Friday, March 6, 2009

Under Pressure

The latest show that I've gotten into is Hell's Kitchen. Last night, I couldn't help but think like Jenny was a while back with Top Chef. That it'd be interesting to translate the show. The specific dynamics of it are fascinating, especially watching Ramsay watch the contestants.

Now, a large part of the show isn't just about individual performances, but about making the individuals work together. That's where it all comes out in the wash. So, if we do a writing version it wouldn't be able to just be writers doing their own things, it would have to be group-based. So, I'm thinking some kind of collaborative setting. Maybe a Hell's Magazine. Each of the writers would, instead of working different stations in the kitchen, work different articles and/or different types of editing.

Or maybe a Hell's Critique Group. That one could be fun. We'd find a writing equivalent of Ramsay who would watch over each critique session and have fits, screaming things like, "Hey, you. You come here. Read that dialogue out loud. That dialogue is F*ing despicable. F*ing terrible! I wouldn't serve that dialogue to my dog." And then he'd throw the manuscript at somebody's head.

Then, after the elimination, there would be all the pettiness of, "Yeah, she can't write a strong protagonist to save her life," and "I can write circles around everybody here. Everybody. That's why they give me dirty looks, it's just 'cause they're so intimidated by me."

It'd be awesome.

3 comments:

Jenny Maloney said...

YES! Awesome!

If only writing was as entertaining on television as cooking things. There's more fire involved in cooking so I think that's why they get all the neat reality shows....

Minion GIR said...

Sorry, guys, count me out on this one. There's demanding excellence and then there's being an ass.

Ali said...

Hah, Jenny. That's what we need, fire. Though I tell ya, I've been getting a lot of wicked paper cuts lately.

Yeah, Deb. I think there are plenty of other ways to demand excellence than being a prick, but hissy fits do make for more dramatic television.