The Bastard Sons of Lee Marvin

Last Saturday was the 35th Occasional Doo Dah Parade in Pasadena.  Sort of the anti-Rose Parade.  This is a goofy affair with irreverent flo...

Thanks, Mom

My mother, Marilyn, would have been 84 today. She passed away several years ago. A day doesn't go by when I don't miss her and thi...

Comedy writers can be bad ass!

In the summer of 1990 I was broadcasting for the Tidewater Tides, the AAA affiliate of the New York Mets. It was a Sunday afternoon game...

My Nerdist Writers Panel podcast is now up

Hello, from Santa Barbara where I'm speaking at a writers conference at UCSB.  Last month I participated in a very worthwhile program --...

Does Frasier make too much money?

Friday Questions sometimes spark much  heated debate. Such is the case with our first Q. This was originally posted last Friday in the com...

The speech that launched our career

My writing partner and I were bouncing around trying to get freelance assignments early in our career. We were pitching and writing any sho...

Google and Facebook piss me off!

Playwright and theater director, George S. Kaufman went back to see a musical he had directed some months before. Afterwards, he sent a not...

My response to your respone on VEEP

Some great non-partisan debate on today’s post. Thanks so much for all the comments. Let me respond to your responses. I still believe it...

My vote on VEEP

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Kick back and come to Iraq!

The WGA Foundation has many terrific programs. One is the Veterans Writing Workshop. A group of 28 working members of the WGA agree to “...

Levine's Laws

I find these laws to be self evident… There are more New York cab drivers who speak English than all the night nurses in all metropolitan ho...

Can you watch this without laughing?

Laughter is infectious. For all the great jokes we try to write, nothing evokes laughter like seeing someone else completely lose it. The...

HBO's GIRLS

Some Friday Questions to get your weekend off on the right foot. Leave yours in the comments section. Thanks! Chris starts us off: Any tho...

From the "meetings from hell" file...

Hollywood is all about meetings. You get them. You have them. You take them. You reschedule them. Generally, you’re pitching someone o...

R.I.P. Dick Clark

The world’s oldest teenager has died. Dick Clark passed away today at 82. For years, as the rest of us grew older, Dick Clark seemed to s...

Where have all the TV executives gone?

TONIGHT SHOW host/king Johnny Carson was playing tennis one Sunday afternoon when he got a call. It was from a new executive at NBC. The P...

Do I watch my old shows?

Here’s one of those questions worth an entire post. It’s from Nancy Knechtel. Mash and Cheers and so many of your shows are on ALL the tim...

You've got to see this

I've already posted it on Twitter (you're welcome to follow me), but wanted to share it here.  This is maybe the coolest thing I...

A CAN'T-MISS idea for a family sitcom!

Comedy writers are always looking for new twists on family shows. It’s almost an impossible task. Sixty-plus years of television sitcoms...

In appreciation of Elizabeth Montgomery

Elizabeth Montgomery would have been 79 today.  I know this factoid because I have had a crush on Elizabeth Montgomery for &^%# year...

Thanks Seattle!

... To my peeps who attended the meet-and-greet at F.X. McCrory's today. Could've been real embarrassing if no one showed up. I ha...

The Paramount Lot

Looking forward to seeing my peeps in Seattle today at 1:00 at F.X. McCrory's. I often hear from readers asking me to talk about the va...

What scripts do you need to get an assignment or representation?

On my way up to Seattle for the big Mariners’ home opener. Here are some Friday Questions while I wait forever in the TSA line. Damian1342...

Now THIS is a brutal announcer

Not only does he rip the shit out of a player, it's a player from HIS OWN TEAM. Check it out!

A follow-up to yesterday's post

Some follow-up thoughts on yesterday’s post. It generated a lot of comments. First off though, Zachary Knighton must’ve read the piece. ...

My respone to Zachary Knighton

Several readers have asked me to comment on the article by Zachary Knighton (one of the stars of HAPPY ENDINGS) that appeared recently on th...

Wanna meet me in Seattle?

I'll be up in Seattle this weekend for the Mariners' home opener.  If there's enough interest, I thought it would be fun to meet...

The clueless guide to watching GAME OF THRONES

There are some extraordinarily great dramatic series on television these days. It truly is a Golden Age of Scripted Hours (if you throw out...

The story behind "Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs"

Since I seem to be on a FRASIER jag (and I'm going up to Seattle Friday for the Mariners' home opener), here's a Friday Frasier ...

Frasier's celebrity callers

Here are many of the celebrities who called into Frasier's radio program.  Thanks to reader Danj for alerting me to it. They missed one ...

The FRASIER episode NBC didn't see until it was on the air

Here is one of those Friday FRASIER questions that warrants its own post.  Submitted by anonymous. Again, please leave your name. Honest...

My all-time favorite sitcom joke

It's from AMOS & ANDY, a show from the '50s that is way too politically incorrect to ever air on commercial television again.   ...

How to find a writing partner

Here are some Friday Questions to kick off your weekend and the baseball season. Trixie Malone wants to know: How does a budding comedy wri...

Who is the real Frasier Crane?

Shows change over time and characters evolve. This generally begins happening when the original showrunners either leave to pursue other o...

Chase vs. Harmon Update

So Dan Harmon has apologized. Kinda. Sorta. In his blog yesterday he addressed the brouhaha surrounding his recent feud with Chevy Chase...

FRIENDS WITH KIDS

I hesitate to recommend this movie because, like THE ARTIST, it might only be playing in three theaters in America (while HUNGER GAMES plays...

Chevy Chase vs. Dan Harmon

The feud between COMMUNITY showrunner Dan Harmon and prima-donna/overrated/has-been star Chevy Chase has spilled out into the open. And it’...

A great April Fool's Joke... on ME

Someone emailed to congratulate me on being considered for one of TIME magazine's 100 most influential people in the world.   This was a...

The Real Don Steele

The Real Don Steele would have been 76 today. You've probably heard me talk of him before. He's one of my idols (American or othe...