BobHarris.com - Congrats to El Pantera

Books! Actual books!

"A rollicking ride of intellectual discovery and emotional growth... his comic timing never fails"

-- The Wall Street Journal

"Pulls you in like a good sports story"

-- The New York Times Book Review

"Endearingly frank... jubilant... lighthearted and fast-paced"

-- New York Newsday

"A surprisingly touching memoir"

-- Entertainment Weekly

"Snappy and informative"

-- Associated Press

"Effortlessly funny and informative... tender, human, and very wise... A must for anyone who loves Jeopardy!, or has ever seen it, or is breathing."

-- Joss Whedon, creator, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

"I haven't seen Jeopardy! since I was a kid, and yet I was charmed and amused by Bob Harris's fascinating and surprisingly suspenseful book. Through sheer force of personality, he takes this brainy TV show and makes it funny and easy to relate to."

-- Ira Glass, creator and host, This American Life

"A surprisingly intimate, entertaining book."

-- Orson Scott Card, 4-time Hugo Award winner, author of Ender's Game

"Funny, enlightening -- and just might help you win a million bucks on Jeopardy!"

-- A. J. Jacobs, author of The Know-It-All

"A masterful job of describing the feel of Jeopardy! in the heat of battle... I knew Bob was a great guy and a fantastic Jeopardy! player. Now I've found that he's also a wonderful writer. I think I'm starting to hate him."

-- Brad Rutter, top money-winner in Jeopardy! history

Books I'm Getting

Who Hates Whom:
Well-Armed Fanatics, Intractable Conflicts,
and Various Things Blowing Up —
A Woefully Incomplete Guide™

“Revelatory... Harris's sly wit and infectious curiosity make understanding world chaos fascinating... witty, horrific, and necessary.”

— Boston Globe

"Brave... irreverent... charges into the thick of the globe's myriad simmering wars... hilariously relaxed."

— New York Observer

"Only Bob could make a user’s guide to our increasingly hostile world this absorbing, this breezy, and—ultimately—this hopeful.”

— Ken Jennings, author of Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs

“Fascinating, enlightening, and surprisingly: NOT TOTALLY DEPRESSING. A gimlet-eyed look at the world we endure that’s also suitable for enjoying with a gimlet.”

— John Hodgman, author of The Areas of My Expertise
and correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

"All three [presidential] candidates should read all three of these [recommended] books, but McCain gets first crack at Bob Harris's "Who Hates Whom“... a lighthearted overview of the insurrections and civil wars in the world today."

— Steven Pinker, author of The Stuff of Thought, in the New York Times Book Review

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Congrats to El Pantera

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Thursday, 03 July 2008

Frequent visitors may remember that I recently spent some time in Mexico City as Asesor de Producción (Production Advisor) to the writers and producers on the second season of El Pantera, Televisa's big action-drama. (The credits here are a gas — my name has never looked quite this gringoey.)

Televisa is trying to create stuff beyond the telenovela format, and I was hired to dive in and facilitate as best I could. The gig basically involved trying to help create the show's stories with half as many writers and about a fifth of the time usually allotted in the US, while training everybody in some conventions of American TV drama — without even realizing how many things I'd always been taught were "right" were just cultural narrative assumptions I'd never thought to question.

I'm not sure the seat of my pants ever worked harder in my life.

In addition to the creative challenge, this was a linguistic and cultural experience I'll treasure forever. Man, I loved that job. And I loved the people. I consider everyone I worked with to be my friends, and I think of them often.

I was on a plane back to El Norte before the new shows began filming, so I haven't seen any of the actual episodes yet — but I just got an email telling me that the premier was a huge hit.

Hurray!

So my hearty congrats to Rodolfo, Fredy, Enrique, Esther, Melissa, Juan Pablo, y todo el mundo de El Pantera. ¡Estoy muy contento con esta noticia! Voy siempre deseo continuos éxitos para ustedes, y espero que la tercera temporada estará un éxito aún mayor! Muchas gracias para la oportunidad a encontrarse y ayudarse un poco.

Incidentally, if you're curious, the first season (which was before my arrival) currently airs in the US on Sunday nights on Univison. I'm eager to see the second season.

PS: I've also heard that the show's lead actress is on the cover of this month's issue of Maxim en Español. So it's a teeeeeeny bit possible that the show is succeeding for reasons that have nothing to do with my work whatsoever. Just maybe.