Post-strike News

katiemac · Feb 13, 2008

Here's a good article from NYTimes.com, in case anyone was wondering what might be happening with their favorite NBC shows now that the strike is settled: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/a...0f&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink.

Some highlights: SNL will be the first show back on Feb. 23, The Office returns April 10 with 6-7 new episodes and Scrubs may finish out the series with 3-5 more episodes. The article is mostly based on NBC series and a lot of things are up in the air, but it's a general idea. Half hour sitcoms are fairing better in making up lost time than the hour-long drama, multiple-camera shows better than single, etc.

maestrowork · Feb 13, 2008

Meanwhile, Bionic Woman is canceled. Thank God.

My-Immortal · Feb 13, 2008

Any news on Pushing Daisies? I loved that show.

maestrowork · Feb 13, 2008

My-Immortal said:
Any news on Pushing Daisies? I loved that show.

It's been renewed, but I've heard it won't have any new shows this season -- too late for production and too expensive anyway.

Shadow_Ferret · Feb 13, 2008

That means “Men” will be able to produce more episodes in the remainder of this season than “The Office.” The reason: “Men” is a three-camera show shot on tape, which is much faster to complete than a single-camera film show like “The Office.”

Whaaa?

maestrowork · Feb 13, 2008

Shadow_Ferret said:
Whaaa?

Three-camera shows take shorter time to film because you get three angles at once. You can normally film 10 scenes in a day that way. Single-camera shows need to set up between every angle change. You need at least three shots of the same scene for editing purposes. That means single-camera shows can take as long as three times the time it takes to shoot a 3-camera show (the setups take the longest time during a production). That's why you see at least three or four cameras at a sit-com shoot. They need to wrap a half-hour show within 5-6 hours. Single-camera shows such as ER may take a whole week to film an 1-hour show. TV shows take shorter time -- hardly 60 days for an 1-hour show -- but still, it takes quite a while to set up the cameras.

Shadow_Ferret · Feb 13, 2008

Thanks for that explanation. But why then would any show, especially something successful like ER or The Office, choose to use only one camera. They can afford more, no?

My-Immortal · Feb 13, 2008

maestrowork said:
It's been renewed, but I've heard it won't have any new shows this season -- too late for production and too expensive anyway.

Well, better to wait for something more than to have it flat-out cancelled. I thought it was one of the best new shows this year and definitely one of the better shows on TV in general.

maestrowork · Feb 13, 2008

Shadow_Ferret said:
Thanks for that explanation. But why then would any show, especially something successful like ER or The Office, choose to use only one camera. They can afford more, no?

It's not about affordability. It's about quality. Same thing with movies, why don't they just have three cameras instead of one. Normally because there's only one master cinematographer. Also, shows like ER has sweeping shots, or moving shots, or their sets are "incomplete" meaning they need to switch the sets just to shoot another angle. They do it this way so they can fit the camera on the "unfinished" side of the set. The set or location sometimes have restrictions that they can't possibly fit three sets of cameras and crew (it takes an army to manage one camera shot) plus the actors on one set.

It's very difficult to do 3-camera shots with that kind of production (we've all seen the swooping shots in ER, it's signature). There's no such thing as "fourth wall" on film. It's also very difficult to have 3 cameras when you have a large cast -- it's logistically easier to shoot the scene multiple times using different angles. Sit-coms are shot on a stage with pretty much a fourth wall (the audience side, where the camera resides). Sit-coms also have a smaller cast, and they're shot on tape. Which makes it logistically much easier to use multiple cameras.

It also has to do with lighting, etc. That's why you see the difference between the quality of sitcoms vs. "filmed" shows like ER. The lighting makes the difference. On sitcoms you have flat lighting so it can accommodate multiple-camera/angle shots. In movies, you need to set up the lighting specifically for the camera.

katiemac · Feb 13, 2008

TV Return Dates

Return dates (or expected month) for 30+ shows plus number of episodes, courtesy Entertainment Weekly: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20177894,00.html.

ChunkyC · Feb 13, 2008

I remember watching a crew shoot a scene for a TV movie once (Vanishing Act -- the scene where Mike Farrell escapes from Fred Gwynne). They did it with a single camera and shot the entire scene three or four times, moving the camera to a different position for each shot. For at least two of the shots, had they been using more than one camera, one or more of the cameras would have been in the middle of one of the other camera's field of view, or in the way of the actors. One shot they did was a close-up of Fred Gwynne as he came out of the house onto the porch and shot at Farrell. They put the camera right in front of Gwynne, on the path Farrell later ran down when they did a long shot. Farrell would have had to pole-vault over it had they tried to shoot the scene in one take with multiple cameras.

So like Ray says, there are many things you can only do by using a single camera, but it takes way longer. This particular scene I'm talking about took an entire evening to shoot, about six hours, and it ended up taking maybe a minute of screen time in the final cut.

Jersey Chick · Feb 13, 2008

Thank God - CSI will be back soon! :hooray:

And ER (which is nowhere near as good as it used to be, but still has loose ends needing tying). Now, if only I knew when Reaper will be back...

katiemac · Feb 13, 2008

So like Ray says, there are many things you can only do by using a single camera, but it takes way longer. This particular scene I'm talking about took an entire evening to shoot, about six hours, and it ended up taking maybe a minute of screen time in the final cut.

Yep. I was an extra for National Treasure 2 and they used a single camera. It took about 5 and a half hours to shoot, including waiting around for the weather to change. The scene that made it into the film? 30 seconds.

ChunkyC · Feb 13, 2008

That was you?!

Seriously, what scene?

katiemac · Feb 13, 2008

I'm a blur on the building steps when Nicholas Cage, Jon Voight, Diane Kruger and Justin Bartha walk outside after being in Helen Mirren's office. I kept cutting off Nicholas Cage ... oops.

maestrowork · Feb 13, 2008

Must. Get. DVD.

chartreuse · Feb 13, 2008

I hope the writers are reasonably happy with their deal, and I'm sure this is good news for most shows.

However, I am embarrassed to admit that General Hospital is one of my guilty pleasure in life, and it got soooo much better when they ran out of scripts from the regular writers. The replacement writers did a far better job in every aspect - dialogue, character development, story continuity, etc.

The show had been suffering for quite awhile, and the new writers really gave it a shot in the arm. I'm not even sure I can stand to see it go back to the way it was...

ChunkyC · Feb 13, 2008

Ooo, now that's an interesting angle ... I wonder how many writers might actually lose their jobs as a result of this when their current contracts run out?

maestrowork · Feb 13, 2008

ChunkyC said:
Ooo, now that's an interesting angle ... I wonder how many writers might actually lose their jobs as a result of this when their current contracts run out?

There will be some falling-out, I am sure. On the whole, though, I think the deal will benefit the writers in the long run.

ChunkyC · Feb 13, 2008

Oh definitely. I'm just thinking that, as in chartreuse's post about GH, during the strike there might be some shows that found better writers than the ones they had when this all began.

althrasher · Feb 13, 2008

Damn, still TBA for House. And no SVU until April 15!!!

*sigh* there go my two major TV addictions...

childeroland · Feb 13, 2008

Has NBC made an official announcement yet?
It would prove there is a God.
Now all they have to do is NOT screw up Heroes like season 2.

maestrowork said:
Meanwhile, Bionic Woman is canceled. Thank God.

Serenity · Feb 14, 2008

No 24 until 2009??? To quote Sully (from Third Watch, the DVD's currently in my DVD player...) "Crap."

seun · Feb 14, 2008

Scrubs is coming back :hooray:

Now all I need is for someone to start showing it in the UK.

maestrowork · Feb 14, 2008

seun said:
Scrubs is coming back

Now all I need is for someone to start showing it in the UK.

That's good. They were supposed to finish their last season this year. Guess the actors got another year out of this (and get paid).

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