Thursday, October 4, 2012

Interview with TV writer Liz Tigelaar, creator of "Life Unexpected" - Part 8: Developing the second year of LUX

Part 1 - Breaking in as an assistant
Part 2 - First Staff Writer Job on "American Dreams"
Part 3 - How Do I Get an Agent?
Part 4 - Selling a Pilot
Part 5 - Personal Themes in Writing
Part 6 - Genesis of "Life Unexpected"
Part 7 - First-Time Showrunner

And we're finally here.  Some of you may remember a long piece I wrote about Life Unexpected when it was midway through its second season.  I had really been a fan of the series and its potential during the first season, but upon its return, I couldn't help but feel that some of my favorite aspects of the show had been shunted aside.  At the same time, new elements left me... well... disappointed.

So I wrote "An Open Letter to the CW network and Liz Tigelaar," where I detailed a number of my issues.  Mostly I laid the blame at the CW's feet for taking a really sweet and original show and trying to force it into a mold akin to several other shows they were already making.  Looking at it now, I can't help but notice that this post was longer than my average writing, though perhaps even more blunt than normal.

In case you're wondering, Liz saw that post.  In fact, it's probably not unfair to say it played AT LEAST an indirect part in landing me this interview.  For a lot of reasons, I wanted to touch on the challeges of season two, the compromises and network-mandated changes that they had to make.  Those topics are spread over a few interview segments with the first being this one.

I think this offers an interesting window into the give-and-take of producing a show for network TV.  And it's not all bad.  Liz also reminisces about her favorite moments from season two.



Part 9 - Dealing with network notes
Part 10 - Controversial LUX storylines
Part 11 - LUX lives on
Part 12 - Network overall deal, working on Once Upon a Time and Revenge
Part 13 - The Bitter Questions

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