[Primetime Adventures] The Heel

[Sydney Freedberg]

Since the pro wrestling in Wrestlerama is athletic and demanding, and occasionally bloody, but not actually a "fight" in any sense of aggression or self-defense, I don't think the connection is rock solid.

Aha. I'm really thinking of "violence" more broadly as "hurt other people's interests or feelings," not just "hurt other people's tender bodies" -- in which analysis Kimmy-in-character bodyslamming someone is actually less "violent" than Kimmy-in-reality telling them to go to hell. But, I got it: you're being sociobiological and thinking of violence in a literal sense.

And we now return you to your regularly schedule program.

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

Let's get back on track (Sydney's confusion has been further clarified privately).

The final scene in our session brought Patty and Hugh together, as the network clamps down hard on what they think is a complete plug-pulling fiasco. But no! They present a united front of hey, what problem? Because they'd fixed it all and spun it just right.

"What about this terrible website?" We own it. It's a PR coup. (They airbrushed the photo slightly)

"What about Lance? He's leaving!" Lance is not leaving and he's toeing the line.

And so on. Patty comes off looking like the big hero, and interestingly, Hugh doesn't. This was an interesting, even a little thought-provoking outcome to his triumphant crisis management in the previous scene ... because it was Patty who found the heart of the show via Kimmy, and Hugh who merely fixed things. He ended up getting his knees cut out from under him by his boss (a Connection), in the sense that he still has this Damocles sword hanging over him. All he bought with his efforts was increased pressure.

As a spotlight episode for Hugh, it was kind of grim, really - this is "success" if you are merely bright, ruthless, and skilled. Ultimately, not much.

I also see incredible potential for Hugh/Patty conflict and Hugh/Kimmy conflict in the future.

Best,
Ron

[Maura Byrne]

I just wanted to add a couple of things before this thread completely went to bed. The final scene between Hugh, Patty and the network exec was a little anticlimactic to me, because we'd all been so invested in the previous scene where Hugh and Patty had to deal with Lance.  Everybody threw in fanmail against Lance.  After that moment, nobody liked the pretty boy.  I didn't contribute my remaining point of fanmail to the conflict with the network exec, because I wanted to save it for the next run.  Also, I wanted to see how it panned out purely from a spectator's point of view.

As it turned out, I shouldn't have worried about losing my remaining point of fanmail.  After the pilot concluded, we were talking about future directions, which kind of boiled into remarks that sounded a lot like "next week" promos to me.  I'd described Kimmy doing a commercial, where she held a burger in one hand and said, "Grr! Burger!" followed by a beep and a disembodied voice saying, "Meaner, Kimmy."  I think Tod said, "Why couldn't we get the Maybelline contract?"  And I responded with, "Grr! Sometimes I feel not so fresh!"  And I got another point of fanmail.  Note to self: It's not about shepherding resouces as much as it is about generating your resources by adding something entertaining to the mix.  As often as possible, without being obnoxious.