Where to put your Emmy

Time to end the week and the month with Friday questions.  Ready?GMJ starts us off: Do you have your Emmy on display?Yes. In the dining room (see the above picture). If I were single I’d be wearing it around my neck. Craig Pines has a network pitch meeting and wonders: Have you ever come into a pitch meeting where they've tried to rework an idea? If so, what can I do to be best...

Read More

How to create a hit procedural!

Network development season is in full swing. Comedies are hot commodities this year but one staple that never seems to go out of style is procedural dramas. Fame and fortune and a spin-off with :MIAMI at the end of the title can be yours if you just follow my simple rules. Your star must have some supernatural power. He or she can read minds, has an amazing photographic memory, can remem...

Read More

My post season predictions (not that anyone asked)

Now that the regular season is wrapping it up, here are my annual post season predictions – guaranteed to be wrong of course but that’s a tradition too. AL MVP – Curtis Granderson (Yankees)NL MVP – Matt Kemp (Dodgers)AL CY YOUNG – Justin Verlander (Tigers)NL CY YOUNG – Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers)AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR – Mark Trumbo (Angels)NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR – Craig Kimbrel...

Read More

The New TV Season: Week Two

It’s only natural to judge a show by its pilot. That’s the point of it. Networks decide what shows to order based on pilots, and you decide which shows are worth your time from watching the pilots. And now it’s week two. You’ve seen some pilots. One or two you thought were God awful. What was the network thinking? You can only imagine how bad the pilots that didn’t get on the air were...

Read More

The New Fall Season Ratings: Week One (what can we learn?)

Sitcoms are making a bigger comeback than Tony Bennett. In the first week of the new season, the top six highest-rated non-sports shows among the only-thing-that-counts 18-34 group was comedies. And that includes two newcomers (2 BROKE GIRLS and NEW GIRL). By comparison, there appears to be no new breakout dramas. And THE PLAYBOY CLUB’S second week numbers were lower than the attendance in...

Read More

"The Bludgeon of Beef"

Back from my final road trip of the season broadcasting for the Seattle Mariners. Cleveland, Minnesota, and Texas. Other than snow, I don’t think there’s a climate I missed. Drew Carey says “Cleveland Rocks”, but from what I’ve seen this year, “Cleveland Drains”. This was my second trip. It rained the entire weekend I was there in May. Two of our three games were rained out. So we...

Read More

College Daze

Here's another excerpt from my book on growing up in the '60s.  I'm actually close to finishing this bad boy.  Anyway, travel back to UCLA in the turbulent spring 1969. I met someone in my “History of Documentary Films” class. To this day I have no idea why I took it. Three hours a week of Eskimos freezing to death in 1910 or Nazi propaganda films. But I met Honoria Feldman. She had the...

Read More

Product Placement Before It Was Cool

A lot of people ask me about the Coke scene in the movie David Isaacs and I wrote, VOLUNTEERS. We took a lot of heat for it because the studio that produced it also owned the Coca Cola company. It was viewed as a shameless plug. The truth is it was a complete coincidence. Here’s the notorious scene but first an earlier scene setting up the animosity between Lawrence (Tom Hanks) and Beth...

Read More

Here's the product you HAVE TO have!!!

But don't just take my word for it. Here are some actual reviews:Wendy Sherer ("Cosmetic Guru") from Pittsburgh, PA, writes: "Not only a wonderful teaching model, but while trying to find the tumors, I discovered, it acts as a makeshift stress ball! When I am in line at the grocery store I just whip out this handy little bugger and squeeze away [and] the line around me just [disappears...

Read More

The CBS Eye

I love TV history. You probably know that just from my NBC "N" post earlier this month. Each network has its own distinctive brand. CBS was known as the "Tiffany" network because its shows tended to be classy. Those were the days when one man owned the network -- William S. Paley -- and the network reflected his tastes. CBS also had a distinctive and elegant logo -- the Eye. That's been...

Read More

Friday Questions

Direct from Dallas, here they are, y'all.  rockfish has a couple. The first involves Col. Flagg from MASH. I'm wondering if there was a discussion about turning a smaller part into a more major, recurring role from someone who was essentially a guest star – i.e Col. Flagg, who seemed to be a bolt of energy whenever plugged on the show. Sidney the psychiatrist was used almost twice as much...

Read More

Response to Thor fans

Now I know how to generate comments.  Yeow!    A couple of things:I do like action movies.I appreciate that many of you did like THOR.  Great.  I'm sure you'll love THOR 2-11.   I didn't.  I don't apologize for my review.  But I do apologize for not putting an S at the end of Dennings. See you tomorr...

Read More

Thor the Love of God -- Stop Making These Movies!

I missed most of the blockbuster super hero epics this summer. I’m holding out for Mighty Mouse. But recently my daughter Netflixed THOR and it was just sitting around so I figured, what the hell? I do like a good action movie, I seem to recall it got good reviews, and it has Natalie Portman (obviously vying for a second Oscar). Also, it was directed by Kenneth Branaugh, the...

Read More

My Open Letter to Seattle

Reunited with Dave NiehausHello from Minnesota. I’m calling play-by-play for the Mariners until Sunday. That’ll be it for me for this season (of course the season ends three days later). But it’s been a joy and an honor to once again be part of the Mariners’ broadcast crew. And so, on this last week, I wanted to take a day to thank Seattle. It’s impossible to step in for the great Dave...

Read More

Smarmy jokes in pilots

My, how things have changed.A number of years ago I was showrunning a show and reading through a mountain of spec scripts looking for new staff writers.  Again, young scribes, remember -- we want to like your script.  Nothing would please us more.  Every time we pick up a script we’re hoping this is the one.  Most are disappointing though.  One in particular I thought was terrible.  It was...

Read More

Rani Mukerji

Rani Mukerji (Bengali: রাণী মুখার্জী; born Rani Mukherjee on 21  March 1978)[1] is an Indian film actress who works in Hindi movies.In the course of her film career, she has received six Filmfare Awards,among twelve nominations.BornRani Mukherjee21 March 1978 (age 33)Mumbai, Maharashtra, IndiaOther namesRani MukherjiRani MukerjeeOccupationFilm actressYears active1997–present ...

Read More

My Review of the 2011 Emmys

Time for my annual Emmy review. But it’s a little different this year. I didn’t see them. I was on a plane with the Seattle Mariners flying to Cleveland. But I’ve seen enough of these backslapfests that I have a pretty good idea of what took place. So I'm reviewing the Emmys anyway.  See how many of these observations I got right. Considering how many promos Fox ran for X-FACTOR, most...

Read More

Emmys Emmys Emmys

Tonight's the big night! The Falcons host the Eagles on NBC. But for a few of you it means the 88th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. I will post my review tomorrow but be forewarned: it will be a different review from years past.Speaking of years past, here are more of my observations from previous Emmy Award shows that might help get you geeked up for tonight's ceremony. It’s always strange...

Read More

Getting You Ready for the Emmys

The 97th annual Emmy Awards take place tomorrow night. As always, I will be reviewing it. But this year my review will be very different. Check back Monday and see. But to get you all excited, this weekend I'm reprising observations from past Emmy reviews. Relive the magic and snark. In sixty years there’s never been worse co-hosts than Heidi Klum, Jeff Probst, Howie Mandel, Ryan Seacre...

Read More

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARC -- the cover version

You've got to see this. Maybe you've already heard about it. Two kids in Mississippi in the '80s made a shot-by-shot remake of Spielberg's RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARC. There will be a book out about it next year by a wonderful writer, Alan Eisenstock. Anyway, here are the first ten minutes. Pretty remarkable. If any of you kids out there would like to do a remake of VOLUNTEERS I promise to p...

Read More

What to wear at meetings

First off, a Happy Birthday to my idol. I love you, Dad.Now for some Q’s and A’s.Al starts us off: If I am lucky enough to get a meeting for an assignment with a showrunner, what does that meeting look like? What should I prepare? Obviously be ready to talk about story ideas for the show, but what else should I consider.Know as much as you can about his show. Otherwise, besides hav...

Read More

Candidate for Worst New Show: THE PLAYBOY CLUB

I’m giving you fair warning:  This one is a turkey.  It premieres Monday night. You gotta see it to believe it. THE PLAYBOY CLUB.From the first second you know you’re in trouble when Hef himself narrates it. I will acknowledge that a hundred years ago Hugh Hefner was indeed a major force in popular culture. And his willingness to challenge society’s repressed attitudes on sexuality and...

Read More

Random rants

I'm just sayin'....I read every day in the trades that networks are bidding on comedy pitches and handing out put pilots and stiff penalties for not going to series. Here’s what I would negotiate for: creative freedom. No notes. Screw penalty payments. Let me do my show my way. If I’ve come up with a brilliant idea or have such brilliant talent attached and you're just dying to be in...

Read More

Registration is NOW OPEN for the Sitcom Room

If you would like to participate in my two-day writing seminar, THE SITCOM ROOM, registration is now open to the public.  There's a maximum of twenty participants.  Here's where you go for info and to sign up.   As you know, we had encouraged people who are interested in attending the first SITCOM ROOM in two years to sign up for our Early Alert List, which would give them the chance to...

Read More

Writing in the Mess Tent

When my partner and I started out we would lock ourselves in a room whenever we wrote. We couldn’t have any distractions. Most of the time that meant working in one of our apartments so it was easy to do… except for the neighbor across the courtyard who kept playing the Jethro Tull WAR CHILD album over and over. But we eventually killed him so that problem was solved. When we finally went...

Read More

How to go insane in one day

I don’t find the casting process fun. It’s tiring, you hear your words trampled fifty different ways, and you’re well aware that these are most crucial decisions you will ever make on your project. Scripts can be fixed, scenes can be reshot, but if you have the wrong actors you’re dead. So there is a tremendous amount of pressure – not just for the actors but for the producers as well. ...

Read More

9/11 and David & Lynn Angell

I re-post this every year on this date.9/11 affected us all, profoundly and in many cases personally. Two of my dear friends were on flight 11. David and Lynn Angell. There hasn’t been a day I haven’t thought of them, missed them, and not felt grateful that they were in my life.David and I worked together on CHEERS, WINGS, and FRASIER (the latter two he co-created). We used to call him the “d...

Read More

The pros and cons of gangbanging and other topics

For the first time in two years I'm going to conduct another SITCOM ROOM seminar.  It'll be the weekend of November 12-13 at the LAX Hilton.  Later next week I'll open registration.  Stay tuned.  Space is limited.  To whip you into a veritable frenzy, here is a re-post from a few years ago. SITCOM ROOM 3 was held this weekend at that shrine of comedy, the Los Angeles Airport Hilton. For two d...

Read More

Should Network Executives Be Held Accountable For Ruining Pilots?

Here’s some Friday questions that may ruffle some feathers. What would you like to know? Kevin Rubio starts us off with a question about pilots, and more specifically when pilots don’t get picked up because of network meddling: Should the executive be culpable?" "Should names be named?"Absolutely but it will never happen.Still, it’s only right that they be held accountable because they...

Read More

One of NBC's great blunders

It pays to check these things. With much fanfare, on January 1,1976 NBC unveiled it’s new on-air logo – a big stylized N. They paid a million dollars to design this thing. That's right.  $1,000,0000.  The network was probably hoping to do the whole three letters but couldn't afford it.  Anyway...I remember seeing it for the first time on the Rose Bowl game and thinking, “Huh?” In the ‘...

Read More

On the passing of Charles Dubin

So sorry to hear that Charles Dubin has died. He was 92. Charles directed 44 episodes of MASH, including many that my partner David Isaacs and I wrote. Charles directed our POINT OF VIEW episode. We get a lot of kudos for that but truthfully the real praise goes to Charles and his expert direction. Remember also that this was in the days before hand-held cameras. Charles had to be...

Read More

I love The Book of Mormon... and New York!

Here's my most recent travelogue. For many more of these please check out my book, WHERE THE HELL AM I? TRIPS I HAVE SURVIVED. E-book version is only $2.99. That's less than a penny a laugh, which in this economy, is pretty damn good. Order yours here.  And often.  Thanks!Flew to New York on Virgin American, which is really just Jet Blue with mood lighting.  There with the family for the...

Read More

I'm conducting a free Teleseminar

On Tuesday September 13th, I will be conducting a FREE teleseminar answering your questions on sitcom writing.  Again, it's free.  And it will also be available if you can't hear it live.  All you have to do is register.  No salesmen will call.  You will not be receiving any brochure to buy land in areas recently hit by Irene.  Just go here.   I'll talk to ya on the 13...

Read More

My thoughts on the pilot season so far (one month into it)

I’ll be very interested to see how this pilot season shakes out. So far it’s been very different from other pilot seasons.It used to be, writers the networks liked would come in and pitch ideas. The nets would buy seemingly the best ones over a four month period. Scripts would come in, presumably the best ones would get chosen for production, and the best pilots got on the air. That sys...

Read More

Katrina Kaif

Katrina Kaif: (born 16 July 1984[2]) is a British Indian actress      and former model who appears in Indian films, mainly in theHindi-language film industry.[3][4] She has also appeared inTelugu and Malayalam films. She was voted the sexiest Asianwoman in the world by Eastern Eye in the years 2008, 2009,2010 and 2011.[5][6] Being a British citizen,...

Read More

Happy Labor Day

Seems like only yesterday the Labor Day holiday songs started flooding the radio. As I sit here on this low cyber-traffic weekend I’m reminded of how, as a kid, September was always a big month. So much to look forward to. As hard as it is to believe, when the networks unveiled their fall shows it was a BIG DEAL. A real big deal. Remember “NBC WEEK”? When they rolled out...

Read More

Kareena Kapoor

Kareena Kapoor: born on 21 September 1980),[1] often   informally referred to as Bebo,[2] is an Indian actresswho appears in Bollywood films.Born21 September 1980 (age 31)Mumbai, Maharashtra, IndiaOccupationFilm actressYears active2000–presentPartnerSaif Ali Khan (2007–present)Signat...

Read More