Friday Questions

And Friday has come along once more. Here are this week’s FQ’s.

David gets us started:

If you where an up and coming writer today what existing show would you choose to spec?

First know this changes every eleven minutes, but for this moment of time I would maybe spec a BROAD CITY, KIMMY SCHMIDT, VEEP, BROOKLYN NINE NINE, and if you want to do a multi-cam I would probably pick MOM.

I think today you have a short shelf life with BIG BANG THEORY, MODERN FAMILY, NEW GIRL, GIRLS, or CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM.

I’d also stay away from LOUIE because it has such a personal voice.

And then there’s the question of the shows that are sort of comedies like ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, TRANSPARENT. If those fit your sensibility more, do one of them.

Above all, spec the show YOU like the best and feel would best show off your talents. Good luck to all.

Gregg B wonders:

Have you seen the new Louis CK show "Horace and Pete"? It's a throwback to the Playhouse 90 days. And your old pal Alan Alda is excellent in it. Your thoughts on the show and the distribution method?

I have not seen it. I am curious but just haven’t gotten around to it yet. I’m too busy with VINYL, THE PEOPLE VS. O.J., and catching up on BETTER CALL SAUL. Oh, and I’m behind on SUPERGIRL.

Yes, it’s a fairly new model of delivery. He put up his own money to produce this show. He’s taking all the risk. And I can see where it could be successful. He's charging a reasonable price. BUT, you have to have a big following going in and a lot of money to invest.  Not a lot of creative people can do this. 

So kudos to Louis CK, who I love. I wonder however, how the FX executives feel. They give Louis all this freedom to turn out a show for them and he puts it on hold to just do something else. There’s part of me that thinks he has an obligation to FX first before he goes off and writes, stars, and produces another series. But that may just be old school thinking.

MikeK.Pa. has two FQ’s.

Would you write for an awards show, given your criticism of them?

I would write the Oscars one time to see what that experience was like. I almost did once. It was in the mid ‘90s and Quincy Jones was the producer. He called and asked if my partner, David Isaacs and I would be interested in writing on the show, and we would have jumped at it, but we were running ALMOST PERFECT at the time and there was no way to get away.

Like I said, it would be fun to do…once.

Again this year, I will be reviewing the Oscars.

Are you planning any trips to Pa. for A or B (and if so, when)?

Yes. I will be there April 8th and 9th. It’s at the Village Theatre of Hatboro, Pa. The show is in rehearsals now. I can’t wait. It will be fascinating to see a different take on the play. If you’re going to be in the Philadelphia area, it runs the first three weekends of April. Come see it.

And finally, Tammy wants to know:

Ken, could you talk about what happens after the first draft - is it just a back-and-forth between the writer and the showrunner, or do the other writers, the network etc. give further input? Thanks!

It depends on how the show is run. Usually, either the showrunner will give second draft notes, or collect the thoughts of the other staff members and then give notes.

I imagine there are some shows where the writer gets notes from everyone on staff, but that would seem counter-productive to me. He’d be bombarded with notes, some conflicting.

I understand that in some cases today, networks actually receive first drafts. To me that’s INSANE. As a showrunner, I want the opportunity to work on the script before it’s distributed. I want the ability to change the story, improve the product, and protect the writer. Scripts can change wildly from first to second drafts. At the end of the day, the network and studio should only see a draft once I feel it’s ready. I know – that’s crazy talk.

What’s your Friday Question?