nerd4hire
Certified Uncloneable
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2002
- Messages
- 9,102
I don't know if I'm qualified to be the one doing this, but that's OK, I'm sure you guys will correct me on any obvious flaws.
And these are after all just opinions.
So here's my grades for the Whedon Writers on how they've been doing so far, since the WB murdered Angel.
Honour Roll guys first.
*
Tim Minear A+++ : OK if you haven't seen Wonderfalls, you need to do it. Sling burgers, Rob a convenience store. Do whatever you have to do to get the DVD when it comes out next month.
It's beyond good. It's genius. You may think you've seen Wonderfalls, if you've seen the first 4 eps that were run on the network. Not so. The arc and the true depth of the characters don't begin to show themselves until about episode 5.
Minear is also working on something called The Inside. You can get some info on it here:
https://www.buffy-boards.com/showthread.php?t=19546
Notice how the the series when described in the first article on that page, sounds like a stinker. That was before Tim got ahold of it. Read the second article and see how he re-tooled it.
Joss Whedon A++: I admit, I haven't actually seen any of Joss's current projects, that's why I deducted him a +. 🙂 The buzz on Serenity suggests it's going to be something special though, and critics seem almost unanimous in their praise of his work on the comic series Astonishing X men.
David Fury A+: Executive producer and writer on Lost. Lost is one of the two surprise hits of this season. Also I remember making note of the episode Fury wrote, and although I can't remember which one it was 🙂 I remember thinking, "Hey. That's good."
Drew Goddard & Jeff Bell A : G & B, made an inspired move after Angel. They joined the JJ Abrams stable of Alias and Lost. I think JB's Alias episode will be ep 12, and Drew is going to be doing both an episode of Lost (don't know when), and an Alias ep in February.
Ben Edlund ? : OK I lost track of him and Deigo Guittierez after the Global Frequency project got scrapped.
Jane Espenson B : I saw one of her scripts for Gilmour Girls. I thought it pretty good, but apparently my opinion wasn't universally shared. The Buzz on the 6 unaired, Espenson-influenced Tru Calling eps suggested they're pretty good. I expect good things from her in the upcoming Tim Minear project. I gave her a B, because she sounds like she's still got it, she just hasn't found the showcase yet.
Mere Smith C+ : Tried to watch Johnny Zero one night. It seemed like it might be OK if you forced yourself into it.
Rebecca Rand Kirshner C+ : Apparently she's been writing for Gilmour Girls then Las Vegas. Haven't heard or seen anything terribly interesting from, or about her though.
Drew Z Greenberg D : I've said it before. I'll say it again. Greenberg sucks. I still blame him and his mentor Marti Noxon for destroying a big chunk of BTVS Season 6, and being dually responsible for the flaws of Season 7. Greenberg wrote one good script in his career for Firefly, and that was probably because Joss was standing over him with a Whoopen stick. Apparently Greenberg was writing for Smallville this season. I tried to watch this season's Smallville, and thought it was awful.
Marti Noxon F - : Speaking of awful...Anyone seen Point Pleasant? It's like an uninspired attempt at imitating Stephen King, but with really, really bad acting.
To me Point Pleasance confirms something I've always suspected about Marti Noxon. She's not very good. She was able to bamboozle a lot of people hiding behind Joss's coat tails, but now the truth is out. Now we know why so much of Season 6 seems childish and amateurish, why Showtime destroyed the continuity and common sense of Season 7, sending it on a nose dive from that point, and why giving Noxon so much responsibility for the final arc of 5 in S -7 (if that's what happened, as I suspect) was probably the single most serious error in the history of BTVS.
And these are after all just opinions.
So here's my grades for the Whedon Writers on how they've been doing so far, since the WB murdered Angel.
Honour Roll guys first.
*
Tim Minear A+++ : OK if you haven't seen Wonderfalls, you need to do it. Sling burgers, Rob a convenience store. Do whatever you have to do to get the DVD when it comes out next month.
It's beyond good. It's genius. You may think you've seen Wonderfalls, if you've seen the first 4 eps that were run on the network. Not so. The arc and the true depth of the characters don't begin to show themselves until about episode 5.
Minear is also working on something called The Inside. You can get some info on it here:
https://www.buffy-boards.com/showthread.php?t=19546
Notice how the the series when described in the first article on that page, sounds like a stinker. That was before Tim got ahold of it. Read the second article and see how he re-tooled it.
Joss Whedon A++: I admit, I haven't actually seen any of Joss's current projects, that's why I deducted him a +. 🙂 The buzz on Serenity suggests it's going to be something special though, and critics seem almost unanimous in their praise of his work on the comic series Astonishing X men.
David Fury A+: Executive producer and writer on Lost. Lost is one of the two surprise hits of this season. Also I remember making note of the episode Fury wrote, and although I can't remember which one it was 🙂 I remember thinking, "Hey. That's good."
Drew Goddard & Jeff Bell A : G & B, made an inspired move after Angel. They joined the JJ Abrams stable of Alias and Lost. I think JB's Alias episode will be ep 12, and Drew is going to be doing both an episode of Lost (don't know when), and an Alias ep in February.
Ben Edlund ? : OK I lost track of him and Deigo Guittierez after the Global Frequency project got scrapped.
Jane Espenson B : I saw one of her scripts for Gilmour Girls. I thought it pretty good, but apparently my opinion wasn't universally shared. The Buzz on the 6 unaired, Espenson-influenced Tru Calling eps suggested they're pretty good. I expect good things from her in the upcoming Tim Minear project. I gave her a B, because she sounds like she's still got it, she just hasn't found the showcase yet.
Mere Smith C+ : Tried to watch Johnny Zero one night. It seemed like it might be OK if you forced yourself into it.
Rebecca Rand Kirshner C+ : Apparently she's been writing for Gilmour Girls then Las Vegas. Haven't heard or seen anything terribly interesting from, or about her though.
Drew Z Greenberg D : I've said it before. I'll say it again. Greenberg sucks. I still blame him and his mentor Marti Noxon for destroying a big chunk of BTVS Season 6, and being dually responsible for the flaws of Season 7. Greenberg wrote one good script in his career for Firefly, and that was probably because Joss was standing over him with a Whoopen stick. Apparently Greenberg was writing for Smallville this season. I tried to watch this season's Smallville, and thought it was awful.
Marti Noxon F - : Speaking of awful...Anyone seen Point Pleasant? It's like an uninspired attempt at imitating Stephen King, but with really, really bad acting.
To me Point Pleasance confirms something I've always suspected about Marti Noxon. She's not very good. She was able to bamboozle a lot of people hiding behind Joss's coat tails, but now the truth is out. Now we know why so much of Season 6 seems childish and amateurish, why Showtime destroyed the continuity and common sense of Season 7, sending it on a nose dive from that point, and why giving Noxon so much responsibility for the final arc of 5 in S -7 (if that's what happened, as I suspect) was probably the single most serious error in the history of BTVS.
