Monthly Archives: November 2010

Leonard Maltin reflects on the retirement of Gene Shalit and on the role of movie critics in the business these days.

Fred Kaplan on the chances of the new START treaty passing. Why do I get the chilling feeling that the decision in Congress of whether or not to vote for it has less to do with what's best for America than it does with what will help one's political party?

Number nine in a series…

The exquisite Colleen Doran has an article up over on The Hill, which is a Congress-oriented newspaper. Her piece is about the damage that online piracy does to folks like her who are trying to make their livings creating comic books. She's absolutely right, though I don't expect a lot of the pirates or their patrons to get that. Some of them have the notion/rationale that it's like ripping-off a Beatles tune. Paul McCartney will never miss the lost income. And if Colleen had Paul's money, she probably wouldn't but that wouldn't make it right, either. There's also what I call the Hotel Towel Excuse, derived from those who think it's okay to take home a couple of fluffy ones from the Marriott because that's presumed in your bill. They figure the average person steals $8 worth of towels so they charge you $8 more. That ain't true nor are comic books priced with the expectation that you might just scan your copy and give it away free to a hundred thousand people.

Or some of them think (and these are the real annoying ones, heaping insult on injury) that they're doing you a favor of some sort to bootleg your work so that it reaches a wider audience. "It's good promotion," they'll say. That's a dubious premise but even if it is good promotion, we should be the ones deciding how and when our work will be given out as free samples. I've also seen folks with an attitude that roughly goes: "Anyone who is lucky enough to work in comics shouldn't complain about not making enough money." No rebuttal necessary.

Obviously, I have no idea how or if piracy can be stopped. The response by those who are swindled this way is usually to either pretend it isn't happening or to decide that they need to beat the pirates to the marketplace, offering legal, paid downloads before the buccaneers can pass out their free ones. I'm not sure that isn't like preventing burglars from entering your house by leaving all your valuables out on the front porch for them. At the very least though, people who steal ought to be made aware that they're stealing…and that while they may not put DC or Marvel out of business that way — especially since neither of those companies is really in the business of publishing comic books these days — they are hurting folks like Colleen who do depend on actual sales of comics.

From someone who signs her name "Sadye" comes the following query…and this isn't the only one I've received asking about this…

You've occasionally written about your friend Kristine Greco, who was one of the students in the classroom on Welcome Back, Kotter. I'm not sure which one she was when I watch those old shows but I think what a great job that must have been to be on TV every week like that. I've never had any aspirations to be an actress because I don't think I have the skills for it but I could have done that. I see people on Glee who seem to have the same kind of job today. How does someone get a job like that? I suppose you're going to tell me it's almost impossible and that it isn't as good a job as I think but I had to ask.

Don't blame you for asking, Sadye, and you're right: It's almost impossible and it isn't as good a job as you think. Extra work on a TV show means submitting yourself to a cattle call process that may involve a ratio of five hundred people for every one opening. In some situations, asking "How do I get hired?" is akin to asking "How do I win the lottery?" but it's actually more difficult because you can improve your chances of winning the lottery by buying more tickets. Also, the lottery is truly a random chance whereas you can lose out on an extra job because someone important called someone else who was important and said, "Hey, my niece needs a job tomorrow and would love to be on TV." And suddenly, there's no job opening at all for you.

I kinda did that once for my mother. She had a whim that she wanted to be an extra so I called a friend who was producing L.A. Law and got her a gig. I'll tell that whole story here someday but here's the punchline: She had a brutal, exhausting day during which all the seasoned professional extras kept telling her, "Oh, this is the best job…they treat us better than any other show…it doesn't get any better than this." On L.A. Law, all my mother had to do was wait around for hours, then sit in a jury box and listen to Jimmy Smits give a speech. There was decent food and everyone was very polite to her but all around her during breaks, she heard extras comparing horror stories from other shows. They had to do with being screamed at and having to drive a hundred miles and march back and forth all day in the rain and not be allowed meal or bathroom breaks, etc. By the time she got home and collapsed, all she could think was, "If that's the best extra job around, I don't want to do this anymore." And she retired after her one and only day in the field.

The loot is not wonderful. It wouldn't be wonderful if somehow you could work every day…and almost no extras work every day. Most feel fortunate to get two days a week…or one. The fees used to be better but one of the ways the actors' unions have eaten it in the last decade or two is by accepting, much against members' will, rollbacks on overtime pay. Extras used to live for two things. Overtime pay was one because you could make some real money when the shoot stretched way past the schedule. That's largely disappeared.

And the other longing for most extras was and still is an upgrade…to be given a line or two. Extras tell tales of the one in 10,000 cases where an extra not only got to speak on an episode of some series but somehow evolved into being a regular. (One or two of the recurring barflies on Cheers, for instance.) That still happens — not often but it happens. I think most folks who do extra work see it as a stepping stone, albeit a longshot, to something else. The ones I've known, my mother aside, certainly have.

I don't remember what Kristine made when we were doing Kotter but it was achingly low money unless, as occasionally happened, she was given a line to say. As a non-speaking extra though, she got a low rate per day and she only got it one day a week…and only if they called her in. They didn't always — and late in the season, one of the other writers went to the producers and said, "My son needs a job" and thereafter, the son usually wound up in Kristine's seat. She later realized that losing Kotter made her income go up a bit because she no longer had to hold her schedule open for our tape day each week and could accept, for example, a three-day stint on another show or a real acting job that conflicted.

(And like my mother on L.A. Law, that was one of the better jobs. She did two days as an extra in a party scene for the movie, S.O.B., and called me from the set in tears about how bad the crew — not the director but a couple of workers — were treating her. She did one day on a TV movie set in the thirties for which she had to go to a thrift shop and purchase a period outfit. They said she'd be reimbursed but she never was. For one rather major movie, she got cast in a speaking role but the character had to be "established" in a group in earlier scenes so she did two days of what was basically extra work for those scenes…then they cut her dialogue and she only got paid as an extra. And she'd turned down a speaking part on General Hospital to do the movie. There were way too many stories like that.)

She had been doing it because she thought it would lead to that real acting work. Among agents, that is an arguable premise. One who represented her after that told her, "I don't want you doing extra work. If casting directors think of you as an extra, they're much less likely to consider you for real roles." I'm sure that's so in some situations.

There are perks to the job, not the least of which is that your friends and relatives see you on television. That can matter a lot to some. To those who aspire to full actor status and can block out fears of being typed as "atmosphere," it can feel a lot better to be reporting for work at a studio than waiting tables…and there are those stories of extra work leading to something better. Because Kris got those occasional lines on Kotter, she could list it as a genuine credit on her résumé and that sure didn't hurt. (I did her a big favor one time. She had been penciled in to play "Girl #1" and I changed that to an actual name.)

I don't mean to be discouraging or to dash your dreams, Sadye…but it is not a good life for most folks. One of the reasons some jobs in TV and movies pay so much is because you have to go through so much crap and uncertainty to get them…and then they still aren't steady. Extras have all the downsides of that without the upside of decent money. Kristine was lucky to get out of it and so was my mother, though I can certainly understand why some people want to do it anyway. It always brings to mind the old joke where the punchline is, "What? And give up show business?" If you don't know what comes before that, you should.

My buddy, the wickedly wicked Rick Parker has a new book out. He illustrated Harry Potty and the Deathly Boring, a Papercutz parody graphic novel authored by Stefan Petrucha. Now, I haven't seen a copy of this yet…and never having cracked a Harry Potter book, I'm not sure I'd get all the humor in this spoof. Nevertheless, Rick has never been a part of anything I didn't enjoy so based on that, I'm plugging it here and putting up an Amazon link and suggesting you investigate. If you like this kind of thing, I suspect you'll like this kind of thing.

David Frum, who is still identified by some as a Republican strategist even though no one in that party wants to listen to him, discusses the challenges facing the G.O.P. Basically, they (and we all) have a lot of problems and not nearly enough solutions.

So, which party's fiscal planning has been responsible for our federal debt? Read this piece and get the answer.

This was sent to me by a person who asked to remain anonymous…

I really enjoy your blog and usually visit at least a couple of times a day to see what's new.

You often post comments on politics and current events. As a conservative I usually see things very differently than you do but I try to keep an open mind when hearing your side. You strike me as a very level-headed and thoughtful person. One thing I think both liberals and conservatives can agree upon is that the new "nudity scanners" and alternate full-body pat downs that are being put in place by the TSA are at the very least degrading and at the most a violation of our fourth amendment rights. They certainly don't seem to serve their intended purpose which is ostensibly to make us safer. I for one would rather take my chances with the terrorists.

I was wondering if you have any thoughts on the matter and (assuming you agree with me), any suggestion about what a person can do to fight this invasion of privacy?

I was subjected to two full-body pat downs — one on the trip up, one on the way back — on my recent overnighter to San Francisco. The delays annoyed me…and would have annoyed me a lot if I'd hadn't been there so early. In both cases, the gents doing the patting seemed very nervous that they would do something questionable that would cause me to complain. Possibly because the TSA officials were so timid and overly polite, I did not have a feeling of being personally violated…though I could see how a person might, especially with a less sensitive patter-person.

I agree with you that it's an invasion of privacy. How to fight it? I'm afraid I see that battle as hopeless. We lost it some time on 9/11 when a supermajority of this nation surrendered to the concept that there was no right that couldn't be sacrificed in the name of Keeping Us Safe. There were sure a lot of politicians and leaders who lost their nerve about opposing civil rights violations if doing so would enable their opponents to accuse them of being soft on terror or unserious about National Defense. The public also does not seem to be yelling too much about this. I'm of the opinion that about 70% of what we go through at the airport (like taking off our shoes) is just for show…to make travellers think everything possible is being done. But I also think most folks want to believe that all that stuff is effective and is saving our lives so it's worth the hassle and infringement.

So no, I have no suggestions about what should be done to end this kind of thing. The A.C.L.U. seems to be the only group with even a smidgen of clout that's objecting to this and it isn't a high priority issue for them. According to Nate Silver, polls show strong public approval of the full-body scanners, though I assume the respondents are responding on the dubious assumption that the machines actually function as described. I don't like it any more than you do but I think we just have to get to the airport early, take off our shoes and put up with it. Oh, and when you go through the "nudity scanner," suck in your gut, arch your back and wet your lips.

My front porch is constantly littered with throwaway menus from local restaurants, none of which I'd ever visit or order from. Every day or so, I toss a half-dozen out.

The other day, I gathered up three from Indian restaurants, two Vegan and a couple of Ethiopian places. I was about to chuck them into the trash can when I noticed an odd one in there…not a menu, it turned out, but a Notice of Filming. I might have mistaken it for an ad and I'll bet most residents do. It's an announcement that several streets in my neighborhood were to be blocked off and used for filming this weekend. The hours involved were 4 AM through 10 PM (I think that's a typo and they meant 10 AM) and then 12 PM through 9 PM. What did they plan on doing? Here's what it says…

EXTERIOR AUTOMATIC FULL LOAD GUNFIRE
(Uzi gunfire & shootout scene)

Driving scenes with the flow of traffic. Camera and equipment on sidewalk, in curb lane & across street. Exterior dialogue. Occasional traffic and pedestrian control. Wetting down of the street. Picture car hits prop telephone pole. Generator.

And then there's some stuff about parking restrictions and road closures, as well as phone numbers to call if one has problems or questions. I'm wondering how many neighbors read this thing (I almost didn't) and were unprepared. As it turned out, the action took place a little far from me and as I didn't drive that way, I didn't notice or hear anything. Maybe someone was a bit startled to find a shootout scene with Uzis occurring on their front lawns, I don't know.