The SPOILERIFIC Ask Robert Wolfe Thread-The Series, in General

[Willowhugger]

Do the Ravens work for the High Council?

[Slife]

Are all the scenes with Justin in "Birds of a Feather" flashbacks?

[Robert Wolfe]

Do the Ravens work for the High Council?

These did.  Others might not.  Mercenaries.

[Robert Wolfe]

Are all the scenes with Justin in "Birds of a Feather" flashbacks?

Nope.  He's outside the church watching the Doom Box go off.

[whoknowswhy]

Cue "Twilight Zone Music".  Cool.  Justin is alive. 

[jtaylor]

Cue "Twilight Zone Music".  Cool.  Justin is alive. 

Well... Justin was outside the church walking around. That doesn't necessarily mean that he is actually alive.

[whoknowswhy]

He got into a car.  Do ghosts need cars?  Of course, I suppose there are other tings he could be.  Robert, any clues?  Or is it just what it seems?  Or do you not want to tell us? 

[Robert Wolfe]

He got into a car.  Do ghosts need cars?  Of course, I suppose there are other tings he could be.  Robert, any clues?  Or is it just what it seems?  Or do you not want to tell us? 

All will be revealed in the fullness of time.

[Robert Wolfe]

1. Is Justin actually supposed to be Harry's Uncle in this series?

Yes, he's the brother of Harry's mother.

2. Is Harry's bad reputation going to be build up slowly with the High Council?

No, he's pretty much in the toilet already when the show begins.  I suppose things could get better.  Or worse.

3. Justin looks like a real wizard. 

Does he?  I don't see a hat [pointy, mode 1, mod 3, stars optional].  No robes.  He looks like a well dressed businessman with a cane to me.

[Robert Wolfe]

Firstly, was there any presure from the Canadian film board to give it that "filmed in Canada" feel?

Nope, but we are using local actors and locations and crew, so maybe that's it.  Frankly, I don't see it.  I think the show feels pretty "US network" to me.

Secondly, as I've read final draft to the Storm Front script, is that being re-arranged as the season final as episodes 10-11 or a possible cliffhanger? 

No.  The one hour will be aired as an episode.  It's quite possible a two-hour version will be aired as a special treat at some point, but don't expect it to "fit" into the overall continuity of the show.

[Robert Wolfe]

My question is this, I was just curious why the decision was made to make the show stand alone stories rather than arc based stories? I ask this only because it seems that the landscape of tv has changed a lot and the more arc based storytelling has gained considerable popularity. Shows like Lost, Grey's Anatomy, 24, and Battlestar Galactica are all arc based shows and all very successfull. I was curious why it was decided to take a property that has that already built in and then remove that aspect in favor of stand alone episodes?

We always wanted the TV show to feel more like "The Rockford Files" or "Spencer for Hire," traditional episodic detective shows with some long term story telling, but strong individual epsiodes that can stand on their own.

[Ruadh]

Firstly, was there any presure from the Canadian film board to give it that "filmed in Canada" feel? A lot of Canadian dramas have a certain look and feel to how they translate stories to film and Dresden had that  feel to it for me. Hopefully that isn't taken negatively as that was not my intent.

A lot of film companies come here to film because it's cheaper than in the States (or has been.) That means that a lot of productions with small budgets film in Canada. I assume that's what you mean by "Canadian feel."  My apologies if you actually meant "wonderfully creative and innovative film teqhnique."

As for pressure to "look Canadian" - I don't think so. They do everythng to make it look as if it were filmed in the States. They go out of the way to avoid the CN Tower in shots, they put U.S. postal boxes in the streets to confuse the local citizenry, they totally redo store fronts to look like American retailers etc etc.

[jtaylor]

they totally redo store fronts to look like American retailers etc etc.

I have spent some time in Vancouver and I live in Orlando. The only difference I have seen between the storefronts in both cities is that the prices are in Canadian dollars if there are any prices advertized and the phone numbers there have a different area code. There are more differences in Quebec, but it isn't as if there is a vast cutlural difference between Canada and the States.

[Hawkfu]

We always wanted the TV show to feel more like "The Rockford Files" or "Spencer for Hire," traditional episodic detective shows with some long term story telling, but strong individual epsiodes that can stand on their own.

Those are two good shows to feel like.

wlg

[Abstruse]

Here's my question...

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO BOB?!?!

No, no, I don't mean the ghost-Bob vs. skull-Bob.  I have no problems whatsoever with the ghost-Bob.  My problem is that there was no smart-ass, hardly any snark, and zero perversion!  He never ONCE mentioned that the kid's mom could be hot!  Bob is great for exposition, but if you don't use him as comic relief as well then he just turns into Giles-in-a-skull.

It also seemed like the humor was turned way, way down too.  I mean almost non-existent turned down.  You said you're basing off The Rockford Files and Spenser for Hire...I'm a huge fan of the Spenser novels and I was a bit too young for the show when it was on, but what episodes I've seen suggest that they didn't lose nearly as much of the smart-assedness of Spenser as we've lost of Harry.  The humor of the books is one of my favorite things about it, being a smart-ass-in-training.  I don't expect "POLKA WILL NEVER DIE!!" or frozen turkeys falling from the sky...okay, I actually want the frozen turkey from the sky complete with timer popping out because that's just too good to NOT use and the reaction from the characters in the book was sincere...but I do want some more humor.  I'm not saying turn it into Buffy with pop-culture references and everyone coming up with perfect jokes on every word, but it'd be nice to have Harry trade barbs a bit more often.

Those are my only real concerns (aside from the typical problems with it not being the REAL pilot so we were left in the dark about some things, but that's not controllable really) about the show long-term.  It doesn't feel Spenser for Hire meets Buffy like the books, but more CSI meets X-Files.  Isn't there someway to meet somewhere in the middle?

If you need to convince the suits of this...site the success they're having with shows like Monk and Psych on USA.  The comedy drives the story as much as the mystery and, while taking it that far would definitely be too much, it might convince them to allow more leeway with the jokes for the next season...

The Abstruse One
Darryl Mott Jr.