Jane Espenson
@janeespenson.bsky.social
TV Writer: Buffy, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, Gilmore Girls, Once Upon a Time, Artful Dodger, Foundation, Fallout...
I did that too. It's cheap and fast and good enough!
February 13, 2026 at 10:36 PM
I did that too. It's cheap and fast and good enough!
Oh heck I shared that. I hope it was real!
February 13, 2026 at 5:57 PM
Oh heck I shared that. I hope it was real!
In a waiting room where they are playing I Love Lucy episodes on the TV. Ricky is singing in Spanish. So far, no one has walked out.
February 13, 2026 at 5:29 PM
In a waiting room where they are playing I Love Lucy episodes on the TV. Ricky is singing in Spanish. So far, no one has walked out.
Reposted by Jane Espenson
The other night on Jeopardy, two players were tied going into final. The woman in third made a small wager and her answer was, "I hope they both bet everything." They both did, all three got it wrong, and she won. As if that wasn't already hilarious enough, turns out it was all a master plan!
Okay but she posted on Reddit after the broadcast that she realized partway through Double Jeopardy that this was her only way to win, and started deliberately picking clues/buzzing in to maximize the odds that they would be tied going into Final. Absolute galaxy brain.
February 13, 2026 at 4:46 PM
The other night on Jeopardy, two players were tied going into final. The woman in third made a small wager and her answer was, "I hope they both bet everything." They both did, all three got it wrong, and she won. As if that wasn't already hilarious enough, turns out it was all a master plan!
Reposted by Jane Espenson
hold on i gotta take this
February 13, 2026 at 2:33 AM
hold on i gotta take this
Reposted by Jane Espenson
On her birthday, remembering Susan Oliver, who played Vina in the first Star Trek pilot, "The Cage" (which aired during the show's first season as part of "The Menagerie"). She was also a pilot, and the fourth woman to fly a single-engine aircraft solo across the Atlantic.
February 13, 2026 at 3:10 PM
On her birthday, remembering Susan Oliver, who played Vina in the first Star Trek pilot, "The Cage" (which aired during the show's first season as part of "The Menagerie"). She was also a pilot, and the fourth woman to fly a single-engine aircraft solo across the Atlantic.
Good rule of thumb. I must admit I also allow this: "She might seem like a minor character, but keep an eye on her," or "You'll hate him now... but you'll love him later" - Total cheats, surely controversial, but they help guide a reader's attention, set expectations, eliminate confusion.
February 13, 2026 at 12:35 AM
Good rule of thumb. I must admit I also allow this: "She might seem like a minor character, but keep an eye on her," or "You'll hate him now... but you'll love him later" - Total cheats, surely controversial, but they help guide a reader's attention, set expectations, eliminate confusion.
Yes! I’ll even use a small font for faint sounds.
February 12, 2026 at 11:47 PM
Yes! I’ll even use a small font for faint sounds.
I bold!!! If I am stating the theme of a script bc I know an exec is looking for it and might miss it. I bold the heck out of it!
February 12, 2026 at 11:42 PM
I bold!!! If I am stating the theme of a script bc I know an exec is looking for it and might miss it. I bold the heck out of it!
Surely we can all… no seriously?!
February 12, 2026 at 11:39 PM
Surely we can all… no seriously?!
You did split an infinitive though, so that counts for something.
February 12, 2026 at 11:25 PM
You did split an infinitive though, so that counts for something.
*way to be expressive.
February 12, 2026 at 11:21 PM
*way to be expressive.
Yes... I don't think we're disagreeing. We want the young writers to avoid mistakes... while also feeling free to explore ways to being expressive.
February 12, 2026 at 11:20 PM
Yes... I don't think we're disagreeing. We want the young writers to avoid mistakes... while also feeling free to explore ways to being expressive.
Oh yes, clearly. But to make it a rule paints far too broadly. "He's lying, for reasons we may read into," or "The mood is more than somber; it's funereal," or "They laugh, as she knew they would," or even "this is his sister, though we don't know that yet" -- all contain info that can't be seen.
February 12, 2026 at 11:13 PM
Oh yes, clearly. But to make it a rule paints far too broadly. "He's lying, for reasons we may read into," or "The mood is more than somber; it's funereal," or "They laugh, as she knew they would," or even "this is his sister, though we don't know that yet" -- all contain info that can't be seen.
I suppose, but the rules I've seen... "avoid WE in stage directions" and "don't describe anything we can't see," etc, seem to steer writers away from the brief evocative writing that develops into a voice. Stage directions are where you convey the mood that *music* will set when produced.
February 12, 2026 at 11:01 PM
I suppose, but the rules I've seen... "avoid WE in stage directions" and "don't describe anything we can't see," etc, seem to steer writers away from the brief evocative writing that develops into a voice. Stage directions are where you convey the mood that *music* will set when produced.
Well, okay, some rules. But a lot of the "rules" they teach young writers seem designed to leach the personality from their scripts. Especially now, with AI looming, it's a good time to let a little quirkiness through.
February 12, 2026 at 10:55 PM
Well, okay, some rules. But a lot of the "rules" they teach young writers seem designed to leach the personality from their scripts. Especially now, with AI looming, it's a good time to let a little quirkiness through.
Ames High Aims High! :)
February 12, 2026 at 10:45 PM
Ames High Aims High! :)
Reposted by Jane Espenson
Right, another key thing that historians do is working with important records that have not been digitized.
And the vast majority of the world’s records *have not been digitized* and thus do not exist in any format that LLMs/AI can work with.
And the vast majority of the world’s records *have not been digitized* and thus do not exist in any format that LLMs/AI can work with.
it's literally impossible for an LLM to do a historian's job
it's not even LLMs sucking it's that they need data input to do anything and where's that data supposed to be coming from without historians
never met a computer that can dig through a thousand year old book in a library
it's not even LLMs sucking it's that they need data input to do anything and where's that data supposed to be coming from without historians
never met a computer that can dig through a thousand year old book in a library
February 11, 2026 at 8:36 PM
Right, another key thing that historians do is working with important records that have not been digitized.
And the vast majority of the world’s records *have not been digitized* and thus do not exist in any format that LLMs/AI can work with.
And the vast majority of the world’s records *have not been digitized* and thus do not exist in any format that LLMs/AI can work with.
Marilyn Munster
February 12, 2026 at 5:47 AM
Marilyn Munster