Three Rivers - news, links, discussion - part 5

[darlingcat]

I too remember that Alex couldn't give blood because of his "low iron levels".
Sophia was turned down because of the mad cow disease scare in the UK!

And organs, mwj?

[mwj01]

And organs, mwj?

LOL! Oops! Once he does a PSA, I'm assuming I'll want to head straight to the nearest hospital to see if someone wants part of my liver.

[MSJ_sunglasses]

Yep, Sophia would not have been able to donate because of so called Mad Cow disease, the same reason I couldn't donate here (imho more to do with lawsuits). I was a blood donor in the UK for 15 years with no problems

[allegrita]

OK, first: about little green aliens and pretending the body is a motorcycle. Lord--you guys make me shriek with laughter sometimes. It's quite embarrassing!

OK... now that I've caught my breath--the ep of CSI:M, called "Smoke gets in your CSIs," involved a doctor who was doing illegal organ transplants in his basement. (Can you say, "unlikely for several reasons"?)

The major misconception that the DLH letter complained about was the suggestion that this type of thing happens in America. Although there are people in other countries doing illegal organ transplantation (and buying organs, such as kidneys, from poor people, thus exploiting people who already have horrible lives), this does not happen in America--at least it has never been documented. The Donate Life folks worry about this sort of thing because it tends to make people leery of being donors. (Another myth is that anyone with a donor notation on their driver's license is just going to be allowed to die if they go to the ER, because the hospital is itchin' to harvest those organs.)

As for the stunt hands, I'm not sure why they used them. Maybe because they wanted the surgeon's hands to look particularly skilled. And don't forget, even the most beautiful hands would be hidden inside double-layer rubber gloves during surgery, so we're not missing too much by not having Alex's actual hands in the surgery shots.

I agree that it's really exciting to think that CBS has so much faith in the show that they're building the sets! Fingers crossed...

[wpgrace]

I recall that Sophia couldn't give blood but I think it was an issue specific to UK citizens. I remember hearing that it was a medical thing (I guess iron level sounds right, unless that was speculation) for Alex not being able to give at the time and that Holly did donate at Paley. Alex sure made up for not being able to personally donate with the number of people who enthusiastically offered up their blood at his request! Next up: the organs!

Ah! Thanks! I for some reason thought I had read that no non-citizen could give blood, but I guess it's just the Brits then... tho I guess the vamps didn't discriminate...

[allegrita]

I don't think vamps can get Mad Cow...

...although that might explain some things about Leo...

[darlingcat]

The major misconception that the DLH letter complained about was the suggestion that this type of thing happens in America. Although there are people in other countries doing illegal organ transplantation (and buying organs, such as kidneys, from poor people, thus exploiting people who already have horrible lives), this does not happen in America--at least it has never been documented. The Donate Life folks worry about this sort of thing because it tends to make people leery of being donors. ..

There is a movie called "Dirty Pretty Things" that deals with illegal organ selling. Not the easiest to watch but great.

And Alle, exciting how CBS is behind the show
Poor Moonlight never had that....

[Moondiva]

Grace, what a poignant story...and yes, if Three Rivers helps raise awareness about organ donation and gives more people a chance at life, it will have succeeded in my eyes.

I wanted to post about the Donate Life Film Festival, which was held this weekend at the Directors Guild of America on Sunset Blvd. Lunalux and I went on Saturday, June 13th, and met up with a bunch of the SoCal Freshies group there. It was great to see them and I wish we could have spent more time, but my hubby and I had a gig last night and we had to go home soon after the panel ended, in order to get ready. We had a delicious buffet lunch before the panel, and had the opportunity to speak with one of the panelists, Krystal Houghton of CSI: Miami, who was sitting at our table.

After lunch we attended the panel, called "Make 'Em Laugh, Make 'Em Cry: How Organ Donation Storylines Cut Deep." The panel discussion was oriented toward the depiction of organ donation in the media, and how TV shows can do a better job of portraying transplantation accurately. The man who led the panel was from an organization called Donate Life Hollywood, which promotes awareness about organ donation, dispelling myths about organ donation and transplantation, and offering resources to film and TV productions.

The guests were Carol Barbee (executive producer of Three Rivers), Krystal Houghton (a writer-producer for CSI: Miami), and Lyla Oliver (a former writer and producer for Judging Amy and now a writer for Bones). Carol Barbee is Donate Life Hollywood's darling at the moment, since she worked with them closely and got most of the stuff right in their view... After doing an episode of CSI: Miami on the subject of transplantation, Krystal Houghton received a letter from Donate Life Hollywood, explaining that the show had perpetuated misinformation about the subject. She was asked to participate in the panel and agreed to do so in order to help find ways that writers and producers could do a better job in future shows on the subject. Lyla Oliver wrote an episode of Judging Amy that dealt with transplantation as well, and agreed to be part of the panel in order to help raise awareness of the issue and to give another perspective on the subject. (I think she's a friend of the panel moderator, too.)

We had been expecting to see the entire Three Rivers pilot, but unfortunately, they showed just a 4-minute preview. It showed some more footage than other previews we've seen, but not much more...sigh. It's hard to make any kind of judgment based on the short clips, but it looked pretty gripping to me. I have to say that I was extremely impressed with Carol Barbee's intelligence and thoughtfulness, and after hearing her speak, I have a lot of hope for the show. CBS certainly seems to have faith in it, as they are building hospital sets on the Paramount lot for the show. This was confirmed by Ms. Barbee during the Q&A. She also mentioned that, although the show is being reshot using the new sets and incorporating different actors, they are going to use the same script as before. (My impression: that doesn't mean that they won't tweak the script...I tend to believe the stuff that came out in the LA Times blog about them "warming up" the show by adding more characters and focusing more on the doctors' personal lives.) She said that the main reason they're reshooting is that since they had to use an actual hospital, the action, camera angles, etc., were constrained by space issues. The new sets will allow them more room, higher ceilings, etc. Carol Barbee mentioned that they had worked closely with Donate Life Hollywood and had also spent time at the Cleveland Clinic (where Dr. Gonzalo Gonzalez-Stawinski works) and with a Dr. Gorman at a clinic in Pittsburgh. Dr. Gorman is a consultant for the show and was in the audience. His hands were used as Alex's "stunt hands" for surgery scenes. (I have to say that I cringed when Carol Barbee pronounced Alex's last name "O'Lofflin"!!!! YEEKS! But Alex wasn't the focus of this panel, and I was proud of his fans for not standing up and yelling at her for her gaffe. Another time, she won't get off so easy, though....)

Most of the Q&A was related to the issue of organ donation and transplantation, since that was the subject of the panel. Another question regarded how to find a balance between accuracy and making a good story. Obviously, one-shots such as the episode of CSI: Miami can't put as much time into showing the true process of organ transplantation. That's why Three Rivers is so important to this organization--they see it as a way of bringing more accurate information to the public and also making it easier for people to choose to become donors (for example, by having their license marked). But even Three Rivers has to condense the process in order to make it work within the context of a story. It was interesting to hear the three panelists talk about how to fit the subject into different genres, such as cop shows or shows like Judging Amy, which had an episode that touched on the subject. Also, there is a long process going from story idea to script to producer to studio to network--and at every step changes can be made to the story that takes it away from the original focus that the writer had in mind. So there's only so much a writer can do to keep a story "on point" with the goals of an organization like Donate Life. All three writers agreed that sometimes, when you have a story you really love, you hesitate to bring it to a studio--because you know they are going to mess with it and it may very well turn out nearly unrecognizable. That was very interesting for me to hear...I hadn't really thought about it before. At least as a fanfic writer, I "own" my stories. Script writers? Not so much.

They talked about the fact that when you create a show, you have to create a world for the show to exist in. So you do a lot of research on that world. For the CSI shows, they work with police and work very hard to create labs, etc. For a show like Judging Amy, they visited many courts and also worked with social workers in order to get the feel right for the world they created. In Three Rivers, that world is the world of organ transplantation, so the producers have consulted with experts to help them portray the world believably, accurately, and still make a compelling show.

Another question involved possible future storylines for Three Rivers, as well as the other shows. One idea was that a donor's family might become unhealthily interested in the recipient, possibly going so far as to stalk them to make sure they "took care" of the donor's organ. (That one made the Donate Life people a little leery!) Another idea is to take the recent news stories about face transplants, and do a multi-episode arc about a person going through that long process.

Alex was nowhere to be seen, unfortunately. Oh well. It was fun anyway.

I acutally did get to see the entire pilot at a CBS upfront viewing in Phila and I can tell you that re vamping the show is absolutely necessary. Many potential advertisers were there and the general feeling was boredom...the only good thing was Alex and I do not say that entirely because of my love of Mick...but because it was true. Other people were overacting and the entire pilot is jumpy and unconnected. Actually I saw 4 shows and none of them got any positive response from the viewers. CBS may not have picked the best shows this season. ABC viewing was a much better response.

[Jade]

^ yep ABC does have a great lineup for next season i kind of which Alex was on a cable show or something more original not that there is nothing original on the other network but cable shows are usual the best because they don't have much boundaries and for this reason they actract the best writters/directors.

But i hope this turn out great for him.

[darlingcat]

I acutally did get to see the entire pilot at a CBS upfront viewing in Phila and I can tell you that re vamping the show is absolutely necessary. Many potential advertisers were there and the general feeling was boredom...the only good thing was Alex and I do not say that entirely because of my love of Mick...but because it was true. Other people were overacting and the entire pilot is jumpy and unconnected. Actually I saw 4 shows and none of them got any positive response from the viewers. CBS may not have picked the best shows this season. ABC viewing was a much better response.

Do you care to elaborate? Feel free to use the Spoiler warning

[nayp]

Just MOI, the show is being tweaked as we speak, let's leave Alex do his magic, and what happens, happens. As far as CBS and Alex, they have treated him well, I can understand why he stayed with this network. After last summer, I wanted to stay happy for a while. Like I said weeks ago, before TR was picked up, let's enjoy the good news before the bad news starts hitting us. I had no idea it would start before the series even started. So tell me again, why we should get involved with new shows? I am going for it one last time, I trust Alex and (bob forbid) CBS, even the other highly praised shows on other networks do not even come close to most CBS shows.

[wpgrace]

I acutally did get to see the entire pilot at a CBS upfront viewing in Phila and I can tell you that re vamping the show is absolutely necessary. Many potential advertisers were there and the general feeling was boredom...the only good thing was Alex and I do not say that entirely because of my love of Mick...but because it was true. Other people were overacting and the entire pilot is jumpy and unconnected. Actually I saw 4 shows and none of them got any positive response from the viewers. CBS may not have picked the best shows this season. ABC viewing was a much better response.

They can fix the pilot and make it better... they can, if they have good writers, write better scripts for other shows... not sure how you fix the over-acting... recasting?

But maybe the producers are taking these criticisms to heart and hopefully will fix the problems when they regather this summer to film the show...

And at least you're telling us that Alex was good... did the advertisers also like Alex? OR was that just you, Sweetie... which would be understandable...

[Moondiva]

I acutally did get to see the entire pilot at a CBS upfront viewing in Phila and I can tell you that re vamping the show is absolutely necessary. Many potential advertisers were there and the general feeling was boredom...the only good thing was Alex and I do not say that entirely because of my love of Mick...but because it was true. Other people were overacting and the entire pilot is jumpy and unconnected. Actually I saw 4 shows and none of them got any positive response from the viewers. CBS may not have picked the best shows this season. ABC viewing was a much better response.

They can fix the pilot and make it better... they can, if they have good writers, write better scripts for other shows... not sure how you fix the over-acting... recasting?

But maybe the producers are taking these criticisms to heart and hopefully will fix the problems when they regather this summer to film the show...

And at least you're telling us that Alex was good... did the advertisers also like Alex? OR was that just you, Sweetie... which would be understandable...

I think Jade did post my review earlier .. No the other advertisers did not praise Alex specifically. I tried to find out if any of them had seen Moonlight but of the ones I knew well enough to talk freely to ...noone had watched the show through a few did know about the fans attempts to save it. Although noone did point out Alex's good acting..his magnetism was very obvious...I do believe that the most important change is in the character development...that is now the weak link in the show...many advertisers compared it to Gray's Anatomy and felt that it lacked the charisma of that show. I have never watched Grays so I do not have a basis for comparison. I personally am not a good judge because I kept looking for "Mick" in this show and I realize that is not mean to be. I am glad there will be some tweaking ...I guess that's what these viewings are for.

[wpgrace]

I acutally did get to see the entire pilot at a CBS upfront viewing in Phila and I can tell you that re vamping the show is absolutely necessary. Many potential advertisers were there and the general feeling was boredom...the only good thing was Alex and I do not say that entirely because of my love of Mick...but because it was true. Other people were overacting and the entire pilot is jumpy and unconnected. Actually I saw 4 shows and none of them got any positive response from the viewers. CBS may not have picked the best shows this season. ABC viewing was a much better response.

They can fix the pilot and make it better... they can, if they have good writers, write better scripts for other shows... not sure how you fix the over-acting... recasting?

But maybe the producers are taking these criticisms to heart and hopefully will fix the problems when they regather this summer to film the show...

And at least you're telling us that Alex was good... did the advertisers also like Alex? OR was that just you, Sweetie... which would be understandable...

I think Jade did post my review earlier .. No the other advertisers did not praise Alex specifically. I tried to find out if any of them had seen Moonlight but of the ones I knew well enough to talk freely to ...noone had watched the show through a few did know about the fans attempts to save it. Although noone did point out Alex's good acting..his magnetism was very obvious...I do believe that the most important change is in the character development...that is now the weak link in the show...many advertisers compared it to Gray's Anatomy and felt that it lacked the charisma of that show. I have never watched Grays so I do not have a basis for comparison. I personally am not a good judge because I kept looking for "Mick" in this show and I realize that is not mean to be. I am glad there will be some tweaking ...I guess that's what these viewings are for.

Thank you!! Yeah, I guess they are... and if the producers take the critiques to heart, perhaps we'll end up with a good show... we can only hope for now, huh?

[darlingcat]

I would like to think that this group of advertisers was a tiny sample of the viewing audience.
I am hopeful that whatever changes are being made are for the best and we, and the critics, will be treated to a good show later.
I do watch GA but can't imagine Alex doing that kind of show.
As far as the other popular shows, I have to say I don't watch or like any of the ones considered as Top 20