tencrush | Haha SPOILERS DON'T READ

Entry tags:

Haha SPOILERS DON'T READ

In Russell's world, bumsex with Russell Tovey pretty much fixes all your emo manpain, no matter how vast, yeah?

That's pretty faily right there. Not as faily as that thing with Martha and you know who, but still pretty fucking offensively faily. As was that thing with Donna. Wow, that's a lot of fucking fail to heap upon an awful lot of companions.

DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOUR ASS RUSSELL.

Also, did Simm just disappear, never to be mentioned again, or did it just seem that way?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I managed to find a live stream. Yep. My first ever episode of Doctor Who at original air time was this little self indulgent mess.

It's like you could hear him screaming from the hilltops. I AM RUSSELL T DAVIES. THIS IS WHAT I DID. AM I NOT AWESOME? And the universal reply was.."Oh sure...Hey, look! It's the new guy!" History won't be kind to this episode. In the greater context of DW I doubt this will go down well. Rusty never did understand context.

Still love Simm's Master - yes, even after that - so I'm happy he can come back in the Moffat era. I prefer the continuity of the Master. He shouldn't change just because the Doctor does. I'm hoping Moffat might reign him in a bit, though.

Honestly, I thought the Alonso/Jack at the Cantina thing was cute. Jack moves on, and always has. Ianto was never his one true love, and that never bothered me. He's been around 1,000s of years now. I would imagine he deals with that kind of loss pretty well at this point. Didn't need the scene, but the scene on its own didn't bug me. (Plus, I think someone on GB won bingo with it)

The Martha thing on the other hand...Really? REALLY?! That was bullshit of epic proportions. When did we establish that she no longer loved the awesome, heroic doctor she was engaged to? Oh Yeah, they're both black. *eyeroll* I like the idea of her and Mickey working together, but they should work with UNIT. And not be fucking married. Russell's issues with authority have hurt the show.

Also, I want my fucking Time Lords back!! Proper fucking Time Lords. Parental figures of old. No more lonely Time Lord. No more "they went crraaaazzy!" bullshit. For God's sake, please?!

The Martha thing was mind-boggling, it really was. I didn't mind the whole Jack moving on thing, but he did sacrifice his own grandson and shit and the implication that setting him up with a cute boy will fix that didn't really sit right with me. And the fact that the Time Lords were mental offended me quite a bit. A lot of things offended me, actually.

I agree with what I've read elsewehere, which is that this episode was purely about how much RTD loves Ten and about how much Ten loves Ten, and if you don't love Ten as much as RTD and Ten do, then you're pretty fucked. That was awful. And Donna never got her brain back. Ew.

Really, it all comes down to RTD's dislike of authority. He was using DW to work it out, and that's not okay with me. You don't get to fuck around with beloved TV shows just because you can. We are stuck with his BS. This isn't the 70s where you can just throw canon out the window. Some of it will stick.

Totally saw the Donna thing coming, though. Rusty lobes to establish "OMG the world will end if this happens!" rules, and then totally throw them out the window. Did this guy not have parents? Or a dog or something? You can't keep making rules and then breaking them...

Oh yeah...we don't have to worry about that any more. HE'S GONE! It's over. The king is dead! LONG LIVE THE KING!! May he put his ego in slightly better check than the last guy.

*loves

Must reread posts before hitting send...

Again, this might have been because of all the noise in the house, but was it established that Donna's head is now safe and will no longer explode, or was it just back to possible-explodey-square-one? It's like Rusty handwaves all these things and it's all IT'S OKAY NOW, WE GLOVED THE PEOPLE BACK INTO HUMANS, and I get really lost as to what happened and why. I hate his fucking quick resolutions.

Exactly! Russell is established as being so bad with endings that I'm shocked no one has tried to reign him in and force a co-writer on him. Ah, well. He wont get away with it over here. Bigger pond, and a lot more talented fish around to keep you in check. heh

The good news is, the new guy is not as bad! He can do endings too!

'Russell is established as being so bad with endings that I'm shocked no one has tried to reign him in and force a co-writer on him. Ah, well. He wont get away with it over here. Bigger pond, and a lot more talented fish around to keep you in check. heh'
Not to mention if he tried telling American fans that they just don't understand drama and should go watch something the fans would eat him alive. I can't wait.

Um, not only would the fans eat him alive, his Network boss would eat him alive.

That too. I wonder who's going to get the job of telling him that yes, he is RTD but he can't do whatever he wants with an American t.v. show.

I volunteer! I'd be happy to give him a reality check.

Yay! Do you think hitting him with a large mallet (it works for the TARDIS) would work? Maybe you could train him like a dog.

'Bad Russell, bad. You have be nice to the fans. Be a good boy and I'll take you for a walkie.'

Depends on the medium. Aaron Sorkin treated his online West Wing fandom like shit at times, but he's Aaron fucking Sorkin...oh wait, he did get fired eventually. Never mind. heh

Haha... There is something to be said for being nice to your fans. I do hate it when writers pander to their fans though. Not every male and female lead has to get together because the fans want it.

Everyone needs someone who will say 'no' to them when they go too far into the realm of stupidity. I think that, in the days of free flowing funds, the only person likely to do such a thing to RTD was, theoretically, Gardner (whose job it was), and she was the other toddler happily playing in the RTD sandbox.

I have to wonder if, having got wind of the massive downsizing coming down the road in BBC world, RTD didn't decide to try to fish in (to his mind) a richer pond.

I will always believe he has no concept of how US television is so fundamentally different in both process and funding - otherwise, no one hoping to present himself as a attractive option could so spectacularly miss the concept that ratings here mean everything, and you don't get to sniff at the little people without dire consequences for your career and your bank accounts.

Okay, I'm going to be realistic here, and weigh a few things...

Well, first, RTD has shown that he can rake in the money, so he did earn the right for that creative control in the world of the BBC. What he did with it, and how he treated viewers, is another story. I agree that Gardner seemed to have dropped the ball at some point, and I'm not sure about rumors of Tranter's iron fist really mean anything since her best shows got shittier as she moved up the ladder.

I should clarify that RTD is supposedly still with BBC Wolrdwide. Tranter and Gardner just rule from LA, and they supposedly have him on "retainer" of sorts, so not yet gunning for American TV. I'm just guessing that Tranter, Gardner and RTD took this gig in the hopes of all of them making the leap. I'm betting Tranter has shot because ruthlessness is rewarded over here...at first. This means they'll get their American TV pilots, and probably get one picked up. There is just no way they'd be able to keep it afloat if they ran things like they did DW. I don't really believe that over the course of US TV show he could maintain things. Even with shorter cable runs. He has weaknesses that are exactly the kind of things that can turn off viewers over time. Unless he's tries with a sitcom...then Tranter would still have to be able to stay in check. He would need the Gardner or Tranter buffer to make it work.

Also, it's not ratings in the US. That's a misunderstanding. It's advertising revenue. You could be middle of the road ratings wise and be raking it in with ad rates because you have a small budget. You'd be in a better position than the number one show on television if that show has a huge budget, isn't near syndication, and can't cover the ad rates. That's how top 10 shows get canceled, and middling shows last for ages. It happens more often than people realize. Ratings is second, and even then it's timeslot averages and 18-34s, and not overall ratings.

Plus, everything is run by the networks now. Almost all TV shows are funded in some way by the network itself, so they have a lot more say. He's used to a different kind of network, and I'm anxious to see if he can adapt. Good showrunners know who to cajole to keep the right people off their backs. I'm not sure RTD has that, and the question then comes down to Gardner, Tranter, or whoever chooses to get into bed with him. Will another producer put up with him? I think they'd give him a shot based on his money making record. How long could he go before he crashes and burns, or could he find a way to stay afloat with oddball projects? That's the real question.

When Gardner moved it was clear she was working for the BBC still. When Davies moved him still working for the BBC didn't get mentioned and the move seemed to be reported as a shock to them.

Do you think he had the 'retainer' with the BBC over there before he moved?

That's exactly what I'm saying - the viewers matter exactly because they determine the revenue streams. Ratings (with the demographics factored in) are what drives revenue and that is a very, very different model from the one RTD is familiar with. There isn't the BBC charter of serving the public and there certainly isn't anything like advertiser pressure.

It's a radically different business model in the US. He's used to being someone with a great deal of cachet, and while it may get him a head start over here, he's going to have to learn the different rules and quickly.

I like to think Jack's very good at compartmentalizing.

The main thing I don't understand is whether we, as an audience, and Russell, as a writer, are perceiving this as a good thing or as a bad thing. It seems to be a virtue one day and a problem the next.

I'm angry about Donna's head.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Haha SPOILERS DON'T READ

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject