TV Talk: Western Pa. natives behind live-action ‘Monster High’

Now streaming on Paramount+ and premiering at 7 p.m. Oct. 6 on Nickelodeon, “Monster High The Movie” takes the 12-year-old Mattel fashion doll franchise, already adapted into an animated series, and brings it to live-action life as a movie musical directed by TV veteran Todd Holland (“Wonderfalls”), a Kittanning native who grew up in Meadville.

Holland wasn’t the only Western Pennsylvania native involved in the project: Zack Olin, raised in Warren and Bradford, is co-head of Nickelodeon and Awesomeness live-action series and films and was the studio executive on the project.

“Monster High” follows half-human, half-werewolf Clawdeen Wolf (Miia Harris) after she arrives at her new school, where she befriends Frankie Stein (Ceci Balagot) and Draculaura (Nayah Damasen) as the school is threatened with destruction. Themes of kindness, acceptance and not bothering those who are different predominate.

Although Holland has previously adapted foreign formats for American TV, “Monster High” represents his first time working with well-known American IP (intellectual property).

“There were things we had to change just because, in a physical form, not everything works,” Holland said of the adaptation. “The technique to change skin tones and paint Frankie blue and make it look rich and real and not like Halloween makeup or not make it look cheap, the skin tone was a big problem. … We went through many iterations of these characters to tackle that side of the IP.”

“Monster High” also marks Holland’s first time directing a movie musical, which, unlike some directors, wasn’t something he had a burning desire to do.

“My father loved musicals and he would play musicals and perform them locally and play the piano for them,” Holland recalled. “So I knew every showtune on the planet without ever having seen any of these musicals outside of community theatre.”

Instead, it was Holland’s passion for telling stories about “extraordinary, capable kids” as seen in his work directing episodes of “Eerie, Indiana,” “Malcolm in the Middle,” “About a Boy” and “Love, Victor” that sparked his interest in “Monster High.”

“I wanted something that I wanted to watch with my [12-year-old kids]. I love co-viewing. Too many times in my life my kids turn on the TV, and I’m like, ‘OK, you guys have fun. I’ll be in the next room’ because I can’t watch whatever this is. So I wanted to make something that was exciting to me,” Holland said. “And as a gay dad married to a Black man with mixed-race biological triplets, inclusion is not just a passion for me, it’s my world. Nothing is more urgent to me than building a better, more accepting world for our kids.”

Holland and Olin first bonded over their shared geographic background when Olin was with ABC Studios and Holland directed the 2016-17 ABC comedy “The Real O’Neals.”

Growing up, Olin had a backup plan – he got a degree at Ohio University in engineering because it was “a very practical thing to do” before decamping to Hollywood after college graduation – Holland went to UCLA’s film school (“The best advice I never got was go to film school in California, as opposed to anywhere else, because all your friends will get jobs, and they’ll help you,” Holland said). He got his short film, “Chicken Thing,” in front of Steven Spielberg, who offered Holland his first job writing and directing an episode of “Amazing Stories” (1985-87, NBC).

“My father was an ophthalmologist and my mom a housewife, and my father would call me saying, ‘I just dispensed glasses for Angie Dickinson’s cousin’s sister and she thinks you should call Angie,’ and I was like, ‘Dad, if ‘Chicken Thing’ doesn’t do it for me, I promise I will call,’ but they were very worried and thought I made a terrible mistake until I said Steven Spielberg called and he offered me a job.”

Olin said the work ethic instilled in him by his blue collar parents helped him succeed in Hollywood.

“They also instilled in me an incredible drive that I think led me to making the bold move of coming to Los Angeles,” Olin said. “That indomitable spirit of growing up in Northwestern Pennsylvania was the reason that I had the confidence to do it.”

Holland said people in L.A. always ask where he’s from and “the subtext is ‘you’re not from Los Angeles.’”

“I’ve always had a small town point of view,” Holland said. “I’ve learned watching my own kids that personal character is strongly connected to DNA, but I credit Meadville for nurturing my innate small-town values. I grew up resolutely believing in fairness, that people should play fair, and I always have.”

‘Werewolf by Night’

Now streaming on Disney+, “Werewolf by Night” requires no knowledge or understanding of the Marvel multiverse, it’s just an entertaining, 52-minute program shot in the style of classic Universal Studios monster movies.

Filmed in black and white, this is horror (not gonna let my 8- and 12-year-olds watch it) but it also has quite a bit of humor as the potential heirs to the Bloodstone compete for the jewel. The widow (Harriet Sansom Harris, terrific as always) of the Bloodstone’s previous owner presides over the competition.

Directed by frequent Marvel composer Michael Giacchino (“Doctor Strange,” “Thor: Love and Thunder”), this Halloween-season special is a true treat, not a trick.

Canceled/revived

Epix canceled “Bridge & Tunnel,” co-starring 2014 Carnegie Mellon grad Brian Muller, after two seasons.

Netflix’s “Firefly Lane” will end after a two-part second season debuting in two batches, the first on Dec. 2 and the second in 2023.

That long-gestating “Frasier” sequel has been ordered to series at Paramount+ with Kelsey Grammer returning and an otherwise new cast.

Peacock ordered a movie based on the former NBC comedy series “Community,” with much of the original cast returning.

Channel surfing

The second episode of PBS’s “Making Black America: Through the Grapevine” (9 p.m. Oct. 11, WQED-TV), about African-Americans creating communities of their own after hopes of a multi-racial community were dashed, features Pittsburgh Courier photographer Teenie Harris and his role capturing images of Black life in Pittsburgh through a cultural and political lens. … KDKA-TV’s annual Turkey Fund launched its 41st year this week, raising funds that will be distributed by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to provide meals to local families at Thanksgiving with PNC Bank matching any donation of $50 or more up to $75,000. Donate at www.KDKA.com/turkeyfund or by sending to P.O. Box Thanks, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15230. … For its 10th anniversary, “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” gets a new digital album release by Warner Music Group’s Arts Music Division with “10 Years of Tiger Tunes,” now available on all digital music platforms. … “The Great British Bake-Off,” including two early seasons that never aired in the U.S., are now streaming from free on Roku Channel per RealityBlurred.com. … As Nexstar looks to remake The CW (not in a good way for viewers who prefer expensive scripted drama to cheaper non-fiction shows), longtime CW CEO Mark Pedowitz was shown the exit door Monday. … “Alaska: The Last Frontier” returns with new episodes on Discovery Channel at 9 p.m. Sunday.