The Tail Section

If Javi Grillo-Marxuach were not the author of my favorite LOST episodes of all time, "…all the best cowboys have daddy issues." and "Orientation", and had not written several others in his tenure with LOST — not to mention his work on the LOST Experience — I probably wouldn’t be seeking face time with him right now.  Then again, I probably wouldn’t be talking to you either.  Javi is the kind of guy with the boundless energy and nimble creativity that makes shows like LOST even possible. 

I’m not going to try to mislead you people.   I’m a LOST fan.  I know this may be a shock, but its true.  I love LOST above all other shows.  This does not stop me, however, from being a huge fan of Javi’s ancillary and post- LOST work.  I own every copy of The Middleman (even the mimeograph editions), which you are obligated to get more information on here, and am working on getting his Battlestar Galactica comics together, which you must also check out (just nod and say ‘by your command’.)  I loved ‘The Chronicle’ back in the day, the way you love a kid with a terminal illness (just too brilliant to last),  Javi’s done Charmed, The Pretender, The Dead Zone, Jake 2.0, and now he’s doing Medium, which, sorry Javi, I Tivo every week and watch immediately after LOST.

So I was thrilled to have the opportunity to briefly interview Javi and ask some of my burning questions.  And yes, don’t worry, I did try to find out what the Monster was…

Doc: Hey Javi, we have something in common. We both saw the original Battlestar Galactica in its theatrical run…

Javier Grillo-Marxuach: Ah yes…why, back then, the moving picture shows had no sound and were presented in black and white…I can still hear the nickelodeon’s pipe organ burbling away the strains of Stu Philips’ Colonial anthem over the clitter-clatter of the hand-cranked projector…I remember sitting in a wooden seat, munching on peanuts and cracker-jack while the siege of Cimitar played on the screen and the rest of the patrons ran out the back, thinking the Cylon Raiders would come out of the screen and hit them! Those were the days!

 
Be honest. How many times did you pinch yourself when you first found out you’d be writing the classic BSG characters in comic form?

Ironic that you should mention that. Since I am a clinically-diagnosed self-pinching compulsive, it’s a little hard for me to figure out how much of that was actually due to writing the Galactica comic and how much of it was just my normal neurotic inclination. Thanks. Seriously, though, it’s the coolest thing ever. It gave me a chance to imagine what it would be like to go to work in the Universal lot in 1979…I literally approached the assignment as "I just got a job on the staff of ‘Battlestar Galactica’ what’s the first story I’d pitch Glen Larson? It is very much intended to read like a LOST second season episode of the classic series.

  What do you think of the new Galactica? Being such a fan of the original, have you had any talks with Ron Moore and company about leaving your mark on their iteration?

I’ve met Ron Moore a few times socially and through friends… but they have never approached me about going to work over in their neck of the woods. This is probably OK, since the God’s honest is I think the new Galactica is one of — if not the — best shows on television (an opinion I articulate much to the annoyance of whoever I’m working for at the time…hmmm… memo to self…) and as a result, it would probably be a tremendously daunting experience to go work over there. Frankly, I am content to enjoy it as a viewer and love the fact that there’s shows out there that consistently jog me out of the hyper-critical, hyper-analytical insider frame of mind with which I usually approach my television viewing. The last arc of this season was pretty mind blowing (and I can’t say enough good things about mark Sheppard’s work as Romo Lampkin…i may actually name my first born "Romo Lampkin").

Do you keep up with what is going on with LOST these days?

A little more sporadically than when I was working there. I usually stop watching shows when I am no longer employed by them because it can only drive you mad. You can’t help but feel like you’re spying on an ex-girlfriend, and in the case of " LOST," a tremendously successful ex-girlfriend who changed the face of popular culture AND lives in the time slot directly opposing my current girlfriend (hey, you hear that? it’s the sound of a straining metaphor!). In answer to your question, I have checked in once or twice — for example, the episode "Par Avion" was my pal Jordan Rosenberg’s first teleplay (he co-wrote it with Christina Kim)… Jordan and I collaborated on the " LOST Experience," so I definitely tuned in to see his TV debut.

You’ve done a lot of "drama with a genre twist", LOST, Medium, Jake 2.0, The Pretender, Dead Zone, etc., what attracts you to these sorts of projects?

I’m pretty much a dyed-in-the-wool geek of the "Star Wars" generation, so the attraction to genre material is in my DNA. I love writing it, and I’d do more if there were more hours in the day. Frankly, most of the shows I have worked on have not been sci-fi enough to satisfy my taste for the stuff — if you look at a lot of the ancillary projects with which I am involved, the classic Galactica book, the "Super-Skrull" and "Wraith" books for Marvel and "The Middleman," the are all pretty big, fanciful tales that you probably wouldn’t see on TV. It’s a way of working those muscles that don’t get a lot of a workout in the television-writing arena.

Even though y our work there is done, do you feel like you have the words " LOST WRITER" tattooed on your forehead when your out and about?

When we won the Emmy, Leonard Dick and I were on our way up to the stage. Leonard turned around and said "the first line of your obituary was just written," he said it with a smile and I absolutely understand why. The fact is, I was involved in the creation of a massive hit show and I am immensely proud of what we accomplished. I would put the first season of " LOST" up against pretty much anything — I just can’t imagine how one could have reservations about having been part of that success.

You created a great, witty, and memorable character with DJ Dan. Is that your spectacular acting skills coming into play, or is there a lot of Javi in DJ Dan?

Thanks! The kernel of DJ Dan originated with Jordan Tosenberg when we were first conceptualizing what kind of material would exist around the LOST Experience. As we developed the character, Jordan and I would riff out the monologues…and it slowly dawned on everyone that I pretty much was the character. The initial podcasts were definitely scripted, then as the experience evolved and we decided to expand the character to do live shows, Jordan and I would discuss the material, he would write out the opening monologue and the overall frame of the episode — the rants, the news stories and so on — and then we’d kind of go wild. One of the things I heard after the first live radio show is that DJ Dan must have been on speed — but the fact is, that’s pretty much how I am without chemical enhancement (although I did drink a lot of red bull while we were doing the shows). A lot of what you hear in those broadcasts are people who love what they’re doing having a lot of fun — Jamie Silberhartz was a dear — and a very talented actor who took on a very challenging role and carried a lot of the experience — Jordan Rosenberg played Marvin the Earthling (and one of the reasons why Marvin was "in the studio" during the second broadcast was to make sure he could fill in any gaps in my knowledge of the experience if i slipped, mostly because by the time we did that second broadcast, I had been away from all things " LOST" for several months) the ever-mysterious Tonya was lovely, and of course, announcer Johnny (who was actually John Bernstein, the producer responsible for " LOST’s" amazing dvds) practically developed a fandom of his own.

Of everything you have ever written, what is your favorite piece?

“The Middleman” is the apple of my eye. It’s one of those things that is pretty much truly undiluted me, and I am very lucky to have a collaborator like Les McClaine, whose work makes it all sing. I love those comics and am glad we’ve gotten a chance to do them independently and without compromise. Aside from that, I am very proud of my work on "Boomtown," and, actually, right before that, I did a show called "The Chronicle" which was created by Silvio Horta (who also created "Jake 2.0" and "Ugly Betty"): I did an episode of that show called "The King is (un)Dead" which may be my favorite teleplay to this day…it was a parody of "24," only with vampire Elvis impersonators. Good times.

Cool… well let’s do a little free association… see what makes Javi tick.

Gears? Springs? The motion of a pendulum?

You know how this works, but if the readers don’t: I say a word, and you say the first word that comes into your mind.

You clearly don’t know me too well if you think I can just restrain myself to one word, but I’ll try to be brief and say the first thing that comes to mind.

Cylon

If they look like Grace Park, they can make as many copies as they want.

Middleman

Lord love a duck, people, buy this book already!

Medium

The place where I get to work with some of the finest writers in town.

Conspiraspy

Shutdown!

Monster

A cybernetic being made of bio-nanites?

Monster

A projection of all of your bad karma made reality by island magic?

Monster

That movie with Charlize Theron?