This is a re-post from 2011. I did not know many other bloggers then.
 |
| Just past the 52nd minute.... |
The Mystery of the Fifty-second Minute
Sounds like a great title, doesn’t it? Kinda like “The 39 Steps”, or “Sixth Sense”? Throw a number in the title, and you create a question and a grabber.
 |
| Maui, Hawaii: Hawaii 5-0 |
This is how one of my favorite TV shows always plays out. The main characters have a close bond, would die to save the other.
And then, lead M/C decides to do something dangerous, head out on his own.
Lead M/C must make hard decisions.
And then, lead M/C decides to do something dangerous, head out on his own.
Lead M/C must make hard decisions.
 |
| Oh, so delicious Alex O'Loughlin (or the M/C) |
Clues are rife, and predictions can be false. Eventually, bad guys capture Lead M/C.
The close friends discover some sort of truth. All their paramilitary connections rush to rescue M/C.
This always happens at the 52nd minute. Always.
 |
| Equally delightful Daniel Oh Kim |
 |
The amazing Grace Park
If I know this formula so well, then why do I watch these TV shows?
|
Eye candy.
The men are young, buff, handsome, and have piercing blue/green/brown eyes.
 |
| Scott Caan, son of James Caan |
Grace Park? Amazing, vulnerable, tough. Every one of them is easy to appreciate.
Plus, HAWAII!!! Lush, green, blue ocean--everything to love.
| When #52 minute comes the culminating action happens, and TUH-DUH! All is well. The hero looks back at his place of imprisonment with tortured eyes. |
 |
Villain "Wo Fat" actor, Mark Dacascos, also on "Iron Chef"
Knowing the 52nd minute is coming lets me relax while I watch the tense parts where uncertainty should reign. At “52”, I sigh and wait for the final credits at 59th minute. |
I could write those scripts.
Let's be honest here. I think any of us could write these scripts. but could we create something that must have that big bang at 52nd minute? That is the question.
Let's be honest here. I think any of us could write these scripts. but could we create something that must have that big bang at 52nd minute? That is the question.
I've tried script writing, and even had some amazing critiques, but it's hard work, still, well worth the effort. So go for it. Write your own Hawaii Five-0 script, it's great practice. It was a script example for the show The Glades, that got me started!
ReplyDeleteI will try it. But, I forgot that this show requires a big car chase and a gun battle. I'd have to work that in.
Deletehaha yeah, they main hero always gets saved or saves the day in the end. I'm sure I could find a way to save them at the 52nd minute
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, you could, Pat! With your poetry and prose, it would happen.
DeleteI enjoy 5-0, but I don't watch every week. I first became aware of Grace Park for a character she played in the series Battlestar Galactica. She did an excellent job with a complicated role.
ReplyDeleteShe has had some successful acting roles. Tiny thing, but powerful presence.
DeleteYou should write scripts! I've no doubt you would be great at it.
ReplyDeleteI would love to try anyway.
DeleteThey really have it down to a formula, don't they? At least you know not to take a bathroom break at the fifty-two minute mark.
ReplyDeleteAnd, don't even wait for 51st minute. There and back again.
DeleteThere's something about the formula. It's a bit freeing as well as constraining. Funny how that works.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is. As long as those time slots are locked in, the screenwriter could fill in almost anything.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Delete"Eye candy"
ReplyDeleteYes! and it's not always the actors. I watch a series called Death in Paradise purely for the scenery, the solving of the crime is a bonus. It's set on a tiny island in the Carribean and the main character is a Detective Inspector from England. In the first season, the DI wanted nothing more than to get back home to England. In the second season he is murdered on the island, so a new DI is sent from England to take over and he loves the island life.
We so enjoyed Death in Paradise. Never knew what happened to the first DI. We enjoy the current lanky actor, who enjoys his life there.
ReplyDeleteEye candy, male or female, is important, along with an exquisite island setting.
Hey Susan, this has nothing to do with post, but you'd left a comment on my blog about the space station. I thought I'd give you the scoop here.
ReplyDeleteSeeing the Space Station doesn't require an app to see it, just to tell you when it will be flying nearby.
The one I have is the free ISS Spotter. The space station is easy to see with the naked eye after dusk. At first it looks like a plane, but it's one bright light that moves across the sky really fast. I think if flies 350 miles a minute so it's usually only visible for a few minutes.
The trick is looking at the app and map so you know where to look in the sky to see it.
Oh, thanks, Rick!! We look at the night sky almost every night. I will upload/download the ISS Spotter! When there was to be a lunar eclipse a few weeks ago, we watched it. The clouds were there, but spotty.
DeleteEven a run-of-the-mill script can be appreciated with the right scenery (land or people). ;) That bang at the end helps too... :)
ReplyDeleteI always wondered how "Teen-age Mutant Ninja Turtles" ever came to be. I thought two drunk cartoonists dreamed it up, by putting together the most ridiculous possible ideas.
DeleteAt least in Hawaii 5-0, it has all the aspects you mentioned.