you’re not familiar with Eddie, he’s an American chef and restaurateur.  The book “Fresh Off The Boat: A Memoir” and the show both follow Eddie’s family as they live their lives in Orlando, Florida in 1994 1995. (One of the changes from script to screen.) Fresh Off The Boat is entering its second season on ABC.  The first season received overwhelmingly positive reviews, as seen here on Rotten Tomatoes, and if the pilot is any indication, it deserves the high praise. In the script, most of the action follows young Eddie (Hudson Yang) as he tries to adjust to life in Orlando.  The pilot episode, however, more evenly distributes the screen time between Eddie, his mother Jessica (Constance Wu) and his father Louis (Randall Park).  And even though the entire pilot is filled with well-written, well-delivered jokes, Jessica steals the show by being such a believable fish out of water.  Even so, there are still

AMC's Fear the Walking Dead is a prequel spinoff to the popular Walking Dead series. In this episode we pick apart the script and final product like a decaying body. While the essence of the script is in the final show, names have changed, a couple of scene locations change, references get dropped, while others change completely and the over all tone seems a little bit lighter and less scary. It is a challenge for a show like this because the audience already knows what happening. The pacing picks up in the second episode as more and more people come to realize something seriously messed up is going on. But no one is able to call it out. One thing is clear though, in a world like ours the Los Angeles of Fear The Walking Dead is devoid of any sort of zombie pop-culture. This is particularly fun episode as Jason and Alex wonder what they would be like in the zombie apocalypse. (Here's a hint: Alex believes he'd be zombie chum)

The best comparison for The Carmichael Show is the Norman Lear era type shows like All In The Family, Sanford & Son, Good Times and Maude all of which tackled larger than life issues like race, equality, abortion, sexuality, etc. etc. Something that has been missing from television as of late (or usually relegated to the slight undertones in dramas) The Carmichael Show wants to talk about these issues openly in the sitcom format. In this episode we take a look at the original script and the final product and you'll be surprised by some of the changes - one of the biggest was the addition of Tiffany Haddish as Lil'Rey's (Bobby's) ex-wife. We are grateful for this podcast because without it we don't think we would have even considered watching The Carmichael Show, but after you take a listen we definitely think you should. Current episodes are streaming on NBC.com so catch them while you can.

We take a look at Forever, a fantastic and elegant show about Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd), a 200 year old man who currently works in the New York City's morgue as a medical examiner. With his keen sense of deductive reasoning, and impressive wealth of knowledge of people and all things death he joins Detective Jo Martinez in solving the city's murders. Forever is one part Sherlock Holmes, one part Law & Order, garnished with a bit of CSI and a splash of Castle for good measure. We look at several changes in the script, where many scenes in the final tv production were stopped early for a more dramatic turn, compared to the script which continued the dialogue to often end of a call-back or lighter play on words. Interestingly, the cast is very strong in the show, with only one not making the cut past the initial first episode. In fact, that actor barely made it into the pilot, with scenes in the script being cut completely from the final product. Take a listen to find out who we are talking about, with al

Based on Adam F. Goldberg's real family The Goldbergs is an updated version of the popular and much loved show The Wonder Years. In fact it's hard not to draw comparison, but to Adam F. Goldberg's credit, it is exactly what he was trying to create -- all the way from the authentic sets and references and the perfect voice over work by comedian Patton Oswalt. In this episode we geek out on this script, enjoying all the awkward jokes, and musical references. Having spent the last week catching up on The Goldbergs we can say the show does not disappoint one bit. What could have easily been a sitcom that abused 80's references for laughs the Goldbergs story telling is effective, the jokes timeless, despite their setting. The pilot script and the show get some of the highest marks thus far on the podcast.

The show Scorpion brings team leader Walter the high IQ/low EQ computer genius, together with the down-on-his-luck Harvard educated behaviorist Toby, the socially awkward "Human Calculator" Sylvester, and the genius mechanic with a hot streak Happy.  They are brought in, almost without choice, to work for the US Department of Homeland Security to help solve high-tech global threats.  Creator Nick Santora who brought us Prison Break, Breakout Kings and even consulted on Lie to Me brings to life Scorpion on CBS, a story based very loosely on the real-life genius Walter O'Brien, aka "Scorpion."

While the script "Odyssey" was renamed American Odyssey to cash in on the success of American Sniper, it wasn't compelling enough for NBC to want to continue this adventure. Subsequently the network canceled the show after the first season. Part of us is relieved at this, even though we both love this genre. But American Odyssey in the first episode already seems to go off the rails. The American Odyssey pilot takes the viewer on an incredible journey to the terrorist besieged villages of Mali, the streets of NYC, to the snowy streets of Eagleheights, Delaware (seriously?) all in an attempt to interweave a shadow conspiracy taking place between the military, the corporate entity SOC and a terrorist organization.  The show is clearly a mash up of Homeland meets 24 meets The Firm meets The Net meets GI Jane meets COnspiracy Theory, meets every other political, military, internet, conspiracy movie and TV show out there. Unfortunately the show lacks logic and suffers from trying too hard, and achieving too littl

We took a look at one of our favorite shows 30 Rock. Both the script and the show are filled with joke after joke, and the pilot script gives you a real glimpse into what it was like writing for Saturday Night Live. Created by Tina Fey 30 Rock is filled with unbelievable and unbelievably funny characters Tracy Jordan, Jenna Maroney, Kenneth Parcell, Pete Hornsberger, Frank Rossitano and the venerable Jack Donaghy. Perhaps the biggest change on the show was the character of Jenna initially written for and played by Rachel Dratch in the test pilot. Network executives apparently did not want Dratch in a lead role and the role was given to Jane Krakowski. Jane loved the idea of being Jenna Maroney as it gave her a chance to sing and dance on a sitcom, something unseen since Ally McBeal (1997). 30 Rock racked up an impressive number of awards during its 7 year run. In 2008 it won 17 Emmy's for a Comedy (the most ever in that year), and 22 statues in 2009 (the most ever in that year.) Alec Baldwin won a SAG awar

This week we are looking at ABC’s canceled sitcom Selfie, starring Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy, Dr. Who) and John Cho (Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, Star Trek.) Selfie was written by veteran writer Emily Kapnek, who also created Suburgatory (2011-2014) and was based heavily on George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion.   While the show did not last past one season, it is an interesting exploration of a show getting the axe just as it was just getting into its groove. Even though the show was canceled, we discover that the show got much better beyond the pilot and is worth finding and checking out.    

In this episode we take a look at HBO's Ballers starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The script describes Spencer Strasmore as mid-30's, black, former All-pro running back. Always ran hard. Grew up in Virginia Beach.... and producer and writer Stephen Levinson always claimed that he had Dwayne Johnson in mind for the role... We explore more of these subtle and not-so-subtle differences between the written pilot and the final production of Ballers.  Joining Dwayne Johnson are relative newcomers John David Washington (Denzel Washington's son), and Omer Benson Miller. The hilarious Rob Corddry (Hot Tub Time Machine, Children's Hospital) provides excellent comedic moments as Strasmore's coworker/immediate manager and wannabe baller.  By the same people that brought you Entourage (Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson) Ballers brings a smaller extravagance and peek into a world we only wonder about. Follow Spencer Strasmore as he comes to terms with his new place in the world, while balancing the challenges and oppor