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03/19/2006: Walking the Santino Trail


Remember earlier this year on Project Runway when the contestants were asked to design something for Banana Republic? There was this distinct vibe from some of them, like they were above designing clothes that might show up in a display case at a mall. On the runway, when the final product was criticized, you had the feeling some of them were all, yeah, well, it's crap. That’s what you wanted, right? And others (Santino) presented totally non-Banana clothes with the attitude, I love this and this is what Banana Republic SHOULD be doing. Neither approach was entirely successful.

There's a completely analogous situation that you might find yourself facing about now. What do you do if the show that you're specing has things about it that you don't respect? In general, of course, you should only write specs for shows that you love, but this isn't always possible. And even your favorite show might have some qualities that you don't care for. Maybe the women are generally portrayed as decorative obstacles, or the dialogue is clunky, or the stories make logical jumps. What do you do, as the writer of a spec episode? Faithfully recreate crap, demonstrating your skills as chameleon? Or make it better, at the cost of no longer "sounding like the show"?

Take the second path, the Santino path, but walk it carefully. The truth is that chameleonship is an important skill, but it’s only one skill and there will be plenty of opportunities to show it off throughout your spec. The ability to create a great story with sparkling dialogue – that’s at least two skills that you desperately need to demonstrate, and you can’t forgo any chance of making that happen.

There have been a number of times when I’ve read the spec of a young writer as a favor. Often, I’m reading a spec of a show I don’t know terribly well. Then, when I criticize some element of the script, I’m told “but that’s how they do it on the show.” Okay, but if the show-runner / agent / fellowship judge doesn’t know the show any better than I do, they’re going to have the same problem.

Note that I’m not saying to make your script an editorial comment on the show; don’t make it all about correcting a problem. Avoiding the issue is smarter than confronting it, usually. If you don’t like one of the characters, simply minimize his or her involvement in the story. If the dialogue is clunky, make it slightly more natural, but don’t take it so far that you’ve created completely new voices. It’s a difficult line to walk, of course, and it’s all entirely subjective, but do your best. Ideally you should still "sound like the show," but better. Like the episode they'd do on their very best day.

Of course the beautiful irony is that once you’re actually hired on a show, the other path is usually the wiser one!

Lunch: Noodles in an asian sauce that I improvised with hot-and-sour soup mix, soy sauce, lemon juice and siracha sauce. Ooh!