Allan Cole

Anne:  Do you agree or disagree with the following statements and why?
Contemporary television shows have morphed away from visually depicting
fictional violence to instead satisfying that "need" by the production of
"reality shows" creating artificial situations stressing individuals into
anti-social and base behavior for "real".

Allan: Reality shows were created with the express purpose of eliminating the need
for writers. They are incredibly cheap to produce, although they have no
re-run value. They also appeal to the Lowest Common Denominator (LCD), which has
been getter lower every season. It is a self-fulfilled prophecy.

Anne:  Television shows have been catering to what appears to be a growing
fascination with death by showing dead bodies, from discovery in ever increasing
gruesome situations and all the way through autopsy.

Allan: The purpose is to shock. Not to feed any need, perceived or otherwise. On the other hand, I do have a bias about the subject. My very first TV script sale was to Quincy, M.E. - Jack Klugman starring. . BTW: Klugman personally hired me as a result of a spec Qunicy script I'd penned. So the bias is double. To deepen the connection, the script was about boxing. Klugman was a golden gloves champion in his youth, out of the famed Philadelphia Boxing Association. My grandfather and his brother (both former pros) were among the founders of the association. You can be sure I added all that to the pitch when we met. :)

Anne:  "Ripped from the headlines" used to be the catchphrase but a case could
be made that some crimes are being ripped from the television screen.

Allan: There is no case to be made for this argument.

Anne:  Visual entertainment is both shaped by and shapes our culture, by
demonstrating a level of behavior. Is this behavior reflective of our culture or
demonstrative or what it should be?

Allan:  It's purpose is to sell products. Nothing more. Andy Warhol was right.

Anne:  Fiction, especially science fiction, used to lead us. Have we gotten to a
point where it is following us?

Allan:  No.

Anne:  Has the move to lessen violence on television been affective, too late,
opening the door to something else?

Allan:  I don't have a problem with violence on television. That's what a parental
chip is for.

Anne:  Aside from your own philosophy, agenda, epistemology, when you pitch a
story idea, is there some message that Hollywood is seeking to send that must
be evident in a script if it's to be purchased?

Allan:  If you have an axe to grind, you are unlikely to sell the story.

Anne:  How much control (or lack of control) is there from the government as to
what types of fiction makes it to the screen?

Allan:  There are no government controls to speak of. Nor should there be.

Anne:  Does contemporary television/Internet broadcast (My Space/U Tube)
strengthen or blur the lines between reality and fiction?

Allan:  That line was crossed long ago.

Anne:   Where would you like to see television/Internet broadcast go from here?
When you sit down to watch a show, what is it that you'd like to see?

Allan:  I like to see good writing, professionally directed, acted and produced.

Anne:   Aside from budget considerations, is there a difference, and what would
that be, in designing a plot for Internet broadcast as opposed to television
broadcast?

Allan:  Attention spans are shorter, IQ's not fully engaged on Internet Broadcasts
so far. It's too early to pick up a trend, much less a formula that will be
commercially feasible - ie, earn a writer his/her living.

Anne:  Thank You.

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Allan Cole has earned his living as a writer since the summer of 1964. He broke into
books and television in the summer of 1979. 

To learn about his books, and the more than 150 hours of television that he's 
sold so far in his career please see his homepage for a bibliography/filmography.
That's at  http://www.acole.com  .