Threshers, Mergers and the Top Two Boxes

Craig and John discuss the accusations of plagiarism surrounding True Detective — and what plagiarism even means in the context of filmed entertainment. Movies don’t have footnotes, so how should screenwriters give attribution? Next it’s time for a look at the major Hollywood studios, and what would happen if any of them were to merge, like Fox and Warners seemed poised to do. Following that, we take a look at the test screening process. Finally, John wants to talk about the Canadian “about,” which isn’t “aboot,” and is a lot more complicated than you’d think. Links: Did the writer of True Detective plagiarize Thomas Ligotti and others? Nic Pizzolatto on Thomas Ligotti and the Weird Secrets of True Detective The Problem With Saying True Detective Was “Plagiarized” Stephen Glass on Wikipedia Slate on Why Biden’s plagiarism shouldn’t be forgotten The New York Times on How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life Fox Withdraws Time Warner Bid Wikipedia on the Majors Slate on NRG How Canadians Really Pronounce “About” A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder One Man, Two Guvnors How Jesus Became God by Bart D. Ehrman The Historical Jesus by John Dominic Crossan Outro by Scriptnotes listener Rajesh Naroth (send us yours!) You can download the episode here: AAC | mp3. UPDATE 8-15-14: The transcript of this episode can be found here.The post Threshers, Mergers and the Top Two Boxes first appeared on John August.