Post by Erika on Aug 18, 2007 23:27:01 GMT -5
SBTB: The Musical??? YEP It's in the works... This was a nice find. I've been absent a while, so I hope this hasn't been posted, yet. Let me know if it has:
www.northbynorthwestern.com/2007/05/3736/savedbythebell/
NU alum Saved By The Bell writer comes back to school
By Kayleigh Roberts
Published May 24, 2007 at 2:08 am
Filed under Articles, On Campus, Television, Report
All it takes is a name (Screech), a place (Bayside), a sound (that high-pitched squealing ring), to bring to mind an entire series. For a generation who grew up watching Saved by the Bell, the chance to meet Bennett Tramer, the show’s head writer, seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime. Tramer visited his alma mater Wed. evening to speak to a small group of students at Block Cinema.
The Cleveland native and Northwestern alum majored in Radio/Television/Film and went on to be the head writer of the most widely syndicated television show in the world, Saved By The Bell. Tramer began the session with a special screening of his favorite episode, “The Substitute,” in which Kelly, Jessie, and Lisa develop a crush on their hunky, Shakespeare-spouting substitute English teacher. Tramer said he chose the episode because it “bothered me the least.” The floor was then open to questions from the moderator and audience in a Q&A about the television industry and the hit show.
First, Tramer explained the difficulties in writing and producing a show like Saved by the Bell. He explained that, as a writer, his task was to develop stories that would be suitable for the show’s broad audience, which included children as young as seven all the way through high school seniors. In addition to dealing with topics that would be relevant and interesting to such a broad audience, Tramer pointed out problems with filming the series.
“You’re dealing with children and they can only work so many hours…we had to be done by Friday at 6:00 or get busted for violating California’s child labor laws,” he said, adding that writers had to keep the stars’ time constraints in mind when writing the show. “We couldn’t have all six of them in a scene together very often because their hours just wouldn’t allow it.”
When asked to talk about the dynamic in the writers’ room, Tramer said it was his first experience in the environment.
“Working in a room with writers, you’re right away being evaluated and judged,” he explained.
The audience soon dove into the more specific questions: those pertaining to Saved by the .Bell, such as the continuity errors in the later seasons. They asked about Tori, a character who appeared towards the end of the series and then was absent. The explanation: Tori was a fix.
“We had the boys signed for 13 more episodes and Elizabeth was older than everyone else and she wanted to do movies,” he said. “She was getting other offers and so was Kelly (Tiffany Amber Thiessen) so we needed 13 more episodes so we had to hire another girl.”
What about Jessie’s battle with caffeine pills? The producers were looking for more “message shows” so the writers decided to tackle the drug issue, Tramer said. Being a Saturday morning show, caffeine pills were all they could get away with, especially when the character with the problem was a member of the main cast, not a guest star.
Though the original series ended in 1993, Tramer said Saved by the Bell may not be totally done.
“I’m currently writing Saved by the Bell: The Musical,” Tramer said.
www.northbynorthwestern.com/2007/05/3736/savedbythebell/
NU alum Saved By The Bell writer comes back to school
By Kayleigh Roberts
Published May 24, 2007 at 2:08 am
Filed under Articles, On Campus, Television, Report
All it takes is a name (Screech), a place (Bayside), a sound (that high-pitched squealing ring), to bring to mind an entire series. For a generation who grew up watching Saved by the Bell, the chance to meet Bennett Tramer, the show’s head writer, seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime. Tramer visited his alma mater Wed. evening to speak to a small group of students at Block Cinema.
The Cleveland native and Northwestern alum majored in Radio/Television/Film and went on to be the head writer of the most widely syndicated television show in the world, Saved By The Bell. Tramer began the session with a special screening of his favorite episode, “The Substitute,” in which Kelly, Jessie, and Lisa develop a crush on their hunky, Shakespeare-spouting substitute English teacher. Tramer said he chose the episode because it “bothered me the least.” The floor was then open to questions from the moderator and audience in a Q&A about the television industry and the hit show.
First, Tramer explained the difficulties in writing and producing a show like Saved by the Bell. He explained that, as a writer, his task was to develop stories that would be suitable for the show’s broad audience, which included children as young as seven all the way through high school seniors. In addition to dealing with topics that would be relevant and interesting to such a broad audience, Tramer pointed out problems with filming the series.
“You’re dealing with children and they can only work so many hours…we had to be done by Friday at 6:00 or get busted for violating California’s child labor laws,” he said, adding that writers had to keep the stars’ time constraints in mind when writing the show. “We couldn’t have all six of them in a scene together very often because their hours just wouldn’t allow it.”
When asked to talk about the dynamic in the writers’ room, Tramer said it was his first experience in the environment.
“Working in a room with writers, you’re right away being evaluated and judged,” he explained.
The audience soon dove into the more specific questions: those pertaining to Saved by the .Bell, such as the continuity errors in the later seasons. They asked about Tori, a character who appeared towards the end of the series and then was absent. The explanation: Tori was a fix.
“We had the boys signed for 13 more episodes and Elizabeth was older than everyone else and she wanted to do movies,” he said. “She was getting other offers and so was Kelly (Tiffany Amber Thiessen) so we needed 13 more episodes so we had to hire another girl.”
What about Jessie’s battle with caffeine pills? The producers were looking for more “message shows” so the writers decided to tackle the drug issue, Tramer said. Being a Saturday morning show, caffeine pills were all they could get away with, especially when the character with the problem was a member of the main cast, not a guest star.
Though the original series ended in 1993, Tramer said Saved by the Bell may not be totally done.
“I’m currently writing Saved by the Bell: The Musical,” Tramer said.
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