tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post421644528972344440..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: Friday QuestionsBy Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-91110860924029559952019-07-12T21:00:46.459-07:002019-07-12T21:00:46.459-07:00I just happened to rewatch “Breaking In Is Hard To...I just happened to rewatch “Breaking In Is Hard To Do” today and then read this. LOL It was a classic CHEERS moment so well played.Bryan Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03942472363470824138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-20321909724437525682016-08-18T22:13:29.157-07:002016-08-18T22:13:29.157-07:00Now I have seen it all! Chhers Live on Stage??? An...Now I have seen it all! <a href="http://www.cheersliveonstage.com/" rel="nofollow">Chhers Live on Stage</a>??? Any thoughts, Ken?Dana Gabbardhttp://socata.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-7931125528068803372016-08-17T01:32:48.157-07:002016-08-17T01:32:48.157-07:00I was browsing through YouTube and stumbled across...I was browsing through YouTube and stumbled across the hilarious sketch --- apparently from an Emmy Awards show during the 1990's --- of the Frasier cast auditioning for Star Trek: Voyager. Were you involved with this in any way, and what did you know about it? Allan Vnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-74124166370081927172016-08-13T19:48:35.591-07:002016-08-13T19:48:35.591-07:00I'd chalk the Office's decline up to a few...I'd chalk the Office's decline up to a few reasons....<br /><br />* Greg Daniels leaving as showrunner after four seasons<br />* Michael Schur leaving to create "Parks & Recreation," which created another big hole in the writing and production staff at the same time as Daniels' departure.<br />* Lack of a post-marriage gameplan for Jim & Pam, as the show seemed to struggle at finding ways of making them continually vital characters once they finally got together.<br />* Some weak story arcs for the sixth season. You could argue that 'story arcs' in general were an issue given that one wrong-footed idea could set back an entire half-season, though this wasn't a problem in Season Five (since the arcs of Michael courting Holly and then the Michael Scott Paper Company were both hilarious). The Sabre buyout in S6, however, just seemed like a misfire.<br />* The show really should've ended once Carell decided he was done. The eighth and ninth seasons really suffered without Michael Scott, as the Andy character was both not ready for a larger role and/or the writers ruined what was good about him. Question Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00267485396018087075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-4767931098225364382016-08-13T19:41:45.261-07:002016-08-13T19:41:45.261-07:00Andy: You're absolutely right about Leno. I ha...Andy: You're absolutely right about Leno. I have a friend who was on his staff, and he said Jay kept everyone on full salary for <i>six months</i> after the show ended, and out of his own pocket. He added that it was a lifesaver for quite a few of them.cadavranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-48995574540252435022016-08-13T13:50:10.202-07:002016-08-13T13:50:10.202-07:00I just read that Thomas Gibson was fired from CRIM...I just read that Thomas Gibson was fired from CRIMINAL MINDS for kicking a writer. Were you ever physically intimidated by an actor?Buttermilk Skyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07430011403223875192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-5595213304952004202016-08-13T07:51:21.940-07:002016-08-13T07:51:21.940-07:00The answers are usually: 1 money, 2 money and 3 so...The answers are usually: 1 money, 2 money and 3 someone who is stupid thinks they can get power or money. 😌The Bumble Bee Pendanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11782074071758250824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-5524792856290986222016-08-13T00:53:58.752-07:002016-08-13T00:53:58.752-07:00Turns out we're in a very small minority when ...Turns out we're in a very small minority when it comes to the opinion over whether MASH should have continued. I wholeheartedly agree with you. Plots were becoming trickier to come up with, I'm sure, but when push comes to shove, I'm sure there ample stories around the corner. Alan Iversonhttp://www.alaniverson.squarespace.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-4081426353291715852016-08-12T16:50:51.001-07:002016-08-12T16:50:51.001-07:00Any comments you can make on the Criminal Minds fi...Any comments you can make on the Criminal Minds fiasco?<br />Chet - Everett WAAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-42464088482043838882016-08-12T16:42:35.362-07:002016-08-12T16:42:35.362-07:00With all the amazingly talented writers out there ...With all the amazingly talented writers out there who are trying to make it into the business - how is it that there are still sitcoms out there that are painful to watch? Jokes you can see from a mile away - one liners that hurt to listen to - characters that are stereotypes ect...Is it the network that is looking for the lowest common denominator or is this really the best they can do? I long for the 90s in terms of smart multi camera shows that actually made me laugh out loud...Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05265753244583100064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-61539614799073894442016-08-12T14:28:01.311-07:002016-08-12T14:28:01.311-07:00What's really tricky is shows that require tim...What's really tricky is shows that require time to stand still. MASH was initially about civilians just recently plucked from comfy 1950s white America and thrown into a war. Then, as the show outlasted the real Korean War (and the Vietnam War, the real subject of the show), the characters were more like lifers for whom civilian life was a distant memory. Did you find yourself writing to that, or not writing stories that emphasized recent civilian roots or Vietnam-era topics?<br /><br />DBensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01144515471557731622noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-29798782183605417102016-08-12T13:54:07.687-07:002016-08-12T13:54:07.687-07:00Cap'n Bob, I appreciate the correction.
For s...Cap'n Bob, I appreciate the correction. <br />For some reason I confused the character of Poppy with the "Happy, Pappy?" line George hears from his girlfriend.<br />No excuses. I hang my head in shame. Andrewnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-51124128645682133282016-08-12T13:34:32.865-07:002016-08-12T13:34:32.865-07:00@Chris G: When Jay Leno decided to do the 10:00 sh...@Chris G: When Jay Leno decided to do the 10:00 show for NBC -- and eventually go back to the Tonight Show -- he said a big reason was because it gave him a chance to keep his staff together and working. He took a lot of grief for those decisions, and maybe he was just making excuses. But after personally seeing the way Jay interacts with people, it seems plausible that he really didn't want to let people go.Andy Rosenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-36478883802449770632016-08-12T13:22:31.409-07:002016-08-12T13:22:31.409-07:00Twin Peaks should have quit when the perp was reve...Twin Peaks should have quit when the perp was revealed.Earl Boeberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07300222007927549893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-75837814925244977282016-08-12T12:17:22.232-07:002016-08-12T12:17:22.232-07:00I know I've said this before but it has to be ...I know I've said this before but it has to be mentioned in any debate about shows that are well past their best that The Simpsons is just an embarrassment now. I'd love to know what the table reads are like. Do they howl with laughter at dreadful lines like "I once read a book that changed my life. It was called Lisa is Stupid"? Or do they politely do the read without forced laughter, comforted by the big salaries they're all getting? Because at this point, the money they're making must be the only thing that motivates them to keep doing the show. And I don't blame them. As Richard Pryor apparently said of Superman III: "The script is a piece of shit. But with the money they're paying me, it's one piece of shit that smells great." <br /><br />As I've also said before, the show took a dive not long after Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein left as writers and showrunners. The episodes during their time were pure gold. Nothing was dumbed down, guest stars were used smartly rather than just as gimmicky stunt casting, and pop culture references were clever and not just something like Bart randomly and arbitrarily doing an imitation of Gollum.<br /><br />On a different topic, Ken, I urge you to check out Suicide Squad. Ignore the critics, the movie is a riot. It's not quite as good as Deadpool but it's very funny and Margot Robbie steals the movie with her performance as Harley Quinn.Peternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-75465200651890791842016-08-12T11:46:45.941-07:002016-08-12T11:46:45.941-07:00Paul Vigna: The amazing thing is that DVD's fi...Paul Vigna: The amazing thing is that DVD's five seasons would be over seven today (22-24 episodes a year instead of 39)! I disagree about MAD MEN, however, largely because for me that show was about so much more than Don Draper's identity story. I would hate to have missed Peggy's walk down the hall her first day at McCann, Joan giving Greg his comeuppance, everyone's experience of the moon landings, or Roger's acid trip.<br /><br />wgWendy M. Grossmanhttp://www.pelicancrossing.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-7439335522236419732016-08-12T11:45:16.833-07:002016-08-12T11:45:16.833-07:00Poppy on Seinfeld, not Pappy.
Picking nits. It&#...Poppy on Seinfeld, not Pappy. <br /><br />Picking nits. It's what I do.Cap'n Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11783977137812876489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-43618928309239151752016-08-12T11:00:06.630-07:002016-08-12T11:00:06.630-07:00Hi Mr. Jacobs, and it's an honor to get to cha...Hi Mr. Jacobs, and it's an honor to get to chat with you here...<br /><br />Re your final reason why shows decline, "everyone on staff thinks they're (still) a genius." I'll get in trouble as I'm sure there's people here who disagree, but I strongly believe The Simpsons suffers from this condition in spades. Not to sound like Pauline Kael but there's *nobody* I know who enjoys new episodes anywhere near the level they did at the beginning... yet every time I see or hear the producers/writers interviewed, they seem to just be loving their sweet never-ending gig and relishing everything they do.<br /><br />It especially annoys me that after spending the first 10 seasons of The Simpsons setting up the family's backstory (1974, how Homer and Marge met, etc etc)... they've gone and completely blown all of that up with a bunch of 'alternative' stories (later episodes have Homer and Marge meeting in the early 90s (!), Homer had a grunge band, stupid crap like that). I'd have more respect for them if they just admitted they don't care about story anymore, they just want the freakin' laugh at this stage.<br /><br />Anyway thanks for the opportunity to vent, and I *never* get tired of some of those classic episodes of M*A*S*H; sometimes I really wish the show could come back somehow. (But then it could also end up like Simpsons did, sigh.) ;-)qdpstevehttps://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19336675&postID=421644528972344440&bpli=1noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-7283002069288610372016-08-12T10:38:17.040-07:002016-08-12T10:38:17.040-07:00Fonzie was actually wearing water skis when he jum...Fonzie was actually wearing water skis when he jumped the shark. His motorcycle was not involved. However he did have his leather jacket on. So the whole thing was totally believable.Garynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-68993289735579827732016-08-12T09:34:53.069-07:002016-08-12T09:34:53.069-07:00When SCRUBS did its seasons with scaled back parti...When SCRUBS did its seasons with scaled back participation from the original cast members, Bill Lawrence said part of the reason he did them was because he had dozens of crew and staff employees who he was not going to leave without jobs during an economic collapse. I'd never heard that justification for keeping a show going before, but it's a good one.Chris Gnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-42673410751093900092016-08-12T09:00:47.688-07:002016-08-12T09:00:47.688-07:00Dick Van Dyke told a story on Inside Comedy that C...Dick Van Dyke told a story on Inside Comedy that Carl Reiner made the decision to end the Dick Van Dyke show after five seasons, because Reiner felt that if you went longer than that, you ran out of stories. I thought that was very interesting. It may not be five for every show, but most shows do seem to hit a wall at some point. <br /><br />Mad Men, for example, fell off a cliff after Don told Betty about Dick. The entire narrative momentum of the show disappeared once he wasn't hiding his true identity anymore. Then it became just another show about office politics, and everything that was stylistically fresh about it became stale and overbearing.<br /><br />The Sopranos was never really the same after Nancy Marchand (Livia) died. Tony's fight against his mother, what she represented to him, was such a major part of the show. After that, it became just another crime story, with a new villain-of-the-day brought in every season.<br /><br />Happy Days was never the same after Fonzie jumped the shark. Because it was Fonzie...jumping over a shark...on a motorcycle.Paul V.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06593466709865649080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-45025526851303537372016-08-12T08:56:17.766-07:002016-08-12T08:56:17.766-07:00About "The Office":
I think The Mary Ty...About "The Office":<br /><br />I think The Mary Tyler Moore Show staff had it right ending the show when they did. It seems like "MTMS" ended just as they were creeping toward the end of stories. On the other had, "M*A*S*H" felt like it could've continued on. I know it was 11 seasons, but there were a lot of new viewers coming to the show in '79, '80 and '81 who were first exposed to syndication episodes (for me I found the show after school during afternoon syndicated viewings - fell in love and never missed a Monday-CBS-9:00pm airing). It felt like M*A*S*H was going strong when it ended. <br />Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00107309396839340695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-21448324242405708462016-08-12T08:50:09.051-07:002016-08-12T08:50:09.051-07:00On the famous "Turkeys Away" episode of ...On the famous "Turkeys Away" episode of WKRP, the entire script was a build up to Gordon Jump's last line: "As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."Greg Ehrbarhttp://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/disneys-make-mine-music-on-records/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-2056035561799878252016-08-12T08:41:51.208-07:002016-08-12T08:41:51.208-07:00When I started writing animated cartoons in the 19...When I started writing animated cartoons in the 1980's, I was very insecure about how I was doing. I was always questioning whether or not I was doing a good enough job and if I belonged in the industry as a writer. After one particularly brutal rewrite where the story editor had changed significant portions of my script, I asked my friend Mark Evanier (who is a hugely successful writer in the animation field as well as being a really good guy) how you can tell if you're a competent writer or are just deluding yourself. Mark said something I found very significant. He basically said, "The way you know you're doing a good job for the person hiring you, is not how much they rewrite you, it's whether they hire you again." I found that bit of information extremely valuable, as it made me more confident (well, at least somewhat my confident) and I tried not to let my ego get bruised as easily!David Schwartzhttp://www.davidschwartzmft.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-77535366663078575972016-08-12T08:16:26.474-07:002016-08-12T08:16:26.474-07:00"The first few seasons of The Office were gol...<i>"The first few seasons of The Office were golden television."</i><br /><br />No they weren't. Golden television ended long before THE OFFICE ever came about.Joseph Scarbroughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com