27: Westworld – Show Notes

DSRA

January 22, 2017

First Segment

Aristotle’s Definition of Human
- Genus
- Species
- Political Creature
Plato’s Definition of Human
- Moral being
- Reason controlling emotion and appetites
Determinism
- There is only one possible future
- Hard Determinism
  - There is no free will
  - Galen Strawson
- Soft Determinism
  - There is room for some free will
  - David Hume

Second Segment

HBO and Time Warner
- Warner Brothers Performance
- Pressure of Success
HBO v Netflix, Amazon and FX
- Nielsen ratings
- New shows: VICE, Bill Simmons, Jon Stewart, Sesame Street
Pressure on Westworld
- HBO needed a hit
Originally Set For a 2015 Release
Had to Halt Production
- Dram chief Michael Ellenberg was pushed out
- Programming president Michael Lombardo left
- Vinyl (From Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger) was canceled
- HBO pulled the plug on big name productions
  - Videosyncracy from David Fincher
  - Utopia from David Fincher and Gillian Flynn
  - Code of Conduct from Steve McQueen
  - Lewis and Clark Project from Brad Pitt and Tom Hanks
- Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan needed time to write scripts
  - No pre existing source to draw from
Budget
Most Successful Drama Launch Since Game of Thrones
- Generated buzz like Stranger Things
- Set to surpass True Detective’s first season viewership
Casey Bloys Took Time Greenlighting the Second Season

Third Segment