While You Were Watching America's Got Talent

On The Lot had something of a bombshell this week ("Oh, that was that pop I heard Tuesday night"). Early favorite Zach Lipovsky, the only contestant featured in the advance advertising (blowing up the flying saucer with a bazooka) and the one who was told for weeks on end how great a storyteller he is, got the hook from America after not one but two films based on the same weak premise.

Zach was understandably teary-eyed when he left, but by the time I type this he's got to be swimming in offers to direct commercials, which is really the industry most of these filmmakers can expect to find gainful employment.

Zach was good and will be juuuust fine. Zach : On The Lot :: Jennifer Hudson : American Idol (only Jennifer never slacked off and sang the same song twice in a row). The other four contestants, I'm not entirely sure about.

The remaining White Boy Mafia consists of Adam (Good/Bad Ratio somewhere around 30/70), Sam (60/40), Will (85/15) and Jason (50/50). These guys looked like Zach had died in their arms when he was asked to leave the backlot, and Will said it best when he said that he'd always thought Zach would win, so now anyone could win it if they brought their A-game.

The films this week were all based on a single prize-winning logline, so at last we could finally see what each of them could do with roughly the same material. Incidentally, this was the first night I noticed (or even looked, I'm usually DVR-warping through the end credits) that there are writers credited with scripting the shorts. This makes me wonder about the process again, and it only serves to underline for me the fundamental problem with the show in that it does not give us a story that would possibly open viewers eyes to the creative process. Instead of reinforcing an inappropriate auteur stereotype on these guys, why not show how they coordinate with the pre-production process?

The premise was a man wakes up in a dress with no memory of how he got there. Will was up first with what he described as a Coen Brothers-ish comedy (link). I've liked Will from the beginning, so I'm predisposed to think his films are good, but this one was great on all levels. He even had a ton of dialogue in a My Girl Friday vein, so Carrie Fisher was plotzing with joy.

Sam followed with what should prove to be his last film for On The Lot, a dark comedy about getting revenge on a sexist boss (link). The acting was forced and the idea was stale (Carrie quickly labeled it as Saw meets 9 to 5, hold the originality).

Adam came next with a terrific bit of surrealism that will leapfrog him to the first or second vote tally if the voters play fair, the story of a soldier that wakes up in a tutu (link). I pegged the punchline while watching this, but only because it reminded me of a story I'd written long ago.

Jason wrapped it up with a revenge comedy where a man wakes up in a dress and a C4-laced suicide-belt (link). I'm just not that into Jason, he comes off to me like a phony with the backwards hat and the street slang. He's a young guy, but he's not fourteen, so he should dress accordingly. He shows some real talent, but how does he expect to be taken seriously dressed like a clown? His fans will get him into the final three, even if his film wasn't that groundbreaking.

Sam and Jason should get the lowest amount of votes this week and Sam will get the boot. I don't think anyone would have predicted Will, Adam and Jason for final three back at the start (I'd have gone with Zach, Sam and Marty), so this last competition will be interesting to see play out.

As I'd said earlier this week, my money's on Will. I've been cringing when Carrie has given him grief over little dialogue, I think not having to rely on dialogue to tell his stories is a massive advantage he's got over the other two, plus I just have to pull for the nice family guy looking for a break.