Re:Ask HN: Why doesn't Dilbert quit?
by mechanical_fish on Thursday September 11, 2008 @10:00AM
(#301391)
Here's John Hess, creator of the classic TV soap opera Love of Life (1951-1980) and later a writer for MASH:
"The basic notion of writing a soap opera is all so-and-so has to say is such-and-such and the story is over, but they don't ever say it because then you would have nothing to write about it. 'Why doesn't Beany go to his father and tell him he took the book?'
"Well, because then you've shot about a month's worth of scripts. The great secret was how to attenuate and retain interest. How did I? You approach the same set of circumstances from different directions. If you have a couple talking about divorcing one day, the next day, you have another couple talking about the first couple's divorce."
(From The Box: An Oral History of Television 1920-1961 by Jeff Kisseloff. One of my favorite books.)
"The basic notion of writing a soap opera is all so-and-so has to say is such-and-such and the story is over, but they don't ever say it because then you would have nothing to write about it. 'Why doesn't Beany go to his father and tell him he took the book?'
"Well, because then you've shot about a month's worth of scripts. The great secret was how to attenuate and retain interest. How did I? You approach the same set of circumstances from different directions. If you have a couple talking about divorcing one day, the next day, you have another couple talking about the first couple's divorce."
(From The Box: An Oral History of Television 1920-1961 by Jeff Kisseloff. One of my favorite books.)