Coming into the home stretch. Writing 211, prepping 210, filming 209, editing 207, mixing 206.
This is that time of year where the story road gets very narrow. All the narratives start to intertwine and come to a head. It's been a tough season for all our characters -- emotionally and physically. I think it will be very satisfying for the loyal fans and hopefully intriguing enough to attract new viewers. The finale (which might be 90 minutes) will be pure BLOODY fun.
The premier episode, Albification, went out to critics. I'm already hearing buzz about the "horrifying event" that happens to one of the crew. Jennifer Godwin, over at E-online wondered if it would turn away fans. I'd say it'll rock folks a bit, in a good way, but if they stick around, they'll see that it wasn't gratuitous and that it indeed fuels the emotional engine of the season.
FX has their TCA panel this week -- Television Critics Association. Charlie, Ron, Katey, Maggie, Henry Rollins, Adam Arkin and myself will do a Q & A for critics about the upcoming season. Then critics will get the next four episodes to review.
I have to say, getting reviewed is such a mind-fuck. I try to stay detached -- not take the bad ones personal, not be over-satisfied with the good ones -- but man, it's difficult. Not sure how others handle it, but I hate the fact that I'm deeply impacted by the opinions of others. Some of it is human nature, some of it is my emotional immaturity. The truth is there are so many variables that dictate the tone of a review, that only an idiot would take them to heart.
So here I sit, the idiot. Let the mind-fucking begin. More to come...
Saturday, August 01, 2009
SEASON TWO UPDATE
Coming into the home stretch. Writing 211, prepping 210, filming 209, editing 207, mixing 206.
This is that time of year where the story road gets very narrow. All the narratives start to intertwine and come to a head. It's been a tough season for all our characters -- emotionally and physically. I think it will be very satisfying for the loyal fans and hopefully intriguing enough to attract new viewers. The finale (which might be 90 minutes) will be pure BLOODY fun.
The premier episode, Albification, went out to critics. I'm already hearing buzz about the "horrifying event" that happens to one of the crew. Jennifer Godwin, over at E-online wondered if it would turn away fans. I'd say it'll rock folks a bit, in a good way, but if they stick around, they'll see that it wasn't gratuitous and that it indeed fuels the emotional engine of the season.
FX has their TCA panel this week -- Television Critics Association. Charlie, Ron, Katey, Maggie, Henry Rollins, Adam Arkin and myself will do a Q & A for critics about the upcoming season. Then critics will get the next four episodes to review.
I have to say, getting reviewed is such a mind-fuck. I try to stay detached -- not take the bad ones personal, not be over-satisfied with the good ones -- but man, it's difficult. Not sure how others handle it, but I hate the fact that I'm deeply impacted by the opinions of others. Some of it is human nature, some of it is my emotional immaturity. The truth is there are so many variables that dictate the tone of a review, that only an idiot would take them to heart.
So here I sit, the idiot. Let the mind-fucking begin. More to come...
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20 comments:
I can't fucking wait. One of the few times a year I'm envious of critics.
Is it September yet?
Hell ya, sure it will be FUCKIN Great.
All the best,
Andre
Rio de Janeiro
90 minutes finale? cool!
J'arrête pas de le dire mais franchement vivement que la saison 2 arrive, marre des séries qu'on nous diffuse en France, Sons Of Anarchy est vraiment super et j'espère bientôt pouvoir la visionner sur nos télés en France.
Hell man, all they have is the first part of the first act right? You can't have a clear picture until you've seen the whole thing; well so long as the story holds together, but lack of cohesiveness is not an issue for you from what I can tell.
2+ weeks for the video release of season 1 which I am fully planning a generous re-watching of.
Sons of Anarchy is, in my opinion, on par with The Sopranos. The acting is fantastic as is the story. Charlie Hunnam is a fantastic actor to watch and Charming feels like a real place. The story is put together so well that you feel like Charming actually exists and the Sons of Anarchy is truly a family. Bad review or good review, it is ultimately up to the viewers to decide how good the show is, and so far you've got a lot of them with you. If season 2 has the quality of season 1, then you've got nothing to worry about. Keep up the good work, you've made a fantastic show.
AllI can say is last night I started watching episodes from last season.....I cant wait for the new season to start.
There are only 2 reasons to get insulted from critics:
1. If they touched a real vulnerable spot
2. If they write from pure evil, so the critic is irrelevant.
Stop killing them, Donna was enough!
Talk philosophy about Sam crow as a metaphor for the economic situation, USA today and the new flu, that should satisfy the critics.
Good luck!
"I hate the fact that I'm deeply impacted by the opinions of others" ...
I get what you're saying, but seriously, for your own good, you need to accept the futility of that thinking. You wouldn't be a person whose life-work is about communicating richly and imaginatively with others if you weren't deeply impacted by the reciprocity of that process. You're a communicator, a story-teller - you're invested and connected - feeling, projecting and caring about what others think is the flip-side of your work. There's really not much percentage in blaming yourself and calling yourself an immature idiot for the flip side of your gifts. Be grateful for one side and forgiving of the other - it's the price you pay for the goods.
I deal with this in my own, much smaller, world and I pretty much suck at it. I'm a wormy, irrational knot of mixed emotions about scrutiny and assessment. You know it's subjective and as much or more about the reviewer than it is about you, but that only goes so far. The real sticking point is that there's really no way around the fact that it feels personal if contempt flavors it at all -- no matter what the back-story variables you know nothing about. Snarky, cutting, or dismissive writing hits below the belt, intentional or not. How's that not going to sting? Who lives in that kind of vacuum? No one worth listening to, and you're worth listening to.
You may well be an emotionally immature idiot, obviously I wouldn't know. :) But, not on this score. Just my opinion of course, and I'm not sure why I felt moved to say any of this to a stranger who puts out a TV show I like, but there you go ...
Oh, was surprised to see episodes of SOA airing on FX late last night and into the wee hours. That's what made me check your blog today. Are they going to re-play the first season in a run up to the second?
I just discovered the show over the weekend. I saw that Ryan Hurst was in it, and being a big fan of his, I had to watch. Got completely sucked in and stayed up to the wee hours of the morning watching a few episodes on FX. I'm still trying to catch up on Season One, but I'm already looking forward to Two!
Hi Kurt, I think that if you are so impacted about what the critics could say, it's only because you love your job and because SoA is like your Baby. No ones likes that someone touches his baby. You're making a great job and we are all behind you !!!
Ludo from http://www.sonsofanarchyfrance.net
jesus fucking christ, I just read about the emmys trying to shit on the writers by not allowing them to receive their awards live.
More power to you Kurt for signing the letter to ATAS. You know, primacy might be too big a word for them. Just saying....
It is interesting to note that from all the internet tv stalking I do, which is not that much truth be known, that your fans appear way more literate than most. You should take that to heart.
Do not even think about the critics until you write the last 90minutes, they will only shrink your brain.
I accidentally stumbled into Charming last weekend. I've had a rough summer and, though I love all of the high quality cable dramas already on my watch-list, I was feeling restless for something new.
It's been five days and I just fininshed the first season for the third time. I've never done this before. I'm usually more of a grazer when it comes to television. But Charming, the Sons, and Jax have pulled me in forever.
I joke with my co-workers that I'll never be able to love anyone again because my true love is a fictional man named Jax.
But it's more than that. The quality of the writing, filming, and acting are sensational. I'm constantly amazed by the depth and range of emotions portrayed by each character. Their complexity is astounding. I've always been a fan of bood/bad characters, bandit films and the like. And, more often than not, I'm caught rooting for the "bad" guy because he's so much better than the good ones.
Thank you for this. What a treat.
Thanks for the heads up- but to tell you the truth I don't want the series to have a finale and go for 'x' number of seasons!
But you're the creator and I'll be damned if I will critique a industry I know very little about.
I'll drink in every sentence, phrase, and action.
Thank you again for bringing this series to life.
Like everyone, I'm pysched about the upcoming second season of SoA. This show is one of my alltime favorites and I've watched a helluva lot of TV over the last four decades. Season One of SoA was so awesome, it re-ignited a long dormant urge to learn how to ride a motorcycle and earlier this summer I did just that and am now a licensed rider. Thanks Kurt & Kompany!
One thing that I would love to have with Season Two would be a weekly series of audio podcasts to coincide with the broadcast of each episode. I've been listening to the "Breaking Bad" podcasts from this past season of that series and it's really interesting hearing the producer, editors, writers and actors talk about what went into making each episode and the challenges that caused changes in the scripts etc.
Now that the taping of Season Two is nearing an end I'd be curious to know if things have gone along the path that Kurt envisioned for these episodes.
ALL THANKS to everyone involved with Sons of Anarchy for such an awesome TV show. Cheers!
Just saw a new promo for season 2! It kicks ass. Whoever is doing those this season is earning their money.
This season looks like it will be AMAZING, Cant wait brother. Do you have any names for the episodes yet?
Great Work! Love season one, looking forward to season two. I know some of those guys that you portray in the characters. Keep up the good work. And DO NOT let critics bust your balls. Pigdog
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