Martini Shot

Latest Episodes:

Manifesto, Part 1 Oct 10, 2018

Show notes

This is Rob Long, and on today’s Martini Shot, the first episode of my manifesto on how to get better television. It starts a little slow, like a lot of shows on premium cable and streaming services, but stick with it.

Ugly laughing Oct 03, 2018

Show notes

This is Rob Long and on today’s Martini Shot I tell the story of the young comedy writer who has dinner with the older comedy writer, and the young comedy writer has the temerity to say something funny. Bad move.

Sit in the chair Sep 26, 2018

Show notes

This is Rob Long and on today’s Martini Shot I talk about the time I was in Gori, Georgia and I sat in Stalin’s old reading chair and it was pretty weird, and then I twist that into an analogy about the entertainment business, as I usually do.

You’ve heard of me? Sep 19, 2018

Show notes

This is Rob Long, and on today’s Martini Shot I tell the story of two actors up for the same part who interpreted the character very differently, and what happened after that. Spoiler alert: they both got the job. Which almost never happens.

New rule Sep 11, 2018

Show notes

This is Rob Long, and on today’s Martini Shot I use a very grim battlefield metaphor to describe the new Best Popular Movie Oscar award, coming in 2019. It’s a little dark, but then so is the entertainment business.

Variety Sep 05, 2018

Show notes

This is Rob Long, and on today’s Martini Shot I talk about Crazy Rich Asians and Black Panther and the reason the oldest trade paper in Hollywood is called Variety, because Variety is good, the more of it the better.

Mastodon Aug 29, 2018

Show notes

This is Rob Long and on today’s Martini Shot I talk about the rule of skinny dipping — you don’t want to be the first one to strip down and jump in the pool. You want to be fourth or fifth. Depending on the attractiveness of the crowd. It’s a metaphor.

Is that a Show? Aug 22, 2018

Show notes

This is Rob Long, and on today’s Martini Shot I use a very big and weird word — mam-ihlapi-natapai — a word from the Tierra del Fuego which means the look shared by two people, each wishing that the other would initiate something that they both desire but which neither wants to begin. Which is every day in Hollywood.

Independent Board Aug 08, 2018

Show notes

Next week, we kill ourselves on a scooter. For KCRW, this is Rob Long. TEASER: This is Rob Long, and on today’s Martini Shot I talk about the sexy and irresistible topic of corporate governance and the lack of it in the entertainment business. Edgy, I know.

You can't do that Aug 01, 2018

Show notes

On today’s Martini Shot I give two friends totally different and contradictory advice, and I still think I was right. They disagree.