Knocked Up takes a backseat to The 40-Year-Old Virgin for me, but there's no shame in that. With the two films taken together, so clever in how they highbrow the lowbrow, Judd Apatow and friends might be saving the feature film comedy.

Though I thoroughly enjoyed Knocked, there was something not completely satisfying about it. Carina Chocano of the Times hits on at least part of it in her mostly positive review, noting the neglect in the development of Katherine Heigl's character.

But go see the movie. It's great fun.

On the Lot, the filmmakers' American Idol that premiered on Fox this month, has been tanking in the ratings to such an extent that television audiences might not get to see who wins the big prize. But even so, there is something worthwhile to be learned from it.

Filmmakers, learn to tell a story. Please.

Mass access to filmmaking technology today has redefined what an amateur production looks like. When I pursued screenwriting fulltime, I wouldn't have had the resources to make a professional-looking film. I wouldn't have had a clue how to make it look good, either, but presumably that's something I could study. But for the candidates on Lot, at least in the one-minute shorts produced in the round of 18, strong production values were the norm, even in work done on the fly.

But in learning how to film, these would-be directors seem to have abandoned any schooling in storytelling. Considering these were the finalists, even though it was a made-for-TV competition, it was shocking how little sense these people had of making their content worth watching, no matter how pretty it looked. The pieces were riddled with hackneyed elements in a way that made you think of Idol singers forgetting the words or letting their voices crack, without apology.

We at Variety were asked to write capsule reviews of the 18 shorts. I took on two myself, though I watched them all. In the end, I felt privileged to get to review one of the three or so out of 18 that showed discernable storytelling skill. Yes, it's hard to tell a complete story in a minute, but not so hard that so few should be up to the challenge.

Lot was not a strong showing for Hollywood's future, but it was a useful cautionary tale. If you're an aspiring filmmaker, make sure you're not spending too long fooling around with the gadgets. Learn to write, or if you're not going to write your own material, learn how to read. Film is a visual medium, but without worthwhile content, all you've got is the negative.

Variety today offers the first of several Emmy preview sections coming this month. Emmy season already, you ask? Well, nominations won't be announced until July 19, but the campaign has certainly begun.

Today's nine-story package includes stories on how important it is for the right show to find the right network and the new essay portion (yes, that's right) of the Emmy ballot. My contribution is a feature on how the South is depicted on prime-time television these days, but the article you might most enjoy is a first-person piece by Johnny Chase of the surprise hit Five Towns:

The Emmy season is upon us and let me tell you, I won't be getting much sleep. My publicist promised to wake me if I get the nod, but I'm not taking any chances on sleeping through the moment I've been waiting for my whole career. I'm pulling an all nighter. Do I think it will happen? Well let me quote one piece of fan mail that I received this week.

The truth is I wasn't nominated either of those years -- in fact I've never been nominated, but I think that the Coulters from Tallahassee and I share the same feeling: I goddamn well should have been.

Serialization still rules.

As if we needed more of a reminder after the superb Lost season finale, watching the final three episodes of Veronica Mars this past weekend provided more evidence of how much shows can benefit from multi-episode arcs.

In its pre-finale episodes, Veronica was little more than a buoyant Murder, (pause for effect like Pat Summerall would) She Wrote. But its finale, which brought back Season 1 co-villain Kyle Secor, turned a rather ordinary story about exposing a Skull and Bones-like club into riveting emotional wreckage for Veronica and Keith.

More investment in a show yields more rewards. Serialization encourages more investment. From a creative standpoint, it's that simple.

Even a so-called procedural like the outstanding House benefits from our fascination with the characters' development, which mitigates some impatience with the repetition in the storytelling.

The rub is that serialization also deters new viewers from joining a show midway through. It's true for me with Battlestar Galactica and The Wire, two shows that everyone loves but that seem to demand to be watched from the beginning if at all - even if it means I never watch them at all. The deterrance factor can drive ratings down, and in doing so drives down enthusiasm from the networks for the format.

As with many things in television, balance is key. There will be only so many serialized shows that viewers can watch. But while saturation might be a problem, the format itself is not. Serialization is what makes so many television shows today worth watching, and is still a most worthy pursuit.

Television just needs a financial model (incorporating DVDs, DVRs and downloads) that doesn't force quality serials to be mass hits to survive.

Barely a week after announcing its 2007-08 primetime schedule, NBC is in upheaval. From Variety:

Memorial Day weekend felt more like the Fourth of July at NBC as Jeff Zucker put the finishing touches on an explosive rewiring of the Peacock's Burbank exec structure.

The clumsy way in which Silverman's still-pending deal has been handled -- many would say mishandled -- certainly starts things off on a rocky note, however. The move has already alienated two of Zucker's top lieutenants -- NBC Entertainment prexy Kevin Reilly, who will ankle, and NBC development chief Katherine Pope, whose future with the conglom is murky. ...

Charles Nelson Reilly, you were one of a kind.

Every thread at Screen Jam is an open chat thread.

At 17, Jordin Sparks becomes the first American Idol winner forced to choose between college or going pro - or juggling the two. What will she do? And will the public do any hand-wringing over the choice the way it does for athletes?

Personally, it seems to me she'd have a great time in college and surely benefit, but I suppose you can only take advantage of so many opportunities at once.

Man, oh man, oh freakin' man.

I don't know how to express how good tonight's episode of Lost was.

Let me think ...
Continue reading...

Who did you want to win (among all contestants)?

Who do you want to win (among the finalists)?

Who do you think will win?

Bonus question: What song(s) would you choose for Jordin or Blake to perform tonight?

Every thread at Screen Jam is an open chat thread.

Extensive reviews of the Heroes season finale appear at EW.com and Western Homes - one negative, one positive.

Every thread at Screen Jam is an open chat thread.

Continue reading...

Firing up below …
Continue reading...

Jenna Fischer's husband, James Gunn, posted an update about her condition:

Jenna is in some pain, but she's doing okay. There is no permanent damage, thank God, but she fractured her back in 4 places. She will be okay in time to shoot the new season of the Office, and she just got done shooting Walk Hard. So, as far as good times for breaking your back, now is it. ...

Every thread at Screen Jam is an open chat thread.

Show me what you've got ...

We Own the Night, the third film by my cousin James Gray that I previously discussed here and here, gets feature treatment in the Times and Newsday this week.

Here's an excerpt from Patrick Goldstein's piece in the Times, which also highlights some of the machinations that can make or break a film in Hollywood:
Continue reading...

Before watching tonight's season finale of The Office, I watched an episode of The Wonder Years entitled "The Accident." A few years after the death of her older brother in Vietnam and the separation (and subsequent shaky reconciliation) of her parents, Winnie's family has moved to another town. She had been dating Kevin but was no longer. Breaking down emotionally within but unable to express herself outwardly, she sees Kevin simultaneously as the only person who can truly understand her but also an integral part of a past she truly wants to bury.

There have been times over the past three seasons of The Office when I have looked at Jim and Pam and wondered, or at least wished for their sake (as I know many others have), that they would cut through all the crap that doesn't matter and just wrap themselves in each other's arms and not let go. But Jim and Pam, as long as we've known them, have never been fully formed. Pam never made the leap for Jim because she was simply not a leaper. She has waited for love and happiness to find her like we wait for the mail to come, understanding that there are days that the deliveries will be light or won't come at all, but willing to tolerate the ebb and flow because it would be simply be too risky to go out and try to get what you need on one's own.

Jim, for the first and second seasons, was the same way. And I think he understood intuitively that to make a play for Pam was to beg rejection, and it was only when he reached the limit of lovesickness that he made his biggest leap at the end of Casino Night last season.

Except for the great looks and personality, I identify with Jim. In my 20s, I took a beating when it came to romance. And when I found the person who I thought at the time was the love of my life, while living in Washington D.C., I had been hard-knock schooled in the notion that you should not sacrifice your own dreams for love, because you'd just end up with neither. The actual plot points are not parallel, but the bottom line was that I left the girl I loved for Los Angeles and Jim left the girl he loved for Stamford. Tonight, Jim told Pam with clarity why he left Scranton, and on one level it made complete sense, and yet it was heartbreaking to think back upon.

Last week, Pam finally made a little leap. It wasn't as bold as saying that she was going to steal Jim from Karen, but it was enough to indicate that, after it had been building all season, that Jim was more than just a friend to her. He was the reason she called off her wedding. Jim being Jim, it took some time to process that. One of the great truths The Office presents is how long it takes some people to process what might seem obvious to anyone else.

Jim went to New York this week not really sure what his future held. He was in a place where he was still being carried along by fate. And Pam was in a holding pattern as well. Even after the big moment at the beach, neither one of them was yet ready to run into each other's arms and not let go.

I think one of the things I love about this show is it takes the idea that there are hard and fast truths in life and throws them out the window. After all this time, Jim and Pam finally came together not because they had truly evolved, which seemed to be the life-lesson direction the show was guiding us, but because their true Jimness and Pamness finally, inexorably, at last fused with fate. Pam left a little sweet note with Jim, a gesture not unlike hundreds she must have made toward him over the years. Jim returned and didn't swoop her up, but with his usual deadly casual charm, asked her to dinner. "It's a date."

There are no rules to love. Yes, basically you have to love yourself before you can love someone else, but you can have doubts about yourself too and rely on your partner to fill them, and try to sneak by on that for five months or 50 years. There's no "too similar" or "too different." Love is much more of a gamble than we grow up believing - there's truth to the notion of chemical attraction, but don't forget that the chemistry of each individual can change over time, remaking the combination for better or worse. And the chemistry can always be beyond your comprehension from the inside. Karen was a lovely girl who fell in love with the right guy and the wrong guy in the same guy.

I like to think that Jim and Pam will be sitting in easy chairs half a century from now and cherishing their love while still wondering what took them so long - but knowing that there is no second-guessing the path that they took. The real love of my life, the woman I married, turned me down the first time I asked her out. I think in some cases, the way you live your life when you're not with someone has as much to do with whether you'll end up together as how you live your life while you are together. But mostly, I think, we just never know until we know.

I don't think this is going to be Kevin and Winnie, or Sam and Diane. I really do think Jim and Pam are together forever. And trust me, that doesn't kill the show. There is plenty of Office joy to be had from a working relationship. There is plenty going on at Dunder-Mifflin to carry this show. My biggest worry for this show is whether it can keep the writing staff together, or whether the show's success will send the writers off in different directions, leaving a project they love out of fear that they can't turn down a bigger opportunity for themselves.

Most of all, right now I am sad for Karen, worried for Michael and Jan, but absolutely, positively thrilled for Jim and Pam. May they be together forever.

I supervised a package of stories on The Simpsons for Variety in honor of the series' upcoming 400th episode, and contributed this feature on mastermind Matt Groening focusing on his pre-Simpsons years.

As a child and into his college years, Matt Groening was a sponge -- yellow, if you like, to match the dominant color of his most famous creation, the Simpson family.

He soaked up everything -- television, music, popular culture, unpopular culture.

And then, when Groening arrived in Southern California in 1977, fresh out of Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., he just started squeezing. It would be nearly a decade before he wrung out "The Simpsons," but the show nevertheless was more a product of Groening's youth and innate passion than any life experiences he absorbed as a grown-up. ...

* * *

I'm pleased to say that readership of Screen Jam has jumped dramatically since the latest revival attempt. Thanks to all who have participated.

Every thread at Screen Jam is an open chat thread.

A really moving performance from Dominic Monaghan tonight on Lost. A character that so many have been eager to dismiss truly had his showcase. Credit also to a script that really made me feel him.

Meanwhile, American Idol voters get it half right and half terribly wrong.

Office fave Jenna Fischer fractured her back in four places after a fall down a marble staircase. Recovery is expected to take four to six weeks. Screen Jam wishes her the absolute best.

Thanks to Screen Jam commenter Benaiah for the link.

Every thread at Screen Jam is an open chat thread.

Kate Webb, a courageous foreign correspondent who forged a path for other female journalists in a four-decade career spent largely in turbulent Asian outposts, including a harrowing period in Cambodia during the Vietnam War when she was captured and presumed dead, has died. She was 64. ...

Born in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1943 and raised in Canberra, Australia, Webb grew up in an academic family. Her father taught political science, and her mother was a historian. Both were killed in a car accident when Webb was a teenager. She is survived by a brother and a sister. ...

- Los Angeles Times

Image credit: The Correspondent

* * *

Here's the latest from Variety on CBS' fall lineup, plus last rites being administered (sniff) for Veronica Mars.

Every thread at Screen Jam is an open chat thread.

I watch every episode of Heroes and am suitably engaged but also increasingly distanced.

I feel that as the crisis has intensified, the characters' personalities have shriveled up a bit. They're alternatingly hopeful or serious, occasionally relieved, but otherwise more and more drained of color.

It's not that I've stopped caring about the heroes or their mission, but I feel the plot has smothered the characters. They feel more like cogs in a machine - breathing cogs, but cogs nonetheless - than people whose company I truly savor. They're not particularly exciting individuals.

Conversely, on Lost, I feel that no matter how the plot rises and falls, few if any of the characters lose their snap.

Here's the Variety blurb, in advance of ABC's upfronts presentation today.

And you can view ABC's press release with show descriptions here. Lots of familiar names coming back to the small screen.

Here's Michael Schneider's exhastive review in Variety of NBC's Monday announcements.

Update: A longer look at ABC's slate.

Here's the roundup for NBC from Variety:

While the focus this spring centered on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy"spin-off, NBC was quietly developing one of their own - and announced this morning that "Heroes" has spawned a second series of its own.

With repeats dipping to record lows on all five nets, those reruns are fast becoming a thing of the past. Besides the 30-seg "Heroes" and "Heroes: Origins" stretch, Peacock is also picking up 30 eps of "The Office" - including five hour-longs (Daily Variety, May 14) - and 25 segs of "My Name is Earl." ...

More news if you click on the link.

Here's the schedule for next week's upfront presentations by the broadcast networks for announcing their fall prime-time schedules:

NBC – Monday 5/14
ABC – Tuesday 5/15
CBS – Wednesday 5/16
CW – Thursday 5/17
Fox – Thursday 5/17

Among other sites, The Futon Critic has a good guide to the upfronts.

Every thread at Screen Jam is an open chat thread.

As some of you might know, Jenna Fischer sometimes blogs from her desk on the set of The Office - the computers there are live so that the actors can occupy themselves during the long shoots.

Well, I find myself in the same situation this morning at my desk at Variety, because the newsroom here is lit up like a Hollywood opening as Entourage shoots a scene from an upcoming episode. From my cubicle, I almost literally have a box seat.

This is the second time Entourage is shooting here; the product of the first shoot will be seen nationwide Sunday. I wasn't working here at the time, but you can see my desk (oh, and a few of my colleagues – including Mike Schneider of Franklin Avenue) in passing.

Variety TV critic Brian Lowry, who can't physically be seen in the episode but was something of the inspiration for the storyline, wrote about it this week for us.

Because the glitz-filled "Entourage" has a certain hipster image to uphold, the producers populated the newsroom with extras, ensuring that Fake Variety's staff was more attractive, stylish and younger than Real Variety. A few of us actual journalists observing this alternate reality felt a bit like Woody Allen in "Stardust Memories," wondering how we wound up on the ugly train. ...

Variety's Fake TV Critic dresses shabbily and wears glasses denoting years of solitary TV viewing (definitely true), eats lunch at his desk (occasionally true), acts unfazed by someone barging in to personally lambaste him (mercifully untrue) and has his own assistant (so untrue the Real Critic is still laughing his ass off).

Anyway, as is typical on a set, there's a ton of setup going on and people milling about, but not much else to look at. I just hope they don't ask for quiet on the set during my one phone interview this morning. Oh, hey, Kevin Connolly just walked by.

Okay, time to try to get some work done.

Every thread at Screen Jam is an open chat thread.

Screen Jam hasn't been a screen gem, but I still have hopes for it.

It's been clear that I can't give an entertainment blog the same dedication that I give a Dodger blog. Part of that is just the time constraints on my schedule; part of it is that my job at Variety prevents me from being completely open with what I'd like to say. As a result, my posts have been sporadic - sometimes disappearing for more than a week at a time.

Nevertheless, it's also clear that members of the Dodger Thoughts and Baseball Toaster community join me in having a passion for arts and culture, as well as an occasional ability to articulate that passion, and I still think Screen Jam and Toaster.TV can be a great home for that. So, although I have given thought to merging the Screen Jam content back into Dodger Thoughts, I'd like to give Screen Jam another shot. I actually still have very high hopes for it.

The first step has already been taken: I'm making as explicitly clear as possible what was always true - every chat thread at Screen Jam is an open chat thread. One of the great things about Dodger Thoughts is how the community keeps the discussion going without me and initiates new discussions. That same feeling hasn't crossed over to Screen Jam, but I want people to know they can. The only thing people in different time zones have to be careful not to do is spoil TV shows for those who haven't had a chance to see them yet.

Of course, one of the biggest complaints about Screen Jam is that there's no point in starting a discussion with no one going over there. On the other hand, I began Dodger Thoughts with an audience of one, so I know you can't be a slave to your audience or lack of one. But absolutely, the more the merrier. If people begin to expect ongoing chats there, I think we'll start to get momentum.

For my part, I'll try to keep the chat going by being more rigorous in posting there myself. The posts may often be super short - nothing more than conversation starters - but it should contribute to that feeling of life.

In addition, I want Screen Jam to be more than just television, more than just television and movies. This is especially important right now, trying to generate participation in the final month of the broadcast TV season. In a month, there won't be nearly as much television to talk about. So please, jump in any time and talk about a book you read, a song you like, a play you saw. I'd like to see some philosophy if you can muster it.

Finally, people have suggested inviting guest posts to Screen Jam. I'm finding myself open to this idea. I still have some questions in my own mind to answer about the logistics and the quantity, but I can see it happening - I sort of am intrigued by the idea of becoming a de facto managing editor of Screen Jam. If this is something you'd be interested in, you can let me know in the comments.

My instinct is that guest posts should strive to be of a higher quality than your average comment in terms of style and grammar - not that the comments here aren't first-rate - but you can tell me how you feel about that as well. Certainly, I'm not going to have time to edit other people's posts.

Anyway, that's where things are today. Screen Jam has been going for about eight months now, and it's been a learning experience - which is good. But now it's time to make it better. I really hope some of you will join me in the effort.

Every thread at Screen Jam is an open chat thread.

NBC is coming through and ordering 22 episodes of Friday Night Lights for next season, Variety is reporting. The official announcement will come Monday (if not sooner).

Every thread at Screen Jam is an open chat thread.

Every thread at Screen Jam is an open chat thread.

Continue reading...

... from this list.

It's hard not to like faxes from the future, but the keyboard macro that turns "Dwight" into "diaper" always tickles me for some reason.

Every thread at Screen Jam is an open chat thread.

Preempted in Los Angeles by coverage of the Griffith Park fire, Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars have been rescheduled to air on KTLA on Saturday at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Gilmore is heading toward its series finale. The same has been said about Veronica, but the show just might get a stay of execution. From my article for Variety on Tuesday:

It may take a certain amount of time travel, but "Veronica Mars" could be back on the CW schedule for 2007-08, despite ongoing conventional wisdom suggesting otherwise.

"We're very much on the bubble," showrunner Rob Thomas said. "I will say that the reports of our demise have been exaggerated. We are very much in the hunt for a shot next year. ...

Expected to combine with fellow female-skewing drama "Gilmore Girls" to be a lynchpin for the first-year network, "Veronica" has battled disappointing ratings (and even some weakness in its habitually stout support from critics) throughout its third season. ...

The recent announcement that "Gilmore" will be gone for good after this season fed pessimistic projections for "Veronica," but Thomas wasn't folding his tent yet, and was even prepared to take a bold step into the future.

"We pitched them two different versions of the show," he said. "One with Veronica continuing in year two of college, and one in which we fast-forward four years and she's an FBI agent. I don't know which version they might order."

Reps from the CW and Warner Bros, which co-produces the show, declined to comment. The CW is scheduled to make its presentation at the upfronts in New York on May 17, which means that word on the fate of "Veronica" will come within a week. ...

Sopranos Open Chat

Lost will have three 16-episode seasons before wrapping up the series in 2010, reports Josef Adalian in Variety.