chuck fans continue to outdo themselves. love it
esp this comment: http://chuckthisblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/17/journeys-and-stories-and-plots-oh-my/#comment-22829
The “Chuck” story begins, as Chuck’s story and Sarah’s story converge and begin to entertwine. (These are the stories I see. Others may disagree.) The story is about two people whose past has robbed them of their future. One is the story of a guy who was meant to be a hero but is living a mediocre life in a dead-end job. The other is the story of a beautiful, smart, acomplished woman whose life is filled with excitement and adventure but lacks the roots and companionship, the love and warmth she secretly desires. They become embroiled in the same plot. As they respond to their shared circumstances and to each other, it becomes clear that each is vital to the other’s story. She recognizes and encourages the hero in the guy. He loves the woman and stirs in her the lost hope that she can have a real life of love and belonging. Each one becomes an integral part of the others journey, until we can’t shake the feeling that they are bound for a shared destination. At the end of S2, the destination was in sight. Then came Pink Slip … uh, hello, we woke up in a different story … on a different loom. OK, but it sure felt that way. It was like TPTB totally forgot that Chuck’s and Sarah’s stories were inextricably entwined and interdependent.
What should happen when your characters reach their shared destination? Just like life, each destination becomes the trailhead of the next story. How I met my husband and fell in love is just part of my/our story. There’s lots more after that. So, if someone asks how we met, I tell that story. If they ask what happened next, I tell the next part of the story. The story Schwedak told didn’t feel like the next part of the story. It felt like a bad rewrite of the story that had already been told, with alien-replacements standing in for the characters we had come to know and love. (In my mind, a better alternative for what should have come next would have been a courtship arc with our two leads communicating on more intimate levels, working through hurdles and issues, and continuing to help each other fulfill their objectives and desires.)
So, why is it so hard for TV story tellers to tell the next story? In part, I think it’s because they’ve taken the 2-hr-movie, romantic-comedy paradigm and imposed it on a TV series. It’s fine for a season, but then its time to tell the next story, something that romantic comedy movies don’t do. To tell the next story, you have to dig deeper … wrestle with relationship shifts and new directions.
The good news is that season 4 looks like it will do just that. Chuck and Sarah are together and will have different sorts of challenges. He has become the hero he was meant to be. She has found love and belonging. That was the beginning … the requirement for their continuing journey. Now, they are ready for even greater adventures. From now on their relationship (its passion, love & commitment) should be the strength of their journey rather than its destination. I’m ready for lots more Chuck and Sarah adventures. May their journey be long and satisfying!
Oops got a little long …again.
by thinkling September 18, 2010 at 10:53 pm
also, i will believe: http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/09/22/chuck-highlighted-as-one-of-the-brands-in-an-integrated-comcast-nbc-universal/64673
The “Chuck” story begins, as Chuck’s story and Sarah’s story converge and begin to entertwine. (These are the stories I see. Others may disagree.) The story is about two people whose past has robbed them of their future. One is the story of a guy who was meant to be a hero but is living a mediocre life in a dead-end job. The other is the story of a beautiful, smart, acomplished woman whose life is filled with excitement and adventure but lacks the roots and companionship, the love and warmth she secretly desires. They become embroiled in the same plot. As they respond to their shared circumstances and to each other, it becomes clear that each is vital to the other’s story. She recognizes and encourages the hero in the guy. He loves the woman and stirs in her the lost hope that she can have a real life of love and belonging. Each one becomes an integral part of the others journey, until we can’t shake the feeling that they are bound for a shared destination. At the end of S2, the destination was in sight. Then came Pink Slip … uh, hello, we woke up in a different story … on a different loom. OK, but it sure felt that way. It was like TPTB totally forgot that Chuck’s and Sarah’s stories were inextricably entwined and interdependent.
What should happen when your characters reach their shared destination? Just like life, each destination becomes the trailhead of the next story. How I met my husband and fell in love is just part of my/our story. There’s lots more after that. So, if someone asks how we met, I tell that story. If they ask what happened next, I tell the next part of the story. The story Schwedak told didn’t feel like the next part of the story. It felt like a bad rewrite of the story that had already been told, with alien-replacements standing in for the characters we had come to know and love. (In my mind, a better alternative for what should have come next would have been a courtship arc with our two leads communicating on more intimate levels, working through hurdles and issues, and continuing to help each other fulfill their objectives and desires.)
So, why is it so hard for TV story tellers to tell the next story? In part, I think it’s because they’ve taken the 2-hr-movie, romantic-comedy paradigm and imposed it on a TV series. It’s fine for a season, but then its time to tell the next story, something that romantic comedy movies don’t do. To tell the next story, you have to dig deeper … wrestle with relationship shifts and new directions.
The good news is that season 4 looks like it will do just that. Chuck and Sarah are together and will have different sorts of challenges. He has become the hero he was meant to be. She has found love and belonging. That was the beginning … the requirement for their continuing journey. Now, they are ready for even greater adventures. From now on their relationship (its passion, love & commitment) should be the strength of their journey rather than its destination. I’m ready for lots more Chuck and Sarah adventures. May their journey be long and satisfying!
Oops got a little long …again.
by thinkling September 18, 2010 at 10:53 pm
also, i will believe: http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/09/22/chuck-highlighted-as-one-of-the-brands-in-an-integrated-comcast-nbc-universal/64673
posted by steph at
5:15:00 PM
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