Apollo: So what are you in for this time?
Starbuck: Striking a superior asshole.
Apollo: You been waiting all day to say that?
Starbuck: Most of the afternoon, yeah.
I loved that, and here's why: if the writers had let it go after Starbuck's first line, I'd have groaned. Hardy-har. Starbuck would've been just a cocky jerk with nothing better to do in the lockup than throw blame at someone else.
Instead, I laughed for real, happy not only that Starbuck got called out on her lame joke, but that the writers called themselves out. In doing so, they turned a line that could have been a brick into an exchange that showed some history between the characters and gave Starbuck a likeability that will conflict well with any dumb moves her character will probably make in the future.
In short, the writers owned the cheese in the line, and made it do double -- even triple -- duty for them.
Can you think of a situation where a writer's moves impressed you? How did they do it?
3 ate pie:
I looooved BSG! It was such a good show with great writing and acting. And it inspired me to say "frack" and to accuse everyone of being a Cylon - so much fun!
The new BSG is amazing. You'll love it. Even the much maligned finale was superb. The show took a lot of risks, not all of them paid off, but I have mad respect for the writers.
I think Jane Espenson and Ben Edlund are both brilliant at this type of self-awareness. Espenson was a Buffy writer who also wrote some BSG later in the series, and helmed the spin-off Caprica. She's got a really keen eye for keeping jokes fresh and wringing all the juice out of them. Edlund writes for Supernatural now, but I first discovered him as the writer/creator of the comic book The Tick. He's got a way of taking groan-worthy stuff and making it amazing. He winks at the audience in ways that other writers could only dream of. It's pretty great actually.
Anna - so that's where frack came from. :)
Shaun - I used to read Jane Espenson's blog (didn't she announce a couple years ago that she couldn't think of any more advice to give?). I always found her examples insightful.
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