Comments on: The Golden Age of Television

The Golden Age of Television

Artw — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:59:03 -0800

"TV is where writers get to tell interesting stories right now, because writers, for the most part, run television." Matthew Weiner of Mad Men, Vince Gilligan of Breaking Bad and David Milch of Deadwood talk to GQ about writing for television. Also: The New Rules of TV everything you need to know about the Golden Age of Television. Want to hear even more about the world of writing rooms, showrunners and screenwriting? Check out the Nerdist Writer's Panel Podcast.

By: furiousxgeorge

furiousxgeorge — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:06:10 -0800

Don't they also showrun?

By: Trurl

Trurl — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:11:48 -0800

Is that Rolling Stone cover of Peter Dinklage supposed to look that Rolling Stone cover of Kurt Cobain?

By: Currer Belfry

Currer Belfry — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:22:40 -0800

I watch "Mad Men" religiously, read most of the recaps the next day, and would do the same with "Breaking Bad" but for the violence. However, I'm harrumphing a bit at the use of the term "Golden Age" to describe 21st century programming. "New Golden Age", well, maybe. I'm more inclined to point to the early '50s, when the likes of Paddy Chayefsky wrote one-hour dramas for TV, or to CBS's Saturday night lineup in the '70's (Jeffersons, the Bob Newhart show, the Carol Burnett show) as more likely candidates. In the '50s, you could see Charles Laughton do an hour of spoken word on network TV. I'll go rinse my dentures now. And I don't think anyone on TV in the '50's was as handsome as Peter Dinklage or Jon Hamm.

By: fullerine

fullerine — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:22:44 -0800

I love the way Gilligan and Weiner talk about what it's like to write for TV then Milch interjects with a comment on the very essence of the human condition like some sort of Yoda Aurelius Shakespeare.

By: darksasami

darksasami — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:24:31 -0800

The UI in the "New Rules" article is absurd and broken. The tiny column with lots of words next to the giant picture of nothing remotely useful is too short; the text scrolls right off and there's no way to scroll down to retrieve it. I finally--out of sheer curiosity, rather than a burning desire to finish the blurb--managed to see the end of the paragraph by zooming out three times in Firefox, at which point I'd then need a magnifier to read it. Going to a different slide flips the slide...and then scrolls the whole page up to the top, apparently because you need to be shown a great big freaking GQ. Maybe the point is that I need to go watch television instead of looking at their Web site.

By: AzzaMcKazza

AzzaMcKazza — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:54:28 -0800

Thank you for this!

By: You Should See the Other Guy

You Should See the Other Guy — Wed, 23 May 2012 19:01:22 -0800

Thanks for this. Milch is my hero. Some day I'll work for him. Mark my words!

By: Sebmojo

Sebmojo — Wed, 23 May 2012 19:06:51 -0800

Thanks for this. Milch is my hero. Some day I'll work for him. Mark my words! posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 4:01 PM on May 23 [+] [!] C/C+. Strong (if vague) goal for the protagonist, good array of inferred obstacles, but the cold open is terrible and we need proper dialogue if we're going to be rooting for the hero.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Thu, 24 May 2012 07:49:25 -0800

screenwriter is a word now?

By: Trochanter

Trochanter — Thu, 24 May 2012 10:50:54 -0800

Thanks for the nerdist writers panel pointer. I've listened to one. Good stuff. However. I don't believe this is any kind of golden age for television. And listening to the podcast, it's cemented that thinking further. Just listening to those folks talk about how the town works, I mean, there's just too many suits. Plain and simple. However, podcasts themselves are freaking great. Long form, in depth talks with smart people. That's the golden age happening right now. To this old fart anyway. Load up the Fuze with podcasts like these, take the dog out, and get your head filled with ideas. Love it.