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Id disagree with the British model having a small number of writers or just one can lead to some very poor scripts getting made - where a collective writers r

Id disagree with the British model having a small number of writers or just one can lead to some very poor scripts getting made - where a collective writers room would have either fixed or killed and bad script. Also concentrating power in that way can lead to bullying eg why Christopher Ecclestone left Dr who or Russel Davis suiciding torch wood.

jon-wood 8y ago
Sure, that’s the trade off, and for me I’d rather take the risk of a few really bad series or writers burning everything to ground. The alternative I see is a sea of highly polished but ultimately bland TV. For every Doctor Who, being slowly driven into the ground by hubris, you’re going to get something like Detectorists, where the writing team had the good sense (and because theirs only really two of them, the power) to decide to end while it was good.
renjimen 8y ago
>> small number of writers or just one can lead to some very poor scripts getting made You're right, but on the flip side it allows for new ideas, which are what the best TV shows have. I'll take a wide distribution of quality over everything clumped around the mean.
- walshemj 8y ago
  Having a writers room doesn't stop new ideas getting made in the UK inertia and prejudice against "genre" fiction pay a bigger part.
  - renjimen 8y ago
    I still expect to see better, more original scripts from individuals compared with collaborative efforts. That's my experience from science fiction at least, where many good authors have paired up to write a book and it is nearly never as good their individual works. You could be right about prejudices holding back the UK TV industry. I don't know much about that.
jdietrich 8y ago
The variance is bigger. You get some absolute crap, but you also get idiosyncratic works of singular genius. British TV is often much weirder, for better and for worse. I think it's no coincidence that many American hits were devised by British writers - our scattershot approach is the TV equivalent of Y Combinator. Channel 4 decided to broadcast Chris Morris's Jam. It wasn't an accident. They meant to do it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ods9xtuox8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ods9xtuox8

jon-wood 8y ago

Sure, that’s the trade off, and for me I’d rather take the risk of a few really bad series or writers burning everything to ground. The alternative I see is a sea of highly polished but ultimately bland TV. For every Doctor Who, being slowly driven into the ground by hubris, you’re going to get something like Detectorists, where the writing team had the good sense (and because theirs only really two of them, the power) to decide to end while it was good.

renjimen 8y ago

>> small number of writers or just one can lead to some very poor scripts getting made You're right, but on the flip side it allows for new ideas, which are what the best TV shows have. I'll take a wide distribution of quality over everything clumped around the mean.

walshemj 8y ago
Having a writers room doesn't stop new ideas getting made in the UK inertia and prejudice against "genre" fiction pay a bigger part.
- renjimen 8y ago
  I still expect to see better, more original scripts from individuals compared with collaborative efforts. That's my experience from science fiction at least, where many good authors have paired up to write a book and it is nearly never as good their individual works. You could be right about prejudices holding back the UK TV industry. I don't know much about that.

jdietrich 8y ago

The variance is bigger. You get some absolute crap, but you also get idiosyncratic works of singular genius. British TV is often much weirder, for better and for worse. I think it's no coincidence that many American hits were devised by British writers - our scattershot approach is the TV equivalent of Y Combinator. Channel 4 decided to broadcast Chris Morris's Jam. It wasn't an accident. They meant to do it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ods9xtuox8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ods9xtuox8