Continuum: The Road to a Pilot

I’ve written briefly before about how I began developing a TV show with my writing partner Ed.  I finally figured it’s time to go into a lot more detail about this entire process.  Now this is going to be a bit of a tough post for me to write because I would love to spend the entire day writing over every single detail on this show, but I have a feeling that might put me in a bit of a bind later on, should this show ever get picked up.

We here at the network loved this pilot!  We were less thrilled about you posting the entire script and every single moment of the season online for your future audience to see.

To cover my future butt, I’m going to go over as much of this show and its creation process as I can while leaving the specifics of the plot out of the way. So without further ado, let’s dive right into the history of what I hope will one day be your favorite TV show, Continuum.

Planet Sheen: Homeworld of Disappointment

Alright let’s just get started here.  I’ve written a lot about Jimmy Neutron on this blog before.  Kane Hughes, a fellow fan and one of my followers, asked if I would take a look at Jimmy Neutron’s spin-off, Planet Sheen.  I knew that this show existed and had caught a few moments of it now and again, but I’d never sat down and actually watched a whole episode.

I figured that needed to change.  I’m more than happy to oblige my readers’ requests, and since I’m such a big Jimmy Neutron fan it really was time that I gave a good look at what its spinoff was like.  So I’ve since watched three full episodes of the show; one 22 minute episode and four 11 minute eps.   (These are Pilot, Is This Cute?, What’s Up Chock?, Shave the Last Dance for Me, & Berry Big Trouble.)

What I saw had flashes of  competence.  But overall, this show is a flop.  I think I’m getting ahead of myself, so let’s just dive into this review.

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SHOW HISTORY

Going where no show has (wisely) ever gone before.

On All My Fanfics (Part III)

All good things must come to an end.  This is the final post in my three-part series that discusses all of my Jimmy Neutron fanfiction stories.  I have to warn you all, there’s about to be a huge tonal shift in this last post.

Even bigger than when Hooky shifted from romantic comedy to a war against terrorists.

In Part I, you saw me quiver with rage as I looked over my worst and earliest stuff.

In Part II, you watched me spot some glimmers of talent in my fanfic cesspool, but still be mostly disgusted with myself.

Now, you’re going to read about my last nine stories; the ones that I actually like.  The first two (Stealing My Heart & The Final Battle) were before my five year-hiatus.  This means that my general writing skills weren’t up to par and they have plenty of flaws, which I’ll discuss below.  But after that?  The final seven stories reflect my current writing ability.  It’s true that these stories didn’t have thorough editing passes, but they still pretty much showcase the level I’m at right now.

On All My Fanfics (Part II)

I’m back, and I’m delving into my next set of fanfiction stories.  I brought alcohol this time.

It’s the only way I’m getting through this.

In case you missed it, I’m going through all my Jimmy Neutron fanfics in chronological order.  I went through my first twelve stories last time, and I want to get through the end of the first stage in my fanfiction career in this post (that’s when I stopped consistently sucking, basically).  I want to stress again that I wrote these things when I was 14 and 15 years old, so that’s why most of them are crap.  With that said, let’s just jump back into this.

On All My Fanfics (Part I)

You know that old adage, “Write for you, not for anyone else?” Well this post is taking that concept and ramping it up to 11.  I’ve written before, numerous times, about how much Jimmy Neutron means to me and why I began my writing career with dozens of Jimmy Neutron fanfiction stories.  I’ve hinted at my previous works, but never explained them in depth.  That all changes today.

I am going to go over every single one of my Jimmy Neutron stories, from the ones I love to those I completely regret.  I’ll go in chronological order, starting all the way back in July 2005.  I’ll show my favorite moment from each story (or in some cases, the absolute worst), go over what I wanted to accomplish with each piece, what it taught me, and just whatever else I can remember about it.

I often look over my favorite fanfics when I want to read something for a few moments, but some of these I haven’t really looked through in years.  So prepare to get my honest appraisal of all my works.  I truly, truly hope that this post is interesting to whoever reads it.  I’ll do my best to at least ramp up the humor in this post while keeping it honest; I can at least give my readers that.

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Moving Day

Written on July 13, 2005

On Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (The Movie)

I’ve already written about the Jimmy Neutron TV series, which is both one of my favorite kids’ shows and greatest sources of inspiration.  It’s been a struggle to keep this blog from devolving into a constant stream of Neutron-related posts, I could easily write hundreds of thousands of words on everything about this show and how much it means to me.

I have written hundreds of thousands of words on this show.

But instead I’ll just focus on a simple (well, simple for me is ~4,000 words, but whatever) review of this feature film.  So first, some background.  Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius is a 2001 animated film.  When ten year-old genius Jimmy Neutron makes contact with an advanced alien race, the egg-like Yolkians from the planet Yolkus, they kidnap all of the adults in Jimmy’s home of Retroville.  After initially relishing in their lack of supervision, all the kids of Retroville band together to invade Yolkus and liberate their parents.  What makes it so great and worthy of a subsequent Annie-winning television series?  Read on to find out.

That tiny circle in the right corner says music from N*Sync, Britney Spears, and Aaron Carter.  This movie IS the early 00’s.

On Jimmy Neutron

I’ve already said in several posts that I was inspired to write by The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.  But until now I’ve only gone over in general terms what about the show inspired me.  I think it’s time I delve into a few more specifics; mainly my favorite episodes.  So sit back, grab a Purple Flurp, and get ready to drown in a wave of nostalgia as I go over the 6 best episodes of Jimmy Neutron.

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NUMBER 6 – Out, Darn Spotlight

The final battle of Ragoon the Space Pirate and Macbeth.

On Screenwriting

My foray into screenwriting began, quite expectedly, with fanfiction.  Specifically, it began two and a half years ago in response to a single wonderful review.

The review in question.  This is for Chapter Ten: A New Home, from my favorite fanfic I wrote titled Pushing Through.

Of all the reviews I have ever gotten, this touched me the most.  Growing up, I’d always distantly dreamed of becoming a TV writer.  I figured I’d be really good at it; I think one of my strongest suits as a writer is quickly coming up with a lot of ideas for stories.  Obviously, this would translate well to crafting TV episodes.  I never figured I would ever become one; even as a child I knew it was nearly impossible to break into any aspect of showbusiness.  So it remained a far-away fantasy until April 17th, 2012.  My first thought after reading that review was, “I would be a good writer for Jimmy Neutron.”