I Can't Believe It...

[D'Snowth]

You know something? All this time I thought Dr. Phil, Oprah Winfrey, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O'Brien, and Craig Ferguson's shows were all UNscripted!

*Puts on a "DUNCE" hat*

 

[MrsPepper]

**Pats D'Snowth on the head** Good on you, mate.

Alot of interviews have questions written ahead of time and practiced before filmed, and most things on those shows are scripted. Of course with comedians they are going to ad-lib once in awhile, but they have dozens of writers on those shows (ever watch the Emmy's and seen the giant list of names for those categories?).

 

[D'Snowth]

Well, you know, you'd think TALK SHOWS would be "on-the-spot"... I mean... that only SEEMS logical, doesn't it? I mean, I know things like Saturday Night Live and Who's Line Is It Anyway? are scripted, but you'd think talk shows would be unscripted.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Talk shows and reality shows seem real on the surface. In reality (heh), they are heavily edited and manipulated to appear certain ways. And this becomes very evident the more you watch them. You aren't seeing everything the host or subject said throughout the taping, just the things they chose to show you. They're ultimately there for entertainment. Even with standard interviews on regular shows, they often ask the subject to repeat their answers a few times in order to get the best take.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

Yeah. Talk show are the first thing to go with this writers strike.

Speaking or writers, My brother was telling me about How Nickelodeon fired all their writers in 2002. They got rid of them as soon as they tried to join a waiters union. What happens is when a show re airs, the producers and actors get five dollar residual checks, and their writers ask for the same five dollars. They we're fired and replaced with cheaper wrights as a result. Now Nickelodeon brings in ten billion annually for Viacom.(some of the sponge Bob writes were let go) But do you know how much Their saving each year by not having to pay these writes? exactly fifty thousand a year by doing so. The funny part is is that Nickelodeon called Disney, The WB and I think maybe cartoon network or somebody like that the told them not to hire any of these people who they got rid of. I mean you have to be in a union to protect yourself against big cooperations like that so things like that can't happen.So this writers strike has it down side and it's up side. I mean a lot of people will be out of work for a while, but over all it will be better for everybody involved.

On a side note, Sponge bob brings in 1.5 billion for Nick by itself. Blues Clues brings then 2 billion annually. And Dora has brought in over 2.5 billion+ in the past five years and counting. Just some of where all the money is counting from.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Speaking or writers, My brother was telling me about How Nickelodeon fired all their writers in 2002. They got rid of them as soon as they tried to join a waiters union.

Heh, you know that explains a lot...

 

[Ilikemuppets]

Heh, you know that explains a lot...

I was thinking the same thing. LOL!

 

[BeakerSqueedom]

I thought it was unscripted too...
Oh I feel so violated!

 

[Beauregard]

Certainly people like Craig Fergusan have scripts...although they deviate from them according to how the audience reacts. If there are interviews, many of the questions are forwarned otherwise TV would involve hosts of "ums" "ers" and "Eh?"s

 

[GelflingWaldo]

Well, you know, you'd think TALK SHOWS would be "on-the-spot"... I mean... that only SEEMS logical, doesn't it? I mean, I know things like Saturday Night Live and Who's Line Is It Anyway? are scripted, but you'd think talk shows would be unscripted.

The interview portions are usually unscripted (usually a list of questions prepared ahead of time), but all these introductions, monologues, comedy bits and other stuff are all scripted (to some degree). It is looser than a sitcom or drama in terms of scripting things, but there is still a writing staff which makes the show possible.