Goldsman in them thar Capitol Hills

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

There are people who detest Akiva Goldsman–writer of such film travesties as the latter Batman films and the “Lost in Space” movie–with a passion burning hotter than a thousand suns. Some hate him so much that they resent him winning the Oscar because they can’t forgive him the previous films. To those folks, here’s some interesting food for thought. I just picked up a copy of the “West Wing” script book, and in it creator Aaron Sorkin relates how his friend Goldsman was visiting one evening. And Goldsman, seeing a framed poster of “The American President,” said, “You know what? That would make a good TV series. You should do a TV series focusing on the administrative staff of the President of the United States.”

The next day, Sorkin found himself unexpectedly in a pitch session, and an exec said, “So what’s your idea for a series?” Sorkin had nothing. So he blurted out, “How about a series focusing on the administrative staff of the President of the United States?”

And thus was born “The West Wing.” Now, of course, if you happen to hate that series AND you hate Akiva Goldsman, here’s just another reason to hate him more. But if, like me, you love the series, you have to grudgingly admit that you owe Akiva Goldsman one.

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7 comments on “Goldsman in them thar Capitol Hills”

  2. Akiva Goldsman does indeed take an undue amount of crap. Personally, I’ve forgiven LOST IN SPACE as well as the horrid BATMAN sequels (though, to be fair, those were just as much Joel Schumacher’s fault as anyone else’s).

    I think he deserved the Oscar, and I was glad to see him get it.

    And I loooooove THE WEST WING.

    Wait a second…WEST WING script book?! When did this happen?

    Okay, off to Amazon…

  3. Script book? Is this different than the episode guide put out a few months back?

  4. People who hate Schumacher or Goldsman for the “Batman” sequels don’t seem to care about the behind-the-scenes producers, corporate suits, etc. who hired them because they WANTED them to make those movies and take the franchise in a supposedly more kid-friendly direction, just as those Trekkers who hate Brannon Braga ignore the fact that he wrote “Cause and Effect,” which features on every NextGen favorites list. They also ignore the fact that the vaunted Tim Burton, who’s all style and no substance, and who, by his own admission, wouldn’t know a good script if it bit him in the ášš, PRODUCED “Batman Forever.” Anyone shocked at that? You shouldn’t be.

  5. Burton also turned down the original Sam Hamm script for Batman
    2, which was easily one of the best
    superhero scripts ever written.
    Do a google search for Batman 2
    and Sam Hamm, you should find it
    somewhere. Though I should point out that Burton improved on Hamm’s
    original Batman script, by turning
    some of the lamer serious moments
    into hilarous ones. (“What a dìçk.”, among others)

  6. Akiva Goldsman adapted a great book and still diluted. He sucked at Batman & Robin. Bat credit card(groooan).

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