May 2015 be for you what 2014 was for...

Jimmy Fallon, Matthew McConaughey, Stephen Colbert, Corey Kluber, Cory Schneider, FARGO, Daft Punk, WALKING DEAD, Jason Robert Brown, the San Francisco Giants, ALL THE WAY, Iggy Azalea, Mike Trout, Lorde, 12 YEARS A SLAVE, Neil Patrick Harris, Lorenzo Cain, Cate Blanchett, Kevin Durant, Louis C.K., Aaron Paul, Sidney Crosby, Caleb Johnson, Jared Leto, FROZEN, Luke Kuechly, Gail Mancuso, Clayton Kershaw (until October), Madison Bumgarner (in October),...

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INTO THE WOODS -- My review

This is a rave review for a movie that a lot of people didn’t like. It’s based on a musical I loved that a lot of people didn’t like. The music was composed by a genius who leaves a lot of people cold. Such is the magic and mixed reviews of INTO THE WOODS.Here are the two biggest complaints I hear: 1) It’s too long. 2)  It's too short.  (They cut stuff out.) Several songs from the musical were absent from the movie (notably the...

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TOP FIVE -- my review

Everyone is saying that Chris Rock’s new movie TOP FIVE is his ANNIE HALL. It’s actually his ANNIE HALL meets STARDUST MEMORIES. A grown up romantic comedy with incisive observations, lots of laughs, and a lead character whose central problem is that he’s a comic who wants to be taken seriously. Not the most universal dilemma. I’m sure if someone else (who wasn’t a bankable movie actor and studio favorite) wrote this it would remain forever...

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Neil Simon (and me) on TCM

Here's the info from the TCM website on the Neil Simon Film Festival that begins this Friday.  Just click here.   There will be 17 Neil Simon movies shown the month of January, hosted by your intrepid blogger/Simon fanboy.   Join me for the laughs and factoi...

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Trailer moments

When you go in and pitch a comedy idea to a movie studio, they’ll usually ask you, “What are the trailer moments?” Sometimes they’ll ask this in lieu of, “What is the story?” But studio comedies are all about boxoffice. High-concept ideas, bankable stars, sequels, franchises. Some studio people will tell you (but deny it) that sometimes the trailer is more important than the film. Nancy Meyers makes trailers and then just pads the remaining...

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How did we handle drinking on CHEERS

Does anybody read the Friday Questions in the archive?  Here's a repost of some from four years ago.  The answers mostly still apply. Lairbo is up first. On CHEERS, I can recall few, if any, scenes of someone actually being drunk at the bar. Were there rules or guidelines about this? If so, were they from the network or the creators? I think everyone (the Charles Brothers, Jim Burrows, NBC, Paramount) were in agreement that the drinking...

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Friday Questions

Friday Questions to scan on your smart phone as you wait in line to return yesterday’s gifts: Barry Traylor starts us off:I have been binge watching the episodes of MASH with Harry Morgan as Col. Sherman T. Potter. I am old enough to remember him from Dragnet but I really love him as Col. Potter on MASH. What was he like to work with?A dream. Had the ability to read a scene once and have it memorized. Could do take after take and give the same...

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A Mommy Dearest Merry Christmas to you all

May your family have as wonderful a Christmas as Joan Crawford...

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A Great Big Radio Special

Tired of Christmas music even though it's not Christmas yet?  Or... do you miss the year 1975?Well here's the place for you.GREAT BIG RADIO, one of the internet's BEST radio stations, is saluting the Golden Year 1975 now through the end of New Year's Eve.  You'll hear the news, commercials, radio airchecks, and all the music that made 1975 the middle of that decade.  Relive such treasured memories as...The Watergate assholes were convicted.WHEEL...

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When NOT to take down your Christmas decorations

I assume your Christmas decorations are up.  It's Christmas Eve.  And Merry Christmas Eve, by the way.   But the question is always:  when should you take them down?  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...

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How the Sony hacking has impacted its employees

Here's another side of the whole Sony crisis -- the impact leaked data will have on its unfortunate employees.   A good friend of mine was personally involved.  Here is his account.  Let it serve as an eye-opener and warning to anyone else who also could be affected.   Not a lot of humor in today's post but it's something you should read.  Thanks again to my friend for sharing this valuable information.   There...

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My thoughts on the Sony crisis

Lots of you have asked my opinion, not that it matters, but here ya go.First of all I thought it was a great story when they did it on THE GOOD WIFE two weeks before Sony was hacked.   Yet another reason why it's the best show on television. As for all the ramifications of the North Korean’s hacking Sony and pressuring them to cancel the release of THE INTERVIEW, like I said on Twitter -- the North Koreans had no problem with EXPENDABLES...

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You can hear me on the radio

Just a reminder: I'll be on 100.3 THE SOUND in LA and on line at 6 PM PST and 9 PM EST, playing an eclectic selection of shit I like and telling stories (some of them true) about the songs and what they mean to me. Just go here and click on the "Listen Live" button.  It's a pretty cool station.  You very well may bookmark it. Again, not to over-hype it, but I play a Captain Beefheart song.  I KNOW you'll want to tune in for...

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My Turn

Radio station 100.3 THE SOUND in LA has a very cool feature.  On Sunday nights at 6:00 they invite a guest DJ to come in for an hour and play whatever the hell he wants.  Tonight, it's me.Since the station's format is Classic Rock I decided not to play my favorite marching band tunes, Gregorian chants, Osmond Brother favorites, or love songs from William Shatner.   What I am playing are cool songs from the '60s and stories about growing...

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All I want for Christmas...

is Jews.And the original (one of my favorite Xmas song...

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Friday Questions

Ho ho ho. Last Friday Questions before Xmas.Mike starts us off with a (holiday) CHEERS question. When did the Charles brothers step down as showrunners? I had been under the impression it was after season six, but Warren Littlefield, in "Top of the Rock," said they dialed back their involvement toward the end of season two, and were barely involved by the start of season three. I noticed a few other mistakes in that book, so this may be one of them....

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The year I got fired on Christmas

A holiday annual tradition.  My post on how I got fired.  It happened on this date in 1974.  Relive this cherished holiday memory.  One of the many reasons I became a writer is that I got tired of being fired as a disc jockey. Today marks the 40th 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...

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Advice for young writers trying to break in

This is in addition to the standard -- just keep writing – the more scripts you write; the better they will be – advice (which, by the way, is still sound.) But beyond that.. Immerse yourself in the industry. If you want to break in to sitcoms, watch every sitcom (at least once or twice). Know who is on staff on all these shows. Know their background. Did any of these working writers go your college? That’s a connection. Utilize it. Are...

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BIRDMAN -- my review

BIRDMAN is a cinematic triumph. Unfolding in seemingly one continuous shot, director Alejandro González Iñárritu proves to be a virtuoso in choreography.I just wish I liked the movie better. When you are constantly paying more attention to the technique instead of the narrative that is problematic. The picture is over two hours long and twenty minutes of it is either watching people walking down theater hallways or just watching the hallways...

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The number one song of all-time is...

We’re fast approaching the “List” time of year. Top movies of the year. Top TV shows. Top sex tapes. And of course these are all bullshit.  The amazing thing is we get pissed when we read them but we KNOW they're absurd.  Back in my disc jockey days in the swingin'  ‘70s, every station I worked for would put together their “all-time Top 300” or “500” to play over a long holiday weekend. Listeners were invited to send a postcard...

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Okay, you can play Christmas music now

Now that we're less than two weeks away from Christmas instead of the day after Labor Day, I think it's finally appropriate to play Christmas songs. Here are some of my favorites and not-so-favorites. What are yours?Personally, I get a warm feeling when I hear Nat King Cole’s “Christmas Song”, which was written by Mel Torme. One Christmas night I saw Mel eating alone at Delores coffee shop. It was ironic but sad.The Phil Spector Christmas album...

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Happy Birthday, Rob Petrie

Dick Van Dyke is 89 today.  Happy Birthday to one of my ido...

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A COSBY writer weighs in

I received this great note in the comments section from Carmen Finestra, who was a writer on THE COSBY SHOW.  This is in response to my article about Bill Cosby being viewed as a mentor to his writing staff.   I personally was never in the COSBY writing room.  My opinions were based on discussions with writers who were and an article in the WGA's magazine.   But in the interest of fairness, I want to re-post this comment...

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Last few hours of my book sale

Get the Kindle version for only $.99.  Tomorrow it goes back to it's regular price -- a thousand dollars.  Here's where you go.  Get yours n...

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Friday Questions

Bring ‘em on.Broadway Becky gets us started:Why don't they use more Broadway stars in these big Hollywood musical films that are coming back. Case in point: Russel Crowe, Amanda Seyfried and Anne Hathaway scored huge parts in Les Miserables but there are tons of Broadway stars that are maybe better suited to live singing roles. Now they're making Into the Woods and Meryl Streep gets the lead (big shock). Of course, Ms. Streep is a tremendous talent...

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The SHARK TANK scene I'd like to see

WARNING: This post contains sexual content and may be viewed by some as offensive. And worse, there are some bad puns. If raunchy material concerns you, we’ll see you tomorrow. Have a great day. My guess is you’re going to read this post BECAUSE of the disclaimer. Performance artist Casey Jenkins of Melbourne, Australia has been knitting a scarf from a ball of yarn inserted in her vagina. I kid you not. Here’s a video (not for the squeamish):...

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