Unscripted

Unlike other viewers (posting on this site), I thoroughly enjoyed the debut episodes of "unscripted." Certainly I agree that the show might not be on the same plane as "Larry Sanders," "Curb," or "Arrested Development," but those shows are neo-classics. Furthermore, Clooney et al are attempting to do something very different here than we see with those programs.

Krista Allen and Bryan Greenburg's characters are endearing, even if the other students portrayed are a bit formulaic and silly. Frank Langella's depiction of the brutally honest acting coach is riveting and entirely realistic as a portrayal of an advanced drama coach.

This is an insightful and creative look at a few of the thousands of actors on the edge of making it, and infinitely more entertaining than HBO's recent attempt ("Entorage"...and rare dud) at creating a television show about an actor who already has.

Well, the word on the street is that 'Unscripted' has been canceled, and it's not hard to imagine why. The pseudo 'reality' show meant to offer the inside scoop on the hard road to stardom never really garnered much of an audience, and, with little to no plot or storyline to speak of, never provided much of a hook to keep viewers interested. This is George Clooney's second stab with the sorta-kinda-reality show genre on HBO--the first, 'K Street,' which Clooney co-produced with his buddy Stephen Soderbergh, tried to meld fictional drama in a DC lobbying firm run by real-life power couple Mary Matalin and James Carville. The show attempted to bend genres by combining actual current news stories with fictional subplots, presumably to expose the behind-the-scenes action leading up to public news events. One problem: could there be anything less interesting to watch than the lives and doings of a bunch of hyper-neurotic DC lobbyists? Answer: the lives and doings of aspiring actors trying to break through in Hollywood.

'Unscripted' again tries to give us an improvised take on 'reality,' with real struggling actors (Krista Allen, Bryan Greenberg, Jennifer Hall) splitting time between humiliating auditions, the occasional, small-time acting gig, and an acting class taught by the ridiculously pretentious and egocentric Goddard Fulton (Frank Langella), who pontificates about the 'craft' of acting for a roomful of desperate sycophants trying to pretend that art has something to do with their desire to be famous and make easy money. Langella is a fantastic actor, but his Goddard is easily the worst thing about 'Unscripted,' boring the audience to death with idiotic speeches about artistic integrity for a bunch of people who would do back flips from one end of the Sunset strip to the other to be cast in a commercial or a soap opera. Though I'm sure Goddard has his real-life counterparts who are just as serious as he seems to be, the performance is unintentionally funny to the point of being embarrassing.

The series had its moments--the best story-line was held by Allen, Clooney's one-time girlfriend, a stunning beauty trying to be taken seriously as an actress after spending the first half of her career modeling for men's magazines and doing soft-core porn. Allen's is a classic dilemma, and while we don't necessarily feel sorry for her, her humiliation at being unable to find a job that doesn't require her to take her clothes off is palpable.

The main problem, though, is that people outside of LA and New York--i.e., the audience--don't care about the inner workings of Hollywood. It's no secret that Hollywood is a viper's nest and that aspiring actors face a lot of rejection and humiliation before they get lucky, if ever. We just want to be entertained. And given the fact that there's a war going on right now, it's hard to take a bunch of actors feeling sorry for themselves too seriously.

Clooney deserves to be complimented for attempting to translate the current public obsession with unscripted reality programming into a new film-making genre. But thus far, the projects seem to be overwhelmed by self-importance and humorlessness. Clooney's pal Mark Wahlberg seems to be having better success with 'Entourage,' a far less intelligent version of the behind-the-green door genre, probably because that program seems to be more comedic in nature. Perhaps one day Clooney will be able to pull this pseudo-reality thing off more successfully, but it's unlikely after the failure of 'K Street' and 'Unscripted' that he'll get another chance any time soon.

I am a working actor currently in a smaller market, and I do not live in Los Angeles. I have done some theater and stage work this year and I have also been very fortunate to have gotten several speaking roles in short films and independent and low-budget films. I must say that every time I watch this series I am amazed at the level of accuracy and realism that this show continues to maintain each and every week.

Granted I am not yet in Los Angeles(but will be in the next year), but I have experienced a lot of the issues that this show deals with. I find that when I watch unscripted I can relate to these characters more so than any other fictional characters in a scripted drama or comedy series. Though not a reality series, the stories are based in fact on several real experiences that these actors and Mr. Clooney and Mr. Heslov have faced at some point in their lives.

I take comfort in the fact that I am not the only one to have gone through some of these things, and I find myself personally involved with what happens to these characters because their journey mirrors that of my own. I feel like I am watching a documentary of my life over the past 3 years. I also really value Mr. Langella's contribution as acting instuctor Goddard Fulton. His insightful and constructive criticism and also his belief in his students and his profession is a remarkably true portrayal of everyone one I have ever met that truly believes in the power of acting and themselves. I love this show!

For people like me and any other working actors in the United States who have access to HBO cable network, or if you're just simply interested in finding out about the process of living and working in the acting arena, do yourselves a favor and watch this show! I feel shows like this and also Inside The Actor's Studio have just as much value as a learning tool for actors studying and working on their craft and also for actors who want in on this business. If you listen to these actors and their personal experiences, you can learn a lot about the process of acting, what it takes to succeed, and maybe even get a little more insight into who you are and what it is that you want to accomplish as an actor.

Thank you Mr. Greenberg, Miss Allen, Miss Hall, Mr. Langella, Mr.Clooney, Mr.Heslov, and Mr. Adler for presenting such a wonderful opportunity to observe the behaviors, attitudes, and lessons that actors come across, deal with, and learn from on a daily basis. Thank you for telling it like it is. You all continue to motivate and inspire me week after week. I wish you all the best of luck with this series. If you have HBO, and you want to be an actor, watch it!

I've seen the first four episodes of unscripted and i think this is a great new format for TV series. I'm really into the series, very Soderbergh's style, the colors in the background with a lot of yellows and blues, great story with so many very funny but credible moments like the one with Krista yelling in the wrong office with Sam Mendez or Jen sitting in Brad Pitts chair and asking Limon if he was involved in the movie (He is the director of Mr. and Mrs. Smith). Frank Langella is a fine actor and his performance so far i've seen is flawless. Krista Allen, Jennifer Hall and Bryan Greenberg show the tough life of young actors trying to make his own way in Hollywood.

It's a GREAT SERIES! another hit series from HBO.

Unscripted is to aspiring actors ...

instead of a show about the glitter, fame & fortune (e.g Entourage or anything on the E-Channel) or a bunch of pathetic, fame-starved everyday people trying to get 15 seconds (e.g. anything reality TV show in the major networks) ...

HBO has brought us a hybrid reality show of what its really like to go into acting. the characters are never been heard of actors young and old, with a mix of some you've seen before and some you will never see again (all using their real names). the show follows the lives of the actors, and shows what its really like. its something every 16-yeard old kid that wants to be an actor should see (rather than watching the e-channel and hearing about how JLo made it). its gritty & shows how pathetic these people are (especially the people in the business). and its warning to people going into the business that probably wont be heard/observed ... kinda like Hoop Dreams