12 Downton Abbey, Sherlock, and Doctor Who from The Doctor Who Changed the TV Universe – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video]

12 Downton Abbey, Sherlock, and Doctor Who from The Doctor Who Changed the TV Universe – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video]

Transcript:

As we know Downton Abbey became this huge explosive again filmed in England is a very culturally English story with an English cast and that has a Doctor Who connection because Hugh Bonneville shows up after that on Doctor Who. That’s how powerful now Doctor Who is this worldwide let me see let me have everyone see me here right? So I think that’s a beautiful connection. Sherlock went Global and it has its Doctor Who connection because we know it was written by both Moffat and Gatis who a lot of people don’t take seriously or don’t realize he’s more than an actor. He’s also a writer. He actually has a wonderful – it’s still on YouTube – It’s a three-part documentary on his love of American horror films and so he goes to the history of early horror films. The classic here and then he does one about the modern and in the middle he does one about English horror films but it’s a three-part really fun piece and I show that the students and they recognize him from Sherlock but they don’t know that he wrote it.

 

In this presentation given at the 2022 San Diego WhoCon I had the chance to trace the many ways Doctor Who changed the TV universe. By focusing on the interesting and innovative things the many writers did with the show across the years we were able to see the Who footprint by becoming the first narrative program to reach 50 years on the air, the first to create a spin-off across the ocean, and a show alongside Star Trek that created the Con-craze that brought the world of cosplay to the mainstream. Perhaps most importantly, a love of Doctor Who lead more Americans to watch programming from other countries – from Korean dramas to Mexican telenovelas – which has so enriched our culture.

RMW Rosanne Signature for Web

Watch this entire presentation

11 Globalizing The Story from The Doctor Who Changed the TV Universe – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video]

11 Gloalizing The Story from The Doctor Who Changed the TV Universe – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video]

Transcript:

Then the fact that you simulcast the newest Doctor. Simulcast because as we got it we always knew the show aired at this hour and you got it and then you had to wait eight hours to see it here etc. Then they realized no that audience with the internet and the explosion of the internet there’s no possible way we can keep the secret it’s going to disappear before we have the chance to enjoy it. So they literally put in the effort to simulcast that moment of changing the character – changing an actor on a show. How could that become so important because Doctor Who. I think that’s really cool. Now slowly because of Doctor Who it’s that long tail thing now other shows you’re being able to sort of jump on that bandwagon and people are saying oh let me look at that. So for instance of course there’s the new All Creatures Great and Small. What I love is all of a sudden by accident some of the shows I chose as examples they all have connections to Doctor Who right? So, for instance, this is the new All Creatures Great and Small but in the top corner I have the original All Creatures which I watched on PBS originally and that’s connected to Doctor Who because… Peter Davidson came to us from that show and then moved into Doctor Who. So I think that’s fun and actually, the bottom picture is how much fandom gets you. When we happened to be lucky enough to go to an event in Leeds we took a train to Thirsk and that is the home of James Herriot and that is the James Herriot Museum. It’s the smallest and most popular little Museum in the whole of that section of England and it was kind of fun and they had a little area where they showed you the set from the original show because we were here before the new show had started. So I’m kind of interested to know how they’ve expanded their Museum but that’s the power right of now globalizing the story.

 

In this presentation given at the 2022 San Diego WhoCon I had the chance to trace the many ways Doctor Who changed the TV universe. By focusing on the interesting and innovative things the many writers did with the show across the years we were able to see the Who footprint by becoming the first narrative program to reach 50 years on the air, the first to create a spin-off across the ocean, and a show alongside Star Trek that created the Con-craze that brought the world of cosplay to the mainstream. Perhaps most importantly, a love of Doctor Who lead more Americans to watch programming from other countries – from Korean dramas to Mexican telenovelas – which has so enriched our culture.

RMW Rosanne Signature for Web

Watch this entire presentation

10 Doctor Who in Hollywood from The Doctor Who Changed the TV Universe – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video]

Doctor Who in Hollywood from The Doctor Who Changed the TV Universe – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video]

Transcript:

Then we rebooted “Doctor Who” and even in the David era it was getting there because David was known from “Harry Potter” so there’s a fandom there that’s bringing it together but it was this moment when they debuted Matt – they were like okay we are gonna make a push in the United States. This is going to be so important. That billboard is on Sunset Boulevard in LA. Where normally it’s just a bunch of upcoming movies right or big albums that we expect. So the idea that you could bring this billboard and expect that the people driving by in Los Angeles knew who he was and what that show was. That was an amazing Step In global television and of course Craig Ferguson down there was a Dalek because he’s from the UK anyway so he knew what it was. He was kind of insinuating his love of “Doctor Who” into – but late late night. Not everybody stayed up for the late late night but everybody drove down Sunset Boulevard.

 

In this presentation given at the 2022 San Diego WhoCon I had the chance to trace the many ways Doctor Who changed the TV universe. By focusing on the interesting and innovative things the many writers did with the show across the years we were able to see the Who footprint by becoming the first narrative program to reach 50 years on the air, the first to create a spin-off across the ocean, and a show alongside Star Trek that created the Con-craze that brought the world of cosplay to the mainstream. Perhaps most importantly, a love of Doctor Who lead more Americans to watch programming from other countries – from Korean dramas to Mexican telenovelas – which has so enriched our culture.

RMW Rosanne Signature for Web

Watch this entire presentation

09 90210 and Baywatch from The Doctor Who Changed the TV Universe – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video]

09 90210 and Baywatch from The Doctor Who Changed the TV Universe – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video]

Transcript:

So “Baywatch” and “Beverly Hills 90210” were the number one and two exports of television from America to the rest of the world and when I teach students in Los Angeles I always say so that means everybody thinks after you go to class every day you go to the beach and you have a bonfire with your friends and then you grow up to be lifeguards right? That’s a normal LA life which as we all know it’s not at all but that’s the power of Something Going Global. It brings your culture to another country.

 

In this presentation given at the 2022 San Diego WhoCon I had the chance to trace the many ways Doctor Who changed the TV universe. By focusing on the interesting and innovative things the many writers did with the show across the years we were able to see the Who footprint by becoming the first narrative program to reach 50 years on the air, the first to create a spin-off across the ocean, and a show alongside Star Trek that created the Con-craze that brought the world of cosplay to the mainstream. Perhaps most importantly, a love of Doctor Who lead more Americans to watch programming from other countries – from Korean dramas to Mexican telenovelas – which has so enriched our culture.

RMW Rosanne Signature for Web

Watch this entire presentation

08 Going Global from The Doctor Who Changed the TV Universe – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video]

08 Going Global from The Doctor Who Changed the TV Universe – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video]

Transcript:

Now the other thing about “Doctor Who” that we know is it went Global and this was not something that happened to very many TV shows. When we were younger and we watched it on PBS it was because PBS took the leftover stuff from England and didn’t make a big deal out of it. There wasn’t a big marketing campaign. You landed on it accidentally and went wow this is interesting. What is this and then you got hooked right? Only shows that have gone global in the past were something like Lucille Ball who was already sort of known worldwide from her movie career right or when we get into the 80s “Baywatch” went global to the whole world. The two most exported shows from the United States and we were always the country doing the most exports. Always we went out to 89 different countries. It was much harder for other countries to spread their stuff to us. We had so much on our screens that we didn’t need to buy anything else. We filled our broadcast network time but the other countries had less production so they were buying all our stuff right.

 

In this presentation given at the 2022 San Diego WhoCon I had the chance to trace the many ways Doctor Who changed the TV universe. By focusing on the interesting and innovative things the many writers did with the show across the years we were able to see the Who footprint by becoming the first narrative program to reach 50 years on the air, the first to create a spin-off across the ocean, and a show alongside Star Trek that created the Con-craze that brought the world of cosplay to the mainstream. Perhaps most importantly, a love of Doctor Who lead more Americans to watch programming from other countries – from Korean dramas to Mexican telenovelas – which has so enriched our culture.

RMW Rosanne Signature for Web

Watch this entire presentation

07 Conventions from The Doctor Who Changed the TV Universe – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video]

07 Conventions from The Doctor Who Changed the TV Universe – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video]

Transcript:

They began as these little tiny things and we know they began in the world of “Star Trek” and Trekkies getting together and all of that. It was a very tiny thing. These guys hadn’t worked in a few years. So it was like oh let’s invite them in. They were interested in doing it. It was this little – Comic-Con was this little comic book convention again mostly for – considered for nerds if you really love comic books and then “Doctor Who” showed up and the actors were willing to come to Comic-Con and the next thing you know thousands of people are flooding this place. It’s almost too big for the convention center anymore because of the power of “Doctor Who” and of course big moment Comic-Con history watching David and Jack kiss each other. We’re just like oh my gosh how is that possible? This is amazing right and now it’s become the kind of thing that every movie studio goes to Comic-Con to show off their new films. This is a huge change. They would not have gone before. They would not have assumed there was an audience there that they cared about but the “Doctor Who” audience showed how loyal it could be and was willing to be showing up and buying tickets and showing up as we know in Cosplay. I mean we kind of invented cosplay because it was harder to do a “Star Trek” uniform but it was easier to do all the various doctor outfits. So I think that’s an amazing thing and we built cons to such a place that they are so respected. Anybody know who’s standing there next to Nichelle Nichols. I know.

 

Mae Jemison right. The first female African-American astronaut. Sally Ride was the first American astronaut and she’s showing up in a con with Nichelle Nichols because she knew the importance of seeing that character on television made her interested in space. So to show up –  like she doesn’t need to do that – she’s got stuff to do right? She’s a scientist. This is how cool it is and how wonderful.

 

In this presentation given at the 2022 San Diego WhoCon I had the chance to trace the many ways Doctor Who changed the TV universe. By focusing on the interesting and innovative things the many writers did with the show across the years we were able to see the Who footprint by becoming the first narrative program to reach 50 years on the air, the first to create a spin-off across the ocean, and a show alongside Star Trek that created the Con-craze that brought the world of cosplay to the mainstream. Perhaps most importantly, a love of Doctor Who lead more Americans to watch programming from other countries – from Korean dramas to Mexican telenovelas – which has so enriched our culture.

RMW Rosanne Signature for Web

Watch this entire presentation

Edna Anhalt, Hidden in Her Husband’s Shadow Despite Her Academy Award – Dr. Rosanne Welch, Script Magazine, February 2023

Each month I have the privilege of celebrating the female screenwriters who came before us in an article in Script Magazine. This month’s spotlight is Edna Anhalt — a screenwriter who with her husband Edward won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story. Panic in the Streets (1950) was about a gang of petty criminals carrying the pneumonic plague, Sadly, as with so many women who co-wrote with spouses, there is much more published about his career than hers, though she wrote solo short stories and films as well. 

Edna Anhalt, Hidden in Her Husband’s Shadow Despite Her Academy Award – Dr. Rosanne Welch, Script Magazine, February 2023

To research the writing career of Oscar-winning Edna Anhalt is to be constantly sent to sites detailing her husband’s career with little note about her life outside of that partnership. Edna Thompson was born in New York City in 1914 and married Edward Anhalt in 1935. The dual partnership in marriage and career lasted 20 years. They may have met while enrolled at Columbia University since in 1936 they shared credit on the documentary the Problem Child (1936), produced by the college. 

Read Edna Anhalt, Hidden in Her Husband’s Shadow Despite Her Academy Award


Read about more women from early Hollywood

 

06 Longevity from The Doctor Who Changed the TV Universe – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video]

06 Longevity from The Doctor Who Changed the TV Universe – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video]

Transcript:

Canonically when you look at television, “Gunsmoke” was considered the longest-running show – 20 years – and you can see that’s actually Bert (Reynolds). He started on that show and then “Law and Order” was on for a good 20 years and “Supernatural.” Thinking of Science Fiction. “Supernatural” is really the longest-running that we’ve had here in the states at 15, which seems like a lot but not compared to “Doctor Who” So the thing about “Doctor Who” is that fandom that built over all these years allowed this explosion in Cons, which were not a normal thing back in the day right? They were just what geeky kids did and nobody took them seriously. Nobody looked deeply into the TV shows they were watching. I think it’s a beautiful thing to think how much the support and the fame of “Doctor Who” has expanded the world of Cons.

 

In this presentation given at the 2022 San Diego WhoCon I had the chance to trace the many ways Doctor Who changed the TV universe. By focusing on the interesting and innovative things the many writers did with the show across the years we were able to see the Who footprint by becoming the first narrative program to reach 50 years on the air, the first to create a spin-off across the ocean, and a show alongside Star Trek that created the Con-craze that brought the world of cosplay to the mainstream. Perhaps most importantly, a love of Doctor Who lead more Americans to watch programming from other countries – from Korean dramas to Mexican telenovelas – which has so enriched our culture.

RMW Rosanne Signature for Web

Watch this entire presentation

Student Voices: TV + Screenwriting from the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting [Video]

Thanks to all the current MFA candidates and alums who sat for interviews so that we could create this video for the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting and thanks to the Stephens College videographer, Andrew Church, for all his work on the project. Who knew a 2-minute video could take so many hours of interviewing and editing – oh, yeah, anyone else who does this for a living.

Student Voices: TV + Screenwriting from the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting [Video]

05 Scooby-Doo and SVU from The Doctor Who Changed the TV Universe – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video]

05 Scooby-Doo and SVU from The Doctor Who Changed the TV Universe – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video]

Transcript:

In researching this I discovered “Scooby-Doo” has been around since 1969. So as they say you do the math. However, they would say – exactly – they would say it’s changed its iterations. There’s been “Where’s Scooby-Doo?” and “Scrappy-Doo.” So they’ve changed the shows but that set of characters has been with us all this time. This is something amazing if you think about it. In terms of live-action shows – again because an actor is not going to last 50 or 60 years – we don’t have that long longevity although “Colombo”, believe it or not, has quite a long run and they did the same thing “Doctor Who” did. They had a little hiatus where it was off the air and then after a while, the audience was still there and the network said wait a minute we could revive this and, of course, Peter Falk was thankfully still around. So they did. So really that’s an amazing run for a narrative show and just a straight show without hiatus has been 23 years the longest is Law and Order Special Victims Unit. So these are amazing things and then there’s Doctor Who.

 

In this presentation given at the 2022 San Diego WhoCon I had the chance to trace the many ways Doctor Who changed the TV universe. By focusing on the interesting and innovative things the many writers did with the show across the years we were able to see the Who footprint by becoming the first narrative program to reach 50 years on the air, the first to create a spin-off across the ocean, and a show alongside Star Trek that created the Con-craze that brought the world of cosplay to the mainstream. Perhaps most importantly, a love of Doctor Who lead more Americans to watch programming from other countries – from Korean dramas to Mexican telenovelas – which has so enriched our culture.

RMW Rosanne Signature for Web

Watch this entire presentation