Adrian Stephens's Blog - Posts Tagged "rams"
#8 - The Making (or Remaking) of Heroes
I had spent a fair amount of time considering what I was going to write about for my next blog. I had put on the backburner my idea to solve world hunger and world peace using a jigsaw, two jars of peanut butter and a rubber mallet. I mean, world peace and world hunger…they could wait a few more weeks, right? I had even considered talking about why Bill Murray would so much rather star in my version of
Ghostbusters III
than the one being pitched to him currently (either way Bill, please do
Ghostbusters III
).
So, I had all but decided on providing some insight as to how and why I write (sorry JK, you’ll have to wait a while longer), when I stumbled upon a topic of greater importance. No, this one couldn’t wait.
I was at lunch today with a friend of mine, and we were discussing our usual plethora of random topics…our weekends, football (I’m a Rams fan, he the Eagles), baseball (I’m a Cardinals fan, he the Phillies)…when we stumbled onto the topic of television shows we have enjoyed over the years. He was a big Seinfeld fan, while I preferred Friends and Cheers . At that point, we hit the point of this blog; the all-time show that had the biggest potential, yet disappointed badly. We were in agreement that Heroes was just that beast. My friend, Terry, and I like to have friendly banter, and often times we find ourselves on different ends of a given topic. On this day, not only did we agree that Heroes had a great premise, that it started very strong and that neither of us were around for the end because it strayed too far from what made it great, but we agreed on what to do about it.
What Terry and I decided was, Heroes needed a do over. Not a reboot per se. No this isn’t Spiderman , Superman or The Incredible Hulk . We don’t want to pretend that the original didn’t exist at all. We were pretty fond of the actors. We just want to pretend that the series didn’t happen…the way it did. Here is what I proposed (and he agreed):
1. NBC needs to re-launch Heroes . They need to bring all of the characters from the first season back.
2. Claire should be in college, but still be a cheerleader (sorry ladies, the guy part of us definitely liked the cheerleader thing).
3. The first episode should be almost identical to the original first episode, but change a few things. The viewers can enjoy spotting the discrepancies.
4. Each episode would veer further from the original series until, at the end of the first season, it would now be a completely different show with its own identity.
5. They should be careful not to introduce a bunch of new characters. Further develop the ones they have in the first season. Give them significance. There were a lot of characters. NBC will have plenty of episodes to develop them before they need to introduce more.
6. Don’t kill off characters and bring the same actor back as somebody else. Especially not several times.
At this point, Terry and I had concluded our lunch. Terry and I had agreed on more points at one sitting than we probably ever had before, or will again. The two of us agreed…it was practically a consensus. Terry was ready to present it to NBC. I thought we should get a little more input, so I thought I would present it to you, the readers. Please, let us know what you think. Let’s do this!
For my next blog, I will be giving some insight into my next novel. I’ll have it up within the week. If you would like to check out my first novel, In My Shoes , click here . Until next time!
So, I had all but decided on providing some insight as to how and why I write (sorry JK, you’ll have to wait a while longer), when I stumbled upon a topic of greater importance. No, this one couldn’t wait.
I was at lunch today with a friend of mine, and we were discussing our usual plethora of random topics…our weekends, football (I’m a Rams fan, he the Eagles), baseball (I’m a Cardinals fan, he the Phillies)…when we stumbled onto the topic of television shows we have enjoyed over the years. He was a big Seinfeld fan, while I preferred Friends and Cheers . At that point, we hit the point of this blog; the all-time show that had the biggest potential, yet disappointed badly. We were in agreement that Heroes was just that beast. My friend, Terry, and I like to have friendly banter, and often times we find ourselves on different ends of a given topic. On this day, not only did we agree that Heroes had a great premise, that it started very strong and that neither of us were around for the end because it strayed too far from what made it great, but we agreed on what to do about it.
What Terry and I decided was, Heroes needed a do over. Not a reboot per se. No this isn’t Spiderman , Superman or The Incredible Hulk . We don’t want to pretend that the original didn’t exist at all. We were pretty fond of the actors. We just want to pretend that the series didn’t happen…the way it did. Here is what I proposed (and he agreed):
1. NBC needs to re-launch Heroes . They need to bring all of the characters from the first season back.
2. Claire should be in college, but still be a cheerleader (sorry ladies, the guy part of us definitely liked the cheerleader thing).
3. The first episode should be almost identical to the original first episode, but change a few things. The viewers can enjoy spotting the discrepancies.
4. Each episode would veer further from the original series until, at the end of the first season, it would now be a completely different show with its own identity.
5. They should be careful not to introduce a bunch of new characters. Further develop the ones they have in the first season. Give them significance. There were a lot of characters. NBC will have plenty of episodes to develop them before they need to introduce more.
6. Don’t kill off characters and bring the same actor back as somebody else. Especially not several times.
At this point, Terry and I had concluded our lunch. Terry and I had agreed on more points at one sitting than we probably ever had before, or will again. The two of us agreed…it was practically a consensus. Terry was ready to present it to NBC. I thought we should get a little more input, so I thought I would present it to you, the readers. Please, let us know what you think. Let’s do this!
For my next blog, I will be giving some insight into my next novel. I’ll have it up within the week. If you would like to check out my first novel, In My Shoes , click here . Until next time!
#13 - Fitting In
It seems like such a simple thing. Fitting in. No matter our age or place in life, we are a society of people who want to fit in. We need to fit in. Right now, if you are telling your computer screen, "I don't need to fit in with anyone," ask yourself how hard you try to fit in with those people who don't like to fit in with anyone else.
No matter what our interests are, we like to find others who share our interests. That may not mean we want to necessarily do the popular thing, that which 'everyone' else is doing, but we want at least someone else who we can share our interests with. Whether we realize it or not, and even whether we need it or not, it gives us some sort of validation to know that there is someone else (and hopefully more than one) on this planet who sees things the way we do.
But, what about being unique? If we have this underlying need to find things in common, how can we be ourselves? I think we can all agree that just because we find people who share some of our likes doesn't mean we have anyone who shares all of our likes.
I like to read, write, bowl, golf, play piano, sing at the top of my lungs in the car, practice Taekwondo and hang out with friends. Some of you may be saying, "yeah, I like all of that stuff too." Great! I'm a diehard St. Louis Rams fan (some small part of me must like to suffer), a diehard St. Louis Cardinals fan, a St. Louis Blues fan (no, I'm not from St. Louis), a Lakers fan, a USC fan and a UNLV Rebels fan. Not necessarily in that order. I would imagine that I lost a large chunk of things in common with people from the first group above.
If any of you are still hanging on, I like to watch Fringe, Lost (when it was on), Revenge, Grey's Anatomy and...Glee.
Still have the same tastes? Let's try music. My favorites all-time would be Elton John, Journey, Queen, Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, Madonna, The Beatles. I like Taylor Swift, Daughtry, movie scores (anything by John Williams, but lots of others too) and *gasp* some Eminem (though I could do without the language-don't ask me how that makes sense).
If anyone out there checked off every item on my list, send me a message...I've always wanted to meet my twin.
The thing is, I can find plenty of people who like each and every one of the things I mentioned separately, some who like many of the things I've mentioned, and yet I uniquely like all of these things together. That's what makes me...me. None of my likes, strange as they may seem to you, bring harm to others.
Being the father of two boys in elementary school, I see them trying to make these connections with kids in their classrooms. I help out at their school one day a week, and I see how all of these kids, not just mine, are looking to form bonds with one another, friendships that they may keep for much, if not all, of their lives. It's important. Sadly, some kids, and even some adults, don't realize that they don't have to tear down others just to prove that they fit in better. If we search hard enough, we will see that we have much more in common with our enemies than we think, and we have probably a lot less in common with our friends than we realize, if we were ever brave enough to open ourselves up that much.
I'm not suggesting that everyone could or would be able to be friends with everyone else if we just tried a little harder. Some of our likes are just too different and too important to us to be able to want to spend time together. But, that's okay. It would just be nice to see that people didn't have to hate each other for their differences. Or even if it's not hate, it would be nice to see people not teased endlessly for their differences.
When I wrote the title for this blog, I was going to write about how the book industry tries to fit everything into a genre, even if it has to be forced. Could I have gotten more off track? Well, I'll save that for my next post. For now, as we grow ever nearer the holiday season, whether you celebrate, Christmas, Hanukkah, or any other holiday, I hope we can all take just a few moments to appreciate the commonalities as well as the differences of the people who we share space with.
Just a reminder that you can find In My Shoes available in your favorite formats. Christmas is just around the corner, and In My Shoes would make a great gift for your son, daughter, niece, nephew, brother or sister. Find it in the following formats:
Kindle
Amazon hardcover
NOOK
Barnes and Noble hardcover
adrianstephens.com (multiple formats)
smashwords (multiple formats)
iBookstore
Sony Reader
No matter what our interests are, we like to find others who share our interests. That may not mean we want to necessarily do the popular thing, that which 'everyone' else is doing, but we want at least someone else who we can share our interests with. Whether we realize it or not, and even whether we need it or not, it gives us some sort of validation to know that there is someone else (and hopefully more than one) on this planet who sees things the way we do.
But, what about being unique? If we have this underlying need to find things in common, how can we be ourselves? I think we can all agree that just because we find people who share some of our likes doesn't mean we have anyone who shares all of our likes.
I like to read, write, bowl, golf, play piano, sing at the top of my lungs in the car, practice Taekwondo and hang out with friends. Some of you may be saying, "yeah, I like all of that stuff too." Great! I'm a diehard St. Louis Rams fan (some small part of me must like to suffer), a diehard St. Louis Cardinals fan, a St. Louis Blues fan (no, I'm not from St. Louis), a Lakers fan, a USC fan and a UNLV Rebels fan. Not necessarily in that order. I would imagine that I lost a large chunk of things in common with people from the first group above.
If any of you are still hanging on, I like to watch Fringe, Lost (when it was on), Revenge, Grey's Anatomy and...Glee.
Still have the same tastes? Let's try music. My favorites all-time would be Elton John, Journey, Queen, Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, Madonna, The Beatles. I like Taylor Swift, Daughtry, movie scores (anything by John Williams, but lots of others too) and *gasp* some Eminem (though I could do without the language-don't ask me how that makes sense).
If anyone out there checked off every item on my list, send me a message...I've always wanted to meet my twin.
The thing is, I can find plenty of people who like each and every one of the things I mentioned separately, some who like many of the things I've mentioned, and yet I uniquely like all of these things together. That's what makes me...me. None of my likes, strange as they may seem to you, bring harm to others.
Being the father of two boys in elementary school, I see them trying to make these connections with kids in their classrooms. I help out at their school one day a week, and I see how all of these kids, not just mine, are looking to form bonds with one another, friendships that they may keep for much, if not all, of their lives. It's important. Sadly, some kids, and even some adults, don't realize that they don't have to tear down others just to prove that they fit in better. If we search hard enough, we will see that we have much more in common with our enemies than we think, and we have probably a lot less in common with our friends than we realize, if we were ever brave enough to open ourselves up that much.
I'm not suggesting that everyone could or would be able to be friends with everyone else if we just tried a little harder. Some of our likes are just too different and too important to us to be able to want to spend time together. But, that's okay. It would just be nice to see that people didn't have to hate each other for their differences. Or even if it's not hate, it would be nice to see people not teased endlessly for their differences.
When I wrote the title for this blog, I was going to write about how the book industry tries to fit everything into a genre, even if it has to be forced. Could I have gotten more off track? Well, I'll save that for my next post. For now, as we grow ever nearer the holiday season, whether you celebrate, Christmas, Hanukkah, or any other holiday, I hope we can all take just a few moments to appreciate the commonalities as well as the differences of the people who we share space with.
Just a reminder that you can find In My Shoes available in your favorite formats. Christmas is just around the corner, and In My Shoes would make a great gift for your son, daughter, niece, nephew, brother or sister. Find it in the following formats:
Kindle
Amazon hardcover
NOOK
Barnes and Noble hardcover
adrianstephens.com (multiple formats)
smashwords (multiple formats)
iBookstore
Sony Reader
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