Jesse Custer wrote:

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Brynjar wrote:

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Watched all 3 seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender in 4 days, it's that good. Too bad M. Night fucked it up* because they could've made this a huge movie franchise and split every season into 2 or even 3 movies, it could've been the next Harry Potter.

*I haven't seen the movie, just based on what I've read and he tried cramming 8-10 hours of backstory, character development and motivation into 103 min.

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You're quite the expert on opining on things you've never seen or heard, aren't you?

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Months ago when Matt Weiner made his deal at AMC, I commented about the need for showrunners to take some responsibility for the bigger picture. Meaning, yes, a show is the creator's vision, but it also becomes something more. In my case, SOA doesn't belong to me anymore. It has a life of it's own. It belongs to the fans, my cast, my crew, everyone associated with it. It's my job to steer and not crash it, but I don't own the bus. So when Matt was holding out for more money, I felt for his cast and crew who had to wait another six months to go back to work. Then when the specifics of the deal were revealed, I was kinda stunned. I know Mad Men is a valuable commodity, but the amount they were paying Matt felt unsustainable for a ad-driven cable network. My initial thought was, "Man, that's a little greedy. Someone else is gonna take a hit for this."

When news hit of the massive budget cuts on Walking Dead and AMC trying to force Vince Gilligan to finish Breaking Bad in only seven episodes, my reaction was, "Okay, that's who's taking the hit." It wasn't a stretch of logic, and even though AMC denies the money they paid Weiner had nothing to do with their decisions about WD or BB, I find it hard to believe that the deep payout to MM didn't in some way influence those creative bitch slaps.

If you're looking for a reason why AMC caved to Weiner, just look at your stock ticker -- AMC is now a publicly traded company. So how are you going to tell stockholders that your most famous product is potentially going away? It would be like Apple telling stockholders that iPhones are being discontinued. Mad Men identifies AMC. Even though no one really watches it, it is still the most prestigious, award-winning television show in history. They couldn't let it go. So, they caved. Then, like any other corporation, they were forced to apply that loss to their bottom line. Again, do I have financial documentation to back this up? No. I'm not a fucking journalist. I'm a guy in the business, who is formulating an opinion based on documented facts, history and some inside knowledge. Am I completely right? Probably not. Am I completely wrong? Probably not.

I know for a fact that when Breaking Bad was being forced to end their award-winning series in only seven episodes, Vince Gilligan approached other networks. I know for a fact, when AMC got wind of that, they caved. At the end of the day, I believe the deal they made with Vince was not because they believe in the show, it's because they are afraid of more negative backlash. Darabont's firing, boggling Breaking Bad, cancelling Rubicon, AMC is really struggling. Not to stroke the hand that feeds me, but they should take a page from Landgraf's handbook -- empower the artist. Pretend that it's a forum for creativity not a multinational corporation. Mad Men is coming to an end, if AMC doesn't figure out how to develop, how to nurture and maintain relationships with writers, they are going to be know an the network who used to have that really good show.

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LOS ANGELES—Following last Sunday’s Breaking Bad midseason finale, creator and showrunner Vince Gilligan told reporters that in a departure from the “light, fun tone” that has characterized the program thus far, the concluding episodes may take more of a darker turn. “Ever since the very first episode, in which [main character] Walt is diagnosed with cancer and forced to sell meth to provide for his pregnant wife and cerebral-palsy-stricken son, I’ve thought that perhaps one day we could begin taking the show in a grittier direction,” said Gilligan, adding that while the program’s ongoing depiction of a man slowly succumbing to an illegal lifestyle defined by power, violence, and alienation was fine for four and a half seasons, he “wouldn’t mind” eventually exploring some grimmer themes. “I know our audience has gotten comfortable seeing Walt regularly kill drug dealers, endanger his family, and poison small children, but, personally, I think people would be interested in seeing a slightly more sinister side to the character.” Gilligan’s announcement comes just weeks after fellow AMC showrunner Matthew Weiner announced it was “entirely conceivable that the next season of Mad Men may touch on how men deal with marriage.”

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Brynjar wrote:

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wtf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YvuZ4Msh50

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