tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post1858473662105390294..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: What is the best way to write a pilot?By Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-51661377547944499782010-03-23T10:15:44.973-07:002010-03-23T10:15:44.973-07:00Mariner"s"Mariner"s"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-42891152533234640102010-03-23T10:13:35.119-07:002010-03-23T10:13:35.119-07:00I lived near Tacoma (near Tom Tuttle?) at the age ...I lived near Tacoma (near Tom Tuttle?) at the age of 12 when you became the Mariner new play by play guy. After listening to your first Spring Training game on KIRO I immediately called in to KJR because I wanted to be the first to comment on the new announcer. I told Dave Grosby I thought you were "refreshingly different." Grosby said "now there's a kid who watches too much TV" which was ironic because we didn't have a tv at my mom's house and I had to go to my Dad's house to watch episodes of the Simpsons he had taped for me. I rented Volunteers because I heard the new announcer wrote it and decided to ammend my earlier goal of becoming a play by play announcer to becoming a play by play guy AND a tv writer for SNL (although writing for Homer was my first choice, I didn't think the Simpson's would still be around when I was old enough to write). I ended up getting a BA in Screenwriting from Cal State Long Beach live near Canoga Park. I never got a job for SNL or doing play by play but did manage to READ plenty of scripts as an assistant in a production office. Since then, my types of employment have gone in wildly disparate directions but I continue to write at the age of thirty still pursuing the dream you inspired in me when I was twelve.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-34653487733027246982010-03-22T05:20:28.331-07:002010-03-22T05:20:28.331-07:00This is from a book about sitcoms, discussing Rein...This is from a book about sitcoms, discussing Reiner's writing the first 13 episodes of DICK VAN DYKE (single quotes are Reiner's)<br /><br /><br />"He wanted to 'guard against supposition'. He wanted it clearly known what he intended. What he intended was 'the first situation comedy where you saw where the man worked before he walked in and said "Hi, honey, I'm home!". More than that, he intended 'examining my life and putting it down on paper'. This was the first sitcom conceived from the start with autobiographical intent."<br /><br /><br />And it was Sheldon Leonard's tinkering with the concept, including hiring Van Dyke to play the role Reiner wrote for himself, that changed that autobiographical intent. Reiner's character was an urban Jew adjusting to WASP suburbia. With Van Dyke, it was now about an innocent Midwesterner adjusting to sophisticated New York.Paul Ducanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-57255356997104562112010-03-22T02:29:43.410-07:002010-03-22T02:29:43.410-07:00"te said...
...when they weren't written...<i>"te said... <br />...when they weren't written by Bill Persky & Sam Denoff, Jerry Belson, etc."</i><br /><br />Oh absolutely. No argument. But Carl was overseeing all of those other great writers. all of it filtered through Carl, as <i>M*A*S*H</i> filtered through Larry Gelbart while he was still on the show. But yes, the excellence of the writers Carl assembled must be taken into account in that show's lasting greatness.D. McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-48098200068082706872010-03-21T19:07:36.361-07:002010-03-21T19:07:36.361-07:00I think the excellence of The Dick Van Dyke Show i...<i>I think the excellence of The Dick Van Dyke Show is attributable to the great cast, and not to how may shows were written before it sole, but to the fact that the scripts, when ever they were written, were written by Carl Reiner.</i><br /><br />...when they weren't written by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054533/fullcredits#writers" rel="nofollow">Bill Persky & Sam Denoff, Jerry Belson, etc.</a>tehttp://toddeverett.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-76652532073674460292010-03-21T16:22:10.079-07:002010-03-21T16:22:10.079-07:00"Michael said...
I read that when Carl Reine...<i>"Michael said... <br />I read that when Carl Reiner developed what became "The Dick Van Dyke Show," he wrote the first 13 scripts, which the producer, Sheldon Leonard, said was unheard of. That may explain why many still consider it the best sitcom in television history."</i><br /><br />I fail to see why Carl writing 13 scripts up front would be responsible for <i>The Dick Van Dyke Show</i> becoming the great, beloved show that it was. Several other shows on its level, like <i>The Mary tyler Moore Show</i> for only one example, managed to become great without doing that up front. And 13 <i>lousy</i> scripts up front would have been detrimental.<br /><br />I think the excellence of <i>The Dick Van Dyke Show</i> is attributable to the great cast, and not to how may shows were written before it sole, but to the fact that the scripts, when ever they were written, were written by Carl Reiner.D. McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-36882255182195984932010-03-21T10:55:00.768-07:002010-03-21T10:55:00.768-07:00I enjoy the cruise videos and Idol recaps, but pos...I enjoy the cruise videos and Idol recaps, but posts like this are the reason I read your blog, Ken. Valuable stuff. Thank you.Ianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16688301329863871296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-61931219799364191922010-03-21T10:42:09.332-07:002010-03-21T10:42:09.332-07:00What about a sitcom with a group of struggling wri...What about a sitcom with a group of struggling writers who are always working on the first episode for a pilot. Each episode has one of them imagining yet another variation of the same damn three act set-up.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-31358741378240098532010-03-21T09:41:42.484-07:002010-03-21T09:41:42.484-07:00I read that when Carl Reiner developed what became...I read that when Carl Reiner developed what became "The Dick Van Dyke Show," he wrote the first 13 scripts, which the producer, Sheldon Leonard, said was unheard of. That may explain why many still consider it the best sitcom in television history.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01998867386294693956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-53736115343001032682010-03-20T21:53:36.637-07:002010-03-20T21:53:36.637-07:00I had gone for years without thinking about The WB...I had gone for years without thinking about The WB's "Jack & Jill" until you wrote this entry. I never saw the show, so someone will have to tell me if it had anything going for it other than "Jack's the girl and Jill's the guy LOL".Brian Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07305624852257701050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-29254102007202858032010-03-20T19:25:59.778-07:002010-03-20T19:25:59.778-07:00Dammit! I've been doing it wrong for so many y...Dammit! I've been doing it wrong for so many years. I thought the best way to write a pilot was to send a letter to Delta or Southwest Airlines!YEKIMIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01921751875397071034noreply@blogger.com