In other news, we’ve got a lot of freshman shows to look forward to and a lot of returning favorites… they’re all being doled out over the next four to six weeks, allowing audiences to build and to push for those water cooler moments that every TV player strives for. I don’t know why we still have a “Fall Season” when shows premiere all year long? Like “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” or “Eureka” and apparently TNT is bringing back “The Closer” for a few episodes in December!!!

So far I’ve seen and liked the new Bruckheimer show “Justice”, who doesn’t love Victor Garber? Been wading through Fox’s Vanished, avoided Fox’s “Standoff”, eagerly await of “Heroes” and“30 Rock.”  The premiere of “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” was strong and I really want to see how Sorkin bites the hand that feeds him. And Ray Liotta proves he can still do crime like the best of them in “Smith” (which also has an intriguing cast) Can’t wait to see the return of “Grey’s Anatomy”, “Lost”, “The Shield” and “24” (although that’s not until late January!) – all ended with gut-punches… exactly what you want in dramatic TV, n’est pas?

Curiously, not too many new sitcoms have any buzz about them (no doubt, much to Alessia’s chagrin) except for Tina Fey’s show, her thinly veiled send up of her times on SNL (but you knew that, didn't you?). I don’t think it’s a traditional sitcom; more like a “Sex & the City.” type of romp.

I guess we rejoice that fact that there is potentially new drama to fill up our TiVo boxes (or your dreaded TimeWarner dvr, if you happen to have that odious device) and that we’ll be changing our behavior patterns for a few scant weeks – but the biggest question is, will you be watching movies & TV on your Verizon Chocolate Vcast mobile phone, on your video iPod or on your digital plasma HD screen?

It’s funny how everyone on the creation side of the business is pushing for improved resolution, extended definition, and higher pixel counts, so the blow-up clarity on flatscreen TVs and the new-fangled digital projection devices for the cinema can undisputedly be “better than film” (not better than 70mm though) – and yet all the financial Kommandants of the überfuhrers of the Media giants keep pushing for distribution on smaller and smaller display screens with compressed video, squeezed audio, and resolution that at least equals a VHS tape from circa 1991…

But does cinema demand a big screen these days (I believe it does, and hopefully Martin Scorsese’s The Departed will be a shot in the arm for those who believe that that huge cinema screen is unequalled for presentation)? But I guess it depends on what you want from movies? I was having a discussion with a friend of mine who has been a DGA 1st AD for about 12 years and we were talking about movies (particularly the so-called quality of movies in the past five years) and we got to the point where we had to come up with our Top 5 list of the past fives years… man, did that become a chore; so my choices were Amores Perros, City of God, Man on Fire, Door In The Floor and Moulin Rouge (in no particular order). I’m not going to give the underlying reasons why I chose these films and didn’t choose others (no one’s taste is the same, no one expects and gets that same thing from movies, and so-called “lists” just give a glimpse into what one individual enjoys about the artform/medium), yet at the end of this point in the conversation we realized that the level of what could be called “classic” films in the future was sadly lacking. Evidenced by the fact the next day we were looking to get a video, and spent 45 minutes in the video store with nothing to see (oh, by the way no Blockbuster in West Hollywood even had 48Hrs available on DVD. That was supremely stupid to me.

I’m sure each of you has your top five… think about it and hit me back at … it would be interesting to see what films have some sort of confluence or get the most “votes”). Go on and do it, before you read anymore. At least jot down your list...

My explanation for the paucity was the following… back in 2001 there was the threat of a WGA strike (to follow on the heels of the SAG strike that did effect TV commercials) in which studios and production companies bought up a ton of material (with perhaps little regard of quality) and over the past four or five years those films went through development and then came out in ’03, ’04, ’05 and earlier this year (TV conversely didn’t go through the same glut of mediocrity because shows don’t take as long to get to the audience and get killed on the vine if they don’t reach… with a minimal financial outlay). We all know about the claims of Hollywood’s demise during the past couple years, that the audiences were staying away because Hollywood didn’t know how to reach them anymore. I’ve always stated that: “people will come to a great film”, as we saw with Batman Begins, Wedding Crashers, and Crash. I bring up all this up, because the WGA is supposed to be up for contract negotiations with the studios and TV networks in early ’07… what’s going to be the fallout and aftermath from this particular updating of a most rancorous battle… as we know that DVD, iTunes, and VOD revenues are sure to be the main point of acrimony.Next will be a discussion on the MPAA and its ratings, as I’m going to see This Film Is Not Yet Rated in a day or two, and film ratings (i.e. censorship) is a hugely contentious issue with me… how huge? You’ll find out next time…

If we all don’t hang together, then we’ll hang separately.