So Ken Olin REALLY didn't like Marti Noxon
Sep. 7th, 2006 07:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shipperxAm I the only one who is amused by this Entertainment Weekly review? It's the show that fired Marti Noxon.
Interesting quotes:
* ... the series — a soap about a wealthy and complex California family — has undergone an extraordinary makeover, including the addition (and loss) of several key actors, an 11th-hour change in executive producers, and a partial rewrite because the original pilot was packed with too many stories. Admits Olin, ''With all the stuff that's been happening, from the outside you could perceive it as a show that's struggling to find itself.''
Gee, you think?
(The "Gee, you think?" was the article writer, not me.)
* ...a drama about a bunch of neurotic people who are lost in their own psychosis
* In May, the network asked Olin and fellow executive producer Jon Robin Baitz to go back to the drawing board because the original script tried to accomplish too much in 44 minutes. ''It was like pushing a rock around a basketball court,'' recalls Griffiths. ''We didn't have to front-load it quite so heavily.'' Explains ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson: {...} the way the father's death was laid out, it overpowered the rest of the pilot. I wanted to make sure we got this right from the get-go, and it just wasn't there.'' The producers ended up delaying the dad's death until the final five minutes of the pilot (previously, it occurred in the first act) while cutting superfluous story lines like Sarah having a son with Asperger's syndrome and Kevin having an ex-wife. But even now, Olin worries about keeping the viewers engaged: ''How do you have that many stories go on and still make sure that the characters are known well enough so the audience can invest in them?''
* Locking down an all-star cast (''We should have a trophy case!'' Olin brags) wasn't enough to ensure a smooth road ahead: In mid-August, fellow executive producer Marti Noxon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) left the show, citing the all-purpose ''creative differences'' as a reason. (Noxon could not be reached for comment; ''It just wasn't a great match,'' explains Olin.) Fortunately, another scribe accustomed to penning family dramas was available to lend a helping hand: Greg Berlanti, the Everwood creator who recently signed a huge deal with Touchstone TV (which produces Brothers), agreed to serve as a consultant until Olin finds a full-time showrunner. ''He's been fantastic, and it just seems like creatively — and personally — a better fit,'' says Olin. ''This show is way too important to me, Robby, and the network to continue going on a path that wasn't working.''
Interesting quotes:
* ... the series — a soap about a wealthy and complex California family — has undergone an extraordinary makeover, including the addition (and loss) of several key actors, an 11th-hour change in executive producers, and a partial rewrite because the original pilot was packed with too many stories. Admits Olin, ''With all the stuff that's been happening, from the outside you could perceive it as a show that's struggling to find itself.''
Gee, you think?
(The "Gee, you think?" was the article writer, not me.)
* ...a drama about a bunch of neurotic people who are lost in their own psychosis
* In May, the network asked Olin and fellow executive producer Jon Robin Baitz to go back to the drawing board because the original script tried to accomplish too much in 44 minutes. ''It was like pushing a rock around a basketball court,'' recalls Griffiths. ''We didn't have to front-load it quite so heavily.'' Explains ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson: {...} the way the father's death was laid out, it overpowered the rest of the pilot. I wanted to make sure we got this right from the get-go, and it just wasn't there.'' The producers ended up delaying the dad's death until the final five minutes of the pilot (previously, it occurred in the first act) while cutting superfluous story lines like Sarah having a son with Asperger's syndrome and Kevin having an ex-wife. But even now, Olin worries about keeping the viewers engaged: ''How do you have that many stories go on and still make sure that the characters are known well enough so the audience can invest in them?''
* Locking down an all-star cast (''We should have a trophy case!'' Olin brags) wasn't enough to ensure a smooth road ahead: In mid-August, fellow executive producer Marti Noxon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) left the show, citing the all-purpose ''creative differences'' as a reason. (Noxon could not be reached for comment; ''It just wasn't a great match,'' explains Olin.) Fortunately, another scribe accustomed to penning family dramas was available to lend a helping hand: Greg Berlanti, the Everwood creator who recently signed a huge deal with Touchstone TV (which produces Brothers), agreed to serve as a consultant until Olin finds a full-time showrunner. ''He's been fantastic, and it just seems like creatively — and personally — a better fit,'' says Olin. ''This show is way too important to me, Robby, and the network to continue going on a path that wasn't working.''
