Also, "Nightline's" turnaround and why Chris Titus is looking so buff.
You'd think that after three seasons on “The Shield,” one of the most
testosterone-charged shows on television, doing a show about four women
who solve crimes would be a real change of pace for Elizabeth
Craft and Sarah
Fain.
But that's not how the Pembroke Hill grads and longtime writer-collaborators see it.
“It's the weirdest thing,” said Fain. “The guys on 'The Shield,' although they're very manly, in some ways they're girls.”
“They're going to love to hear that,” Craft said.
“I know,” said Fain, and they both laughed. “Sorry, guys. But, they're constantly talking about emotional things on that show. 'The Shield' is both a (crime) procedural and it's personal.”
“I realize more now than I did when we were conceiving the show,” added Craft, “that we were taking the 'Shield' model and making it, you know, women and ABC.”
And the show that resulted was “Women's Murder Club,” based on the popular series of novels by James Patterson. Serving as head writers and producers on the show, which debuts 8 p.m. Oct. 12 on ABC, is a career high-water mark for Craft and Fain. They broke into prime time writing for “Glory Days” and “Angel,” two shows on the old WB network, before getting onto “The Shield” by showing they could write tough with a spec script for the sadistic HBO prison drama “Oz.”
“Women's Murder Club” stars Angie Harmon as Lt. Lindsay Boxer, San Francisco P.D., who solves homicides with help from her friends: Claire the medical examiner (Paula Newsome), Jill the assistant D.A. (Laura Harris) and Cindy, a cops-and-courts reporter (Aubrey Dollar).
The show has softer music and, obviously, more estrogen than “The Shield,” but the idea is basically the same: for every “procedural beat” (a moment in the script that advances the crime story) there must be a “character beat” where the viewer sees a personal connection between two or more people on the show. That's why there's an almost instant intensity between Harmon's character and the others that she never achieved in her years on “Law & Order.”
“The reason this material spoke to us was we're two women who are best friends who have worked together for many years,” said Craft. “We relate to these women, even though they're solving murders and we're writing television.”
Craft and Fain got a surprise vote of support this week from the head of ABC entertainment, Stephen McPherson. Asked by a TV critic why he'd scheduled “Women's Murder Club” on Fridays -- historically a difficult night to scare up viewers -- McPherson said, “I don't know that it will end up staying on Friday night ... I think 'Women's Murder Club" can work for us at 9 and 10 p.m. (Eastern time) across our schedule. We're excited about the possibilities.”
***
You may recall that Martin Bashir, the British journalist who forms one third of the post-Ted Koppel anchor trio on “Nightline,” reported that uncomfortably up-close-and-personal documentary about Michael Jackson that aired, to huge ratings, on ABC. (To this day I can't forget that image of Bashir and Jackson riding the merry-go-round at the Neverland Ranch.)
What you probably don't know is that the man who produced that special is now the producer of “Nightline.” James Goldston is credited with reshaping the nightly news series after Koppel's departure, hiring Bashir to form a triumvirate with ABC veterans Cynthia McFadden and Terry Moran.
Goldston shortened story lengths and took “Nightline” live so it could report breaking news more effectively (not that this means much in Kansas City, where KMBC has delayed “Nightline” by 90 minutes for the show's entire 27-year run).
The result: Ratings are up at “Nightline,” and the show is once again competitive with Leno and Letterman in the hunt for young viewers. Still, you worry that they're doing it at the expense of good journalism. Stories about UFOs, Daniel Baldwin's rehab and a new “love potion” were recently in the “Nightline” mix.
But Bashir and his producer, facing TV critics on Thursday, said things hadn't changed much from Koppel's time.
“This show did actually cover stories like Charlie Brown and Jim and Tammy Bakker in the past, and did it exactly the way that we do it now,” Bashir said. “If you look at the show forensically, you'll see the presence of a broad comprehensive series of stories, and that's exactly what's happening today.”
Goldston chimed in, saying that while “sometimes, yeah, we lighten the mix at the back end,” at its core “Nightline” remains “a show that's very serious in intent.”
***
Summer press tour ended with the stars of “Big Shots,” a dramedy about four rich, obnoxious guys we're supposed to like despite their less-than-relatable character flaws (infidelity, avarice, being mean to the hired help, etc.). It debuts Sept. 27, following “Grey's Anatomy.”
This proved to be another press session that was more entertaining than the pilot episode, as co-stars Christopher Titus, Joshua Melina, Michael Vartan and Dylan McDermott traded verbal towel snaps for 45 minutes.
The best line came from Titus, whose one-man shows have earned raves for their honesty. He studied for his pretend marriage in “Big Shots” by getting out of a real one recently.
“I lost 20 pounds in my divorce,” Titus told the group. “Because that's what a soul weighs.”
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