Sometimes writers ruin things. It happens. I’ve come to expect this. You have a perfectly good tv show, and then one fateful day, the writers decide to stray from the formula. It probably begins innocently enough. A group of writers sit around anxiously discussing how to create a more compelling story for their show, when some young up-and-comer strolls into the meeting one day with his heart all a flutter.
“Hey guys! I have this really great idea for our show! It’s really going to shake things up!”
“Ok. Let’s hear it.”
“Ok. What if….you ready for this?? What if our main character discovers there’s more going on than he realizes??”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean…like a CONSPIRACY!!”
“Wow, now there’s an idea!!”
“I know right?!?!”
“Where did you ever come up with such an original and novel idea?!”
“It just came to me!!”
“Just like that??”
“Just like that! I was out to dinner, eating my chimichangas, when all of a sudden…BOOM! Conspiracy!! Of course!!”
“That is genius! You sir, are a genius!!”
A season passes, and once again we find our writers sitting around trying to figure out how to make their story more compelling.
“We really need to make our story more compelling!!”
“But how?? The main character has discovered all of the mysteries of the great conspiracy he’s been fighting against! Where do we go from here?”
All of a sudden, Joey the intern leaps up to his feet with a sudden burst of inspiration.
“WAIT! I HAVE IT!!”
“What?”
“What if…there’s an even BIGGER conspiracy under the conspiracy??”
“A conspiracy UNDER the conspiracy?!?! You mean like….A DOUBLE CONSPIRACY?!”
“Forget double man!! I’m thinking TRIPLE– QUADRUPLE CONSPIRACY!!”
“Whoa. WHOA. This is intense. You are blowing my mind man!!”
“Right?!?!”
“We gotta write this stuff down!”
After the above scenario is repeated over and over and over for about 5 or 6 years, and the writers have successfully destroyed any remaining remnants of what was once a totally awesome and compelling show (I’m looking at YOU “Burn Notice,” “24,” “Alias,” “Prison Break,” “Heroes,” etc, etc, etc.”), the writers will find themselves once again, sitting around their room trying to find a way to make their story more compelling.
“I don’t get it man. We keep adding conspiracies and the ratings are still down! It’s almost as if viewers are tired of trying to follow a never ending web of bad guys, working for bigger bad guys, who work for bigger bad guys, who are actually working for that other guy who turned out to be the biggest bad guy of them all!”
“You forgot about 4 or 5 other bad guys in there.”
“My point is, we need a hook. We need some kind of twist.”
“I have an idea! We could have everything up until this point actually be part of an even bigger and more complex and unimaginable conspiracy!!”
“No. No conspiracies. Not this time.”
“No conspiracies?!?! But–”
“No. We need something new.”
“Something new?”
“We need something that’s never been done before. An original idea that will really knock our viewers socks off! Something so different and so unique and so dramatic no one will ever see it coming! “
“But what?”
“What if….”
“Yes…?”
“What if…..”
“Yes….?”
“What if….the main character’s dad didn’t REALLY die?”
“WHOA! WHOA!”
“What if he’s still alive?!?!”
“Oh man, this is incredible! THIS IS HUGE!”
“What if he’s still alive and he’s somehow involved in the conspiracy?!?!”
“Holy crap!! My mind! My mind is– How do you come up with this stuff?!?!
“I don’t know!!”
“You are a freaking genius man! THIS is why you’re paid the big bucks!”
“I can’t wait to get this to the producers!”
Yeah. Sometimes writers ruin things.
You forgot to ad “lost” on that terrible list of ruined shows.