Brian Gewirtz to Take Leave of Absence from WWE

[strummer 0]

from PWI:

 

A few sources have told us that Brian Gewirtz will be taking a leave of absence from his duties on the WWE creative team within the next month. I believe that he will be gone for three months. I have been told, but have not 100% confirmed, that he will be spending the time away from wrestling working with the Films division of WWE. Gewirtz is the lead writer for Raw, and helps out with a lot of vignettes, among other things, on Smackdown as well. He's the senior member of the creative team. I am under the impression that this being done to give him a break from the wrestling business, but I have not confirmed that yet.

 

Speaking of creative, WWE recently hired a new writer, a man who has background working for the old Fox series Beverly Hills 90210. His name, I believe, is Larry Mollin. He is yet another "Hollywood guy" with no wrestling knowledge or experience.

 

Earlier today we talked about how morale has been up recently in WWE. There have been complaints, however, about the charter flights, and some of the other transportation, on the UK tour that just ended, from some of the wrestlers. From what I was told, they weren't exactly the best accommodations.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Try not to fall down a hole and snap your neck while on your break Brian.

[BorneAgain 0]

Credits for Mr. Mollin

 

Writer - filmography

 

"Urgencias" (2005) TV Series (writer)

"Bienvenida realidad" (2004) TV Series

"Adventure Inc." (2002) TV Series (writer)

"Leap Years" (2001) TV Series (writer)

"Largo Winch" (2001) TV Series (writer)

Borderline Normal (2000)

"Relic Hunter" (1999) TV Series (writer) (episode "Eye of Toklamanee")

Fearless (1999) (TV)

"Wind on Water" (1998) TV Series (writer)

"The Practice" (1997) TV Series (co-writer of "Ties That Bind" episode)

"Renegade" (1992) TV Series (writer)

"African Skies" (1991) TV Series (creator) (writer)

"Beverly Hills, 90210" (1990) TV Series (story) (10 episodes 1995-1997) (written by) (25 episodes 1993-1997)

"The New Gidget" (1986) TV Series

"Hardesty House" (1986) TV Series (writer)

"Cutter to Houston" (1983) TV Series (writer)

"Knight Rider" (1982) TV Series (writer)

The Circle Family (1982) (TV)

"Bret Maverick" (1981) TV Series (story)

Easter Fever (1980) (TV)

"CHiPs" (1977) TV Series (episode "Fox Trap") (episode "Rock Devil Rock") (episode "including "Battle of the Bands" "Flare Up" "This Year's Riot")

... aka CHiPs Patrol (USA: syndication title)

"Range Ryder and the Calgary Kid" (1977) TV Series (writer)

 

Glad that they're getting the very best in writing talent.

[Maztinho 0]

Great with a guy who wrote Chips we'll get a Mexican version of the Mountie.

 

SOY EL MOUNTIE!

 

That's fan-freakin-tastic.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

You act as if any respectable writer would take a job in pro wrestling.

[King Cucaracha 0]

He wrote Knight Rider!?!

 

Guy gets my vote.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Oh man, if HHH shaves his beard and leaves really long sideburns and then becomes an alcoholic while Shane and Steph* all-of-a-sudden become "new kids that just moved in" to the WWE, RAW would be sooooo much better.

 

Who needs Pipers Pit when you have the Peach Pit??

 

*C'mon, you knew from the minute you saw her Stephanie McMahon wanted to be Shannen Doherty. And The Hurricane would make for a PERFECT Brian Austin Green... Stacy Keilber as Jenny Garth...Christian as Ian Ziering (~!!!)

 

And the openning music would actually be more current than the shit they use now.

[Sideburnious 0]

I'd say people will miss Gewirtz when he's gone.

 

Only because the others working there will probably be worse.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

How is there anybody worse than Big Wolf on Campus?

 

You know... besides Stephanie McMahon, head of creative.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

I'd say people will miss Gewirtz when he's gone.

I'll take my chances.

[Dandy 0]

What would rock would be some of the agents writing some of the storylines and allowing the wrestlers to come up with their own lines during his absence. Why not try it just to see. If the tv is better and the ratings stay the same or go up, move Gewirtz over to WWE Films permanently.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Does anyone else still giggle at the prospect of "WWE Films"?

[Enigma 0]

Sable was on that show Relic Hunter.

[razazteca 0]

So who is responsible for the Viscera & Trish go on a date segments?

[Guest jumpingbombangel]

You know, I don't think people ever aspire to write for wrestling shows. I think people just *end up* writing for wrestling shows.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Well, once you hit the heights of Big Wolf on Campus, there is nowhere left to go but down.

[Art Sandusky 0]

I'd totally write wrestling.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Larry Mollin was a writer for Renegade... he's okay with me.

[AndrewTS 0]

This has got to be an improvement.

 

"Does anyone else still giggle at the prospect of 'WWE Films'?"

 

Hey, they got a writer who worked on Renegade, so maybe there's hope for The Marine (which I think is the one that sounds like a direct ripoff) yet.

 

At the worst, I await WWE films with the same masochistic b-movie-loving glee as I do the newest Uwe Boll project.

[The Niggardly King 0]

I will gladly wait a few weeks, then go too one of the cheap theaters here, and pay $2 to see The Marine.

[Promoter 0]

So what are the betting lines for how long this guy lasts? I was laughing at his resume on here until jumpingbombangel made a good point. People just end up writing for wrestling it seems like. Then again, I've read guys like Scott Keith and Rick Scaia were turned down more than once for the position. Hell, I know they can come up with some nice stuff with their analysis sometimes. Sure there will be some biases, but hey it beats stuff like Austin pissing on Anderson and so on. Although, that crap has somewhat toned down, but I still can't laugh at "I Spy" Dave Batista on the night he turned face.

[AndrewTS 0]

I will gladly wait a few weeks, then go too one of the cheap theaters here, and pay $2 to see The Marine.

Chef Boyardee was giving away free movie passes with UPCs and forms, or candy bar companies usually they'd have some offer going for it. I've rarely had to pay money to see a movie in over a year.

 

(Mmm! Beefy!)

 

I doubt they'll lack the quality control of 50's/60's AIP. Can't wait.

[AndrewTS 0]

So what are the betting lines for how long this guy lasts? I was laughing at his resume on here until jumpingbombangel made a good point. People just end up writing for wrestling it seems like. Then again, I've read guys like Scott Keith and Rick Scaia were turned down more than once for the position. Hell, I know they can come up with some nice stuff with their analysis sometimes. Sure there will be some biases, but hey it beats stuff like Austin pissing on Anderson and so on. Although, that crap has somewhat toned down, but I still can't laugh at "I Spy" Dave Batista on the night he turned face.

I think, as mentioned in another thread, it's not going to show much in the shows. Vince and Steph will say "write a program for Viscera where he ends up as Trish's bodyguard" or "come up with a program for the returning Mark Henry," or "write a funny promo for Batista to say after he helps JR pin HHH." They're likely so constrained that any ambition they have towards quality goes to pot and we're still going to see crap.

 

However, Gerwitz was always awful, but he has enough pull to get more of his ideas heard (he's basically the one in charge after Steph), so I'm not giving him a free pass for sucking.

[Karc 0]

WWE is still hiring writers who don't know anything about wrestling. How is this news?

 

Is Gewirtz the comic book fanboy who always tries to make the wrestlers like superheroes? Like Rock parallelling Superman and the Hurricane, and so forth.

[Promoter 0]

True what you are saying and that is probably the main reason why they won't hire writers who will be vocal about how crappy some of the stuff is. I mean look at Paul Heyman. I think it's fine to give the writers breaks because for all the ragging they get they are overworked. Switching them around and letting them restart their engines isn't a bad idea.

[cabbageboy 0]

Heh, 60s AIP stuff is kick ass. I dunno about the 50s stuff though, wasn't most of it just JD type movies with John Ashley? It boggles my mind that John Ashley actually starred in stuff.

 

I actually heard that Samuel Arkoff started AIP by ripping off Ed Wood. He was Wood's lawyer circa Bride of the Monster and of course Wood got in debt so Arkoff paid him practically nothing for it and reaped the profits. After that he started AIP and the rest is B movie history. I think in about 1980 or so Arkoff sold AIP to someone and it became Orion.

 

This has nothing to do with WWE Films really, but hell I think Vince would take the kind of profits American International used to have.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if they hire Shakespeare to write TV, because all the writers do is write what Vince tells them to, regardless of any input they may give.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Even if the booking sucks, which is usually the case, the writing is still bad. The promos, which are written by the writers, are still bad. Everyone involved in making a bad show deserves to get bashed.

[Promoter 0]

Okay, yeah they write what Vince wants. However, if Vince says he wants Batista to turn face and tells the writers to come up with the scenario...........

 

We get Batista eavesdropping on HHH telling the whole world about his masterplan. Then they have Bischoff and Long make no mention of this for the contract signing. Man, that's just bad television writing. Sure, Vince approves the final product, but damn aren't the hollywood people suppose to write coherently? That is different than booking and who gets pushed in this instance.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Whether the writers write good television or terrible television doesn't really matter, if Vince likes it then that's what takes place. The writers could come up with the single greatest angle of all time, but if Vince hates it, it won't happen. While there is indeed blame that can shared by all invovled in the creative process, the final blame, or credit, for what makes it to air, lies with Vince.