May 2013 be for you what 2012 was for...

Adele, Jade Jones, Ben Affleck, Usain Bolt, Lena Dunham, the San Francisco Giants, the New York Giants, Claire Danes, Barack Obama, Miguel C...

LA is a great town when there's nobody here

The best week of the year in Los Angeles is always this one, the final seven days of the year. More property taxes and obligations are on t...

Stuff they don't buy on SHARK TANK

SHARK TANK has become a guilty pleasure.  Enterprising people trying to interest billionaires into investing in their new miracle products o...

The road to Hana

Here are some great photos on the road to Hana and other assorted Maui locales taken by my son Matt.  He has the kind of camera that's j...

HOMELAND for the holidays

Last Friday Questions of the year.  I hope I do them justice. Brian starts us off: Ken - what do you think of Homeland and The Last Resort? ...

Engineers in paradise

Here's Part 2 of my recent Maui travelogue.  Part 1 was yesterday. After a week of exploring the wonders of the island and exchanging re...

the house of sand and vog

Hope you had a great Christmas.  As my longtime readers know, whenever I venture out of town I return with a travelogue and rental car horro...

My favorite funny foto of the year

Those who know me and my affection for the '60s and Bob's Big Boy will especially appreciate this alternate version of the classic r...

A Mommy Dearest Christmas

May your family have as wonderful a Christmas as Joan Crawford's. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

My Christmas card next year

R.I.P. Jack Klugman

Sorry to hear of the passing of Jack Klugman.  He was 90.  You may remember him as either Oscar Madison or Quincy M.E.  For years before tha...

All about (Christmas) Eve

You would think that being Jewish on Christmas Eve I would feel left out. Actually I love Christmas Eve. Here are two reasons why: The fir...

Full confession

I have a good friend who, back in the ‘90s, used to work for SPORTS ILLUSTRATED. Every holiday season he would send me an SI holiday gift b...

Dear Santa: All I want is a Fizz-Nik

What’s the dumbest holiday gift you’ve ever received? Mine was a Fizz-nik. And understand, I really WANTED this thing. In my dumb kid-...

A Christmas show by Matthew Weiner & me

Here's a BECKER Christmas episode, written by Matthew Weiner (creator of MAD MEN) and directed by me.  I wonder -- whatever happened to ...

Judge Judy, NFL stars, and other actors

Back in LA, ready with Friday Questions. Cap'n Bob begins: Do non-actors like Judge Judy need to be in an actor's union? How about n...

The scam of the century... or at least bicentennial

Yesterday I talked about about my days teaching radio at the KIIS Broadcasting Workshop. This was during that period where my writing partne...

Before I was a writer...

So when I got fired from KSEA a week before Christmas (see yesterday's post), that's when I decided to give up radio and pursue writ...

The Christmas I got fired

One of the many reasons I became a writer is that I got tired of being fired as a disc jockey. Today marks the 38th anniversary of the la...

Okay, so who REALLY REALLY created BEWITCHED

Lots of comments Friday about my post on who created BEWITCHED. A number of you suggested real credit should go to the screenwriters of the...

My Xmas movies recommendations

A CHRISTMAS STORY is my all-time favorite holiday movie. I’ve seen it probably fifty times, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually watched i...

A personal plea from Batman

Hi kids, this is Batman, the old Caped Crusader.  Y'know, the '60s was a glorious era.  I could still fit into my suit, Robin and I ...

When not to take down your Xmas decorations

This is my friend Kevin’s house in the residential San Fernando Valley. He’s Jewish but loves to celebrate the colors and lights of the se...

Who really created BEWITCHED?

Aloha from Hawaii where the tradewinds are whispering Friday Questions: Derrick starts us off: How is it decided who gets credit for creati...

Another one of my rants

Hollywood motion pictures are designed for young audiences. 18-34 is the only demographic the industry believes still goes to the movies. ...

The best book on improv comedy

... is now available.  IMPROV COMEDY by Andy Goldberg is once again in print.  You can get the paperback version here.  Of all the books on ...

My Kim Basinger metaphor

Ever see the Bruce Willis movie BLIND DATE? It’s from so long ago he still had hair. In this very funny film (written by Dale Laudner) Br...

The worst agent sales pitch EVER

Here’s another Hollywood agent story. I told one recently, and they are always crowd pleasers.   This is one of my personal favorites.  It’...

Do rewrites always make shows better?

As kind of a fun experiment, Earl Pomerantz, over on his fine blog, and I are both going to write today on the same topic – whether rewrites...

Decoding Hollywoodspeak

Most of the real creativity in Hollywood goes into positive spin. Here are some industry expressions and what they really mean: “Hospita...

A handy writing tip

Just saw one of my favorite DICK VAN DYKE SHOW episodes, “100 Terrible Hours”. It’s the one where Rob was a disc jockey and had to stay ...

Happy Hanukah bitches

Tonight is the first night. Thought I'd show you something traditional to get you in the mood.

R.I.P. Reinhold Weege

So sorry to hear of the passing of Reinhold Weege.  He wrote for BARNEY MILLER, MASH, and created NIGHT COURT.  Very funny writer and lovely...

Friday Questions

It’s always extra poignant being in Hawaii during Pearl Harbor Day. As the “Day of Infamy” gets further into the mist, take a moment to rem...

KILLER KARAOKE -- amusing or the Apocalypse?

As you know I like to surf my channel guide in search of the worst, cheesiest, most appalling reality shows on television. The more insipi...

Casting against type

But first a word from our sponsor -- me.  For the holidays I have just reduced the price of my book, THE ME GENERATION... BY ME.   Paperback...

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK: My review

David O. Russell is one of those filmmakers who is capable of making an extraordinary movie or a giant piece of shit. You wonder how the s...

Oscar campaigns

We have officially entered Oscar season. This is the time of year Harvey Weinstein, Steven Spielberg, and Will Smith live for. Studios wil...

How to recognize a bad sitcom

Charlie Hauck is a terrific comedy writer (FRASIER, MAUDE, etc.) and a hilarious author. His comic novel about a writing team launching a ...

The CHEERS script that could have ruined us

Happily, there's no writers strike this year (it being leap year).  One byproduct of a writers strike is that studios may shoot existin...