Aloha still. Here are some Friday questions.bobomo asks:
So did you write the recent Frasier/Lilith Dr. Pepper commercial?
No. An ad guy did but they wisely had Christopher Lloyd (one of the FRASIER showrunners) revise it. Here's the spot:
From John:
Since you're flying off for (I assume) some time for relaxation, here's a kind-of related topic -- What's your opinion/outcome of trying to be creative in comedy writing while either having imbibed a little, or under the influence of any other intoxicants?
For the most part, not a good idea. Intoxicants tend to cloud your judgment. All too often something you write late at night when you’re well intoxicated or good and medicated turns out to be something Jack Nicholson’s character would write in THE SHINING.
Yes, there are stories of writers who snort coke and bang out entire brilliant hour episodes over night but (a) I don’t know how true they are, and (b) sooner or later there’s a price to pay.
But before I start sounding like your parents, I will admit a glass of wine or beer won’t kill ya. This is why you want to be on shows like FRASIER because those guys know good wine.
And finally, from Dean W.:
For shows like "Two and a Half Men" it seems like the creators write half of the episodes. For shows like "Cheers" or "M*A*S*H", was it common for the creators to offer input to the writers?
TWO AND A HALF MEN is all room written and credits are just rotated. In most comedies, unless the creators have gone off and are no longer associated with the show, they have TREMENDOUS input. Every MAD MEN is rewritten by Matt Weiner. Every MASH the first four years was rewritten by Larry Gelbart. Sometimes 100%. Usually the series creators have too much to do to write first drafts but their influence is ever present.
What's your question?
22 comments :
Then there was Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, who single-handedly wrote most of the first two seasons of her series Designing Women. Half a dozen or so scripts were penned by others early on, but it wasn't until the show was in its third season that scripts by others began appearing regularly.
I was looking at the credits for Becker the other day, which is full of some really talented sitcom writers, including yourself. Yet, despite all the pedigree, the show wasn't exactly a huge hit. Do you think it failed? And do you know why it wasn't as big of a hit as the writing credits would suggest?
Maybe if it had been called "Pecker" more people would have watched it. Well, maybe more women and gay guys.
Is there still a rule that a certain percentage of episodes have to be written by non-staff writers? How about for shows like "Soap" where every single show was credited to Susan Harris and whatever small number of staff writers there were at the time?
WEST WING and SPORTSNIGHT..
Whilel Becker was never a huge hit, I dont think any show that lasts six seasons and 129 episodes could be called a failure. Not when so many good shows are lucky to make it past one season.
One of the incredible runs in television was Aaron Sorkin with "The West Wing." He was, like Gelbart on "MASH," crucial to the first four seasons, except for one very bad episode sending C.J. Cregg to her high school reunion.
Gelbart once said that he got a writer's credit for several shows on which he did next to nothing, and no credit on some he completely rewrote.
Question: I've noted that many M*A*S*H episodes were credited to Burt Prelutsky. I'm wondering how someone with Prelutsky's antediluvian politics meshed with the more leftward sensibilities of the rest of the M*A*S*H staff. Just asking, is all...
I recall hearing (maybe from you) that it was a struggle to get Kelsey Grammer to shave off his beard when he started doing Frasier. And it took until the third season to get him to cut his hair short. Personally I loved his beard but that hair was out of control!
How much of a problem is it to deal with actors in general when they want to change their appearance somewhat drastically or as in the case of Kelsey not change it?
Look how different the last two seasons of SEINFELD was after Larry David left, even though the rest of the writing staff remained.
Here's my question: I know that Frasier was only supposed to be in six episodes of Cheers' third season, but they kept him around the whole year after he proved so popular with the audience (and Kelsey Grammer with the cast and crew). But what was the writers' initial plan for that season, before Frasier caught on? I assume Diane wouldn't have left him at the altar, because it would've been a little unrealistic for them to get married so quick. And what would have been the direction for Sam and Diane after Frasier left?
I'll put this in the form of a question, but really I'm only doing that because it's off topic. However, you really should go to this blog and read these guys' stuff because it is original and side-splittingly funny. OK, here's the question: have you ever read the blog, www.thedyerboys.com?
Oh, and btw, I like your blog. I just recently came across it and when I did, I thought, gee, I bet he would like this other blog I've been reading.
In other news, Bebe Neuwith is still hot.
If it's Friday, this must be my question:
Should there be a limit on the number of Emmy awards people can win for the same show? Like a limit of one for the run of the show?
My favorite actors get Emmys for my favorite shows, but after their first one, aren't they doing the same characters year after year? Shouldn't other talent get a chance?
@Michael: Sorkin did indeed write the majority of Seasons 1-4, but by Season 3 he was letting others at least pretend to help. The CJ episode you mention was actually Jon Robin Baitz (playwright and original creator of Brother & Sister)'s episode, written at his behest.
Z, thanks. I didn't really mean any offense about the C.J. episode, but it was really out of whack in relation to the rest of the series.
I was always sad about the last three seasons. With John Wells in charge, the "ER" big disaster/soap opera mentality overwhelmed the show, with too much of an attempt at effects and implausible plots. "The West Wing" was still better than just about anything else on television, but it really was a shadow of its former self.
What makes something funny to you? I don't dislike all slapstick. I like Mr. Bean but can't watch The Three Stooges. John Cleese in Fawly Towers is funny. Quick wit makes me laugh.A story with a payoff makes me laugh. I am a sarcastic person myself, but cruel humor makes me squirm. I like The Office. I don't like shows built around a barrage of obnoxiousness, particularly from the very young. Shock humor (kicking someone in the nuts, Doritos commercials)isn't my cup of tea.
Bebe Neuwith is hot as Bebe Neuwith, but I don't think she was particularly hot as Lillith (except for the one CHEERS where she was hot for purposes of plot)
obnesse: a Scottish sea monster with bad manners
I don't know, whenever Lilith lets her hair down (and there were several episodes where she's shown this way), she's pretty hot to me.
Yeah, you're right, Mike, when she let her hair down.
And when she wasn't dressed like Josef Stalin's stenographer.
courec: Dan Rather's replacement
As a sports guy and a movies guy, what are your thoughts on the upcoming 'Slap Shot' remake?
MY question is on the series Lost. Is there someone who knows where the story is supposed to end up or do they just let the story drift and bend its way along on ideas the writers come up with and when its ratings drop they figure out how to end it?
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