If Microsoft made the iPod

This is a hilarious video.  Apple is as concerned with its packaging as it is with its product.  Clean, cool, elegant.  Microsoft, on the ot...

Forget AMERICAN IDOL, X-FACTOR, and THE VOICE -- here's EUROVISION!

Singing competition shows are big deals in America but folks in Europe know the REAL enchilada is the EUROVISION.  Not just people but natio...

Keith Olbermann has been fired: My take

Quick!  Can you even name the network he was on?   The Current Network has apparently dismissed Olbermann and he is pissed.  He claims the t...

ARCHER and other topics

A pretty funny show, by the way.  But turning to Friday Questions: William C. Bonner has the ARCHER Q: One of my favorite shows over the pas...

Only 9 more hours to get my free book

I can't make it any cheaper.  But this promotion ends at midnight PDT.   According to the people who downloaded it for FREE, it's wo...

Advice to fellow neurotics

Do you always get sick just before a big exam? Or big performance? Or big game? Your problem might not be physical.  Take comfort.  You...

Last chance to get my FREE book!

The offer ends midnight Thursday PDT.  The Kindle version of WHERE THE HELL AM I?  TRIPS I HAVE SURVIVED is FREE if you download before the ...

Imagine going to work HERE everyday

Here’s one of those questions worthy of an entire post: It’s from Nancy Knechtel: You have captured the history of the studios you have wor...

The Best Drama on TV

For all the hoopla surrounding the return of MAD MEN, the best drama of the year might well be JUSTIFIED. It has all the complexity of MAD ...

I'm offering my book for FREE

Starting tomorrow for three days only you can get the Kindle version of my travelogue book, WHERE THE HELL AM I?  TRIPS I HAVE SURVIVED for ...

NBC screws up yet again!

Here’s another example of how an inept network can kill a good show. Last summer I screened all the pilots for the upcoming season. I des...

Sunday Funny Fotos

Some taken by me, some taken by others. I took this picture in Beverly Hills.I always wondered where he ended up.  This is in Philadelphia.A...

Calls of the wild

This is a great month for sports fans. March Madness, spring training, the NBA and NHL are roaring towards the playoffs where their games a...

Some announcements and personal appearances

I'll be speaking tomorrow evening at the Nerdist Writers Panel on Sunset Blvd.  along with Bill Lawrence (SCRUBS, COUGAR TOWN), and Rich...

The wildest wrap party ever

Most sitcoms are finishing up their season right about now.   They usually have a wrap party and take a cast & crew picture.  Here's...

FRASIER: MIAMI

Comin’ attacha – Friday Questions. What’s yours? Nat Gertler leads off: Do spin-off ideas come from the creative folks, or is it mostly the...

Getting you ready for the MAD MEN premiere

MAD MEN finally returns this Sunday night on AMC after a 17 month hiatus. Meanwhile, my show – BIG WAVE DAVE’S – is still on hiatus (19 yea...

Adventures in bad directing

Staying on yesterday’s topic of directing… For years movie directors had to deal with their films being converted from intended widescreen d...

Getting my start as a director

Sometimes a Friday Question is worthy of an entire post. Like this one by reader, Michael: How did you get your start as a director? Was it...

By the time it hailed in Phoenix

Is there a more breathtaking sight in nature than the Arizona desert set against the Hooters’ sign? It’s Spring Training time again and I...

Another thing about CHEERS you didn't know

CHEERS IS FILMED IN FRONT OF A LIVE STUDIO AUDIENCE You hear that at the top of every show. But most people don’t know that after six or ...

St. Patty's Day at CHEERS

Here’s my St. Patrick’s Day post. (It’s Saturday, y’know…go to the liquor store NOW.) This is a scene from a CHEERS David Isaacs and I...

Friday Questions

Hello from Peoria, Arizona where spring training continues. People ask if I miss being on a show fulltime. Re-read the first sentence. ...

Game Change

It seems like every time Hollywood makes a movie portraying a noted Republican as a complete idiot, Conservatives whine that there’s bias. ...

Leave it to TV to state the obvious

As opposed to what???

If you thought sitcom writers needed Pepto-bismol BEFORE...

Hello from Peoria, Arizona where tonight I broadcast my first Mariner game of the spring. 7:05 PM on 710 ESPN in Seattle and MLB.COM. Should...

Why people don't laugh

When you do a show multi-camera in front of an audience you always run the risk that unforeseen circumstances will affect the crowd’s reacti...

AWAKE and other puzzlers

As promised, here is a bonus Friday Question Day. MrTact starts us off: Have you seen the premier of "Awake"? I thought it was a b...

Bigamist busted on Facebook

That's what happens when Facebook suggests to wife #1 that she befriend wife#2.  Oops.   When wife#1 clicked on wife#2's Facebook pa...

You never forget your first time

Hello from Peoria, Arizona, where I'll be spending the next week covering the Seattle Mariners -- calling the games on Wednesday and Thu...

Best album cover EVER

Now this is who I want to see perform on the Grammys.

What's the best night to film

That's a question I'm asked almost as much as why wasn't there a MANNEQUIN 3?   Any yesterday, in his fine blog, comedy writer E...

Everybody Loves Radomir

As I prepare to head off to Arizona for Mariners’ spring training, here are this week’s Friday Questions. Will try to add a couple extra Qu...

Do shows steal stories from other shows?

A reader/Sitcom Room attendee, Johnny Walker, posed an interesting question: I was recently surprised to see a storyline I recognized in an ...

Topless table readings

Table readings are a necessary part of the production process. The cast will sit around a table and read the script aloud before putting it...

How to get the most out of life

photo by H. Hoffman I was driving on the 405 Freeway recently, coming home from the airport, when I happened to glance at a billboard. It w...

Stunt casting

I’m often asked about stunt casting – that’s the practice whereby shows will feature special guest stars, usually movie stars, in the hopes ...

A recommendation to writers

While we're on the subject today of writing... This is a great opportunity -- your chance to hear major film and TV writers candidly dis...

Overwriting and why it's bad to write more than you need to make the same point

When reading a spec, one of the most common traps I see young writers falling into is overwriting. When I receive a spec the first thing I ...

The Sopranos starring the Muppets

This is a RIOT and it's REAL. When cameras weren't allowed in a recent court trial, one local TV station decided to go one better t...