May 2013 be for you what 2012 was for...

Adele, Jade Jones, Ben Affleck, Usain Bolt, Lena Dunham, the San Francisco Giants, the New York Giants, Claire Danes, Barack Obama, Miguel Cabrera, Mike Nicholls, Michael Phelps, Jermaine Paul, Aaron Paul, E.L. James, Octavia Spencer, Bon Iver, RANGO, Judy Kaye, Alabama Crimson Tide, THE ARTIST, Meryl Streep, Jon Cryer, Jon Stewart, Mike Trout, Umami burgers, MODERN FAMILY, Dario Franchitti , Taylor Swift, vampires, Julianne Moore, Jean Dujardin,...

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LA is a great town when there's nobody here

The best week of the year in Los Angeles is always this one, the final seven days of the year. More property taxes and obligations are on tap for me in January, but here in the waning days of December I can bask in the glory of the city that Zorro once called home. First of all, the town is practically empty. Most people from the industry are gone, terrorizing the help in Hawaii and Aspen. There’s very little traffic. You can actually make the...

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Stuff they don't buy on SHARK TANK

SHARK TANK has become a guilty pleasure.  Enterprising people trying to interest billionaires into investing in their new miracle products or inventions.  Most are ridiculous.  You think -- they can't be serious.  Who would buy this crap?  But then I get on an airplane and open the SKY MALL magazine.  That's who buys it.  And the prices are goofier than the items.   Here are some of the chotzkes in my...

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The road to Hana

Here are some great photos on the road to Hana and other assorted Maui locales taken by my son Matt.  He has the kind of camera that's just a camera and you can't make phone calls on it.  I didn't know they still made those.  Anyway, take a look.  And check out his website for more and even better photos.  ...

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HOMELAND for the holidays

Last Friday Questions of the year.  I hope I do them justice. Brian starts us off:Ken - what do you think of Homeland and The Last Resort? I heard that Homeland was renewed up for another season, but that Last Resort was cancelled. I love HOMELAND. Absolutely riveting television. And Claire Danes & Damian Lewis are extraordinary together. That’s not a surprise. What is is Mandy Patinkin. Usually I can do about five minutes. He makes...

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Engineers in paradise

Here's Part 2 of my recent Maui travelogue.  Part 1 was yesterday.After a week of exploring the wonders of the island and exchanging rental cars, daughter Annie and her friend Jon arrived followed shortly by son Matt and his wife Kim. Suddenly our little condo became the stateroom scene in NIGHT AT THE OPERA. So Debby and I took exile at the Grand Wailea resort.There was a swimming pool industry convention so the only room we could get had a...

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the house of sand and vog

Hope you had a great Christmas.  As my longtime readers know, whenever I venture out of town I return with a travelogue and rental car horror stories.  Here's my latest: Aloha! Back from another three weeks in paradise – our annual jaunt to the magic island of Maui to pay tribute to the Gods and apologize for Walmarts. My wife and I again rented a condo and the various kids/significant others arrived in shifts. Stayed at the lovely...

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My favorite funny foto of the year

Those who know me and my affection for the '60s and Bob's Big Boy will especially appreciate this alternate version of the classic reveal in the original PLANET OF THE APES. ...

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A Mommy Dearest Christmas

May your family have as wonderful a Christmas as Joan Crawford's.MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYO...

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My Christmas card next year

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R.I.P. Jack Klugman

Sorry to hear of the passing of Jack Klugman.  He was 90.  You may remember him as either Oscar Madison or Quincy M.E.  For years before that he was a character actor.  My favorite role of his was as the father in the movie GOODBYE COLUMBUS.  He had the rare ability to be hilariously funny one minute and then heartbreaking the next.  And he was always real.  Lines never felt "written" when he delivered them.In the...

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All about (Christmas) Eve

You would think that being Jewish on Christmas Eve I would feel left out. Actually I love Christmas Eve. Here are two reasons why:The first is an excerpt from my book, THE ME GENERATION… BY ME (GROWING UP IN THE ‘60s) – the perfect last minute gift. On Christmas Eve, (my brother) Corey and I went to Disneyland. This is a secret only Jews know: Disneyland is empty on Christmas Eve. Practically all Christians are preparing for the big day so...

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Full confession

I have a good friend who, back in the ‘90s, used to work for SPORTS ILLUSTRATED. Every holiday season he would send me an SI holiday gift box. Inside would be handsome coffee table books of golf tournaments and classic World Series and also an engagement calendar. This is a handsome desk calendar broken down into weeks with photos of swimsuit models accompanying each week. So I began using them. I’d fill in appointments, lunch dates, when...

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Dear Santa: All I want is a Fizz-Nik

What’s the dumbest holiday gift you’ve ever received? Mine was a Fizz-nik. And understand, I really WANTED this thing. In my dumb kid-ness I thought this was the coolest invention EVER.It was a plastic straw with a big bubble in the middle. This was actually two half spheres that twisted together with straws on either end. You put a scoop of ice cream in the bubble and twisted it shut. Then you jammed one end into a bottle of root...

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A Christmas show by Matthew Weiner & me

Here's a BECKER Christmas episode, written by Matthew Weiner (creator of MAD MEN) and directed by me.  I wonder -- whatever happened to Matt?  For that matter, whatever happened to me? Merry Christ...

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Judge Judy, NFL stars, and other actors

Back in LA, ready with Friday Questions.Cap'n Bob begins:Do non-actors like Judge Judy need to be in an actor's union? How about non-actors who make one-shot appearances on TV shows? You can be Taft-Hartley’ed if you just do one, but anything more you need to join SAG.Interestingly, when I had to join SAG about twenty-five years ago, I had to go right down to their office, fill out the forms and pay the initiation dues – in either cash or a cashier’s...

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The scam of the century... or at least bicentennial

Yesterday I talked about about my days teaching radio at the KIIS Broadcasting Workshop. This was during that period where my writing partner, David Isaacs and I were churning out spec scripts and getting rejected by RHODA every other week. The school was somewhat shady. I mean, what is there to teach really? This is how you announce the time? Seven ways to turn off your mic? But I did all that and more. I discussed programming philosophies,...

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Before I was a writer...

So when I got fired from KSEA a week before Christmas (see yesterday's post), that's when I decided to give up radio and pursue writing.  Like all starving writers, when I was banging out specs trying to break in I had a crummy job. All I cared about were the hours. I had to be free at night to work with my partner, David Isaacs on our scripts. As long as I made enough money to pay the rent and get a burger at Tommy’s I was fine. Which is...

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The Christmas I got fired

One of the many reasons I became a writer is that I got tired of being fired as a disc jockey. Today marks the 38th anniversary of the last time I signed off my show with “see you tomorrow” and was never heard from again.   This is a blog tradition:  the anniversary of the Christmas I was fired.  1974, I’m Beaver Cleaver on KSEA, San Diego, playing “The Night Chicago Died” and “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” five times a night...

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Okay, so who REALLY REALLY created BEWITCHED

Lots of comments Friday about my post on who created BEWITCHED. A number of you suggested real credit should go to the screenwriters of the 1942 movie I MARRIED A WITCH. With all due respect to those writers – Robert Pirosh, Marc Connelly, Norman Matson, Rene Clair, Andre Rigaud, Dalton Trumbo and Thorne Smith (whose story the movie was based on) – they may have tread on similar territory but it is not BEWITCHED. For one thing, the story is different....

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My Xmas movies recommendations

A CHRISTMAS STORY is my all-time favorite holiday movie. I’ve seen it probably fifty times, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually watched it from the beginning to end in one sitting. Like most people, I catch the annual 24-hour marathon on TNT or TBS or one of those networks with a “T” and see various segments at a time. Usually, by the end of 24-hours I’ve pretty much seen the whole film, albeit disjointed. But there are other Christmas...

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A personal plea from Batman

Hi kids, this is Batman, the old Caped Crusader.  Y'know, the '60s was a glorious era.  I could still fit into my suit, Robin and I could hang out together without those rumors spreading, and even though the Batmobile got two miles a gallon, gas was still cheap enough that I could still afford Alfred.I'm here today to tell you fans of a great new book about the '60s I just discovered -- THE ME GENERATION... BY ME (GROWING UP IN THE '60s)...

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When not to take down your Xmas decorations

This is my friend Kevin’s house in the residential San Fernando Valley. He’s Jewish but loves to celebrate the colors and lights of the season. This tradition began (as most things do) because his girlfriend at the time really loved Christmas decorations.There’s not another house on his block even remotely as elaborate. I bet you can see Kevin's house from space.Now the question always arises, when do you take down your Christmas decorations?...

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Who really created BEWITCHED?

Aloha from Hawaii where the tradewinds are whispering Friday Questions:Derrick starts us off:How is it decided who gets credit for creating a series? I was reading a piece about the old sitcom Bewitched awhile back, and while a gentleman named Sol Saks is credited in every episode as creator of the series, I got the impression from the article that nearly half of the guys associated with the series in its first season claimed at some point to...

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