Leading up to the Writers Guild of Canada awards on April 23, TV, eh? will be posting a series of interviews with some of nominees. Todd and the Book of Pure Evil co-creator Craig David Wallace was nominated in the TV Comedy category for the “A Farewell to Curtis’ Arm” episode, which he also directed.
Can you describe the episode, and how it fit into the Todd season?
“A Farewell To Curtis’ Arm” is the season one finale of Todd & The Book Of Pure Evil. Originally, it was written as the 8th episode of the season, but it was such a game changer for the gang that we had a hard time writing episodes after it, so we moved it to the end of the season. We have a mostly stand alone episode structure to the series, but the last few episodes of each season get more and more serialized and pay off all the little mysteries we have planted from the beginning. In this episode, it’s revealed just how Curtis lost his arm, and Todd’s role in said arm removal. It also sheds light on the Metal Dudes’ plan for Todd, his destiny as the Pure Evil One, and Jenny’s search for her missing father. In 22 minutes! That’s a lot of stuff.
What about this episode are you particularly proud of?
Out of anything I’ve ever written or directed (in this case, I did both), this episode turned out more awesome than I ever expected. For me, it really captured my voice as a writer-director, and I’m so lucky to have had a such a great support system (from the cast, the other writers, the other producers, the crew, and our broadcaster) to make it happen. All the weird jokes, the tricky shots, the mythology of the series, it all comes together in this one big crazy package. I got to do fight scenes with swords and demon arms, reverse shots with a blood canon, satanic senior citizens and an awesome flashback involving really potent marijuana and table saw and lots of blood. Plus I got to feature some of my favourite heavy metal songs. In short, it was heaven.
What does this recognition mean to you?
As the showrunner of the series, it’s great to be nominated for a writing award. I was nominated last year for a Gemini directing award for the same episode, which was great, but now I feel like I’ve proved that I’m the whole package: writer, director, showrunner. But in the end, so much input and inspiration comes from everyone involved in the production, so this award nomination is for all of us who helped build the world of Todd & The Book Of Pure Evil. It’s awesome to make the show you always wanted to make, but it’s even better when other people like it too.
And finally (imagine my best Joan Rivers impression): what will you be wearing to the ceremony?
If my wife has her way, I’ll probably have to wear at least a suit jacket on top of what I’d normally wear. Jeans and a T-shirt.
Jana Sinyor (Being Erica, Dark Oracle) is one of the speakers at the upcoming Toronto Screenwriting Conference on March 31 and April 1. She tells TV, eh? about her unconventional path to screenwriting, her learning curve on Being Erica, and the project she has in development with ABC now.
