Friday On The Couch -- With David Marshall Grant

Penetrating as DMG's eyes are, it's those ears that enable his brilliant interpretations.

Before joining Brothers & Sisters in May 2006, David Marshall Grant had primarily worked as an actor and playwright.  But he quickly became a stalwart of the B&S writing staff – co-authoring episodes 107, 109, 113, 115, 119, 123, 202, 207, 210, 213 and, most recently, 301.

While it goes without saying that David’s transition to television has been smooth, those of us who lunch in the 4th floor conference room have become intimately acquainted with one of his lesser known skills: interpreting dreams.  Simply put, the man has a gift.

David was generous enough to put writing episode 305 on hold in order to humor us.  With this in mind, I sent Beth Schwartz, assistant to Consulting Producer Josh Reims, into David’s office armed with a tape recorder and a head full of trouble.
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Beth Schwartz:  Thanks for taking the time, David.

David Marshall Grant:  Don’t mention it.  What do you got for me?

BS:  Okay.  The dream had three parts.  In the first part, I was in a cabin with some of my old campers, from when I was a counselor in Michigan.  Yes, I was a camp counselor.

DMG:  Please go on, Beth.  I have to finish Act Three.

BS:  Alright, alright.  We were all packing up to leave camp and go home the next day.  When there was nothing left to do except go to sleep, I went to my bed…but there was an enormous spider web next to it! 

DMG:  Hmm. 

BS:  What?  Does that mean something?

DMG:  Maybe.  But I was just wondering when the next Starbucks run is.  Alas, continue.

BS:  In the second part, the cabin turned into a college campus.  I found myself in an aerobics/dance class.  There, I saw a high school friend lying on the floor, fast asleep, with peanut butter smothered across her face and hands. 

DMG:  Disgusting.

BS:  Since she was obstructing the dancing, we slid her to the side of the room.  That was the second part.  Then, all of a sudden, I was running down the stairs to catch a play. 

DMG:  Like… a football play?

I was really hoping to find out this was in the dream.  Oh well.


BS:  Like a theatre play.  Anyway, there was an older woman waiting outside, and she asked me if I was alone, because if I was, I was more than welcome to join her friends.  I assured her that I was meeting some friends of my own.  Although privately, I was a bit worried my friends wouldn’t show up.  But, sure enough they did, and I didn’t have to sit with the old women…  What are you writing?

DMG:  Just some notes about my scene.  Is an avocado a fruit or a nut?

BS: Umm...

DMG:  Never mind, it's a nut.  Now -- do you remember what this play was or where it was?

BS:  I doubt you've seen it.

DMG:  Watch your tone, young lady.  Now who was the woman who came up to you?

BS:  Someone I don’t recognize.

DMG:  Was she an older woman?

BS:  Yes.

DMG:  Do you see plays?  A lot?  How often do you seem them?

BS:  I grew up seeing them.  I come from a theatre family.  My mom directs plays.

DMG:  Do you take a dance/aerobic workshop now?

BS:  Sometimes.

DMG: Did you take dance when you were a kid?

BS: Yeah…

DMG:  This dream is very clear to me.

BS:  What?  Really?!

DMG:  This is a dream about being afraid of losing your childhood, about being desperately afraid that it’s all slipping away from you.  First part of the dream takes place at a camp, which is your actual childhood.  You said it was time to leave, but you needed to go to bed before you left… which you couldn’t do, because of the spiders.  In other words, you’re afraid that if you go to sleep, “it” will all be over.

BS: "It"?

DMG:  The whole shebang, kiddo.  Life.

BS:  Yikes.

DMG:  Your next stop was adolescence.  The girl who is smothered in peanut butter serves as a warning for you.  Peanut butter is a childish food.  But because she wasn’t careful enough to not “go to sleep,” she’s dead, and you have to drag her off the floor.  In the last dream, you went to the play, where an older woman asks if you have any friends – and you’re all like, “No, no, no!  I’m still young.  I’m not with you yet."  You’re scared that you might be with her now, and then your younger friends show up.  This relieves you, to know that you’re still young and in your childhood.

BS:  That’s really good, David!

DMG:  No sweat.  I’m here all week. 

BS:  So, can you sum it all up for me?

DMG:  Look, it’s about the fear of getting older – as well as the anxiety about that fear.  It’s a dream about trying not to hold on to your childhood.  You want to know:  How can you be an adult but not be old?  What’s the middle ground between childhood and old age?  You need to try and make peace with that.  It’s a great dream; it’s an affirmation of your maturity.

BS:  Wow.  You're like a shrink mixed with a spin doctor.

DMG:  In this business, you ought to wear every hat you can find.  Now let me write my script!
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That's all for this week.  Please let us know what you thought of this feature!

Your pal, Dan

Comments

[will]

Monsieur Daniel,

I am going to take my literary construct, young Paige, and insert her into this proceeding, engage her in conversation with mid-life crisis Beth (and don't you dare censor me, either! If you get to display a come-hither banana-as-phallic symbol on this thread, I suppose I can have some fun, too).

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Paige: I read about your dream life. The spider webs & peanut butter.

Beth: (vaguely) Peanut... butter...? OH, you mean you saw the blog thing-y. Where David... Well, did you enjoy it, Paige?

Paige: It felt too EASY if you ask me. That whole "afraid of losing your childhood" nonsense. "...desperately slipping away... peanut butter is a childish food..." There's something about David Marshall Grant seeing into people's hearts - the screenwriter as guru - that just rubs me the wrong way.

Beth: Ummm.... shouldn't you be jumping rope outside or something?

Paige: There's a large body of work that suggests spider dreams - in fact, many dreams with animals - are sexual in nature. Sex is a powerful driving force, like hunger and ambition.

Beth: What are you, ten, eleven? This is probably an inappropriate conversation to be having with an eleven-year-old. And I don't think I'd classify a spider as an "animal" exactly. It's not like I was dreaming about cougars.

Paige: (after a long pause) So you find cougars powerful and sexual?

Beth: Ok. This - ! Fine. I'm through now.

Paige: Do you like smooth peanut butter or chunky peanut butter?

Beth: Don't you have a Hannah Montana CD to listen to? When I was your age I played with an Easy Bake Oven.

Paige: I had an Easy Bake Oven last summer. But Hasbro recalled them when 16 kids received second and third-degree burns. Kids kept getting their hands and fingers caught in the ovens. Plus there was a partial finger amputation.

Beth: You are a very dark little girl.

Paige: Do you have trouble communicating the inner Beth to others? Dreams of peanut butter suggest a misunderstanding. The words are coming out all wrong and getting fouled up.

Beth: (a revelation) You know something: this isn't about me so much, Paige, as it is about you... you think?... YOU have a deep desire, a longing to grow up. (there is a pause) Yeah? Am I missing the mark?

Paige: One of the screenwriters made me say "Cooper said poop!" a few weeks ago. (pause) I told them eleven-year-olds don't talk that way. That's how seven-year-olds talk. (pause) I felt emasculated... is that the right word?.... I felt, I mean, why bother striving to give a decent performance when you're saddled with lines like "Cooper said poop"? Now I understand how women and gays and african-americans feel when they talk about cultural oppression. (she thinks about this) Not that I've met many real african-americans living around the Walkers.

END PART ONE OF THE BETH/PAIGE DIALOGUE.

[Carissa]

Haha thats funny. I had a wierd dream about peanut butter the other night, but I think i was just hungrey...keep talking about the writers it's fun to learn about them, but I also enjoy reading about Rob Lowe =]

[will]

FOR BETH SCHWARTZ

PART TWO.
Young Paige continues to engage mid-life crisis Beth in conversation.

A rumination on Life.

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Paige: What do you think about the Christian Zionists movement that says Israel is just a giant staging ground for Armageddon, as foretold in the Book of Revelations?

Beth: Paige, slow down. Smell the flowere. Do you enjoy the zoo?

Paige: (caught offguard) ...the zoo..?

Beth: The zoo. As in "Don't feed the monkeys."

Paige: As in...lions and tigers and bears....?

Beth: I mean, do you enjoy the simple things? Swimming at the beach on a hot Saturday? Then rolling around in the sand? (they sit a moment) What's your favorite popsicle flavor?

Paige: Strawberry.

Beth: (smiles) Mine's orange.

Paige: And I like Klondike Bars! (giggles; pause) My mom took Coop and me and Uncle Kevin to the beach. We ate chili-dogs on the boardwalk. Uncle Kevin hooked up with one of his tricks from his single days and mom threw up in a garbage can and I kept thinking about Darwin....

Beth: But, see, that's the thing. Most little girls shouldn't be spending time thinking about Darwin. You're at the freakin' beach! You can throw Frisbees and ride a boogie board.

Paige: The ocean is where it all began.

Beth: I'm glad we're having this talk, Paige. I'm afraid of growing older. You're afraid of not being allowed to grow up.

Paige: (truly terrified) The screenwriters always show Cooper and me together. We're like a... a scary unit! And 30 seconds tops. There's no possible chance for character growth or... identity. It's the NEGATION of selfhood, in fact. I don't know who I am.

Beth: Hey, kiddo. Listen to me. I'm gonna call your mommy. Let's go to the beach this afternoon. It's 90 degress - just you and me. I will buy us greasy hamburgers and onion rings. I won't think about diets, you won't think about Darwin. Deal? We'll just be... free. We'll swim and body surf and follow the sun.

Paige: Who sang "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose"?

Beth: Janis Joplin.

Paige: I like her. I wish I'd been born in time for that whole Haight-Ashbury scene. (giggles) I could dig that. (pause) You can be young again swimming in the ocean, right?

Beth: Well, it's not like I'm totally paranoid about the whole Time thing, let's not get carried away...But, yeah, I guess I can just relax. And you don't have to worry about loss of identity. We'll just lose ourselves in the ocean. (a beat) You're a special girl, missy.

Paige: And you're a groovy chick, Aunt Beth.

END PART TWO OF THE BETH/PAIGE DIALOGUES

P.S., TO THE SCREENWRITERS: These dialogues are a request to allow young Paige to become her own person, to find her own way. I see unusual possibilities for this girl down the line. :-)

[Scott]

Question about the Ryan reveal...

It is clear the writers were trying to make it fit with what came before. For instance, the Season 2 finale showed a flashback of 1.07 where Sarah found the baby picture at the Ojai cabin.

But why wasn't there a flashback to a scene in the very next episode ("Mistakes Were Made, Part I") where Holly positively identified the baby picture as Rebecca? No hesitation, no sign of lying, and at a time when she wanted to hide the fact that Rebecca was William's daughter. (As she originally was...)

I guess we'll just have to go with the Ryan twist, but the seams in the storyline are glaring. And Holly's character is a real mess as a result. We're expected to sympathize with her, and yet as a result of this retcon, she lied at every turn.

I still can't believe you guys went through all this trouble to damage the show's internal history just for the sake of a J/R romance, which a significant percentage of the audience still has a *lot* of difficulty accepting. As Sarah told Saul in 1.06 (re: dating Holly)..."I really can't believe it's worth it."

[Kevin & Scotty should have a real wedding now]

Just finished watching the season finale after the California Supreme Court decision last week. There were some nice touches in this episode. It was still evident that their "wedding" wasn't fully legal. Now it can be.

Add me to the posters that feel that legal marriage for gay couples in California should be celebrated with the wedding that the boys really wanted but didn't want to admit to. We know Scotty wanted a special wedding and Kevin loved playing "wedding" when he was young.

Give them a nice black tie affair followed by a great party to celebrate their now legal, marriage.

[will]

Scott,

You're tripping way too much. I used to tie myself into knots, also, regarding implausible character motivations & lousy writing (just as you are about continuity & damaging "character history"), but you need to loosen up, dude, and get out of this head trip.

I believe the writer's want us to take a more '60's approach to the material: Tune in, tune out, and leave all that linear history stuff at the door. Character history is for squares, man. You gotta let this thing wash over you.

Just think of this show as a lizard. Things got so fouled up in thinking a plausible exit strategy for Rebecca that the writers simply hacked off the lizard's tail, knowing it will grow back a new one. When the ancient Greeks got their plotlines all twisted & convoluted (Euripides notoriously), into hopeless situations beyond human disentanglement, they literally ended the play with a "deus ex machina" devise, god by machine (a god would magically descend onto the stage & instantly set things right). Aristotle vigorously argued against these artificial resolutions, feeling the plots should be resolved consistent with the internal logic of the previous events. So you are Aristotle here to the writers' Euripides.

Did anyone catch the "Desperate Housewives" finale last night? Talk about cutting off the lizard's tail. A few minutes before the end, an unassuming caption - "5 YEARS LATER" - appeared on the screen. The actresses didn't look older, of course (a couple wore lighter make-up), but there's Susan with an entirely new husband, played by gay icon Gale Harold, Brian Kinney on Showtime's "Queer as Folk". Talk about deus ex machina!

[Lucia]

Was watching Eli Stone a few months ago...thought one of the attorney guys looked familiary. Lo and behold, it's that guy from the B&S writers' videos. Very weird as I'd never realised he was also an actor (I have seen Devil Wears Prada, but never noticed you, David). Must be nice to be multitalented.

Dan, or whoever, can you just do an interview with him and not this weird dream stuff? (he's no Freud...thank god)

He does have nice eyes.

[will]

PART THREE of the Beth/Paige Dialogues

Beth and Paige are enjoying a lovely afternoon at the beach. They are on giant colorful towels on the sand, it is a sizzling hot day, and Paige is applying spf 30 sunblock to her face.

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Paige: What's that phrase for.... you know, when hostages sympathize with the goals of their captors?

Beth: What in the heck are you talking about? Sunblock your nose, too. That's the first to burn.

Paige: (applying more sunblock) Remember Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army and photographed walking into a Hibernia Bank carrying an assault rifle?

Beth: How do you know what Patty Hearst did or didn't do? You're eleven & that was WAY before you were born. Look! The water looks FREEZING and beautiful. (Beth reaches into a basket for some chips.) Let's agree we're not gonna discuss Patty Hearst or another 747 hijacking. (pause) Hey. Did you see David Archuleta sing "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me" on American Idol last night?

Paige: Cooper screams at this season's American Idol contestants. He ends up hyperventilating, so we're forced to change the channel.

Beth: Oh god, I got goosebumps! He was in terrific voice & he's so freaking CUTE, Paige! He's adorable! Though he'll probably he busting down the closet door in a couple years. (Paige opens a book) What book did you bring?

Paige: "Alive". A planeful of rugby players crashes in the Andes Mountains and they're forced to eat the dead passengers to survive. True Story.

Beth: Give me that! (she throws the book in the picnic basket) We're here to have FUN, Paige. OK? Look at the people in the ocean! Look how much FUN everyone is having! We can collect seashells! Look at the people playing volleyball! Do you have to read about rugby players & cannibalism? Come on, let's go in the water!

Paige: I'm afraid of riptides, Aunt Beth! I saw a picture of a girl once who died in a riptide & her face was a weird shade of pale blue.

Beth: Come on. Give me your hand, sweetie. We'll only go into the shallow water. Just up to our hips.
(they walk towards the water) Does your mother know you're reading that book?

Paige: My mother is too busy dating business associates to know what I'm reading.

END PART THREE OF THE BETH/PAIGE DIALOGUES

[Sylviane]

Very funny.

This 'explanation' has given me a lot to think about. ;-)