tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post7660689013928642098..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: Friday QuestionsBy Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-1315837989578285452013-02-05T10:13:53.152-08:002013-02-05T10:13:53.152-08:00Ken, Have you watched House of Cards on Netflix? W...Ken, Have you watched House of Cards on Netflix? What are your thoughts about it? I think the show is OK so far. I heard that the producer's and writers were given a lot of freedom. What do you think about Netflix releasing all episodes at once? What must it be like to write and film that? Brutal?Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00760229533287495672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-23219047720890134762013-02-02T08:44:31.869-08:002013-02-02T08:44:31.869-08:00If producers and agents are always looking for &qu...If producers and agents are always looking for "original" material, then how come all that's on TV today is the same garbage over and over and over again?Joseph Scarbroughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-89925812383661951202013-02-02T06:59:11.234-08:002013-02-02T06:59:11.234-08:00Janice: in the Amy Yasbeck incidence I'd have ...Janice: in the Amy Yasbeck incidence I'd have thought the advantage was *getting JOHN RITTER*!<br /><br />wgWendy M. Grossmanhttp://www.pelicancrossing.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-14051057307476213832013-02-02T02:50:32.366-08:002013-02-02T02:50:32.366-08:00Hi Ken,
Re: being paid to be dead. You may be int...Hi Ken,<br /><br />Re: being paid to be dead. You may be interested to read that Michael Biehn, who played Hicks in Aliens, was paid more for the use of his likeness in Alien 3 than he did for playing the live role in Aliens.<br /><br />Thank you for writing this blog, it's fascinating.Dannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-13441873227285906062013-02-01T22:04:55.007-08:002013-02-01T22:04:55.007-08:00Wayne,
In the photo gallery section of the ME GEN...Wayne,<br /><br />In the photo gallery section of the ME GENERATION website I have posted a number of my drawings from the period. Scroll down to the bottom. Here's the link:<br /><br />http://megenerationbook.com/The_Me_Generation_-_By_Me/Me_Generation_Gallery.html<br /><br />Enjoy.By Ken Levinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-85627887309729454572013-02-01T20:59:45.410-08:002013-02-01T20:59:45.410-08:00Enjoyed reading THE ME GENERATION... BY ME.
You me...Enjoyed reading THE ME GENERATION... BY ME.<br />You mention your talent drawing cartoons. How about showing some? I love cartoons. Lots of great writers had talent drawing. O. Henry. Waynenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-63589083081023290282013-02-01T20:09:28.372-08:002013-02-01T20:09:28.372-08:00Question for Friday:
I've worked in televisio...Question for Friday:<br /><br />I've worked in television, mostly reality, as a production assistant and have been on a few major studio shows. My question is, having worked with production, how much daily interaction (i.e. script changes, rundowns, etc.) is there between the production office and the writer's room on a sitcom?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09943297586734003996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-75910867150420810732013-02-01T19:07:38.245-08:002013-02-01T19:07:38.245-08:00Friday Question for you Ken:
I have the offer to ...Friday Question for you Ken:<br /><br />I have the offer to work on a sitcom and the Showrunner is a real jerk. Working with him is a soul-sucking experience and he is like one of the most disrespectful guys I've ever met. Not just to the people he works with, but even to the craft of screenwriting, it's ridiculous. He is a good friend of a big executive, so that's how he got the job... I could need the money and do want the writing credit, because I'm just starting out, but I'm afraid it will crush my soul in some ways. What do you recommend? Sell my soul or look for another job? I have some other projects, but this one is definitively the most promising in terms of money right now.<br /><br />What do you think?<br /><br />Thank you for any advice you can give me!Dannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-6407728059490194382013-02-01T18:52:48.331-08:002013-02-01T18:52:48.331-08:00Thanks for your friday questions Ken!
I have a Fr...Thanks for your friday questions Ken!<br /><br />I have a Friday Question for you too: <br /><br />i just read that you have been working on DHARMA & GREG and was wondering, how it must have been to work with Chuck Lorre. Can you tell us something about his process? Is there something special about his approach and did you learn something from him? And what do you think about his recent work? Do you like Mike & Molly or The Big Bang Theory? And what do you thought about his work when you got the chance to write for DHARMA & GREG? Was it like hot stuff back then?<br /><br />Best!<br />LisaLisa Muldrinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-24725664743075644732013-02-01T17:21:43.044-08:002013-02-01T17:21:43.044-08:00My Friday question:
What is the advantage in cast...My Friday question:<br /><br />What is the advantage in casting the actors' relatives for guest appearances? For example on WINGS, Amy Yasbeck's husband John Ritter played Casey's ex-husband in one episode. And in THE ODD COUPLE, Jack Klugman's wife Brett Somers played Oscar's ex-wife in recurring episodes.Janicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09980095483532599400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-80941103509686968902013-02-01T16:28:29.309-08:002013-02-01T16:28:29.309-08:00Hey Ken, am I allowed a 2-parter? hope so...
1) ...Hey Ken, am I allowed a 2-parter? hope so...<br /><br />1) I was wondering how much your background and interests have played a part in your writing career. For instance, did the "Cheers" room look to you as the baseball guy or the "Frasier" staff look to you as the radio expert? <br /><br />2) As a radio guy, what's your opinion about "WKRP"? Did you ever talk to Hugh Wilson about ideas for it?Steve B.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-23852371184563799122013-02-01T16:16:12.484-08:002013-02-01T16:16:12.484-08:00A question for your consideration...
When Becker ...A question for your consideration...<br /><br />When Becker was announced I was looking forward to watching it because I enjoyed both Ted Danson and Terry Farrell. However when it aired, I watched two episodes and vowed to never look at it again (and never did, even in repeats). Why? Because of the smoking. I found the smoking to be very "in your face", enough to believe that there was probably "product placement" funding from the cigarette industry (that is just speculation on my part). When the program was being developed, who would have been developing the characters' traits, their idiosyncracies, their habits. How much of this is from the writers, how much from the actors themselves, and how much might be dictated from on high?Larry Hancocknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-3241078976754333252013-02-01T16:07:18.857-08:002013-02-01T16:07:18.857-08:00Do you think shows would be better if they had lon...Do you think shows would be better if they had longer-term commitments going in -- or after say a year? Seems like you'd be able to break story arcs, character development, etc, if you could plan further out. Or does the deadline pressure help create the best shows because they HAVE to do their best or face cancellation?Micahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-28152858241027241182013-02-01T11:35:15.508-08:002013-02-01T11:35:15.508-08:00Hey Ken,
What are your thoughts on Amazon Studios ...Hey Ken,<br />What are your thoughts on Amazon Studios and its recent purchase of nearly a dozen tv comedy and children's show pilots (mostly from industry folks), to be produced for their streaming services?<br /><br />One thing they will be doing is showing each pilot online, then using audience feedback to help gauge which pilots to greenlight for series.<br /><br />Here is the link for their comedy purchases. http://hollywonk.com/post/38383260220/amazon-studios-greenlights-6-comedy-pilots<br /><br />chris mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-57347364655055945092013-02-01T10:51:55.851-08:002013-02-01T10:51:55.851-08:00Ken, your comment about the actor playing a stiff ...Ken, your comment about the actor playing a stiff reminds me of a series you've probably never read (books): Simon Brett's Charles Paris detective novels. Brett has done a lot of work writing and producing for radio and TV (IIRC he was one of the producers on the original radio version of THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY). I particularly remember a series of his that was first a radio series, then remade for TV, and then a book of short stories, AFTER HENRY, starring Prunella Scales (of FAWLTY TOWERS) as a 40-something widow coping with the demands of her 18-year-old daughter and her mother, both of whom shared her house.<br /><br />Anyway, in the detective novels, Charles Paris was a perennially broke actor desperately scrounging for any work he could get (and somewhat alcoholic), and Brett always had him doing some ghastly job or another - in one, I remember, he was hired as a contestant for a pilot for a game show. In another - and here is the point - he was in a play where he appeared for one scene at the beginning as a corpse, but had to wait around all evening to appear in the curtain call, by which time of course the audience had no idea who he was. It left him a lot of time for drinking. And detecting, when the inevitable murder happened.<br /><br />They're good books - funny, all set in various areas of British TV and theater (there's one, in fact, in which Paris is in a sitcom). I think you'd enjoy them.<br /><br />wgWendy M. Grossmanhttp://www.pelicancrossing.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-80922034886813153472013-02-01T09:04:59.371-08:002013-02-01T09:04:59.371-08:00Does that mean there was a weirdly silent scene in...Does that mean there was a weirdly silent scene in the finished episode? Or did you manage to reuse the audience laughter from the first try?Stu Westhttp://reviewallthethings.tumblr.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-81601563142560978792013-02-01T08:27:25.569-08:002013-02-01T08:27:25.569-08:00Sitcoms have shorter running time than they did in...Sitcoms have shorter running time than they did in the 70s (a recent Big Bang episode ran 20:03 compared to Mary Tyler Moore's 25:00 average). So does this shorten the time it takes to shoot an episode as well as giving the writers more time during the week to work on the script?Stephennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-72923151130503822112013-02-01T08:08:43.916-08:002013-02-01T08:08:43.916-08:00Re: The NBC Exec.
Ha! That seems like quite a ba...Re: The NBC Exec. <br /><br />Ha! That seems like quite a ballsy move, Ken. Could that have blown up in your face somehow?Johnny Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13302545167970532080noreply@blogger.com