With special guest-direction by Federico Fellini
Television isn’t much of a director’s medium. This is due to many factors, not the least of which being television’s need for uniformity and the production schedule being so tight. Still, we’re starting to see more and more episodes of our favorite shows being directed by some of the more prominent filmmakers (or perhaps more accurately, filmmakers with rabid fans).
Take this season of The Office. A few weeks back Harold Ramis (Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day) directed an episode. Last night Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly) was at the helm with J.J. Abrams to follow next week. Upon hearing this my initial reaction is always, “Oh yeah? Awesome!” or “Oh, that’s going to be so great!” Then I watch the episode, and yes, it’s frequently both awesome and great but it has absolutely nothing to do with the direction. Any competent filmmaker directing The Office lives and dies by the script and the performances of the cast.
Take for example, last night’s episode. What was I expecting? Should captain Mal have walked in, fired his laser gun, grabbed Pam and then run off to the parking lot where they board the Serenity and take off for worlds unknown? Hardly. Guest direction sounds like it’ll be loads of fun for us, but the truth is that it’s really just loads of fun for them.
February 16th, 2007 at 11:54 pm
There wasnt even a Firefly reference for crying out loud!!!
February 17th, 2007 at 2:35 am
Did you really expect there to be one?
April 19th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
[...] There have been Lost episodes with more mysteries revealed, or more action and suspense, or better cliffhangers, but for my money last night’s episode is about all you should ask for at this stage of the game. I’m giving the props to Mr. Brian K. Vaughan, who amongst other credits created the mostly-great comic book series Ex Machina (which imagines New York City being run by a guy who a superpower that lets him control machines). A few weeks ago I wrote about how television isn’t a director’s medium. It is, however, a writers medium, and I felt last night’s Lost proved this. [...]