Clicking Our Heels - Television and the Gang

New Year’s Resolution – Don’t leave blogs until last minute. New Year’s Reality – Oops!

I cannot tell a lie.  Between a self-imposed deadline, holiday fun, and a million other things, I spent last night sprawled in front of the television vegging out. I completely forgot the first Wednesday of 2018 fell two days after January 1 because I was engrossed in the Tuesday night line-up of NCIS, Bull, NCIS-New Orleans, and Major Crimes (which I will miss!).  Now you know my guilty pleasures, but here are some of my blog mates’ favorite TV shows and a word about how they influenced them. Me? Mindless joy. – Debra H. Goldstein.

Judy Penz Sheluk: Gilmore Girls. Great writing and a stellar example of character development. I also loved the 2016 Netflix four-part series that caught us up on the characters as they are today. #TeamLogan.

Bethany Maines: I’ve had several favorite TV shows over the years.  I usually tend toward shows that have a humorous or whimsical take on life, but with realistic characters. From Better off Ted, to Firefly, to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and even the West Wing, all of them had very serious characters who must contend with the superb ridiculousness that is life.  I think my writing reflects that taste.

Shari Randall: Did it ever. My favorite show as a child was The Avengers. From the moment I first saw super cool, catsuit-clad martial arts expert Emma Peel, that's who I've wanted to be. Hasn't quite worked out that way, but her panache, her boots, her style inspire me. I occasionally try a few of her poses when I'm psyching myself up to write.

Jennae Phillippe: Star Trek: The Next Generation -- full of progressive values and characters that cared a lot about doing the right thing. Also responsible for a lot of my teenage crushes. But I think what I remember most was their willingness to tackle an issue and not have a clear message about how people should think about it. It was okay for people to debate and disagree. I wish modern times were more like that. 

TK Thorne: Don’t watch much TV, but when the new Battlestar Galactica was on, I couldn’t wait to see it because everything you thought you knew got turned on its head frequently. I realized that was an important part of enticing drama and try to incorporate that concept into my writing.

B.A. Plum: The GOOD WIFE served as a good model for the kind of female character I wanted to paint on the page. Alicia was much savvier than my heroine, AnnaSophia in The Dispensable Wife.

Dru Ann Love: Mary Tyler Moore Show. She showed that women can do anything that a man can do and still be feminine at the same time.

Linda Rodriguez:  Star Trek. To this day, if someone's trying to bully or emotionally manipulate me by threatening a public scene, I go into Spock mode and become more and more controlled and infuriatingly calm as they up the threats or bad behavior. It's never failed me yet. It passed into the next generation, and now my grown son uses the same technique.

Juliana Aragon Fatula: The Walking Dead characters are larger than life, pun intended. My characters in The Colorado Sisters may seem strange to some readers but are based on people I know and love, even the villains. My Atlanta Butcher killer cuts up the billionaire Reggie Hartless who likes to grab pussies. He gets butchered. Many of the women are strong characters that kick ass in stilettoes and cowgirl boots.

Revision and Television

Revision and Television by Debra H. Goldstein

Lately, I’ve been fast forwarding through a lot of television shows, avoiding the commercials. It makes it possible for me to quickly get to the gist of each program, but also makes me realize how much of normal program running time is taken up by ads. Perhaps the most egregious one was a recent airing of Beaches.

Because I loved the Bette Midler/Barbara Hershey version, I was a little leery about the remake, but having been an Idina Menzel fan since seeing her in Rent and Wicked, I decided to bite the bullet. Joel and I had other plans the night it was telecast, so I taped it. When I finally sat down with my remote control to watch the multi-hour presentation, I discovered that almost a third of it had been commercials. Good for me, but a bummer for those who watched the original broadcast.

For me, first drafts are much like watching a show with its commercials intact. They are bloated and often contain spots I can do without. Revision is comparable to using a remote control. I can fast forward or edit through garbage, but slow down if there is a passage (advertisement) that catches my eye or I’ve hit the spot where the plot actually flows. Sometimes, I fast forward too quickly in terms of my revisions, and must backtrack a bit; other times, it is a stop and start method until I get the wording exactly like I want it. The key is to make my manuscript as tight as a script must be to fit into its limited time. A thirty-minute show must move the acts of its plot within twenty-two minutes. My work must be equally concise or I will lose a reader’s attention.

That’s why I am going to end this blog now. Or, perhaps I should insert a commercial – want to know more about me? Check out my new website at www.DebraHGoldstein.com and sign up there to follow my personal blog, It’s Not Always a Mystery, and, if you haven’t already done so, follow The Stiletto Gang, http://thestilettogang.blogspot.com/ (and like the gang’s facebook pageJ).

Coming to a Television Near You

Today's blog is a perfect example of why everyone should write with a partner. This is Marian writing about Rhonda's interest in the upcoming television season.

Why, you ask? I mean there are really two questions. Why don't I, Marian, write about my own interest in the upcoming television season? That answer is easy. I don't watch much television other than cooking shows, old movies, and the news (and yes, I tape Extreme Couponing, but I'd prefer that not to get around). It's not that I'm averse to TV. I watched it nonstop for years. It's just lately, I haven't found a "must-see" show. When I do, I promise to put it on my DVR list.

Second question. Why is Marian writing about what Rhonda wants to watch this Fall? Again, easy answer. Rhonda's Mom is coming for a visit so there is whirlwind, power cleaning going on in Oklahoma. No time for writing blogs about television, let alone watching any.

Sooooo – the new television season begins this week. First, another question. Why do the television powers that be feel that the nation needs to watch a new version of Charlie's Angels? Have we not already goine through a half dozen Angels in its first incarnation, and then suffered through two movies of the same name? Is there nothing new that appealed to ABC?

Also, let me ask another question of those ABC television execs? Pam Am? Really? A show that focuses on pilots and airline stewardesses – when pilots were only male and stewardesses were only female? I'm all for retro, but can we skip some of the gender stereotypes?

Or how about the new show entitled The Playboy Club? Need I say anything??

Alright, back to Rhonda's list.

She's looking forward to some old favorites:

NCIS – which has a strong ensemble with smart women and as she points out, what can be bad about a show that has Mark Harmon?

The Good Wife – again, strong, smart women, but Rhonda's complaint is that they have drawn out the will they-won't they relationship of Good Wife and handsome co-worker. Rhonda's no longer, pardon the pun, passionately interested in if they do or don't.

Parenthood – the writing and acting feels fresh to her. The Northern half of Evelyn David, who may not watch television but does follow the gossip columns, pointed out that Peter Krause and Lauren Ambrose are dating, and they play brother and sister on the show. Rhonda didn't know that little tidbit, nor care.

Harry's Law – it's all about Kathy Bates, who according to Rhonda, "I'd watch her eat."

As to new shows, Rhonda mentioned:

Terra Nova – dinosaurs and time traveling humans, a perfect combo.

American Horror Story – think Dark Shadows, couple buys a house with a creepy creature living in the basement (in this real estate market, they're going to have problems with resale).

Hell on Wheels – think The Fugitive set in the post-Civil War era while building the transcontinental railroad. Confederate soldier searches for Union soldier who killed his wife (don't know if Union soldier has only one arm).

So Stiletto Faithful, what are you watching and what are you hoping to see in the new television season?

Marian and Rhonda, the collective Evelyn David

Check out the Brianna Sullivan Mysteries e-book series. 

Brianna Sullivan Mysteries - e-book series
I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
The Dog Days of Summer in Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
The Holiday Spirit(s) of Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Undying Love in Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
A Haunting in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
***New - Lottawatah Twister - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

The Sullivan Investigation Series
Murder Drops the Ball (Spring 2011)
Murder Takes the Cake- Paperback - Kindle
Murder Off the Books- Paperback - Kindle
Riley Come Home (short story)- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

Romances
Love Lessons - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

Guilty Pleasures

I’m really not a big TV watcher. But when I'm down, or just need to relax, or when I'm a little stuck on my WIP, I do turn to what I call my comfort shows. There are a few of them.

Supernatural is one of my top favorites.

Once in a while I watch Southland.

Love Love Love Project Runway.

But these are all done, and now so is American Idol.

Last night Lee DeWyze won and all is good in Idol world.

I’ve written about Friday Night Lights--my other TV love.

(and it’s on NBC again so I can see the whole season!) Yes!!

But I really love another show.

g l e e

Raise your hand if you’re a Glee fan. Go ahead, all the way up.

Things I love about Glee:

• The singing--of course!
• The head-on approach it takes with toughissues like not blending in or being true to who you are.

• The homage to pop culture.
• A whole show paying tribute to Madonna.
• Special Guest star Olivia Newton John.
• Sue and the Cheerios.
• Gaga day.
• The melodrama. It’s over the top and God how I love it!
• Kristen Chenowith.
• Kurt and Finn trying to be almost brothers.
• The angst.
• The emotion.
• The truth underneath the theatricality.
• The cheerio, Brittany, who said, “Did you know Dolphins are just gay sharks?”

There’s so much to love about Glee. It’s a guilty pleasure... and one I’m not afraid to admit.

So here’s my question:

What’s your guilty pleasure?

~Misa