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« Matt Roush's America's Next Producer Blog
Judges' Diary: Episode 3
The motto of this week's episode: Comedy is hard, but watching people make comedy can be even harder. Or not, depending.
I can feel this round is going to be different when I arrive at the stage, three days after the last elimination (the longest time between challenges yet), and find a laptop on a table in the judges' green room. David Hill and I meet our guest judge, Regency Television's classy president Robin Schwartz (whose company produced such comedy hits as Malcolm in the Middle and The Bernie Mac Show), and we're instructed to play a DVD with video performances of two very different stand-up acts. (We see what the contestants saw on their field trip to the M Bar comedy club.)
Major kudos, by the way, to Robin Schwartz for taking time away from one of the most intense periods of any TV year — the week before the network upfronts and schedule announcements in May — to help us out. In between camera set-ups, she's checking her Blackberry and returning calls, because she's only days away from hearing the fate of several shows her company is hoping to get on the fall schedule. (Two make it: Fox's New Amsterdam and Amy Sherman-Palladino's midseason comedy The Return of Jezebel James; ABC would later pass on a series version of the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith.)
So, after some initial gossip about what a tough year it's looking to be to get new comedies on the air, we gather around the laptop to see the comics in action, and we make our first impressions. Natasha Leggero, what a find. David Hill likens her to a new Rita Rudner. She's offbeat, absurd, completely winning. And then there's Brian Dunkleman, infamous for having dropped off the radar after co-hosting the first season of American Idol. His material isn't nearly as distinctive, but his hangdog self-deprecation is endearing.
We figure whichever team draws Natasha is the lucky one. We turn out to be wrong.
But then, look at the team Sharon has assembled: Zo and Evie, already mortal enemies! (As Zo said on camera, "What concentric circle of Hell is this?!") Poor Adam, the wannabe comedy writer, hardly stands a chance. "I should own this," he says. By the end, I'm thinking he probably wishes he could trade it in for a better model.
Schliz leads the team building a sitcom pitch around Brian Dunkleman, and it's clear his group (Daniel, Jessica and Gwen) runs much more smoothly. Good for Schliz to step up in what for him is alien (as in: scripted) territory.
What we discover in watching the producers' pieces is that while Natasha could well be a comic discovery waiting to happen, Brian's story makes for a much more coherent, and funnier, comedy presentation. From where we sit as judges, it looks as if Sharon's team took a sharp comedian and drained much of the humor out of her by trying to push the wacky comedy. Whereas Schliz's team milked the sad-sack situation of Dunkleman's act to the fullest.
Plus, we love Gwen's pitch. She's the youngest of the contestants, but she sure doesn't act it when time comes to step up. (Watching the episode, I see that she's just as strong when it came to pitching ideas about the show to her star.) Could this underdog become a front-runner?
Zo also comes into his own in this episode, for better or worse. While Sharon naps (one of many fatal flaws in lousy leadership this round), Zo steps up. He directs, and even takes on one of the acting parts, and is clearly good at what he does — except when it comes to collaboration. There, he's a bust, tearing his teammates down and shutting down others' ideas way too quickly, storming out of the editing room rather than consider compromising. (I admit I laughed when he said of Sharon: "Sweetheart, you got a future — just not in this business!")
For the judges, Nobody's Idol is a hit. Delusions of Grandeur is anything but. It's a painful loss for Adam, who takes pride in his comedy, and for Sharon, whose leadership is assailed on all fronts. I feel especially bad for Adam, but I can't stop myself here from quoting my fellow judge David Hill, who gets off one of his pithiest "Hill-isms" of the entire series in this episode: "I don't think he could sell fresh fish to hungry seals." Ouch! But ultimately, Adam gets another chance to prove himself, while we send Sharon home.
Final thoughts: In the first few weeks that America's Next Producer has been on the air, I've been in situations where I've had to defend our decision to keep Sharon on the show as long as we did. Reality shows like this often get accused of keeping questionable but controversial contestants around longer than they deserve because they make for good TV. In this case, I assure you there was no pressure from the producers or anyone to cut Sharon any slack whatsoever, regardless of her obvious (and to her fellow contestants, often maddening) eccentricities.
She survived the first week, barely, because hers wasn't the worst piece and because Brad couldn't keep his mouth shut at a critical time. In week two, she overcame a setback by becoming the star of her own reality show, and as bizarre as that spectacle was, we couldn't punish her for having produced something so startling and different. This week, Sharon was put to the leadership test, and not only didn't she deliver, she seemed to let her team and her star down.
It really wasn't much of a choice this time. But as we look at who's left standing, we can't help wondering who will step up next and who will collapse under the pressure.
Yes, comedy is hard. But reality? Absolutely surreal.
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Aug 1, 2007 9:33 PM
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If Sharon is as horrible a producer as you say she is why is her audition video the best one? It is the most creative, and the best produced. Matt all you know about Sharon is what you saw in those three times that she sat in front of you. It is rather shallow of you to judge her character and her performance so harshly. She is obviously a competent producer or she wouldn't have worked on some of the top rated shows in the business. Those people don't hire you if you are inept or incompetent or as crazy (excuse me, eccentric,as you put it. Which is just a fancy word for crazy!)
Isn't it interesting that you never saw Sharon the whole time she was on the show backstabbing or talking bad about anyone behind their back. It seemed to me the other contestants were passive aggressive and can't stand someone who is confident, frank and tells it like it is.
They seem to prefer to instead of talking with Sharon about the issues they had with her to talk behind her back and bad mouth her. Like Lindsay in the first show I never saw any place where they didn't get along but I kept seeing Lindsay say how she didn't like her partner etc. We never heard Sharon say anything about Lindsay.
When Sharon worked with those two girls on the reality show they seemed to all get a long fine. And it was Sharon's leadership and tenacity (from what I could see) that kept the team from breaking up and pushed them to stay together and to come up with a piece which turned out to be the winning piece. Her leadership ability and character also allowed Sharon to choose to work with someone and get along with some one she had a bad confrontation with the day before (Gwen). Now that is professionalism and should be commended if you ask me.
It is fine to say the bad Matt but please don't be one sided rarely is anyone black or white; there is always the gray.
You also said nothing about Evie in your blog and her behavior and her mouth!
But as I have been watching, it seems that every single team Evie has worked on she's attempted to take control of it and when she couldn't she bad mouthed them to death. Another thing I noticed about this show... not too many people are good at following the leader and anybody knows that the quickest way to get fired or get a bad rep in the TV business is not being able to follow the person who is your leader whether you like them or not.
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Aug 3, 2007 4:27 PM
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Thanks for keeping us updated on the happenings behind the scenes.
I, too, thought the team that drew Natasha was going to be the lucky one. Given what I saw, sending Sharon home was your only option. As collinloton indicates, I'm sure she's talented, but I have to admit, I wouldn't want to work with her. I was surprised she'd take a nap during the challenge given her obvious control-freak tendencies. It seems like winning last week went to her head.
I, for one, am glad Sharon is gone. She was difficult for me to watch. I'm also glad to see Gwen getting some recognition. I took a liking to her in the first week when she stood up to Sharon. While some might say that she needed to employ a little more tact, I say that Sharon probably wouldn't have been able to hear anything more polite.
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Aug 4, 2007 7:54 AM
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This show is a train wreck! Why don't the producers of this show just get a stadium like the did in the gladiator days and let the people come and watch the producers kill one another and their careers.
This thing with Evie and Zo is the last straw... no she is not the nicest person on the show... she talks about everyone behind their backs... But no woman deserves to be called a bitch and no one does anything about it. That is verbal and emotional abuse... but hey we don't care it gets ratings.
It is a shame that tv viewers, and THOSE WHO PRODUCE REALITY SHOWS are so hungry and thirsty for reality show blood that they sacrifice the reputations and the emotional well being of those on the show.
Has our society sunk this low... that our base desires rule us and cry out for television blood of those we have never even met??!!
It makes us feel good to hate some one, to put someone down for others to gang up on the one and for the tall poppy to be chopped down.
This is a shame
And the judges aren't much better-- do you actually consistently expect these people to believer challenge after challenge? It doesn't happen in real life it's certainly not going to happen in unrealistic challenges designed on purpose to create drama.
There is only so much the human body can take and as I view episode 7 sneak peak looks like these people were awaken in the middle of the night...
to do a challenge. How do you expect them to perform consistently
without the proper rest and rejuvenation time.
A little drama is fine it is fun to watch but please, please ANP pull back your claws you are beginning to bleed all over my tv set
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Aug 23, 2007 2:54 AM
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This show is a train wreck! Why don't the producers of this show just get a stadium like the did in the gladiator days and let the people come and watch the producers kill one another and their careers.
This thing with Evie and Zo is the last straw... no she is not the nicest person on the show... she talks about everyone behind their backs... But no woman deserves to be called a bitch and no one does anything about it. That is verbal and emotional abuse... but hey we don't care it gets ratings.
It is a shame that tv viewers, and THOSE WHO PRODUCE REALITY SHOWS are so hungry and thirsty for reality show blood that they sacrifice the reputations and the emotional well being of those on the show.
Has our society sunk this low... that our base desires rule us and cry out for television blood of those we have never even met??!!
It makes us feel good to hate some one, to put someone down for others to gang up on the one and for the tall poppy to be chopped down.
This is a shame
And the judges aren't much better-- do you actually consistently expect these people to believer challenge after challenge? It doesn't happen in real life it's certainly not going to happen in unrealistic challenges designed on purpose to create drama.
There is only so much the human body can take and as I view episode 7 sneak peak looks like these people were awaken in the middle of the night...
to do a challenge. How do you expect them to perform consistently
without the proper rest and rejuvenation time.
A little drama is fine it is fun to watch but please, please ANP pull back your claws you are beginning to bleed all over my tv set
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Aug 23, 2007 2:58 AM
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