Sparky Anderson 1934-2010

When Sparky Anderson was 30 he looked 75. And now that he’s passed away at 76 I still think of him as 30. No one had more energy than George "Sparky" Anderson. Even the last time I spoke to him, which was only a few months ago at Dodger Stadium, he still had that twinkle. The sharpness wasn’t there but the enthusiasm was. He came out when the Tigers were in town. The above picture is one

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Adventures in pilot casting

The most important decisions you as a producer/creator/writer/whoever will make is casting. Everything else can be fixed. But the wrong people will kill you. On the other hand, the right people can send your project soaring. This is why networks today routinely replace actors in pilots. These decisions are often the result of testing but truthfully, actors are given a quick hook today if

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You'd think a show starring Mary Tyler Moore would work

Thanks for the nice comments on the Katey Sagal/MARY episode I posted over the weekend. Also thanks to reader Dave Benson for actually keeping it these many years and uploading it on YouTube. I can’t believe in 24 years he didn’t tape over it. What follows, also thanks to Dave, is the pilot. Talk about a lost episode.

So today I thought I’d answer the NAQ’s (never asked questions) about

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A couple of things I'm up to...

On Saturday night the California State Parks Foundation is staging a salute to MASH at Paramount Pictures. A couple episodes will be screened followed by a panel discussion. I’ll be participating in the panel along with producers Gene Reynolds and Burt Metcalfe, director Charles Dubin, and Father Mulcahy himself – William Christopher.

For information you can go here.

I’m also planning to

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Leo DiCaprio called me!

I was excited. Sure, it was a recording but it was really him! He was plugging some candidate. But still. Leo DiCaprio! I was supporting the other guy but now that I know that Leo DiCaprio, an Oscar nominee for Godsakes, is supporting his opponent I have to switch my vote. How can I not? You saw Leo in INCEPTION. He’s really SMART! Plus, who studies the issues more diligently than

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Happy Birthday, Matt

You're a great kid and I love you.  Hopefully this year all of your sports teams won't lose.  

Dad

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The latest trend in TV development: buying blogs and Twitter feeds

In addition to $#*! MY DAD SAYS networks are snapping up internet properties left and right for potential sitcoms. CBS and ABC each have two pilots and SHOWTIME just picked up one. (I don’t know what NBC is doing. They’re probably still dancing in the halls because Jeff Zucker is gone.)

At this moment there must be 10,000 hopefuls hastily creating blogs and Twitter feeds. Each looking for a

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