The Bastard Sons of Lee Marvin

Last Saturday was the 35th Occasional Doo Dah Parade in Pasadena.  Sort of the anti-Rose Parade.  This is a goofy affair with irreverent floats and bands and attractions.  Typical participants in the past have been the BBQ & Hibachi Marching Grill Team, the Shopping Cart Drill Team, the Bastard Sons of Lee Marvin, the Men of Leisure Synchronized Nap Team, The Marching Lumberjacks, Claude Rains & the 20-Man Memorial...

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Thanks, Mom

My mother, Marilyn, would have been 84 today. She passed away several years ago. A day doesn't go by when I don't miss her and think about her. In addition to everything else she did for me, she is responsible for my career in television. My partner, David and I were writing spec scripts, going nowhere, not even getting read at most shows. Then one day my mother found herself playing golf with Gordon Mitchell, one of the story editors of THE...

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Comedy writers can be bad ass!

In the summer of 1990 I was broadcasting for the Tidewater Tides, the AAA affiliate of the New York Mets. It was a Sunday afternoon game and I had to read a commercial for the Day’s Inn at Military Circle – “Home to the visiting teams of the International League”. I noted that our dreaded rivals, the Columbus Clippers (Yankees ) were coming to town next and said, “Why don’t you call them all at 5 a.m. and welcome them to Tidewater.”...

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My Nerdist Writers Panel podcast is now up

Hello, from Santa Barbara where I'm speaking at a writers conference at UCSB.  Last month I participated in a very worthwhile program -- the Nerdist Writers Panel.   On the panel with me was Bill Lawrence (SCRUBS, COUGAR TOWN), and Richard Hatem (GRIMM).   It was a GREAT session.  Everyone was funny and informative -- even me at times.  The podcast of that session is now available along with their other podcasts. ...

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Does Frasier make too much money?

Friday Questions sometimes spark much  heated debate. Such is the case with our first Q. This was originally posted last Friday in the comments section (where you should file yours). Many responses followed. Join the fun. Craig asked the lightening rod question. How is Frasier so wealthy??He seems to spend at will and is never wanting for anything. He is a semi successful radio guy, but radio does not pay well at all. Yes, he's single...

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The speech that launched our career

My writing partner and I were bouncing around trying to get freelance assignments early in our career. We were pitching and writing any show we could get. We got hired to write a back-up script for a pilot that didn’t go. We did two episodes of a series that was canceled in five weeks. But then we lucked out and got a MASH assignment. It was the episode where a gas heater blows up and Hawkeye is temporarily blind. I know: hilarity can't help...

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Google and Facebook piss me off!

Playwright and theater director, George S. Kaufman went back to see a musical he had directed some months before. Afterwards, he sent a note to the cast that read: Rehearsal tomorrow at 10 AM to remove all the improvements. Can I send the same note to Blogger? And Facebook?Warning:  I'm cranky.  Recently, Blogger (operated by Google) flipped to a new interface. Why? I didn’t ask them to. And it’s not like they added any great new...

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My response to your respone on VEEP

Some great non-partisan debate on today’s post. Thanks so much for all the comments. Let me respond to your responses. I still believe it’s necessary to reveal which side of the aisle the Veep is on, not so much because I want the show to be about issues but because it really helps us define her character. Republicans and Democrats have very different worldviews. And you could say, yes, but they’re all just people and in other areas they’re...

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My vote on VEEP

Imagine an episode of WEST WING, with rat-a-tat, wall-to-wall dialogue but funny.  Well, keep imaging because VEEP isn’t that.  It wants to be.  And oh Lord does it try.  But what you’re left with in this new HBO entry is an exhausting half hour that manages to waste the talents of one of TV’s best comediennes, Julia Louise-Dreyfus.     Good luck following the story.  Or caring.   She’s...

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Kick back and come to Iraq!

The WGA Foundation has many terrific programs. One is the Veterans Writing Workshop. A group of 28 working members of the WGA agree to “mentor” about 100 military veterans for a weekend of writing exercises and advice. The mentors all had great credits in film and TV. This year I volunteered to be one of them, and I cannot tell you how rewarding an experience it was!We were all broken up into small groups of two mentors and three or four vets....

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Levine's Laws

I find these laws to be self evident…There are more New York cab drivers who speak English than all the night nurses in all metropolitan hospitals combined.Theatre audiences will always boo an Adam Sandler trailer yet he will keep getting movies.If you're only doing a limited schedule of broadcasting for the Mariners, you won't get to do the perfect game.   There is not one mohel who doesn’t think he’s a comedian. There is not one mohel who...

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Can you watch this without laughing?

Laughter is infectious. For all the great jokes we try to write, nothing evokes laughter like seeing someone else completely lose it. The harder they try to stop, the funnier they become. Here are some examples of laughing jags. See if one or two of these don't get to you too....

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HBO's GIRLS

Some Friday Questions to get your weekend off on the right foot. Leave yours in the comments section. Thanks!Chris starts us off: Any thoughts on Lena Dunham's show, GIRLS? Do you think a 25 year-old having their own show on HBO (as creator, executive producer and head writer) is a good thing or just a very unlikely accident? I’ve only seen one episode so my opinion might change in subsequent weeks. I liked it but wasn’t knocked out. Not like...

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From the "meetings from hell" file...

Hollywood is all about meetings. You get them. You have them. You take them. You reschedule them. Generally, you’re pitching someone or they’re pitching you. The last thing said in most meetings is, “Great. We’ll get back to you.” Some of these meetings are awkward. And the longer you’ve been around, the more of them you amass. I’ve had more than my share of these train wrecks and recounting them seems to be a popular feature on this...

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R.I.P. Dick Clark

The world’s oldest teenager has died. Dick Clark passed away today at 82. For years, as the rest of us grew older, Dick Clark seemed to stay the same – not only in youthful appearance but being contemporary as well. I remember him once on AMERICAN BANDSTAND interviewing Alice Cooper and thinking: “why does this not look weird?” I’m sure his Roledex went from Lady Godiva to Lady Gaga. And the secret?   He genuinely did love all the...

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Where have all the TV executives gone?

TONIGHT SHOW host/king Johnny Carson was playing tennis one Sunday afternoon when he got a call. It was from a new executive at NBC. The Peacock was premiering some new shows and wondered if Johnny was okay with booking some of their stars. This would be like pulling the President of the United States out of the war room to ask if he knew what time Ikea closed at night. Johnny politely said, “If you’re still in this job in a year I’ll talk to...

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Do I watch my old shows?

Here’s one of those questions worth an entire post. It’s from Nancy Knechtel. Mash and Cheers and so many of your shows are on ALL the time. Do you ever watch the old episodes? Can you enjoy them or do the memories come flooding back? Does your family run out of the room? There really could be a Ken Levine Network....That’s a pretty far-fetched idea but I imagine a Ken Levine Network would still garner better ratings in primetime than NBC.To answer...

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You've got to see this

I've already posted it on Twitter (you're welcome to follow me), but wanted to share it here.  This is maybe the coolest thing I've ever seen at a ballgame.  It was opening night in Seattle.  The Mariners have a feature between innings where a youngster gets to run out and take second base.  Watch what happens.<p>Your browser does not support iframes.</p>Thanks again to everyone who...

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A CAN'T-MISS idea for a family sitcom!

Comedy writers are always looking for new twists on family shows. It’s almost an impossible task. Sixty-plus years of television sitcoms have given us seemingly every relationship combination possible. Multiple wives, occasional wives, trophy wives, surrogate fathers, widowed fathers, teenaged fathers, fathers from outer space, arranged marriages, mixed-marriages, May-December marriages, April-June marriages, kids by a previous marriage, kids...

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In appreciation of Elizabeth Montgomery

Elizabeth Montgomery would have been 79 today.  I know this factoid because I have had a crush on Elizabeth Montgomery for &^%# years (gee, something must have gone wrong. The number didn’t print.) Let’s just say since BEWITCHED. There were a lot of TV actresses who were hot back then. But Samantha Stephens was the only one I wanted to marry. And not just because she could turn my math teacher into a Chia Pet. Sam truly...

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