After an unsuspecting patient fails a background check, a second-year intern is forced to make a difficult decision…

First watch the episode, then read the script (annotated in pdf format).

Sins of the Mother is the episode of StrangerThings that really cemented my love affair with Earl and the folks behind StrangerThings. This is where the acting, production values and the story really came together to tell a story that surpasses not only Earl’s previous works, but just about anything that has come out of short speculative television in the last few years. Earl and the StrangerThings team hit their stride on Sins of the Mother and carry it through on the next episode, One of those Faces.

You are probably wondering why Simply Scripts, a screenwriting site, doesn’t have a ton of strike news. Simply answer is password snafu on Sunday left me unable to access my own site. However, since I try to have updates scheduled a couple days in advance, the site, of its own accord, continued to spew out updates without human intervention. I am now back in control.

First, shoutouts to Jack (putting up the announcement you sent me now won’t work, tho if you have other words of encouragement, please send ‘em over and I’ll get them up). And a shoutout to Sandy. Hope you can keep busy during this down time. I will have that most excellent update on the site shortly.

There is some excellent news and blogs from the front lines from folks like John August. Also, there is a page of multiple reports from the lines over at Deadline Hollywood Daily. The best information about the status of the strike (albeit one view of the status) can be found on the WGA (west) site. A lot of the big name writers are showing up in the papers and in the blogs talking about the strike. If any of the “Not so big” names want to send a report in, I’d be delighted to carry it on the site.

Lastly, while no one really knows how long this will last, one bit of ‘food for thought’ came to me from a couple of writers with regard to thinking that this is an opportunity to break into the biz. According to the WGA Strike Rules, “The Guild does not have the authority to discipline non members for strike breaking and/or scab writing. However, the Guild can and will bar that writer from future Guild membership.” (emphasis added) So, basically if you try to be opportunistic, you may very well screw yourself in the future. - Don

Update: This just in from Jack, “…I just talked to a few good people a WGA WEST and they say that any FILM STUDENT which means a person like myself who’s in college or some type of film school can participate. THE COLOR IS RED.”

LA Strike Locations and New York Strike Locations

P.S. Thanks Sam for the heads up on the whole Deadwood vs. Tombstone confusion.

Stranger Things: Episode 2A was written by Earl Newton and directed by Alex Traywick

In addition to reading the screenplay, you can view the video podcast of Discontent on your computer. You can also subscribe to the Stranger Things podcast via iTunes. However, if you don’t have a video iPod, you can still view each episode (as well as Earl’s engaging video updates) at StrangerThings.tv. - Don

And thus begins the premier of the video podcast series Stranger Things with Episode 1 Sacred Cow.

Stranger Things is a science fiction anthology video podcast created by Earl Newton. I am extremely honored that Earl has allowed me to feature the screenplay (pdf format) to the premier episode of Stranger Things - Sacred Cow here in Simply Scripts. This second draft script, which you can read here, also contains additional director’s notes about the evolution of the script from the page to the screen. This is a valuable resource for not only writers, but also folks looking to direct.

Sacred Cow was written by Earl Newton, based on an original story by Scott Sigler.

In addition to reading the script, you can view the video podcast of Sacred Cow on your computer. You can also subscribe to the Stranger Things podcast via iTunes, however if you don’t have a video iPod, you can still view each episode (as well as Earl’s engaging video updates) at StrangerThings.tv.

If you enjoy The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits or the recent short-lived anthology Masters of Science Fiction, then you will be quite at home with StrangerThings.tv. The writing, the acting and the production quality are top notch and on par with anything you are going to see on television today. This is, to my knowledge, the only video podcast you can watch in High Definition. This ain’t a blurry youtube vid. - Don

On the TV Scripts (and transcripts) page we have a number of transcripts to the British Sci-Fi show Blake’s 7. Thanks to Dan for the heads up and Judith’s Blake’s 7 page.

Thanks to everyone who has been reading and reviewing the scripts from the One Week Challenge. - Don

Shout out to John and Renee, two scriptarians who attended the Harry Potter party at the Whistlestop Bookshop friday night.

For those hunting around for the lost Lost scripts (not transcripts) those can now be found here.

Updated the TV Scripts and Transcripts database where in you will find, among other things the first episode of season three of Dr. Who - Smith and Jones. This comes from BBC’s Writer’s Room which also has teleplays of episodes of Life on Mars, Casualty and Hustle. Find also on the TV Scripts page, thanks to Weekly Script, episode 2 of Deadwood and, thanks to TimMinear[dot]net, you can read the last to episodes of Drive. (You can also watch the last two episodes of Drive on the Fox Myspace page.

Lastly, I’ve cleared out the backlog of Unproduced scripts which you can find on the unproduced scripts page. - Don

Remember, you have a couple of days and a few hours change to get your short, 15 page or less comedy script (in proper screenwriting format) on the theme of “Telling your spouse that you lost your job” in for the One Week Exercise. - Don

Thanks to Dailyscript for a couple of neat items. On the TV scripts page we have a draft of the pilot Scrubs.

On the Movie Scripts page we have S.W.A.T.. I think just about every writer in Hollywood has touched the script. - Don

- Don