It’s just a number and it’s not even accurate but according to my site counter I will hit 3,000,000 visitors this week. There are also RSS feeds, feedburners, and other ways that people access this blog that don’t show up in the stats so I’m told the actual number is significantly higher. I still have no clue how any of this works. I'd have an easier time comprehending the Theory of Relativity than Widgets.But I do want to take this opportunity to thank all 3,000,000+ of you. I’ve been writing this nonsense for 3 1/2 years, almost 1500 posts. This blog fulfills a dream – to do a ton of writing for absolutely no profit.
Still, these milestones serve as a great excuse to ask you guys to write to me today. Especially new readers, lurkers, and AMERICAN IDOL finalists. Let me know where you’re from, how long you’ve been here, how you found the blog, and any thoughts of what you do or don’t like. I do pay attention to the feedback. You’ll notice I have not reviewed STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP in over two years. All I ask is you leave a name.
This has been a labor of love. And I can’t tell you how many great people I’ve met as a result of this folly. So to paraphrase the airlines: “I know you have a choice of 7,846,935,833,8563 blogs, thanks for reading mine.”
And thanks in advance for leaving a comment.
208 comments :
1 – 200 of 208 Newer› Newest»I found you through a link on someone else's blog about 6 months ago - and you are the only column I read faithfully, on a near daily basis.
You make me think, you make me laugh, you inform and edify me...and you entertain me.
Thank you so much for sharing - I'll keep reading as long as you keep writing!
I found you through a link on someone else's blog about 6 months ago - and you are the only column I read faithfully, on a near daily basis.
You make me think, you make me laugh, you inform and edify me...and you entertain me.
Thank you so much for sharing - I'll keep reading as long as you keep writing!
Found your blog through R.A. Porter sharing some of your posts through Google Reader. I'm from Atlanta, never plan on doing anything in entertainment, and am 25.
I like the behind the scenes look at the creative process and where it clashes with the logistics of production. I plan on reading as long as you'll keep writing.
Hi Ken,
Daniel here from Melbourne, Australia. Been reading for about 2years and was pointed here by one blog or another (may have been a forum on the podcast Filmspotting). I love the TV stuff and just getting an insight into an entertainment/baseball lifestyle. Always enjoy the older stories as well, my fascination with 40's-70's era LA (I know you weren't around for the whole lot!) is always well served here. Thanks again.
I've been lurking for a while, I heard about this through KCRW... I think. I'm a Production Accountant in the industry with no aspirations of being a writer or producer and since there is no accountant blog I read this one.
I've been reading your blog for about 2 years. I don't remember how I found it. I love your wit and charm and words. Add sports fan to that and it's a perfect blog. I link to your blog from mine.
I've been reading you since day one. You emailed me -- when I had a blog -- and asked me to add a link to my blog. I did, even though I had no idea who you were. Whoa, was I about to be surprised.
I always look forward to your nightly posts. I especially love the behind-the-scenes stories from your days writing for Frasier and Cheers. I like to know what *really* happened. I also like your summer movie previews.
I'm in Phoenix, AZ and I've been reading for at least 2 years now, I think. Can't remember how I found it. I like the American Idol reviews, commentary on the entertainment business, and especially the stories behind the scenes of MASH, Frasier, etc. I skip all the sports stuff, but otherwise yours is one of the most consistently interesting blogs I subscribe to (RSS). Oh, I took at least one of your Netflix recommendations and enjoyed it very much: The TV Set.
Another Melbourne devotee here. Although I follow the site through the RSS feed, I always click through for the comments.
Being interested in both writing and directing, I found your blog through John August's way back in the early days and after lurking for all those years, I finally made myself known at your most recent Komedy Kontest. Several failed attempts at reclaiming my lurker status later, I think I'm finally starting to come to grips with it.
I don't remember how long I have been reading your blog. I know it was before the writers strike. I skip the American Idol reviews but I read everything else. I really enjoy your insights on the entertainment business, and the back stories on the shows you wrote/write for. Keep on writing and I will keep on reading. Thanks.
I've been reading you a couple of years, too. I seem to recall first coming here through, I don't know, could it have been Woolcott? Manion? Okay, maybe I don't remember. I'm up here in Gilroy, Calif. My TV watching heyday included MASH, Cheers, Fraiser, Wings (notice a connection there?). I'm an amateur writer, actor, filmmaker but a professional dad and husband. You and Boing Boing are about my only regular non-political blogs.
I wasn't going to leave a comment but then I saw all these other Jim's at 10 p.m. and figured it was an sign.
Hiya Ken:
Truly been a fan of you and your partner for many years. Found your blog about a year ago from a friend. Representing...the San Francisco Bay Area. Keep up the outstanding work.
I found you through the Anonymous Production Assistant's blog. I love the fact you update regularly and make me laugh. Keep doing that.
I love reading all the behind-the-scenes writerly info.
Can't even remember how I found you, have been reading for more than a year, and I am one of those secret RSS readers. I love the inside scoops you give on the industry, even though I am not even remotely involved with it. I'm "eh" on the American Idol recaps, but really that's only because I am one of the three hermits in America who doesn't watch. Actually, skimming them does allow me to kind of understand my friends' conversations, so thanks, I guess!
I do love your blog and just tweeted about it (that sounds *so* wrong -- or @ the very least like I should ask someone's pardon).
You ask everyone to leave a name -- what's preferable to you: just a first name, a first & last, a link to the family tree? And, I'm curious, WHY is it so important to you?
Tks for writing for free so we can enjoy your humor.
I believe I've been reading the blog for about 2 1/2 years, but maybe more. I live in Vancouver and I came here through another blog, I have no idea which one, because I was interested in reading blogs by screenwriters. I enjoy reading blogs because I can do it without wearing pants. I like yours because it's usually funny and sometimes informative.
Hi Ken.
I've been lurking here for a couple of months now. I found your blog through a link on Dan O'Day's blog. I'm a radio producer in Penticton, BC Canada, and really enjoy reading your posts. This is the only blog I read faithfully, every post seems to make chuckle at the very least.
You have a lot of wonderful stories, and the least I can do is thank you for sharing them with us.
I found your site via a link from Alan Sepinwall's "What's Alan Watching" blog about two weeks ago, and have been delightedly working my way back through the archives ever since. I'm just about (in two days!) to graduate from high school, and my pipe dream for a career is to one day be a TV comedy writer, so it's very interesting to me to hear your insider's take, recommendations and general thoughts.
Here's to another 3,000,000!
I don't even know where I am.
I'm sure if you put some google ads on your blog you'd get a decent stream of income from that :)
Yet another lurker from Melbourne. Been reading for so long I can't even remember how I stumbled onto your blog - maybe through John August or Jane Espenson's blog. Love your humour and the wide variety of stories you cover. Thanks!
I was reading your blog pretty much from the beginning, but I'm not sure how I got here anymore. It's not everything though, I like your insights into the process based on actual experience. The added benefit is you can do that within an economical word-limit and be funny too. I'm American but living for the time being in Europe, so I get the benefit of seeing most of the sitcoms dubbed into another language, and often with the laughtrack subdued ( or like in the case of the "Odd Couple" it is turned off, which really practically converts it into a drama.) Speaking of which, I've always thought "Studio 60" should have had another shot at getting its proper footing, so my question is, had it continued where would you have liked to imagine the plot development would be by now?
Your blog is much taller in person! (I'm one of the "plus" who reads you through the feed.) Denis McGrath's blog pointed me in this direction about two and a half years ago.
I work in the industry (sort of) in Canada, for an American company that a lot of people in your country hate but can't do without. And I try to read the credits, even when they're squished almost beyond recognition and flash by at the limits of perception.
Other than the American Idol posts (a show which I not only don't watch, I actively avoid) I enjoy just about everything here, including attitude, style and content.
I'd been waiting for the next baseball post to ask, but this is as good an opportunity as any: what's your opinion on Harvey Haddix?
I think I found the blog on Wikipedia. I tend to lurk, and always look for Cheers stories. I'm from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
I don't remember where I found out about your blog, but I've been reading it for a year or so here in Dallas and gone through all the archives. I'm a big fan of your work, and especially enjoy your insights on writing, since I'm a comedy writer myself, only in different fields (books & radio). I always like to check out what you have to say as a way to decompress after rushing out our daily topical morning radio service just a few minutes past the 5 a.m. deadline.
BTW, the first week I discovered your blog, I was so anxious to see if there were any updates, I clicked on it 2,999,814 times. Hope that didn't throw your hit count off.
You're welcome! I've been reading you daily too long to remember how I got here. Maybe via Jane Espenson. I like the behind-the-scenes TV stuff, and anything you have to say about the nuts-and-bolts craft of writing. You'd be surprised how much of your lessons-learned and wisdom apply to other types of writing or creative work in general. And I don't give a rat's rear about baseball but enjoy your stories about it, which is the mark of a great writer. But I guess you already knew that about yourself. I really appreciate the effort.
Can't remember when or how I found you, and I'm one of the invisible feed reader readers. I did comment once, just to tell you that I liked your blog. And I still do.
Valley Girl now living in Jolly Old England.... found you through PopDose I *think*.. can't remember which rabbit hole I was going down when I came across your blog. But it's tagged and feeding into my FeedDemon. Really enjoy reading your memories of shows you've been a part of the writing team. the clip from Cheers featuring Wang Chung lyrics C L A S S I C. thanks!
Congratulations to you! And thanks for the great blog. Been reading for 2 1/2 years, if not longer, I have no idea, how I came here.
Congrats from Vienna, Austria (the one without the cangoroos)
According to my bookmarks, I've been here since at least October, 2006, which seems impossible.
I can't remember how I got here; probably through either TV Barn or Mark Evanier's site, but I always enjoy my stays -- in spite of your love for KHJ, when KRLA was clearly the better radio station. Dave Hull FTW.
I found your blog through a link from Mark Evanier's blog. I suppose a small part of me wishes that I was a writer for sitcoms from the 70's.
Currently I am living in Seoul, South Korea, teaching English to elementary school students and seriously contemplating building a bomb shelter. Keep up the good work.
My favorite posts are the reminisces from your days in the writing room at Cheers and Mash. I'm a sucker for behind the scenes stuff.
Hi Ken,
I've been subscribed (via RSS, so I'm not included in the 3m) since before the "Studio 60 vs 30 Rock smackdowns" of a few years ago.... and enjoying it!
Kirk
I have been reading for a while now - like most others I can't remember exactly how long. I probably found you through Jane Espenson or John August. I'm a TV writer from NZ now in LA and trying to break in over here. I love your behind the scenes stories, wisdom about characters / scripts / pilots / network battles etc etc etc. I love your humor. And I love the links you post. I grew up on MASH of course, loved Cheers and utterly adored Almost Perfect. BTW I enjoyed your Studio 60 comments because, although the show annoyed me with its excessive mawkishness and speechifying, I still felt the cleverness and humor redeemed it. But then I can forgive almost anything for 'clever'.
I probably started reading here when Josh Friedman's blog fell into a coma and I looked at other writer's blogs to get my fix.
I settled on John August and you, and I never looked back.
I'm in Dublin, Ireland and I think I found your blog through Jane Espenson's blog about a year ago. I'm a huge fan and yours is the first site I check every morning. I do skip the American Idol and sports stuff I'm afraid, but I love the rest. Thanks so much for your posts, please keep up the good free work :)
I'm visitor 2999999 and have been an avid reader for yonks and can't remember how I got here but I thank Al Gore every night for inventing the internet so I can read such a funny blog everyday !
Cheers from the South Island, NZ
I'm from Winchester, England, I'm an occasional writer/director/actor for my local drama group, and my best friend lives in Seattle, so there's several points of interest in your splendid blog. I found you through Kung Fu Monkey a couple of years ago, and I'm very pleased I did.
Ken,
I got here by googling "Cheers American Idol MASH Baseball commentary Sunglasses Fail + snark"
Honestly, can't remember how I got here about a year ago and no hardcore interest in any topics but I really enjoy your writing. For me its all about tone and yours is just fine!
Dublin, Ireland by the way.
I'm a college professor in Delaware. I found the blog about a year and a half ago, when it was mentioned in a post by a fellow devotee of Television Without Pity.
I'm especially interested in the insightful commentary about shows you've written, both behind-the-scenes stories and analysis of writing.
Been here from Day One.
Ken, you are my Daily News...and so much more fun than the talking heads. Long may you prosper.
And on behalf of the other 2,999,999 readers....THANK YOU.
WV: coozn. I KNEW we had to be related!
Gee, Ken, I don't remember how I found you. Mark Evanier, perhaps. But I recognized the name from my countless years of watching "M*A*S*H" and "Cheers". And it's the only place I can stretch out my word verification skills. Even though the Dodgers totally ravaged the Mets a few weeks ago, I know that you are not to blame. Godspeed, Ken Levine.
WV: "gizeneds" - turkey innards.
Thank YOU Ken Levine.
I found you through a top blogs on the Internet list last summer.
Great stuff!
You were linked to by someone else. I stopped by to check it out and haven't left. I get the blog through an RSS feed.
Living in South Florida if you are tracking that sort of thing.
I'm from Charleston, SC, and found you through Jane Espenson's blog. I'm an aspiring screenwriter, so I enjoy your tales of the industry, but most of all I love your humor. Keep writing! You're a must-read every day. Love it!
Hi Ken, Love the Blog, I check in 2 or 3 times a week before I start work. I found you after there was a link on tvsquad.com.
Like many, I found your blog through another blog, and find it a fun and informative read. I usually read it through Google Reader.
Hi Ken:
Greetings from Jacksonville Beach, Florida.
I wish I could remember how I found you a few years ago?
I have a feed set up to my LiveJournal and often forward a link to your posts to a few folks, so we're probably some of the uncounted masses.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Keep the entertaining posts coming!
I don't remember exactly when I found your blog...I think it was the result of a plug you gave it via a Reelradio comment. I've been following you since your Beaver Cleaver days at Ten-Q. Your blog is required daily reading for me. It brings a smile to my face, and sometimes makes me laugh out loud (prompting funny looks on my commuter bus.) I've recommended you to more people than I could count over the past few years. I hope you'll continue this for many years to come.
Ken,
I found your blog thru FARK at some point in the deep dark past.. I do not even recall why now.. upon reading your Bio and body of work I was impressed. Knowing that you are a full fledged Mac user - moreso ;) once again I offer my assistance if ever you need it. smschaef@mac.com - as an Apple reseller or consultant.
Keep up the great posts -- even the not so great ones are vividly entertaining.
I came across your blog (as visitor 2,000,001 I think) because "It's Gone ... No, Wait a Minute" is on my list of favorite books and I Googled you looking for more great reading material ... thanks for filling that need almost every day. Congrats on the milestone!
Hi,
Congratulations on the milestone. I'm from Ireland and I have no idea how long I've been reading. A couple of years anyway.
I also have no idea how I first found the column. Possibly searching your name directly, or just a random search on tv writers in general.
Anyway, I pop in here once a week or so and read whatever is new.
And I will continute to do so.
Thanks,
Michael
My real world name is Mark Little. God knows how I found you, probably a mention in another blog. I follow you on Bloglines.
I have continued to read faithfully because your posts represent a view of the entertainment industry that is rarely seen. I had no clue that stars could be tempermental, that deep commitment and lasting attachments (both professional and personal) were not quite as common as I might have thought, that Mandy Patinkin was not up for the Nobel prize, and, oh yeah, that someone could be a sorta normal guy out there on the left coast and stay sane.
My thanks and if you somehow decide that fat old guys in South Carolina are just the fix you needed for that pitch I am ready.
Libra.
And my name is Brian.
I want a blog means everything to everybody...
OK, I'll stop. I am Brian Phillips, currently living in McDonough, GA and I was referred to this blog by my buddy Mark Palko, who runs the "Daddy, What's a Republican?" blog.
I've enjoyed your writing for many years, so your insights are both valuable and entertaining.
I also found you through another blog a few months ago. I usually go directly to your site, but also use google reader occasionally. I really enjoy your writing. I work in television in Canada (though I'm on the technical side, not creative), and comedy is by far my favourite tv/film genre.
Hope you keep up the blog for a long time to come...here's to 6,000,000 and counting!
An ex-broadcaster and commercial producer, I'm fascinated with the process of production.
I catch your posting every day. Have no idea how I found your blog, probably via a link.
I found you through James Wolcott about two or three years ago. I'm from Allentown, PA. I absolutely love your stories about Cheers, Frasier, et al. I just wish shows like that were on the current tv schedules. I also enjoy your baseball tales. I especially loved the back story about Wade Boggs cameo on Cheers. Thanks for sharing.
Wel, a'right..
My name is Magiel and I read you for a long time, so a bit unsure how I found you, but my gues is a charming teacher/writer in LA, no named Bamboo Killers. I'm Dutch, have a life in Amsterdam, Whoretown of the planet only they are firing the whores. Love this town, like your stries but skip the ones about Sport.
But as many, grew up on Cheers..
Through you I found the crazy canadian Earl, he funny.
And congrats on your succes!
I'm looking forward to your next 1,500 posts. Been visiting since late '06. I came for the Sorkin parody (don't remember how I heard about it; metafilter, probably), but stayed for everything else.
Been reading since 2007 on recommendation of a friend. Appreciate your blog very much. Thanks for keeping it.
I found your blog about a year ago thru THE HUFFINGTON POST and have read every day since. I love your stories about writing for sitcoms, and I enjoy hearing the "inside scoop." As a writer myself, I appreciate your terrific sense of humor and your keen observations. I keep reading no matter what you post, so thank you so much for making my days brighter.
Hi there Ken,
i'm Paloma, from Spain
i found you through a link on a spanish writter's blog about 8 months ago.
This is the only blog i read on a daily basis, you make me laugh a lot im so glad i found it!
i specially love when you tell stories behind the scenes about Cheers, MASH and so on
Keep sharing! and thank you so much for this this wonderful blog
I've been reading you for a few years...I can't remember how I found you though! Probably a random Google. Your blog is great...my favorite stuff is the insider's knowledge/POV on the TV industry.
I just found the blog yesterday, so here's hoping I tipped the scale over three million. I have arrived looking for wit, wisdom and widgets, although not necessarily in that order. Thanks for everything!
I'm from Jacksonville, FL and only recently started reading your blog, which I found when one of your Idol reviews was on the Huffington Post about a month or two ago. I'm a writer at heart (journalism major in college, worked for newspapers for a short time), so I thoroughly enjoy your well-written and amusing posts.
I had my assistant here at CSI Dallas run a background check from DNA samples and a carpet fiber, and although I have never seen a computer screen do anything like this in real life, it flashed the word “MATCH”, “MATCH”, “MATCH.” Ken, were you aware that you are a known sex offender from Duluth with a long criminal history – and yet still more than welcome in our neighborhood? :)
Seriously, you are one of only two blogs I check every morning while finishing my coffee (and the other is one of your links). Can’t leave home without it. Or maybe it's just that while others seek acceptance and/or recognition, I'm just amazed to find even tolerance.
It’s nice to see all these other names to know we are not alone in the universe. But sobering to again be reminded the reason they also don't feel the need to comment as frequently is not because they can't but because they probably have lives. Now can we please hear from a caller in Perth?
In Soviet Russia, you don't find blog, blog find YOU!
I'm a Mariners fan that had the pleasure of meeting and listening to Ken back in the old days of the Kingdome and BAD baseball (Oh wait, just sub Safeco for Kingdome and you describe 2009). This blog is required reading with my morning coffee.
WV - Hiousha; the sound of a giraffe sneezing.
I follow this blog because a reliable source told me I would get some good advice about judging pigs in the next state fair.
Still waiting....
I've been reading since Mark Evanier mentioned you in his blog (the earliest reference I see is from March 2006, so maybe that's when I started). Also, this is my first comment here.
Word verification: inalla, an impala turned inside-out?
I found your blog via Ron Jacob's site. I have been a regular reader for at least a year and a half. You have been a part of some of my all time favorite TV shows, you're Dodger blue, and apart from your questionable taste in music you seem like someone I wouldn't shoot.
Congratulations and keep up the good work. Aloha
I've read this for about 3 months. You are doing a great job. Damian
I'm an American living in London for over 25 years, but also a historian of early TV. I've been reading your blog (on an RSS feed) for around six months and always enjoy your comments on the industry and the creative 'process'.
I don't know how I found this blog, but I'm glad I found it as it is one of a couple that has remained in the feeder for more than a couple of weeks as you always have something new and entertaining to say.
Thanks for continuing to entertain me even when you are on the road!
Happy 3 million milestone day. I have been reading you for a year or so I believe. I found you through Mo Ryan of the Chicago Tribune. Since Frazier is my favorite show ever all I needed to know was that you wrote for that show to know anything you wrote would be worth reading and you have not let me down. I especially love the way you are not afraid to say what you think about anyone and your American Idol reviews are a lot of fun.
Mark from northern Alabama. I am basicly a professional Sunday school teacher. I think I came across your site while following the news of the writer's strike from 1-2 years ago. I enjoy hearing of what goes on in the production of shows. I enjoy the sci fi genre but love comedy as well and have a nice Abbot and Costello collection.
Ken,
I've been in writer's rooms with you... I've worked on episodes you've directed... and I am not surprised in the least that you've had over 3 million hits. (And I know these are not AT&T "power texts) Thanks for it all!
Karen Hall sent me during the WGA strike. I stuck around.
Mazel Tov and thanks very much, Ken! I've been reading here since almost the beginning; I can 'back in' to that info because my screen nick is a bit outdated. I found my way here via a post on - I believe - the Cheers discussion board on Television Without Pity.
I live in the northern 'burbs outside of Philly. I stop by pretty much on a daily basis. I confess that I enjoy the comments section almost as much as your posts; there's really a great group of diverse, funny, smart folks who hang out here.
I particularly relish reading your tales of working on shows that were my favorites once-upon-a-time, and your "take" on the entertainment industry and the creative process in general. I stopped watching "Idol" awhile back, but I still consider your episode summaries "can't miss" reading. I'm not a big baseball fan, so that genre is probably my least favorite of all you cover; however, I cant think of too many posts I haven't enjoyed thoroughly - no matter what the topic. You make me laugh and you make me think ... not a bad combo!
Here's to the next 1,500 and beyond. And, again - thanks for taking time out of your day to do this.
I've been following your blog via an RSS reader for about 2 years now. I live in Seattle WA and greatly enjoy the insight and humor that you provide about the TV industry.
I even bought a copy of your book about your days as a Baltimore Orioles broadcaster, although you probably didn't see a cent off that sale as I bought it used on Amazon.
I actually forgot which directionI found your from Ken -- I think it was either Mark Evanier's blog, or when your name came up when I was Googling something about the Syracuse Chiefs.
(Of course, you realize if this was baseball, you'd be demanding Los Angeles County give you a new blog with more luxury options for the high-priced visitors so you could draw 4 million viewers.)
Sean from Phoenix, AZ.
Love the funny thoughts, and opinions! Hope to write someday & your posts keep me encouraged. :)
Congratulations and keep on sharing!
i have no idea how i found your blog but I started reading it in late 2006 while i was slogging away in corporate hell and i've been reading it ever since (on my google reader now).
i like the MASH stories and all the Hollywood stuff you do because you're so funny! Plus this season I actually watched American Idol and your reviews were awesome, I love it when you'd say something that i had thought about when i watched the show, except you'd make it funnier than i had.
(no boundaries... nuff said)
i also love to read the comments! its probably the only blog that i routinely read most or all of the comments on every post!
I read you every day and have been a regular since shortly after you started.
You should receive a public service award if for no other reason than you've made it possible for me and thousands like me to never, ever watch American Idol or the Oscars or the Emmys... and still feel in touch with popular culture.
Nevertheless, I must confess that I hate you. It's nothing personal -- OK, it's very personal: I'm jealous. You're a kid not much older than me living a life I can only dream of: writing for a living, hobnobbing with big stars, broadcasting baseball.
I too write for a living -- I'm a lawyer -- but, Ken, let me tell you, when judges laugh at my stuff it's not a good sign.
And, as I'm sure your kids have explained to you, you could put ads on this site and make a few bucks. With 3,000,000 hits, you might make more than a few bucks, even in this economy. When your kids figure out the extent to which you're not enhancing their inheritance, they may become quite insistent.
Despite my smoldering jealousy, thanks for being here every morning. I look forward to your next 1500 posts.
I found your blog through News from Me. I really enjoy it, especially the behind the scenes stories.
Wow, 3,000,000+ hits? My blog is only 2,999,997 behind yours!
I've been reading for 2+ years and found your blog thru either Mark Evanier's or John Rogers' blog. My Dad was an English teacher and a writer (he did a radio comedy series in the 70's, Steve Sado, some rejected movie scripts and about 20 books on magic) who instilled in me an interest in writing and the writing process. As a result, I follow a number of writers' blogs. Clarkston MI, a far northern suburb of Detroit, is home.
I've been reading your blog since about the time you started it. I probably heard it about it through LARadio.com. I'm a fan of TenQ and Beaver Cleaver! I work in radio and produce film/TV stuff on the side. I've learned a lot from this blog about TV and writing, it's like an on-line classroom. Thanks for all of the info! Where do I leave a tip?
Hi, I got a link to you from a former sitcom writer/producer-- my ex is one, too. Damn reality television! I love your comments on sitcoms and the sixties! Thanks, you are a must read everyday.
I'm from Long Island. I've probably been reading for like 3 years but it shows up conveniently in my RSS feed. Not sure how I found it. I just graduated college and am dying to get into that writers room. Any article about your time doing that typically strikes my fancy. I despise American Idol so those I tend to skip. Thanks a lot for the information you put out though. Keep it up.
I found you from Raymond Chen's blog (he's a programmer @ Microsoft). Odd path to follow.
I keep coming back because you are funny, I like the behind the scenes stuff, and you mention Kansas City a lot.
I'm in KC, working as a website developer. I'm not writing my own screenplay, I'm not an actor, I just like TV and many of the shows you wrote for.
You are great. Keep it up, please!
Dear Ken,
Love to read your blog every day; it's fun, educational, snarky and serious. Great read.
I use RSS via my Outlook to get your feed every day. Lately though, it seems like you've added some sort of a tracking mechanism via blogger/google that is is really bringing down my PC.
Everytime I try to open your post, I get a "accessing blogger.googleusercontent.com..." that just hangs my whole machine for about 15-20 seconds. It really puts a damper on the whole thing.
Thought I'd let you know; still love your blog.
cheers,
NM
Congrats on three million, Ken! You're a daily read for me, and there's a sad little feeling in my stomach on the odd days when there's no new post. Thanks for the wise words, the funny stories, the sharp reviews...all of it! You're the shiznit.
I found you through John August, my other daily read.
Word Verification: fooingsh: a new variant of Feng Shui created in Puyallup, Washington, to guide the placement of dead refrigerators, cars on cement blocks, and plastic buckets on a front lawn.
Hey Ken,
Like many others,I think i found this blog through Alan Sepinwall, which I found when looking for articles on The Wire. I'm from Cardiff, Wales. Usually read you through rss for articles on Cheers and those childhood pieces. In fact i read the vast majority of your posts, with the exceptions of those on Baseball (which I don't follow, primarily because it's only shown on late night or on an obscure satellite channel over here. It's the same with NBA, although we do get a bit more NFL coverage), though I'm sure they're excellent as well.
Just wondering, Ken, whether you follow football (soccer) at all? I'm a fan and I've been pleasantly suprised by the amount of coverage devoted to it on the blogs by Americans.
Keep up the good work!
We met on the picket line at Fox. I knew you as "Ken who I was sure was a baseball guy, but then he claimed he worked on MASH," until I looked it up and found this blog. I keep coming back to the blog even though I skip all the American Idol stuff. If you could write only about American Idol, I'd waste less time and get more work done.
Hello,
Name's James...linked to your site through a post on John August's site. I'm a reality tv writer/producer who likes to read the thoughts, musings and teachings of established writers. It's also nice to be reminded that not all writers are weirdos with huge beards that house sparrows (maybe thats just novelists)...some are personable and even like sports.
Ken, I came to this blog through my husband. He mentioned one day that he was reading the blog of one of the M*A*S*H writers, and after I yelled at him for not telling me sooner, I came on over, and have come by daily ever since. (Year and a half? Two years? Something like that.)
I really enjoy your writing - stories, commentary, the ongoing book excerpts. Thank you!
Was it the deadspin link way back that brought me in? That's what I think it was. Of course, we go way back, it's just that you didn't know it. I've read your book It's Gone... and remember you as your days with the O's. Good times.
I found you by Googling your name after I'd heard you do the play-by-play for the Mariners one night. You were terrific in a very unusual game situation and your blog has been equally entertaining and enlightening. I'm from Seattle and I've been reading your blog every day since I found it. I like the behind the scenes looks and the baseball stories. Actually I can't be too critical of anything you write. I can't do it, so I can't complain.
Hi Ken - I've been stopping by the blog for about a year after clicking through from Alan Sepinwall's site.
Frankly, my daily life couldn't be further from the entertainment industry, but I'm always intrigued by your musings and insider perspective. I love watching TV for the daily escape, but I'm admittedly even more fascinated by how TV shows get made. Your insight has been great fodder...and consistently good fun. Thanks...and keep it coming.
I found you during the writer's strike - not sure where I linked from - and I've been reading ever since! I'm here in L.A. and I love the entertainment stories. I'm not into baseball as much, but because you're such an engaging writer, I'll read anything! I check in daily and love that you update it consistently.
I was at the Dodgers/Angels game on Sunday (yes, even though I'm not a huge fan!) and I looked up at your press box like my friend was sitting there and then I remembered that I'm only one of millions and you don't know who I am! :-)
Signing on from Costa Mesa, CA.
Been a reader for several years, and I think I initially found your site through Lee Goldberg's "A Writer's Life."
I'm a fellow writer and Padres fan -- so my only problem is when you actually say nice things about the Dodgers.
Ken: I've been reading your blog since day one. It has become a routine with the other sites that I frequent (i.e. laradio.com).
Thank you for continuing to make me laugh every day. One of these days I will let you know who I really am. I'm coming to you all the way from Van Nuys, California.
Hello, Ken. I came across your blog via a link on Mark Evanier's website.
I've really enjoyed reading your behind the scenes stories and opinions about the industry.
I've been watching reruns of "Frasier" lately and I find myself checking for your name.
Keep up the great work!
My career is so bad that when we met on the strike line at Radford and I found out you had a blog, I thought to myself, "Hmmm...interesting. Maybe he'll have something constructive to say that'll help my career stay afloat."
It's been awhile now, but I'm still hopeful...
How did I find you? I'm glad you asked! One day I googled the famous Buddy Hackett bit about getting his face to clear up and landed here. ("He told me 'Kid, you want to clear up your face, you need to go out and get schtupped.' So I went over to the drug store and asked the pharmacist, 'Can I get schtupped here?' He said, 'Not even with a prescription.'") Since that day, I've been a fan.
I live in deepest darkest Africa and work with apes (no, really). Even so, I find your analyses of "American Idol" ridiculously funny, even though I've never seen the show. Your scatological meditations on Twitter killed me.
I recently told the Buddy Hackett joke to a missionary here (a pretty cool one) when he asked me what I thought was wrong with another missionary. "Not even with a prescription."
Thanks for publishing this stuff.
My original post said something about AT&T skewing the results, but then I went back and saw that someone else had already alluded to that situation.... Which means I either need to read more of your readers' posts before I leave my own or start doing some drugs which'll provide more original ideas....
At any rate, have been a fan of your and David's work long before I knew you personally, and having lived in LA for almost 10 years, knew some of the same people you do and occasionally talk about. Found out about your blog when I saw it mentioned on Billboard Magazine veteran (and also good friend) Claude Hall's own website. Now that I'm back in my hometown, it's great to get your take on the industry and LA life in general first thing every morning. -- Please continue to keep us laughing!
I'm Rebecca from Toronto, Canada where we are currently experiencing October in May. Cold, rainy and miserable: the Great Wet Damp. I can't remember how long I've been reading your blog, possibly a year or more? I read almost daily and enjoy all the columns. You almost make me want to watch American Idol!
Nahhhh, just kidding.
And thanks for pointing the way to Earl's blog. He's now a regular read for me too!
Nathan from Brooklyn here.
I loathe your blog with a burning hatred that I usually reserve for Jehovah's Witnesses ringing my doorbell during dinner. There's absolutely nothing you could do to make reading this blog anything other than shear torture. I should know...I read it every day!
:D
My sister, a professional writer and editor, passed your blog on to me.
Ken, I found your name scrawled on the lavatory walls at KMPC and had to look in.
Have found you scintillating for a couple years now and so enjoy the mix of comedy, writing, sports and radio stories.
I always submit anonymously because, well, people know me and I have to careful of whom I associate with.
Keep up the great work!
B
Found your blog about a year ago looking for some information on Frasier. Finding this blog was a real treat and I've come back to it almost daily...getting any stories about what a comedy writer goes through is gold for me. Plsu you're a baseball announcer..yet another dream job of mine. Thanks Ken!
Let me know where you’re from: Kent, Washington.
How long you’ve been here: Gawd, I don't know. A year? More?
How you found the blog: It's the internet - you trip over stuff and have no idea how you got there.
Any thoughts of what you do or don’t like: True, I could care less about Idol - but even so, you still make me laugh. That's why I read your work (through RSS.) In return for my pair of eyes, I'd like you to write whatever makes you laugh.
Congrats!
I'm slo-o-owly edging towards 1,000 views... So there's hope for me yet.
I have been reading you for a year. I don't remember how I found your blog, probably through another blog that mentioned something that you wrote.
I still miss Studio 60...but at least I have Ken Levine's blog...
Tony in Nashville (faithful reader for about 1.5 years...found via friend in the film biz)
aphyrly: How you feel when you get drunk at an Avril Lavigne concert
I've been reading for over a year, that's about as much as I know specifically. I believe I found your site from Jane Espenson's now-dusty blog.
Everyday I look forward to reading what you have to say. From a resident of Grandville, Mich. to a California writer, thank you!!!
I haven't read all 115 prior comments so forgive me if someone else already said something similar to this...
I love reading the blog because I love the shows you have written for. MASH and Frasier especially. Your writing no doubt impacted me in ways I don't even know. I can't get into all the particulars (and no doubt you wouldn't care to listen anyway) but the shows shaped my world view and I am the better for it. By reading the blog I get a taste of the behind the scenes stuff that make the picture complete.
I've never understood the fascination with autograph seeking. To me I'd rather have a great conversation over lunch with a famous person than their name scribbled on a napkin. Reading the blog is a lot like just that. I feel like we've shared a few hundred lunches and built a friendship even though we've never met.
Thanks and keep the secrets flowing. We all enjoy it.
I don't like that you ask people to leave a name. Normally I leave one, but since you always ask, who can pass up the oportunity to make a racist person angry by not doing what they ask?
Bob from Denver, Colorado.
I came across your blog in a link from Lloyd Garver's site. This was about 6 months ago and your blog is now one of my daily reads. Your insights on TV, especially comedies, and the overall TV process is very informative and entertaining. Enjoy your baseball stuff. Your summer movie review seem right-on-the-money. I'm a real fan of Cheer's and MASH and thoroughly enjoy all the background info. Keep writing and I'll keep reading.
I hope you get another 3,000,000 readers! Just think 6 million readers waiting for every word that comes across these hallowed pages!
Hi Ken. I'm sure you're used to my posts by now. I'll step aside for the minty fresh posters.
I first visited several years ago via a link the blog "something old, nothing new" to some story about the "Mary" show, and kept coming back. Only proves that your site motto should be "come for the bitchy stories about Mary Tyler Moore, stay for the American Idol recaps." Keep bloggin on!
I found your blog after reading your article about the American Idol finale. It had me howling - and I agreed with EVERYTHING you said!
I am an Episcopal Priest in the deep south with a sense of humor that matches yours pretty well.
Carry on.
David
I've been enjoying the blog for a bit over 2 years now, and I honestly can't remember how I found it. But I love your stories. Thanks for taking the time to share them.
Brian Scully
Malibu, CA
I found you originally on Huff Post and started reading your Idol posts and Whammo I was hooked. You make me laugh .....a lot! And I love L.A. memories of the 60's. You see, it's my era and my city too. I even worked at the Teenage Fair. Go figure. Thanks Ken. You rule!
Seattle, been checking this site since near the beginning, have no clue how I found it, absolutely detest American Karaoke so I skip over those posts. Too much time on my hands as I retired in my 30's, yes its OK to hate that, and am a veracious reader so there ya go.
Ken,
I've been secretly (and not so secretly) stalking you since I used to listen to you on KERN back in the...well, you know. Thanks to the lovely and talented Bob Harlow (actually, Harlow had nothing to do with this, I just wanted to name drop) I've been following your exploits.
Ah hell. It's all a lie. I stumbled across you blog by a happy accident.
But I did listen to you on KERN and TEN-Q.
And I DO know Harlow.
I discovered your blog last season when I saw one of your American Idol reviews. I thought it was hilarious and I was hooked. I hate that you are living the life I was meant to have...a sitcom writer and a sports broadcaster. I dabbled in both in LA for the last twenty years but apparently I sucked at it. Now I am in dull Tacoma, Washington. Don't ask.
I am not sure how I stumbled across your weblog (possibly from The Curmudgeon who has also commented)...but it has only been a few months.
I lurk from Santa Cruz, California
Congrats on the milestone...it is not surprising...your weblog is very entertaining.
Been following your blog about six months now, having found the link through, well, I don't remember. On my third glass of wine tonight, and all I can recall is that a post of yours was linked through something else I follow on Google Reader - something baseball-related, as I now remember that I like baseball. Cheers and Frazier played regularly in my household during my formative years, and as I read your blog all sorts of lights went on, day after day. The more I read of your posts, the more I think that if I could rub a magic lamp, summon a genie and demand a perfect resume, it would strongly resemble yours. As it is I am still the only truck driver for my company with an MA in English from an ivy league university, so I have that feather in my cap. As far as I can tell, you have about 15 years on me, so perhaps I have chance to catch you yet. I never had a hero growing up, but if someone put a gun to my head and asked me to name one, it'd be you. Keep on doing what you do, Ken. I deeply admire you.
I've been a regular reader for a month or so.
I remember reading mentions on the LA Radio People site. Then I spotted the link to you on Jon Weisman's (L.A. Times) Dodger Thoughts site.
It was synchronicity, by god...
Mark Evanier linked to your blog awhile back, and I've had a ball reading your stories ever since. The TV world is so intriguing to me, coming from a background in theatre. I think you're an interesting person and I admire your work. It's great fun reading your blog!
I don't remember how I found your blog (might've been Aaron Barnhart at tvbarn.com), but I'm damn glad I did...:-)
I'm a button-pushing monkey (director) at a television station in beautiful Cadillac, Michigan. Okay, it's beautiful from May to October. In the winter, it sucks.
I also do animation for the station (news opens, that sort of thing), and am generally in charge of causing problems. I've won three Michigan Emmy awards and am still young and foolish enough to think that that means something. I would dearly love to fly to LA for The Writers' Room one of these years, except...well, I'm a poor-ass button-pushing monkey.
I will say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, of all of the blogs I read regularly, yours is one of them. (And it's the best...even if you didn't pick my Bebe Neuwirth entry in the word verification contest...:-) )
Being from New Jersey, I read about this blog in the Star Ledger along with an article about the Sitcom Room about two years ago. I've since moved to Los Angeles.
This was a very unlikely find for me. I'm a software developer and found your blog back in January 2007 when Microsoft's Raymond Chen linked to it. Been reading it every day since. Keep up the insane rate of excellent posts!
I discovered your wonderful weblog via the Periodic Table of Blogs at humbug.com (a part of Baseball Toaster): http://www.humbug.com/links/periodic.html
I've been visiting this weblog on a daily basis since January of 2009, I live in Indiana, and the only blog entries I don't read are the American Idol ones. But that's only because I don't care for American Idol. Now if you reviewed "Lost" like you do AI, I'd eat it up.
Finally, I'd say this is my second favorite weblog right now, with Joe Posnanski's blog edging you out for first place.
I found this site via a link on James Wolcott's blog some years ago - in the days before every other posting of his was about ballerinas.
I really appreciate your blog, and all the obvious love and care you put into keeping it going - thank you!
Posing from New York City - which is the greatest place ever even though it was so cold I could see my breath when I was outside earlier this evening.
Still with you daily, Ken. First found you through our mutual friends (Howard Hoffman, Mike Tauss, Mark Evanier, etc.) and now hooked. Don't stop blogging until they open a wing at the Betty Ford Center to help with the withdrawal ;-)
I found you through Jane Espenson's blog. I read you every night. I'm a baby writer. I sold my first show last year. It was a dream come true. And now...it's a nightmare. I wanna rip the show limb from limb, I wanna murder the producers and jump in front of a train. They don't call it Development Hell for nothin'. I visit you mainly for this reason: you are bouyant. After all the years and drafts and BS you still seem to love what you do. It's kind of creepy. And miraculous. I'm baffled and inspired. You have the career of my dreams (minus the baseball stuff) with the attitude to match.
Love you, what you do, and how you do it.
I was very tired of watching stupid comedies so I googled “intelligent comedies” and your blog was one of the many web pages I searched. I read what you have to say and decided to bookmark your blog. I’m reading it ever since. Btw, can anyone here list some really funny intelligent comedies? I find them so hard to find!
Hello,
I'm from Spain, i'm 19 and last january i was watching an episode of Cheers. It was about a friend of Diane, who is very depressed because she just broke up with her boyfriend. I remember she said than not even translating her favorite russian poems would cheer her up, and she recited the most depressing thing i've ever heard. I remember i had to stop the DVD, because i couldn't stop laughing. Later i googled the name of the poem and Ken's blog came up. I started watching some posts, and i realizaed i could learn a lot from "this guy". Now i read it once in while (what my english allows me) and i think it's a very good way to learn about movies, tv-shows or the american life in general.
Keep on writing!
Hey Ken!
I don't remember how I found your blog, it's been quite a while now. I guess someone else in my blogroll posted a link when you started this thing. But I had a lot of fun watching - hold your breath - german synchronized Cheers and Frasier reruns in the middle of the night about 10 years ago. So I was quite surprised and happy to find out about your input into both shows and have been a dedicated reader ever since. Keep on the good work, especially those posts about screenwriting and behind the scenes memories are my favorites. Baseball on the other hand - well, we here in ze cherman willadges do not understent zis spoat. At all.
Keep up the good work.
Tom (Nuremberg)
Ken,
Got here a few months ago through Pomerantz's blog, which I found 'cause of Entertainment Weekly... though it turns out I've been listening to you on Dodger Talk for quite a while, so, really, we're old friends.
I just found you this week, i came in through wide lawns narrow minds. you are now a fav and i read daily
Heya Ken,
I've been an avid reader since Sept '07. I'm from San Diego and have been in and out of the biz and doing radio on and off for 20 years or so... With each person in the entertainment industry having more unique personalities than an eighth grade math class it makes me crazy and I have to leave for more solid mental ground.,,
I'm sure you knowwhudImean. Anyway, you're my first stop when getting up, keep up the great work!
Doktor Frank Doe
Congrats, Ken!
I come from Madrid, Spain, and read your blog since a couple of years ago. The first post I remember is It's now okay to kill actors.
I enjoy the most those post with insights and advices about the TV industry and the craft of screenwriting.
Please keep it coming. You rock!
I came to you through either Lee Goldberg's blog or TV Squad, as its been a couple of years I don't recall. AND I have been reading you daily ever since, perhaps a couple of times as I come back to read the additional comments to the daily post.
As a couple of others have mentioned I pass on the American Idol posts. I am not a baseball person but I do enjoy your commentary about the game. I love it when you mention Bobby Rich, my favorite morning jock here in Tucson - he gets a kick out of it as well I am sure even though M*A*S*H goes back a couple of years.:)
All the best to you and your immediate and extended family. Please keep writing.
Richard
I found you through someone else's blog- maybe Alan Sepinwall's? I'm 16, from the D.C. area, and have been reading you for about 6 months.
Thanks for all of the great stories!
I was directed to your blog from Mark Evanier's www.newsfromme.com.
I check your site nearly every day for some great insights and entertainment background stories. Great job! Thanks for sharing.
I found your site through a link in Mark Evanier's newsfromme blog a few weeks ago and have been checking in every day since.
Thanks for all the interesting stories and articles!
I believe that I found the site through a link connected to a post relating to theatre/Broadway. That was maybe a little more than 2 years ago. Very quickly I bookmarked the site. There have been many memorable posts, the glimpses of radio from the 60's and 70's-the 'Idol' recaps, the stories behind MASH and the other shows that you've been involved with. But my favorite might have been the selection of 'A Thousand Clowns' as DVD/Video pick of the month earlier this year. Herb Gardner was an amazing writer and 'Clowns' is a classic. It would be great if the post resulted in a number of readers discovering the movie.
Hi Ken,
I found your blog through Don Barrett's LARadio just a couple of weeks after you started. I knew your name from MASH and CHEERS, so I checked it out. I read everything you had posted up to that point and haven't missed one since.
Love the travelogues, the 60's and all the insider stuff.
Ken,
I found you through Joe Janes' 365 Sketch Project. I read you everyday, but I'm mostly a voyeur who rarely comments. I love the stories about being a television writer and the Friday Question. Keep up the good work!
Oddly, you weren't even writing your own blog when i got here two or three years ago. Someone else was doing a series of articles on Frasier - who was that? - and that was referred to in Evanier's column, I think. Then I stuck it out reading your musings!
I can't remember how I found you but I'm glad I did. I really enjoy learning the mechanics of how TV shows come together and I thank you for giving us a peek behind the curtain.
I linked here from a post in a local Chicago comedy forum probably more than a year ago. I admire that your interests are varied but I tend to skip over American Idol and sports stuff. I like the comedy writing insight and history. I loved the Arthur cut scenes you posted and things like that. I like your radio stories. I liked reading your coverage of the strike.
I sometimes wish you would name names more, but I understand why you don't.
I access your RSS feed via google reader.
I found you through another blog about a year ago, and I absolutely love your blog! I'm a reporter/movie reviewer/pop culture blogger from a small town in Indiana, and I love reading some insider perspective on TV, as well as your delightfully snarky takes on current pop culture! Keep up the good work - your blog is a must-read for me!
I found you through links on others' blogs (Kung Fu Monkey maybe?) a couple of years ago and have been reading daily since and recommending you to anyone who will listen.
I have a film/tv background (although not multi-camera), having worked as an AD for 12 years. I really appreciated your commentary on the most recent writer's strike.
You lose me a bit on the baseball posts but I read them anyway. You could write about the phone book and still be entertaining...
I'm an archaeologist currently living in WV. I've been reading your blog for so long, I can't remember exactly how I found it. Reading it always brings a smile to my face - just like watching MASH, Frasier, Cheers, etc., or listening to baseball on the radio. You seem to share your observations with all of us as you would to a friend - both comforting and incisive, in a way, kind of like watching a MASH rerun when everything else on the other 250 channels sucks.
I came around during last year's AI reviews. (Actually, maybe 2 years ago..) Also, I read via RSS, so I'm probably not counted as youe hits, unless I click through to read comments.
I love that you cover lots of topics, and I happen to be interested in most of them.
Thanks to you! -Bob Phoenix, AZ
I heard about your blog from Rob Long's NPR Show Martini Shot. I'm from Vancouver and I've been following you for about 2 years. One thing I've regretted was not adding my 2 cents when you posted your relatively anti-extra blog. I ESPECIALLY regret not doing that when you then went and posted a piece about the difficulties of actors, because as tough as an actor may have it, and actor working as an extra has it much, much worse.
I have been reading your posts every day since Mo Ryan announced you were operating a blog. So I guess I have been here almost from the beginning.
Like others, I enjoy the quality of your writing - both here and on the wonderful TV shows you and your partner have given us.
Thanks, and keep up the good work;
Katy (from Chicago)
I came to your blog from a link at http://www.newsfromme.com, I think. It's been quite a while since.
The inside show-biz stories are a lot of fun to read. You take an absurd point of view that makes it all seem amusing -- whether it actually was or not.
-- RDaggle
Came to you through either Television Without Pity or Jane Espenson after tiring of political blogs (ooh, so angry--!) This is a cherised respite from the nutzoid real-ish world. All I need is here, TV, film, radio, some theater and baseball. Heaven for me.
Raising a family in Redondo Beach and have worked on the periphery of the industry, writing a bit of TV and doing voice work. The rare Webster reference makes me flinch. That show got me in the Guild lo-o-o-ong ago...
Love the mix of commenters, too. Often feels like that side room in a favorite deli (no, not that one, the other one) where the cool writers hang out. Y'know, the smart ones.
Thanks for the life preserver.
I'm from Ellisville, MO, a suburb of St. Louis. I don't remember how I found the blog, but I love the "inside television" aspects.
I think I found this place from a link from Evanier's News From Me. Stuck around because I like behind-the-scenes TV stuff (decisionmaking, not who-has-a-coke-habit stuff).
Ended up doing one of your sitcom writing weekends, which was both a great time and ultimately depressing for me -- because I confirmed for myself that I'd be good at it, but don't feel I'm in personal position to go for it at the moment (and I'm not getting any younger.)
So I really like the making-of TV stuff here, not personally interested in the baseball stuff but it's often readable, but give a real "who cares and why would someone write about it" look to the American Idol stuff (although obviously the answer to "who cares" is "people who are not me". Which, I hold, is not the sort of people that the world should revolve around!)
Ken -
Not sure how I stumbled upon your blog, but it was over a year ago you were bookmarked and read every morning.
One of my favorite posts was a recent one, about your time working on the lot and what it was like and how it's changed.
I know I have other favorites, but that was the most recent favorite burned in my memory.
I wish you many for trips to Hawaii and great seasons of baseball!
Cheers,
Chris
I found you from your AI posts on Huffington Post, and you crack me up! Thanks for the fun~!
Hi Ken! I'm NYC (Sunnyside, Queens to be specific), and I've been reading for maybe a year now. I found you through a pop culture blog I read, "A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago." I especially enjoy the Friday questions and the behind-the-scenes anecdotes from your television work. And the word verifications. Those are the best.
Been reading off and on for a couple years and I find the behind the scenes tv talk really interesting. Keep it up!
Can't even remember when or how I found your site, but had you bookmarked for more than 2 yrs. Enjoy it immensely. Am a big fan dating back to your broadcasting days with the Mariners (big M's fan). Wish you could rejoin our broadcasts and leave the Dodgers behind.
I had a friend from college who would send me your posts often. Especially when they were about MASH. I started to read this blog daily about 2 years ago. I love the inside, behind the scenes of the whole process. I know some as I do work in TV, but its news, so different. Also great to hear the old radio stories as well.
Found you during the writer's strike and stayed because I love MASH and Cheers and even watched that Nancy Travis show too!
I skip your baseball stuff & AI too because I'm not into either but enjoy the rest! My favorites are when you talk about the experiences with the shows, good or bad, about the actors, the filming or the writing of, etc.
I live right here in Hollywood near H & H but rarely take advantage of it. I did honk for all the strikers when I passed them though! And personally educated some of my friends over from the "greedy bastards ruining my TV/movies" to "ok yea go strikers!"
I found you as I was avoiding my writing job and I kept coming back because you are wonderful. Your talent, straight forward attitude, experience, good taste, and high standards (a blog entry almost every day!) make this place a stand out for me. I'll read anything you write and watch anything you work on. I'll even try A.M. radio if it'll help.
Er... And to answer your questions, I've been coming here for maybe two years and, as a writer, what I love most are your entries about writers and writing you admire-- either about their actual writing or about their experiences on the lot/in meetings/on the set. I come here for encouragement and education-- it helps me to see what the actual ups and downs of more successful writers than me are like. So more of that. Plus the funny stuff about American Idol. And the ones where you post pictures of pretty women. My advice is put pictures of pretty women on the baseball entries. More of that and fewer pictures of guys and baseball players.
About two years ago I got one of those annoying forwards of someone I didn't know's email link to a posting you did about the Mariners. It was one of the rare times I clicked on the link because you ranked behind only Dave Niehaus in my estimation of Seattle baseball announcers. And now that I read you every day I've upgraded you to a bigger esteemship -- something with a porthole, or maybe even a lanai.
I have been reading your column for the past three years. I think I found it through another writers blog (don't remember who, maybe Jane Epsenson's blog). I love the inside info on writing (my Dad was a playwright) and the Hollywood system (I work as an eng. for an Atlanta TV station). Don't really care for the blogs on Idol but that's because I don't watch that program.
Keep up the great work. I have passed this blog onto a lot of my friends.
I found your blog through a link to your post on celebrity child naming policies, and I've been enjoying it ever since.
First class entertainment.
I found you with a google search on the Seattle Mariners. I loved when you were here with the M's sing the songs when the games were slow. I knew that you were a writer on some of my favorite shows and just knew you would have a terrific blog. And guess what, you do have a terrific blog, thanks for writing.
I'm a software developer from Germany. Have also followed the Raymond Chen route a few years ago like Matt and Steve and keep coming back daily since (except for sports and American Idol ;-) ).
Hi Ken!
I found your blog probably less than a week ago when I was googling how to submit a spec script (or some various wording of that) and now I read everyday. I love it! Thanks for blogging!
auroradelucia@aol.com
Ken,
Just want to say I greatly enjoy your blog and hope to be reading it when you get your 10 millionth visitor. Thank you!
Hey.
Congratulations! I'm a long time Mariner fan and when I saw you had a blog, I went right to it. So I've been lurking for a couple of years. But I lurk every day. It's great fun. Thanks.
I lurk from Toronto and I found you through the link at Josh Wolk's blog. I've been lurking for about a year now; I think this will be my first post. I love reading your take on AI; and television shows in general; I love reading behind the scenes stuff about the shows you worked on and just getting a little peak into a world that I love but am very much on the outside of.
Rebecca
I've been reading the blog daily, almost from the beginning, and enjoy it enormously -- especially the behind-the-scenes revelations about the workings of TV comedy shows. I live in NYC, and produce film & TV, but sitcom is the one format I've never worked in. Please keep doing exactly what you're doing!
from South Florida (by way of Long Island), 35 years old, I think I found this when I saw it linked from Alan Sepinwall's blog
I'm a writer (sold plenty, nothing produced yet-- gotta love "development") and a huge fan of Cheers and Frasier, although I don't write sitcoms. I think I bounced here through links on other writing blogs, and kept coming back for the flavor. Great work, thanks for putting in all the effort!
Actually, I'm lying. I had one thing produced-- I wrote for an episode of Robot Chicken and was nominated for an Emmy. It's true and weird. This before I even feel like I "broke in." Still love development.
When I bought a Macbook last month to replace my aged Mac Mini, Ken, your blog bookmark was the first one I created in my browser on the new Mac. Didn't want to miss a day of it. Since then, I learned how to migrate all my bookmarks from the old Mac to the new one.
Thanks for the great stories and the great education, and thanks for your work on Cheers, my favorite tv comedy.
Love this blog. First one I read in the morning to get my smile muscles working. Thanks for the fun Ken.
First found it through Lance Mannion I think, maybe two years ago. And I always tell friends about this place.
I like the backstories you give on the shows you wrote. Somehow it makes them more theater... I can see the people working on them as you describe shooting or episode vagaries.
I'm in Nashville, Tn. by the way.
I want to say I found your blog from johnaugust.com, but I might have just been clicking the next blog option when I was really bored and happened upon you.
I'm from Chicago, have no desire to write for tv (or movies) but love hearing about writing for tv. I think you're hilarious and it's always fun when someone lets you be a fly on the wall. Thanks!
I caught on to your blog early on when you wrote about Porn Star Karaoke, on a night I was probably there in my professional capacity as a porn journalist.
It seems I had been a fan of your work for a long time but I didn't know it. And as an inveterate credits reader (my grandfather was a cinematographer and I started the habit early) I put the links together pretty fast.
I've enjoyed your clever commentary on a number of subjects, plus the answer to a question that has vexed me for years -- What the hell happened to Kevin Kilner on "Almost Perfect"?
Happy to be one of yout three million satisfied customers.
--t
I'm in Vegas, but still in Chicago in my heart. I've been reading since December '08 but already forgot how I found it (maybe OverthinkingIt.com?) It's one of the few blogs I check multiple times a week. Great insider info for someone who always wished he could be share an office with Rob, Buddy, and Sally to present something funny every week.
I do wish that everybody would stop assuming that everyone who reads it is a Hollywood Democrat. But take heart, Ken, that your blog still appeals to a conservative (and Cub fan) like I.
WV: scetiona--Evidence that might make you rethink flying with that discount airline that was trying to tell you you were assigned to sit in Section A.
Did this the past 2 or 3 years so I'll be brief. Tacoma, civil servant & mystery writer, baby boomer. Probably heard of you via Mark Evanier's blog. Love your insider stories, AI recaps, movie/tv reviews. Wish you were back with the M's and not the Dodgers, but they're having a great year so maybe the KL mojo is working.
WV: nocel. Xmas song for people without a portable phone.
Ken:
Longtime reader - about 2+ years, so I missed year one and will have to catch it on DVD. :)
Found you through TV Squad.
Thanks for blogging daily - I try not to miss a post.
Dave
I think I saw your blog linked in some other blog ("Clicked" maybe?) about a year ago. Love what you write, love the insights into the business, and love knowing I'm going to get a good laugh at least once a day.
By the way, the word verification for this comment is "mingledu," which is absolutely freakin' hilarious.
Like someone else mentioned, I found your blog through Karen Hall's during the WGA strike and have been reading regularly ever since. I've commented a few times, but mostly I just read and laugh.
Ken,
I'm new to the blog and am not even sure how I found it, but I love the inside Cheers and Frasier info (so much so that I went back and read the entire archive). I would love to see more questions answered, especially on these shows. Here's one: can you shed any light on why the Charlotte character was introduced so late in Frasier's last season? I loved Laura Linney in that role, but the arch seemed rushed with her in only about 5 episodes. I would have loved to have seen her all season.
Andrew Smith
I've been reading and laughing over two years. I think I found you just screwing around looking for something to read and was instantly hooked. Thanks for the laughs. Got you as a shortcut on my Blackberry and read you on the way to work every morning.
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