Thursday May 10th, 2007: 4pm-6pm
Yesterday, May 10th, from 4-6pm - RULED. Seriously. A sensory overload of consecutive goodness. Here's what happened.
First up, we had an internal screening of our new pilot. I've worked really hard on this show, blood sweat & tears if you will - from pre-production, to production in Albuquerque, to endless conference calls during the editing process - so I have become very attached to it and invested in it. I may be biased, but I think it is terrific. And yesterday was the first time that anyone outside of my production/development department saw it. We're talking not only my colleagues, but also my boss's boss's, my boss's boss's boss, and so on. The screening was at the IFC Center and it was really awesome to watch it on the big screen. And, before and after the screening, I got kudos! I really love kudos - referring of course to both positive feedback AND the delightful chocolate-covered granola bar snack. But really, there's nothing better than working hard on something, having it turn out great, and getting credit for contributing to that greatness. In life, it's not always the case that we get properly rewarded for effort so when that happens, we must soak it all up.
So as I'm soaking up every last drop, and participating in the lovely company shmoozefest in the lobby of the theater, I turn my Blackberry back on . And right away, I notice an email with the subject "NBC," sent by a friend/work friend who just happens to be a producer on the pilot we've just screened. The email reads, exactly and in total: "FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS picked up for next season. The episode order is hazy, but sounds like 22." In that moment, I literally did not know what to do, how to react to such great news, in the midst of this already amazing pilot screening bubble of joy. I felt elation mixed with gratitude with a sprinkle of giddiness thrown in for good measure. I'm not sure if I've really conveyed my true love for Friday Night Lights on this blog, but needless to say, I heart it, maybe even the mostest (definitely of 1 hour shows, The Office has my 1/2 hour heart). I view it as a brilliant and precious gem, a "nugget of awesomeness" if you will. And with those quote marks, I'm quoting myself (not as pretentious as referring to myself in the 3rd person I hope) because those words are from an email I sent to Kevin Reilly, the President of NBC, on April 11th. Now, I'm not taking any credit for the Season 2 pick-up, but let's just say that he read the email, he wrote me back...and the show wasn't cancelled!
As I looked around for people to tell about Friday Night Lights - for I am someone who cannot enjoy good news silently or internally, I must share it - I realized the person I needed to tell the most was my best friend (and writing partner) Willa. Please note: I do have more than one best friend, so those of you reading this who are those other ones, don't fret. The only person you should be worried about is Katie Rappaport, for she is the one with whom I share the Best Friends Heart Necklace. As we all began to walk to post-screening drinks, I called Willa. I think I blurted out "Friday Night Lights was renewed!" before she even had a chance to say hello. And then, as if the May 10th Gods had not shined enough for one day, Willa informed me that she'd just gotten a job offer for the position that she'd applied to last week and really wanted! HOORAY! It was like, you know those people who are one-uppers*, every time you tell a story, they have to one-up you with their story? But imagine if the one-upping wasn't with stories but was with awesome news - what could be more fun then that?! I am SO happy for Willa, particularly because the application for the job was akin to having to write original passages for The Holy Bible. I just stood their marveling at the the succession of goodness: The screening went really well! Goldberg got mad credit for it! Friday Night Lights was picked up! Willa got the job she wanted! All I could think was...holy balls, this has been a GOOD day and I need a drink!
*Here is my favorite one-upping moment. At work about two years ago, the assistant who sat next to me and I were discussing The Holocaust, and this guy I work with came up and tried to one-up The Holocaust with some story about his grandfather fighting in the Balkans or something. And I looked him straight in the eye (using here the nickname he doesn't even know about to protect his identity) and said "Pancakes, you did not just one-up The Holocaust. Because you can't. The Holocaust cannot be one-upped!"
In summation, I just wanted to marvel at this wonderful two hour span. It was interesting timing because yesterday morning, I had had a discussion with two different people in which we debated whether or not one should strive for excellence or perfection. I am definitely a perfectionist (along with some other sweet traits such as being neurotic and a light sleeper) and I think that although it's perhaps not always healthy, it's okay to strive for perfection as long as you can settle for excellence. 4pm-6pm on Thursday May 10th, 2007 was pretty excellent, near perfect even.
Then last night, as if to serve as a little reminder that life (in regards to TV and otherwise) is about the ups and downs and that the point is to cherish and remember the good even when the bad charges back, Grey's Anatomy sucked and I got a killer charley horse in the middle of the night.
First up, we had an internal screening of our new pilot. I've worked really hard on this show, blood sweat & tears if you will - from pre-production, to production in Albuquerque, to endless conference calls during the editing process - so I have become very attached to it and invested in it. I may be biased, but I think it is terrific. And yesterday was the first time that anyone outside of my production/development department saw it. We're talking not only my colleagues, but also my boss's boss's, my boss's boss's boss, and so on. The screening was at the IFC Center and it was really awesome to watch it on the big screen. And, before and after the screening, I got kudos! I really love kudos - referring of course to both positive feedback AND the delightful chocolate-covered granola bar snack. But really, there's nothing better than working hard on something, having it turn out great, and getting credit for contributing to that greatness. In life, it's not always the case that we get properly rewarded for effort so when that happens, we must soak it all up.
So as I'm soaking up every last drop, and participating in the lovely company shmoozefest in the lobby of the theater, I turn my Blackberry back on . And right away, I notice an email with the subject "NBC," sent by a friend/work friend who just happens to be a producer on the pilot we've just screened. The email reads, exactly and in total: "FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS picked up for next season. The episode order is hazy, but sounds like 22." In that moment, I literally did not know what to do, how to react to such great news, in the midst of this already amazing pilot screening bubble of joy. I felt elation mixed with gratitude with a sprinkle of giddiness thrown in for good measure. I'm not sure if I've really conveyed my true love for Friday Night Lights on this blog, but needless to say, I heart it, maybe even the mostest (definitely of 1 hour shows, The Office has my 1/2 hour heart). I view it as a brilliant and precious gem, a "nugget of awesomeness" if you will. And with those quote marks, I'm quoting myself (not as pretentious as referring to myself in the 3rd person I hope) because those words are from an email I sent to Kevin Reilly, the President of NBC, on April 11th. Now, I'm not taking any credit for the Season 2 pick-up, but let's just say that he read the email, he wrote me back...and the show wasn't cancelled!
As I looked around for people to tell about Friday Night Lights - for I am someone who cannot enjoy good news silently or internally, I must share it - I realized the person I needed to tell the most was my best friend (and writing partner) Willa. Please note: I do have more than one best friend, so those of you reading this who are those other ones, don't fret. The only person you should be worried about is Katie Rappaport, for she is the one with whom I share the Best Friends Heart Necklace. As we all began to walk to post-screening drinks, I called Willa. I think I blurted out "Friday Night Lights was renewed!" before she even had a chance to say hello. And then, as if the May 10th Gods had not shined enough for one day, Willa informed me that she'd just gotten a job offer for the position that she'd applied to last week and really wanted! HOORAY! It was like, you know those people who are one-uppers*, every time you tell a story, they have to one-up you with their story? But imagine if the one-upping wasn't with stories but was with awesome news - what could be more fun then that?! I am SO happy for Willa, particularly because the application for the job was akin to having to write original passages for The Holy Bible. I just stood their marveling at the the succession of goodness: The screening went really well! Goldberg got mad credit for it! Friday Night Lights was picked up! Willa got the job she wanted! All I could think was...holy balls, this has been a GOOD day and I need a drink!
*Here is my favorite one-upping moment. At work about two years ago, the assistant who sat next to me and I were discussing The Holocaust, and this guy I work with came up and tried to one-up The Holocaust with some story about his grandfather fighting in the Balkans or something. And I looked him straight in the eye (using here the nickname he doesn't even know about to protect his identity) and said "Pancakes, you did not just one-up The Holocaust. Because you can't. The Holocaust cannot be one-upped!"
In summation, I just wanted to marvel at this wonderful two hour span. It was interesting timing because yesterday morning, I had had a discussion with two different people in which we debated whether or not one should strive for excellence or perfection. I am definitely a perfectionist (along with some other sweet traits such as being neurotic and a light sleeper) and I think that although it's perhaps not always healthy, it's okay to strive for perfection as long as you can settle for excellence. 4pm-6pm on Thursday May 10th, 2007 was pretty excellent, near perfect even.
Then last night, as if to serve as a little reminder that life (in regards to TV and otherwise) is about the ups and downs and that the point is to cherish and remember the good even when the bad charges back, Grey's Anatomy sucked and I got a killer charley horse in the middle of the night.
posted by Susan Goldberg at 12:15 PM
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