Critiquing Old Scripts #1 : "Worst Night Ever"
Oy.
Part of me dreads this, but in the quest to improve my craft I think it could be incredibly valuable to revisit concepts I abandoned somewhere along the way.
Welcome to… “Worst Night Ever,” a 30-minute pilot that tonally fits somewhere between CW’s “Supernatural” and FX’s “What We Do In The Shadows.”
Context: When I was playing around with this idea, I recently finished “The City We Became,” by N.K. Jemisin. An Urban-Fantasy story that takes place in New York City. It was a fun read, great characters with specific voices. I wanted the setting for my script to take place in an alternate version of New York City where humans and all kinds of supernatural creatures and beings cohabitate. Perhaps in future version of this script, it could be in the same world as “Supernatural” wink wink, nod nod. I was thinking it needed to have it’s own quirky-brand of comedy so that it could have it’s own lane, but not be too off putting. A very delicate line to balance.
Ultimately, I abandoned the concept after the third draft. I let the script breathe and picked it back up after a few weeks. I felt disappointed at the time, like I had totally missed the ball. It required too much work that I was prepared to invest. So I let it go. At least, that’s what I remember feeling.
ANYWAY…
Here’s the opening scene to “Worst Night Ever,” featuring my inner critic.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I think I will take another stab at this. There are things about it that I really enjoy, the plot and the formatting need work, but my knowledge and experience has grown since I wrote this and I think I could make some solid improvements. What comes across to me, and what I hope comes across to other readers who don’t know what’s in my head, is that it reads as fast-paced banter. Feedback I received that I remember was the dialogue and pacing felt very “Millennial/Gen Z cusp.” I think I agree with that note, which to me makes it niche. Not everyone is going to like it, and that’s ok. Not everything has to be for everyone, in fact, most of the time it’s better to be specific about who you’re trying to reach. It’s nice to see that my inner critic has chilled out a bit, I used to be very mean to myself, but it never has to be that deep.
What do you think? Could this be my Deadpool entry into the “Supernatural” spin-off world? Eric Kripke, give me a call.
