Richard "Froonium Ricky" Manning

Element Froonium. Click for details.

I was channel-surfing with my obnoxiously precocious six-year-old niece Gabby (her full name is Gabrielle Callisto Aphrodite Zimbelman; she was conceived at a Xena convention) when we stumbled upon a rerun of Blaster Patrol. “My favorite show! Did you write this one, Uncle Ricky?”

“No, Gabby, I never worked on Blaster Patrol, more’s the pity.”

On the tube, Sam and Janet, the series leads, were being chased by evil alien Greebs and were simultaneously firing blasters and exchanging witty yet affectionate banter. “Sigh,” Gabby sighed, “they’re soooooooo in love. Are they married?”

“Sam and Janet? No, they never got married, even though, much to everyone’s amazement, the show ran for six seasons…”

“Not the characters, silly. The actors.”

“Oh. Yeah, she’s married. Third or fourth time; I can’t keep track. Him, he’ll never get married unless the father of the bride owns a shotgun.”

Gabby couldn’t fathom it. “But… they love each other… don’t they?”

“You kidding? When the camera’s not rolling, they can’t stand one another.” I omitted mentioning that she thought he was a lecherous drunk who couldn’t remember his lines, and he thought she was a ruthless, upstaging diva who despised television in general and sci-fi in particular.

Gabby’s lower lip quivered. She indicated Sam and Janet, who were celebrating their escape from the Greebs with much kissing and fondling. “Look at them. You’re wrong.”

“Honey, it’s all make-believe. They’re actors. They’re faking it.”

Her Bambi eyes clouded with doubt—but as Sam and Janet exchanged perfect loving gazes, her conviction returned. “Nuh-uh. Nobody could fake that.”

And there, I reflected, was the biggest reason why that otherwise unmemorable show had run for six years. Separately, the actors playing Sam and Janet had been no more than competent—but together, they had the most elusive and valuable commodity in show business: chemistry.

Continue reading ‘The Elements of Television’ »

“Thanks for the Memories”…

Fans keep me warm! Photo by Dizzy.

Since 2000, Creation Entertainment has hosted annual Farscape fan conventions.

What’s a “fan convention,” you might ask? Simply this:

An opportunity for the cast and crew to meet the fans! 

And the fans don’t just pose for photos and sign autographs. They put on costume shows, panel discussions, and talent exhibitions, and they show off their amazing vids, fanfic, and other artistic creations.

I recently attended what was billed as the “final” Farscape con (but I don’t believe it; when it comes to Farscape fans, nothing is ever “final”) and was going to write up a con report, but I thought I’d instead share a few happy snaps and memories from a dozen years of congoing.

Continue reading ‘Ricky’s Farscape CreationCon Report and Picspam’ »

88 episodes! 427 commentaries! 13,034 special features!

The Farscape Blu-Ray release is now on sale! And a thing of beauty it is indeed.

However… it’s not entirely complete. Alas, here are the top ten things that were (sadly) omitted from the box set:

10.) Original profanity-laden dialog tracks before Sci Fi made us replace everything with “frell” and “dren”

9.) Discarded early version of the pilot ep “Premiere” with Guy Pearce and Cate Blanchett as Crichton and Aeryn

8.) Shelved script for Farscape/Buffy/Xena/SG1 crossover episode; fanfic writer from whom we stole it threatened lawsuit

7.) Rejected costume design sketches: Aeryn’s muumuu, Rygel’s thong, Scorpius’s tutu, Crichton’s plaid T

6.) Never-aired Episode 89, a backdoor pilot for Scorpius/Natira/Furlow spinoff sitcom

5.) New commentary tracks that comment on the previous commentary tracks (“What? That’s a LIE!”)

4.) Video of rehearsals for aborted live show featuring costumed ice skaters (aka “Farscapades”)

3.) Three words: Muppet Sex Tape (aka “Hynerial Disease,” a very special Rygel episode)

2.) Brian, Rock, DK, Monj, Ben, Claude, and Ricky doing dramatic readings of selected fanfic

And the number one thing omitted from the Farscape Blu-Ray boxed set:

1.) “Jeremiah Crichton” (No, scratch that, it’s on there, but the vote was very close.)

Ricky mesmerizes a huge audience at the 2010 Farscape convention. Photo by Tina Gill.

A few random musings on attending and speaking at the 2010 Farscape Convention…

• Farscape has the Best Fandom Ever. Lunatics all, but charmingly so.
• The Los Angeles Right Under the LAX Approach Path Marriott Hotel has perhaps the worst public address system I’ve ever heard; my ears are still bleeding.
• Ben Browder is still pretty. And funny.
• Ditto Fran, only moreso.
• Public speaking is much more fun if you wing it entirely with little or no regard for the truth.
• When e’er my profession seems drab or burdensome, I have only to remember two words: writer groupies.
• Few people live up to the sobriquet raconteur as well as Jonathan Hardy.
• Did I mention that our fans are utterly crazy?
• Nobody holds a candle to Virginia Hey, because she makes her own.
• A Farscape con is the one place on Earth where I can’t say “I’ll be easy to spot because I’ll be wearing a Mambo Loud Shirt.”
• ETA: Thanks for the happy snap, Tina!

Gloria Stuart visits her cork bark elm at the bonsai collection of the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens, January 2010

On September 26th, 2010, actress, book artist, painter, and bonsai artist Gloria Stuart passed away in her West L.A. home.

The oldest performer ever to be nominated for an Academy Award (for her portrayal of Old Rose in 1997′s Titanic), Gloria had celebrated her 100th birthday on July 4, 2010 with 130 friends and family at a party and retrospective hosted by James Cameron and Suzy Amis Cameron. Guests enjoyed more than two dozen of Gloria’s oil paintings, several of her handmade books, and two of her bonsai.

On July 22, Gloria attended a Centennial Celebration of her career by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; she was also honored by the Screen Actors Guild for her 70-year membership and service. In August, the southern California bonsai community gave Gloria another birthday celebration at the Huntington Library and Gardens; four of her trees were on display.

Even in her hundredth year, Gloria’s enthusiasm for life was contagious; she always kept her sense of wonder, always lit up with childlike joy when encountering something new or beautiful, always exhibited a strong and ribald sense of humor. She was a delight to be near; would that we all could grow so old, yet remain so young.

Thanks to overwhelming popular demand (okay, moderately whelming popular demand), I am once again teaching a UCLA Extension Writers’ Program course entitled “Beginning Writing for the One-Hour Drama: Building the Story and the Outline” for Summer Quarter 2010! The class meets for ten weeks, 7pm  to 10pm on Tuesdays, from July 6 through September 7 on the picaresque UCLA campus in Westwood.

For the official course description (or to enroll!), go to this UCLA Extension page (or click on the above banner)… but here’s the unofficial course description: (up to) twenty students each choose a current one-hour TV drama for which they’d like to write a “spec” episode. I whip them guide them through the process of developing episode ideas into story synopses, basic “beat sheets”, and full outlines. Along the way, students pitch their ideas in class for notes and feedback… and also form small “writing staffs” to help each other brainstorm and “break” their stories on a whiteboard, the same way professional TV writers’ rooms work. At the end of the ten weeks, each student should have a solid 12 to 15-page story outline that’s all set to be expanded into a spec teleplay.

(And… early heads-up… I’ll be teaching the followup course, “Writing the One-Hour Drama Script”, during the Fall Quarter, taking students from outline to teleplay!)

EDITED 11 Jan 2010 to add: Good heavens, the class roster is actually full!

(Click the banner below to check if any slots have opened up… or to get on the wait list.)

No, it’s not an Indiana Jones ripoff, it’s an actual UCLA Extension Writers’ Program course entitled – take a deep breath – “Beginning Writing for the One-Hour Drama: Building the Story and the Outline”… and I’ll be teaching it in the upcoming Winter Quarter 2010. The class meets for ten weeks, 7pm  to 10pm on Thursdays, from January 14 through March 18 on the idyllic UCLA campus in Westwood.

You can check out this UCLA Extension page (or click on the above banner) for the official course description (and enrollment info), but here’s the course in a nutshell: (up to) twenty unsuspecting students each choose a current one-hour TV drama for which they’d like to write a “spec” episode. I whip them guide them through the process of developing episode ideas into story synopses, basic “beat sheets”, and full outlines. Along the way, students pitch their ideas in class for notes and feedback… and also form small “writing staffs” to help each other brainstorm and “break” their stories on a whiteboard, the same way professional TV writers’ rooms work. At the end of the ten weeks, each student should have a solid 12 to 15-page story outline that’s all set to be expanded into a spec teleplay.

(Had our innocent Mary Sue from my previous post taken this class, she’d've known everything there is to know (well, more or less) about the Process of Professional TV Scriptwriting before ever setting foot in the Space Slayers writers’ room…)

Actual whiteboard from FARSCAPE "Season of Death"

Picture, if you will, perky young Mary Sue, an aspiring TV writer who’s celebrating her first sale. She pitched a dozen ideas to veteran genre-TV producer Sam Showrunner for his new series Space Slayers, in which a ragtag team of teenage misfits travels the galaxy and battles alien mutants. But Mary Sue’s enthusiasm will soon be tested; she has no idea what terrors await in… The Writers’ Room.

Mary Sue’s successful pitch:“Griff and Angela [the series leads] must mind-link with K’Vax [their sentient, female, wisecracking spaceship] after a radioactive nebula erases K’Vax’s memories.”

There was more to her pitch – such as the mind-link forcing the aloof Griff and Angela to confront their true feelings about one another – but Mary Sue never got that far; Sam had interrupted. “Good hook, but amnesia’s soft. Needs more jeopardy. Hey! What if the nebula turns K’Vax evil? And she tries to kill everybody on board! So it’s dangerous for Griff and Angela to go into her mind; they might never come out. Terrific pitch! Sold!”

Mary Sue was ecstatic. “Great! I’ll write up an outline –”

“We don’t do outlines. We – me and the writing staff – break all our stories in the room. Once we get the structure down, you go off and write the script. Come in Tuesday at nine. Bring in a beat sheet. Not an outline, just the big moves. Some rough act breaks. Keep it simple. One page, tops, just to get things started.”

And so it begins…

Continue reading ‘Tales from the Writers’ Room’ »

Chris Wheeler in the FARSCAPE writers room, 2001

Just heard that Australian writer Chris Wheeler, story consultant on Farscape and writer of the episode “I Shrink, Therefore I Am”, died this week, apparently from a heart attack.

Talented, funny, hard working, friendly, great to work with, and definitely One of the Good Guys. He’ll be missed.

ETA 7 Aug: Obituary has been posted by the Sydney Morning Herald.

Case in point. Froonium isn't proto-nuclear.

Science quiz! Which of these is the least scientifically plausible?

1. An alien species can project heat rays that can fry humans dead… or serve as a powerful truth serum.
2. A society has developed a liquid “litmus test”: just dab a drop on your lips and kiss someone. If the kiss tastes sweet, your DNA is compatible for having healthy children.
3. They’ve also got technology that can turn people into metallic statues… and back again. While you’re a statue, you remain fully conscious, you can see and hear just fine, and you don’t age. If your statue’s head is lasered off, it can be reattached with no ill effects.
4. A human wearing no protective gear jumps out of a spaceship in orbit, spends a minute in vacuum… and survives.

If you answered #4, you’re not alone… but you’re incorrect. All the above are from Farscape‘s “Look at the Princess” trilogy of episodes, to which a lot of viewers reacted “No way! That just couldn’t happen!” And they weren’t talking about #1 or #2 or #3… few even blinked at those. No, it was #4 that got people flustered.

(Well, okay, some of our fans were far more perturbed that our hero had sex with someone other than our heroine… but that’s a different discussion entirely.)

Everybody “knows” you can’t survive in outer space. But as it happens, #4 was one time – possibly the only time – that Farscape got its science more or less right. Humans exposed to vacuum do not promptly blow up like balloons and explode. Their eyeballs don’t pop, their blood doesn’t boil, nor do they instantly freeze solid. In fact, according to NASA, if you don’t try to hold your breath, half a minute or so of vacuum exposure won’t damage you permanently.

So why could viewers accept “truth rays” and living statues and DNA kiss tests, but not a suitless space walk? Because what’s true is rarely what’s believable.
Continue reading ‘Blinded by Science (Fiction)’ »