I don’t know what the fuck to think.

“Disney was long rumored to be anti-Semitic during his lifetime, and such rumors have persisted after his death. Disney’s 2006 biographer Neal Gabler, the first writer to gain unrestricted access to the Disney archives, concluded that available evidence does not support such accusations. “That’s one of the questions everybody asks me,” Gabler said in a CBS interview. “My answer to that is, not in the conventional sense that we think of someone as being an anti-Semite. But he got the reputation because, in the 1940s, he got himself allied with a group called the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, which was an anti-Communist and anti-Semitic organization. And though Walt himself, in my estimation, was not anti-Semitic, nevertheless, he willingly allied himself with people who were anti-Semitic, and that reputation stuck. He was never really able to expunge it throughout his life.” Disney ultimately distanced himself from the Motion Picture Alliance in the 1950s. The Walt Disney Family Museum acknowledges that Disney did have “difficult relationships” with some Jewish men, and that ethnic stereotypes common to films of the 1930s were included in some early cartoons, such as Three Little Pigs; but points out that he employed Jews throughout his career, and was named “Man Of The Year” in 1955 by the B’nai B’rith chapter in Beverly Hills.” From Walt Disney’s page on IMDB

Now, before I begin, I’d like to say that, because of my terrible singing (and speaking) voice, I will never be in a production of the show anytime soon. So, remember, no matter how much you may not like my version of Seymour, it will never come true.

So, for the past 7 years, I have been working on a Family Guy spin-off. (It began as a single fan script, and has developed into an entire universe.) Now, the show is about a group of Wizarding singers, and one of the main characters, Justin “Micky McFinnigan” Griffin, is a more perfected version of me. I tried to keep our personalities separate, but it didn’t work. And, the one role that he most identifies with, and the one that he always accepts, no matter what the pay is or how small the theater or production happens to be, is Seymour. While I was working on this plot-point, his performances evolved over his his 100+ productions, from the very simple performances at the beginning to something more “layered”. And, if given the chance, I would perform the “layered” version. It’s not an extreme change, but it is different. (And yes, this is what I would do, and not necessarily what Micky does. My use of “he” is in terms of Seymour.)

The easiest part to explain is to evolve his personality a bit. It wouldn’t be major, but here’s what I mean. In Act I, he would be the Seymour that we all know; a bit shy, a bit reserved, and a bit awkward. But in Act II, he would change a bit; from all the interviews and press, he would gain some confidence, dress a little nicer, stand up a little straighter, perhaps his voice would deepen just slightly. And, from Audrey II’s feedings, he would be a bit more jumpy and short (with the plant). The one aspect I might also add is having Seymour momentarily take his glasses off at the end of “Suddenly Seymour”, so he could look Audrey directly in the eyes instead of through his glasses.

The most radical change would be adding a beast inside Seymour. Now, it wouldn’t be considered serial-killer materiel, and it would be contained most of the time, but there would be something inside Seymour that Audrey II, knowingly or not, would be able to bring out. Here’s what I mean.

It would first be brought out at the end of “Feed Me (Get It)”, after he sees Orin slap Audrey. After they exit, as he closes the door and the music builds, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He turns to Twoey, and he sings with more intensity and venom than he would usually be capable of; so much so, that he’s almost leading Audrey Two, and you think it’s about to turn to “Sweeney Todd”. However, by the next scene in Orin’s waiting room, he’s gone back to his normal self.

The second time the monster comes out of the box is during “Now (It’s Just the Gas)”. As Orin is laughing to death, and Seymour ponders on what to do, he gets a slight smile and there’s a bit of delight in his voice as he realizes that he can do nothing and accomplish all he needs to do. At the end of his thought process, and crosses his legs and waits for the deed to be accomplished. However, at the end of the scene, he realizes what just happened and goes back to normal as he says “Death.”

The final time the monster is unleashed is at the end of “Suppertime”, when Seymour sends Mushnik to his death. As Mushnik re-enter’s the room, an idea hits Seymour and, with a slight smile and sounding calmer than he should sound, brings up the subject of the day’s receipts. However, he snaps back to himself as Mushnik knocks, and winces at every scream.

I have never felt the need to properly speak out, but I now feel that I must, to give voice to countless fans. I am fine with recent, possibly inadvertent, format changes. I am fine with you falling back on character pairing that are becoming a bit old (Peter & Lois, Brian & Stewie, etc). I am fine with episodes becoming more serious and more politically minded. I am even fine with, and entertained by, all the Meg bashing. However, it, the Meg bashing, has gotten a bit out of control.

Not only was the ending to Seahorse Seashell Party a bit too illogical and, it seemed, thrown in to just to allow for more Meg abuse instead of allowing for actual character development, but the last, fading ember of hope for all Meg fans has, it seemed, been extinguished.

During last Sunday’s episode, Thanksgiving, Kevin Swasnson returned. During seasons one through three, it was implied that the two had a loving relationship, so I was, as were many other Kevin fans, shocked and appalled when Kevin rejected Meg’s advances, along with calling her a skank.

While I will commend you for bringing Kevin back, and for making him an actual character with some backbone, I will say that every single fan who wanted Kevin to come back wanted him to come back for one reason and one reason only; They wanted him to be in a relationship with Meg. If that’s never going to happen, I must ask you why you even brought him back at all?

I would like to remind you that there are fans who stopped watching the show because of all the Meg bashing. There are fans who stopped watching because Kevin was killed off. There are fans who stopped watching because of Seahorse Seashell Party. And, chances are, there are fans fans who stopped watching because of the “skank” bit. I will agree that doing things just because the fans will like it isn’t the way to go. However, alienating the fans, the people who ultimately pay your bills, is not a good idea. If you fuck us over too many times, chances are, we will turn over and fuck you over.

So please, to paraphrase Eric Cartman, can you at least take us out to dinner? We like to get wined and dined after we get fucked.

Hey. How’s it going?

Well, due to my love of writing Micky Crosby, that time has come again where I start questioning if I should continue with The Gang. This question rears it’s ugly head every few years or so, and every time it does, I try and reinvent it. And that’s what I’ve thinking about doing again.

I started writing my first Family Guy script (“The New Rat Pack is Back!”) in, I believe, 5th grade (about 7 years ago). The storyline was about Brian’s father, Coco, coming back into his life (since I was going through a same type of experience). It wasn’t funny (at all), it went was going by at breakneck speed (10 pages in, it was 50% done), and I didn’t know where it was going. A week after I started, I abandoned it to read a book.

About 6 months later, I started working on it again. And, to expand it and slow it down, I created my own characters: Jewl, Lois’ niece and a Stewie-type, and Justin (now “Micky”), Peter’s half-brother and a combo of Brian and Peter. Both were part of the magical world (Jewl secretly), and they were to end up together. I soon introduced the idea of it being a “live” episode, and Heather, Justin’s bitchy girlfriend. And it did slow it down…. 4 years later, now titled “Sunday Night Live!”, I had used up around 60 total notebooks and was still writing the same draft. Since I had gotten over my daddy issues, I broke up the script into several episodes, and started over. Soon though, it lost it’s charm, and I abandoned it.

However, I wasn’t alone for long. Since I found myself writing more for my own characters than for the Family Guy characters, I began a spin-off show. I envisioned it as FG meets Harry Potter meets Judy Garland’s A Star is Born (since Glee hadn’t come out yet).

Now, I’ve been working on The Gang for about two years, which is a continuation of something I’ve been working on for a total of 7 years. And, unfortunately, it has become a chore to write. So, what should I do? Abandon it? No! I’m not wasting 7 years of my life! I’ll retool it!

I’m going back to the beginnings of “The New Rat Pack is Back”, when The Gang weren’t a group of worldwide super-stars. They were just a group of kids who loved performing, and now I’m going back to precisely that. Instead of being major, worldwide celebrities, The Gang will be, for the most part, major, local celebrities.

Also, the show will now focus more on just Micky and Jewl, and their friendship and struggles more than on anything else. This, again, is a throwback to “Rat Pack”, where they were the only two characters I really developed. While there will be episodes and arcs that will focus on other characters, I feel like it has become to much of a soap opera. And, also, I remember that the small, quiet scenes between the two, where they just talk, where my favorite scenes to write.

Now, this, of course, will require some major character and plot reworking (giving them day-jobs, modifying performances, etc). But, it’s making me excited about The Gang again. Which is a good thing….

I hope.