Friday Questions

Moving through July with this week’s Friday Questions.

WB Jax starts us off.

Recently watched the S5 MASH episode you and David wrote in which Radar seeks to improve his writing skills via a Las Vegas-based correspondence course. In the episode there's a scene where Frank Burns confiscates Igor's tapioca pudding, only to discover, after first bite, a "surprise" in the pudding (you guys must have been proud of yourselves when coming up with the "surprise"). We all know what a talented actor Alan Alda is, but I wondered if there were certain scenes like this where the "payoff" was unknown to the "reactors" in the scene until the cameras rolled (so as to generate on film a seemingly spontaneous reaction) or are people like Alda simply masters at "cracking up on cue" even after a scene is rehearsed/blocked?

The episode you’re referring to is “The Most Unforgettable Characters.”

No, on MASH there were no surprises while the cameras ran. Alan and other good actors have the skill to laugh on command.

The only time the MASH cast was not told of a scene beforehand was the Henry Blake dying announcement scene in the OR. And for that, Larry Gelbart told the cast there was one more short scene to film, get into your OR scrubs, and before the scene was shot they were given the script. Alan was the only one in the cast who knew beforehand.

While the actors were still somewhat shell-shocked they filmed the scene. And actually, they had to film it twice because there was a technical glitch on the first take.

Otherwise, the actors received the whole script before it went into production.

Bob Waldman asks:

Is there a certain length you aim for when you write a one act play?

There seems to be two.

Lots of theatres have ten-minute festivals. That seems to be the rage. I’ve enjoyed some success in this arena.

Otherwise, I’d say between twenty minutes and a half hour. I’ve had one 30 minute play produced eight or nine times.

Good luck.

Michael wonders:

The commercials for the TBS show "The Misery Index" have me hating the show sight unseen. I know one of the issues the broadcast networks face today is to get people to even see commercials for their shows, but in the past do you think they made much of a difference in the success or lack of success of some of the shows you worked on?

In the past, on-air promos were HUGE. Producers fought tooth and nail for precious slots. But those were the days when everyone watched the networks. A lot more people saw the promos then than see them now.

But you bring up a good point. A bad promo can be very detrimental. Promos can scare off people just as easily as they can attract them. So it’s not enough that the network promo’s you, they have to do it well.

That said, when a network doesn’t promo you it means you’re dead.

And finally, from Mike Bloodworth:

Would you advise students and wannabe writers to practice writing scripts for old/classic TV shows to develop the skill? Or should they concentrate on current shows? Or should they do neither and work on their own material?

If you are going to write a spec of an existing show, definitely do a current one. There have been a couple of times when people have submitted specs of vintage shows to stand out, but I’ve never heard of the gambit working to where they got an assignment as a result.

More than anything, the desired script of the day is something original, usually a pilot.

But I say have both. If someone reads and likes your pilot the first thing they’re going to ask you is what else do you have? They want to make sure this sparkling writing sample was not a fluke or took you six years to write.

Again, good luck.

What's your Friday Question?