If you're trying to make it in the television industry, this is the podcast for you. Emmy winning writer Ken Levine walks you through his early days as a freelance writer in the business working with David Isaacs. Ken shares all his experiences, including all the ups and many downs. Pitching stories, pilot episodes, backup scripts and dealing with rejections!
7 comments :
Great podcast, Ken. Sounds like Danny Arnold might have been bipolar, as many brilliant people were.
Friday Question for you, Ken: If you and David had started your writing careers ten years earlier (ca. 1966) what shows would you guys have tried to write for (knowing that the "Dick Van Dyke Show" wasn't an option as it had just concluded its five-year run)? I'm guessing something like "Good Morning, World" (because of your interest/experience in radio).
Friday question
Who came up with the idea of having the intertitle cards on Frasier? I love them. They're one of the things that made the show unique.
Let me add to the "your money or your life" story, at least as I remember it. I read Milt Josefberg's book about Jack Benny over 30 years ago, so this may not be exactly right. My memory of his version is this: he was working with a writer named John Tackaberry, trying to come up with a line for the robbery. Tackaberry was flaked out on the office sofa a la Buddy Sorrel while Milt paced and muttered, trying to come up with something. To him, it seemed his partner wasn't even trying and he said, "Damnit! Come on, John! We need a line." Tackaberry, annoyed at implicitly being called a slacker, snapped back, "I'm thinking it over." And a classic was born.
-30-
Joe and Sons may be forgotten but the opening credits for the episode you co-wrote can be found on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JUXG_LG8nI
Great stories that never grow old.
Very interesting hearing about "Snip," one of the true "where-did-it-go?" mysteries in TV history. Apparently there was a pilot made as David Brenner recounted, I think in TV Guide, that people who attended that season's network affiliates "meet the stars" gathering seemed to enjoy it. Recall seeing promos for it, hearing Brenner talk about it on the "Tonight Show" (as it was an NBC show).
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