What’s been most surprising to you about what viewers have latched onto?
I knew that that culling in episode five was going to go down that way when we made the pilot. I knew that we were going to kill those people – that the call was going to come too late to save them. I had that point all along and that’s not the way I think most shows would have done it, certainly not most shows on broadcast television. So what’s been exciting for me is to see people’s reactions as they begin to get what we’re doing. People who love the show from the beginning, that’s great and I love good reviews any time I could get them, but I actually like the reviews better where people are like “I thought the show f---ing sucked, but now I love it!” That’s the best review because I brought that person back.
Was there a barrier you had to work against because it is on The CW, which has shows like The Vampire Diaries and Reign on its schedule?
For better or worse, The CW has a certain thing that they do and are known for. For better or worse, the sci-fi community – of which I consider myself a member – has a little bit of an attitude about it. It takes a while to win those people over. Once we got past episode two and into episode three, [when] we killed Wells, and into the hanging in four and the culling in five, that’s when we rounded the corner and figured out what it was going to be. I hope that the audience will build as people who watch The Walking Dead or watch Game of Thrones start to say, “There’s something interesting happening over here. Maybe we should give it a chance.”
Because it's on The CW, how did you strike that balance of having enough romance, along with the action?
There is a sort of affectation for romance on some of their shows and I work against that. I think that we probably did a little too much of that in the first couple of episodes and once we found the show, the show as it exists for me isn’t about that at all. I think there will be always be a soap storyline or romance, but it’ll never be about that. We found balance around episode four and five where that exists but it doesn’t overwhelm the story we’re telling; it exists in its proper place. I sometimes talk about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which is a pyramid – at the bottom is survival things, like do we have enough food, can we sleep safely at night here. When you’re worried about that kind of stuff, you’re not so worried about where the next person you’re sleeping with is or who’s sleeping with who. That’s the stuff that exists higher in the pyramid and we don’t get there in this show. It’s an action-adventure first and foremost; there are romance elements in it but I also say that Star Wars had a love triangle, Indiana Jones had a girlfriend. That’s where it exists for us, despite what some people on the Twitter would like.
I knew that that culling in episode five was going to go down that way when we made the pilot. I knew that we were going to kill those people – that the call was going to come too late to save them. I had that point all along and that’s not the way I think most shows would have done it, certainly not most shows on broadcast television. So what’s been exciting for me is to see people’s reactions as they begin to get what we’re doing. People who love the show from the beginning, that’s great and I love good reviews any time I could get them, but I actually like the reviews better where people are like “I thought the show f---ing sucked, but now I love it!” That’s the best review because I brought that person back.
Was there a barrier you had to work against because it is on The CW, which has shows like The Vampire Diaries and Reign on its schedule?
For better or worse, The CW has a certain thing that they do and are known for. For better or worse, the sci-fi community – of which I consider myself a member – has a little bit of an attitude about it. It takes a while to win those people over. Once we got past episode two and into episode three, [when] we killed Wells, and into the hanging in four and the culling in five, that’s when we rounded the corner and figured out what it was going to be. I hope that the audience will build as people who watch The Walking Dead or watch Game of Thrones start to say, “There’s something interesting happening over here. Maybe we should give it a chance.”
Because it's on The CW, how did you strike that balance of having enough romance, along with the action?
There is a sort of affectation for romance on some of their shows and I work against that. I think that we probably did a little too much of that in the first couple of episodes and once we found the show, the show as it exists for me isn’t about that at all. I think there will be always be a soap storyline or romance, but it’ll never be about that. We found balance around episode four and five where that exists but it doesn’t overwhelm the story we’re telling; it exists in its proper place. I sometimes talk about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which is a pyramid – at the bottom is survival things, like do we have enough food, can we sleep safely at night here. When you’re worried about that kind of stuff, you’re not so worried about where the next person you’re sleeping with is or who’s sleeping with who. That’s the stuff that exists higher in the pyramid and we don’t get there in this show. It’s an action-adventure first and foremost; there are romance elements in it but I also say that Star Wars had a love triangle, Indiana Jones had a girlfriend. That’s where it exists for us, despite what some people on the Twitter would like.
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The guy has got balls admitting that he doesn't like episodes of his own show, and even more so admit that he didn't like an episode he wrote himself! I
ReplyDeleteEpisode 8 was one of my favorites but I agree that it's great that he admits he doesn't like some of his work and will try to improve the show. It's nice to see a showrunner being so honest and admitting the shows flaws.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a breath of fresh air compared to other showrunners out there. He's got what it takes to really elevate the series as time passes, and I'm in it for the long haul with him.
ReplyDeleteGreat interview, great show! I like that he's not in it to give the fans what they want but he does want them satisfied if you know what I mean :P
ReplyDeleteLove the show even more after reading him talk about it! :)
such an honest person and a great creator of the show - I really like that he does not want to follow every word that the fans say, but also he's not being rude. (i'm sorry, but Julie Plec is always being rude and feeling superior to everybody else) I really like his position and thinking - always critical about his work, trying to improve - I guess that's way, as the actors pointed out in the interviews, everybody's on the show is working their butts off, this person just inspires them with his energy, enthusiasm and charisma. I hope he will get as many season of this show as he wants and i hope his career will be successful - maybe will produce a show on a more descent network. :) LIKE HBO.
ReplyDeleteNice interview, I happen to like the CW, so I don't mind the show being on it. I actually started watching it because I am a huge fan of Arrow. Never regretted to tune in.
ReplyDeleteAll first season struggle a bit with finding its true core, but so far I like all episodes but my favorites are 2-5 and now 10, which seems odd choices but I cannot help it. I would like to know if in between filming there had been major time break, because I think the tone of the show and the acting is different starting episode 6 (if Finn's haircut is any indication!?). Does anybody have any information on that? And when do they start actually filming season 2?
This guy is great in that he is humble and that he recognizes his mistakes. Episode 8 was a hit and miss, with very strong beats along the way and some very off beats, but as a whole a solid episode. When you write something and its just solid sometimes that's not enough, because you want everything to be amazing (it has happened to me while writing books) so I can understand his attitude towards the episode
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