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The Bible Jul 12, 2007

Show notes

The first thing an amateur writer does, when he sits down to create a television series, is to figure it all out. He'll map out characters, interrelationships, future story arcs, possible late season developments -– you know, actually create a series...

Game the System Jun 28, 2007

Show notes

A few years ago, a friend of mine shot a pilot. It was supposed to be a promising pilot, but somewhere between the script and casting, the network started getting concerned about the darkly comic tone, the suggestive, edgy storylines, and the sharpness of the writing. All of those items introduce a level of risk into the development process -- career risk for the executives, specifically -- so usually that's the first stuff they want out...

My Bollywood Age Jun 21, 2007

Show notes

I have an actress friend from India -- she's a Bollywood starlet -- and she tells me that over there, if you're a Bollywood star and you're married, and you want to stay a Bollywood star, you have to keep your marriage a secret...

Jury Duty Jun 14, 2007

Show notes

So, apparently, if you want to get out of jury duty, what you have to do is this. When they ask you what you do for a living, you say, "I write television comedy, your honor," and then you wait around a bit while the judge and the lawyers busy themselves with other prospective jurors, but you're eventually going to hear something like, "The court would like to excuse the television comedy writer with the expensive watch"...

Episode Two May 31, 2007

Show notes

When you pitch a pilot to the network, or to anyone, really, you often find yourself saying stupid things like, "And the great thing is, there are, like, zillions of story ideas with this situation," when in fact there aren't zillions of story areas, or even millions of story areas, or even, really, more than, say, eight story ideas to anything...

My Friends May 24, 2007

Show notes

A writer friend of mine told me this story a few weeks ago. He’s walking back to his office from the studio commissary when he runs into an old friend of his, also a writer. He and this guy worked together on a show a few years ago, and they’re friends. Well, not friends as in “friendly” or “nice to each other"...

Puppy News May 17, 2007

Show notes

My wonderful dog died a year ago, and I spent the past year staring at other people’s dogs in a way, frankly, that I sometimes stare at other people’s girlfriends. “Why are you with him?” “What’s that relationship all about?” That kind of thing.

Here's What I Know May 10, 2007

Show notes

It's the end of pilot season. In less than two weeks, the networks announce their picks for the fall 2007 schedule. The process which began in January with hope and optimism and a sense that the TV business really wasn't in decline, really could pull itself back up, ends in New York, at some huge venue, with the president of each network appearing before a crowd of media buyers at the big ad agencies selling the upcoming fall season. They call this the "upfronts," because this is when networks try to sell a lot of their ad time upfront, before the shows premiere, before the 80 to 90 percent new show failure rate kicks in...

Development Mouse Apr 26, 2007

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Wise Up Apr 19, 2007

Show notes

A friend of mine was working on a pilot last year for a big star who had a big deal at one of the big TV networks. It was a great idea for a show, and he's a great writer, and the actor liked him, so on the face of it, it seemed like a sure thing....

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