Podcasts about Brandon Tartikoff

Is Lookwell a one season show because it aired one time in the summer of 1991? No. But we're talking about it anyway? Yes. But we're also talking about talking about it so I guess that's fine? No. But that's what Derick wants? Yes. But why should that matter? Anyway, by now you could have listened to it.

Eileen O'Brien joined me to discuss going to college to be a teacher; taking a job that led her to a South Carolina PBS station; discovering the world of production; becoming a PA on Great Performances; working as a PA for George Carlin; the hamburger story; getting started at SNL; Kevin Kay; doing cue cards for the Eddie Murphy showcase in September 1983 and messing up; Robin Williams; Audrey Peart Dickman; having to quit cue cards because of the toxic ink; Al Siegel and Raquel Welch; Al Siegel as mentor; helping Gary Kroeger get into the after party; doing cue cards for Madonna at 1st MTV Awards and later at SNL; Julia Louis-Dreyfus always being perfect; keeping Brandon Tartikoff on cue cards; Francis Ford Coppola terrified of cue cards; Christopher Guest; Michael Palin; Billy Crystal; Harry Dean Stanton and the Replacements; not realizing Spinal Tap is a joke; Tina Turner freaks out in dress; Sam Kinison; Ringo Starr; Charlton Heston; Jim Belushi and Robert Downey Jr.

Tread Perilously's month of treading safely concludes with a top episode of Night Court: "A Day in the Life." When Judge Harry Stone's courtroom is called upon to adjudicate 200 cases before midnight, Dan's salacious plans are threatened. Will he, Christine, Harry, Mac, Roz, and Bull survive an onslaught of would-be gods, dueling Moses-es, amateur magicians, irate Nielsen families, and Barry Manilow? Will NBC boss Brandon Tartikoff be called upon as a character witness? And will Dan get to score with his recurring, um, "sex interest" in her van before she drives away to California forever? Also, will slow talking prove to be the most important form of comedy ever devised? Justin once again reveals his mother let him watch Night Court as a child, which hits differently after this episode. He also explains the show doesn't really coalesce until season 4. Erik defends visiting New York, but can't imagine living there. Justin warns people off watching any season 9 episode of Night Court. John Larroquette once again proved to be the MVP even if his character is kind of a sex pest. Markie Post's unfortunate 1980s style gets critiqued as Erik recalls the "Shoulderpads Arms Race." Justin chooses a new search engine and surprise discussions about Twin Peaks and Sarah Douglas occur.

This week on It Was a Thing on TV we honor a legendary actor for the first time on this podcast by giving him a special series of episodes!   First, like Schuckapalooza last year, we're devoting a number of episodes to an actor, this time Dabney Coleman.  First up is a show which didn't get many viewers, despite praise from critics.  It's a show that, after cancellation, Brandon Tartikoff said was one of his biggest regrets.  Coleman plays the prickly title character in the 80s classic Buffalo Bill.   Then, Dabney Colemania continues with another series fronted by Dabney.  Unlike Buffalo Bill where he played an irritable, cantankerous TV host, Dabney played an irritable, cantankerous sportswriter.  Like Buffalo Bill, The "Slap" Maxwell Story was a critical favorite.  Also like Buffalo Bill, the ratings were not good.   Finally, we conclude our trifecta of Dabney Coleman shows by looking back at a show which was a complete contrast to the last two entries, where Coleman played an irritable, cantankerous TV host and an irritable, cantankerous sportswriter.  This time, Coleman portrays an irritable, cantankerous 5th grade teacher.   Follow us at all our socials via our Linktree page at linktr.ee/itwasathingontv    Timestamps 0:36 - Buffalo Bill 1:02:23 - Mike on Person, Place or Thing 1:03:39 - The Slap Maxwell Story 1:39:15 - Drexell's Class

Like Schuckapalooza last year, we're devoting a number of episodes to an actor, this time Dabney Coleman.  First up is a show which didn't get many viewers, despite praise from critics.  It's a show that, after cancellation, Brandon Tartikoff said was one of his biggest regrets.  Coleman plays the prickly title character in the 80s classic Buffalo Bill.

On this week's episode, Writer/Executive Producer Alex Berger (Blindspot, Glen Martin D.D.S, Quantum Leap, and many many more) talks about his writing career, thoughts on breaking into the industry as well as his experiences taking a "Showrunners Course" through the studios.STORY NOTESAlex Berger on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1584238/Alex Berger on Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexbergerla?lang=enFree Writing Webinar - https://michaeljamin.com/op/webinar-registration/Michael's Online Screenwriting Course - https://michaeljamin.com/courseFree Screenwriting Lesson - https://michaeljamin.com/freeJoin My Watchlist - https://michaeljamin.com/watchlistAUTOGENERATED TRANSCRIPTAlex Berger:They said, when you're interviewing a director, ask if you're the showrunner and you're interviewing somebody who's coming in to do an episode of your show, ask the director, do you cook? And if so, are you a person who uses a recipe or do you like to improvise? And there's no right answer to that, right? But if you cook and you're the person who is going to measure out the exact number of grams of flour and the exact number of grams of sugar, that's kind of how you're going to approach directing. If you're going to come in with a shot list, you're going to be going to stay on time. You're going to make sure that you move the set along. And if you're the person who likes to kind throw a little salt to throw a little sugar, you might be a little more improvisational on say you might be a little more, more. There's little things like that that you're going to how to dig in on this with those. NowMichael Jamin:You're listening to Screenwriters Need to Hear This with Michael Jamin.Hey everyone. Welcome back to Screenwriters. Need to hear this. Michael Jamin here. I have another wonderful guest today and this guest, we're going to talk about drama writing because he works primarily in drama and his story is fascinating how he broke in. And we're going to get to please welcome Mr. Alex Berger and he's worked on Alex. Let me introduce people to some of your amazing credits here and you can fill in in, I'm just going to go for some of the highlights. Well, I know you did Kil, you co-created Glen Martin d d s, which is the show. My partner ran Covert Affairs, the Assets Franklin and Bash the Mentalist Blind Spot. And currently you are a writer on Quantum Leap, so you got a lot of drama. Burger. Welcome, welcome to the podcast.Alex Berger:Thank you so much for having me. It's, it's good to be here. I've been enjoying listening to it.Michael Jamin:Oh man, I'm so happy you're doing this. Let's talk. Let's start from the beginning because I think it was so interesting about your background. So many people say, how do I get a showrunner attached to sell my show? And you kind of sold your show, your show, Glen Martin, d d s. You were pretty new to the scene and then you got a show on the air without much experience. So how did that happen?Alex Berger:Yeah, I'd been out here for probably five or six years and I'd had a couple of staff jobs. I'd had a job doing a sort of comedy variety show before that. That was a very sort of small potatoes thing. But that came about because Steve Cohen Cohen, who I know you've talked about before, was a friend of mine and had mentioned this idea that Michael Eisner had for a long time about a family who traveled the country in an rv and they had writers attached for a long time. Tim and Eric of Tim and Eric Show were attached to write the thing.Michael Jamin:I didn't know any of this.Alex Berger:They got a 60 episode order on their other show, and so they had to back out. And so Steve would come in and pitch a take. So I came in and I pitched a take, and Michael Eisner, who had just left basically running Hollywood, he was running, Disney had just started a company, and he had just had larynx surgery, so he couldn't talk. So every time I pitched something, he had to write his response on a computer, which was fun, but a little challenging.Michael Jamin:But what was the idea, how much, when you pitched your take, what did they give you?Alex Berger:He had said Family lives in an rv. Basically it travels the country and animation. And he had more than that. I mean, it is been almost 20 years, so I've forgotten. But he definitely had a real idea. He'd had this idea for 30 or 40 years that he'd wanted to do over the years at Disney and he wasn't able to do it. So he had a pretty formed idea of what he wanted the show to be. ButMichael Jamin:Was it dentist you came up with that throughAlex Berger:Development? I mean, that was sort of like Steve and I, Steve became sort of a, and it was almost like an incubator instead of a typical situation in which I would come in and pitch a show, he kind of brainstormed with me and created the ideas with me, and we kind of toyed with a couple of different versions of it and came up with the idea of him being, why is he on the road and what's he driving in? And came up with the idea of a dentist that was in his mobile dentistry unit and sort of built some of the characters around that. And it kind of kept getting added to,Michael Jamin:Because all that stuff became comedy gold throughout the seasons. We were like, what kind of idiot has a dental car? Who does he think, what kind of clients? How does that work? And it all became fodder for the show,Alex Berger:For the circus at one point. And it was doing dental work on animals, if I remember correctly. But it was definitely, I didn't think I'd seen that before. So that was kind of one of the things that was fun to explore.Michael Jamin:And so you came up with all the, well, at least the dynamics for the characters, because what I remember, we watched the, I dunno if it was a pilot or presentation that you saw, but yeah, the characters you invented were funny. You had the dumb kid, he had the daughter and she had an assistant, which we hadn't seen that before.Alex Berger:It was definitely even more than other experiences I've had in development, very much a team effort. And then we had sort of come up with a script, and then I think you had Eric Fogle on the show before, and Eric came on and was also sort of added his vision both in terms of look and feel and tone and story, and was digging in with us. And then Michael on his own, paid for an eight minute pilot presentation. So they made an eight minute stop motion, basically the first act of the show. And he took it downtown and took it everywhere. And we ended up setting it up at Nick at night with this 20 episode order. And I think that's when you guys sort of made the picture, right?Michael Jamin:So you started, I'm curious. It's funny how I never even asked you about this. So at that point you had to meet showrunners for a show you created, which we're going to talk about a second. Did you meet a lot of showrunners?Alex Berger:I met none of the showrunners. I met you guys after you'd been hired.Michael Jamin:Oh, really? I wonder how many they had. SoAlex Berger:The tote system was, they wanted to sort of make that decision. And so they met with showrunners and had decided they were very much immediately captivated by you guys and were really excited about, and I don't think it was a pretty quick decision. And then they had me come to meet you guys.Michael Jamin:Now the thing is, I imagine you were very easy to work with and to your great credit, I always felt like you just turned over the keys and it was like, okay, here you go. And it was never an ego thing if you, but was it difficult though for you?Alex Berger:I mean, I can give you the answer that I was thinking at the time, and I can give you the answer that I have in retrospect. I think at the time I felt like, I don't know. It's a good question. Let me give you the answer in retrospect first, which is in retrospect, I know that I was inexperienced to know, especially about comedy writing a lot and certainly about running a show. I think at the time I was very happy for you guys to come in and run it. And exactly as you said, take the keys. I think that I felt intimidated because it was a room full of really seasoned comedy writers. I knew I was one of the least experienced writers on the show, and yet my name was on the show. So it was a kind of a weird game. It's not like a typical situation in which a more experienced writer comes in, but they've never run a show.So they pair them with a show runner and then they're really a triumvirate or something. I definitely felt like experience wise and sort of comedy chops wise, I was with folks who'd broken 2, 3, 400 episodes of cool sitcoms that I really admired. So I felt like I wanted to contribute from a character and comedy perspective as much as I could, but I also felt like I was learning on the fly that I had my name on. So it was definitely tricky to sort of figure that out. But you guys were great about never feeling like you were stepping on toes, and you always would consult with me, especially at the beginning, but it was very clear that it was your show, but it was also that you wanted me to sort be on board with what we were doing.Michael Jamin:And I mean, it was a fun room. I mean, maybe I shouldn't speak for you. I thought it was a fun room. Yeah,Alex Berger:Yeah, it was great. I mean, it was like I'd never been in a sitcom room before. I mean, I've been in a couple of drama rooms as an assistant and a writer, and those rooms are more buttoned up and a little more like, let's come in at 10 and start talking about the story at 10 15. And there's definitely bits and sort of digressions, but a comedy room has a certain energy that you can't replicate. And it was really fun to be in that room. And I've been in rooms that are a little bit like that since, but never anything that was, I laughed quite so much, just had it.Michael Jamin:I was going to ask you about that, right? I haven't worked in any, we've done dark comedy, but never drama. And so I'm curious, you've done a lot of drama. So are the rooms, are they really what you're saying? Are they buttoned up? Are they sur because it's still a creative shop?Alex Berger:It's fun. I would say this is based on a very small sample size of my two years in Glen Martin. And then just listening to comedy writers talk, I think comedy writers find the genius through procrastination. I think that it takes the tangent sometimes to get you to the gold. And I know you guys, especially more than other comedy writers I've known, were very focused on story structure. I know from your time with Greg Daniels and Seaver had bought a book at the mall,And it was very important to you that the story felt like it had load-bearing walls, but it did feel like more free flowing and there were room bits and there was a whole sitcom inside that room of three characters, both people in the room and people we were looking out the window at. So that's definitely different than other shows I've been on, other shows I've been on, it's a little more like, all right, let's get to work. And especially these days with room hours have gotten shorter and so on less. And I've been in Zoom rooms for the last couple of years, so it's even less of a roomMichael Jamin:Basic. Oh, so gotten, haven't gotten, your last rooms haven't been in person either. YouAlex Berger:Haven't? Yeah, I've been in three Zoom rooms since the pandemic.Michael Jamin:It's funny you mentioned because comedy rooms have room bits and our offices were on Beverly Hills and Big glamorous street in Beverly Hills. We would look out the window, and you're right, we would create stories when we weren't making stories for the tv, we were making stories for the regular characters that we would see outside our windows.Alex Berger:Yeah, I mean truly. I know you had Brian and Steve and a couple of other people from the show on. I have not laughed that hard in a room.It was a blast. And I also think there's value to it creatively. It's not wasted time. I think it's just a different way of getting to the process. I remember hearing once of, I can't remember which one, it was a Simpsons writer who would be on draft. He had two weeks to write his draft, and he would past around the fox lot for 12 days and then write the draft in the last two days. And someone asked him, why don't you just write the draft for the first two days and then be done? And he said, because I need those 12 days of pacing to get me to the last two days. And I think copywriter are more prone to that kind of way of thinking. I think.Michael Jamin:See, see, I don't remember that way always. I always get nervous when that story's not broken. I always want to crack the whip seavers more. Like that's, but to me, I was always,Alex Berger:When you were in the room, it was more like, let's stay on story. And when see, it was a little more. And then when you guys were both out of the room, it was even more free flowing, which is not to say that all of the eps weren't trying to keep us on story, but its like it's was a silly show about silly characters and absurd, every premise of every episode had a massive degree of absurdity to it. And so you wouldn't be too serious in a room like that, or you wouldn't be ready to make that kind of show. I mean, at least that was my take on it.Michael Jamin:I would describe that as a writer's show. It was always about what made us laugh and not the 15 year old kids who shouldn't be watching or the 10 year old kids. I knowAlex Berger:It was either Brian or Steve who said it was a show with a demographic of nobody.Michael Jamin:Yeah,Alex Berger:The demographic of the 15 people in that room for sure. We all really enjoyed watch them. They're all really funny. They'reMichael Jamin:Funny.Alex Berger:It was on the wrong network.Michael Jamin:Oh, for sure. Steve and I were horsing around procrastinating on some work we were doing, and for some reason we stumbled on, maybe it was some guy's YouTube channel where he was talking about Glen Martin and this guy nailed it. It was like he was in the room. I don't know how he knew every, it seemed like he knew where we messed up. He knew where we got it. Right. I was justAlex Berger:Amazed. I saw that video and I was like, I can't believe somebody watched the show. I thought that literally, I could not imagine that this guy was that deep into the show.Michael Jamin:Oh no. I get a lot of comments on social media like, oh my God, you ruined my childhood. Really? Like you gave me nightmares.Alex Berger:My wife's cousin is like 25 or 26, and he's dating a girl. And on the second date, he asked her what your favorite shows are. And the second show she said was Glen Martin, d d s. And when he said, oh, my wife's cousin wrote that show, she was instantly smid with him. She gave him so much gr.Michael Jamin:Oh, that's so funny. I mean, it was a wild show, man. Too bad. That was a shame. We were going to spin it off too. We all, oh yeah,Alex Berger:Stone spin off right behind. OhMichael Jamin:Yeah, there you go.Alex Berger:The Drake Stone. Yeah,Michael Jamin:All my dolls. Yeah. As soon as they went under, they go here. Here take some. You must have some dolls, right? They give you some dolls. I haveAlex Berger:Alen Martin Puppet and an Alex Burger puppet, and my kids constantly want to play with them and I won't let them.Michael Jamin:Who were you in the show? I don't remember what kind.Alex Berger:I think I was a Greek God carrying somebody at some point in some fantasy sequence and they would reuse the puppets. That was what was so funny. So I think that was one thing, and then they reused me as another thing.Michael Jamin:And did you ever get out to Toronto to see theAlex Berger:No. Did you go upMichael Jamin:There? Oh yeah. We went once and Fogel and I had a very romantic dinner together on top of the Toronto Space Needle or whatever they call that. I sawAlex Berger:Them shooting the pilot presentation, which they shy in New York. It was incredibly cool, but just I've always found set to be tedious in general, but I can't imagine how tedious it must be to do stop motion.Michael Jamin:Do you go, oh, I think they wanted to poke their eyes out, but do you go on set a lot for dramas? Yeah. Is it just your episode or what?Alex Berger:Depends on the show. I did this show called Blind Spot for five years, and basically we would have a writer on set for every episode and we would try to make it your episode, but oftentimes it was the writer who wrote the episode had a baby and is on maternity leave or they can't go to New York at this time or if they went to New York and they wouldn't be back in LA for the breaking of their next episode. So we tried to shuffle it around a little bit and it's trickier when it's out of town. You've got to make people have life that they've got to plan around. But you're going for three and a half weeks to New York.Michael Jamin:Are most of your show shot out of town?Alex Berger:It's been mixed Quantum Leap, which is the show I'm on now is Shot Year on the Universe a lot. Blind Spot was New York Covert Affairs, which I went to a lot of episodes for, was in Toronto, which was a lot of fun. And then I've had a couple Franklin, imagine the Mentalists were LA and it's been sort of a mix.Michael Jamin:How many day shoots are most of your shows? Dramas?Alex Berger:It depends on the budget of the show. Blind Spots started as nine and then was eight and a half and some tandem days and by the end was eight. They keep pulling money budget every year. Quantum Leap I think is eight.Michael Jamin:Interesting. And then what do you, as a writer on set for comedy when on set, it's like, I want to make sure they're playing the comedy right, making jokes, but what are you looking for that the director isn't covering?Alex Berger:Well, first of all, it's a lot of times if you have a great director, it's a team effort. So the director is obviously in charge of the set, but if you have a director who's collaborative, they're asking you, do you feel like that works? Or which take do you feel like was better? It's blocking work for you and your main job is just to make sure that you're the protector of the script and a protector of the story. And it's not like, excuse me, you didn't say the word there. Although there a Sorkin set, they will keep you word perfect, but it's more like, actually, I know you want to change that line. It doesn't feel comfortable in your mouth, but it's really important that you say this. It's going to set something up that we're doing in three episodes, or Hey, just so you know, when you're saying this to this character, you're actually lying and you're going to be revealed to be.It's a lot of making sure that everybody knows the episode up to the episodes we're leading to. And then, yeah, there's still a lot of shows I've worked on have a fair amount of comedy. So you're still making sure jokes, land and actors, this doesn't feel comfortable in my mouth. Do you mind if I say it like this? Or if you work with an actor who wants to have a little bit and wants to assert a line, sometimes I need to be the one to say, okay, well then that means that this person needs to say this line after to keep a joke going.Michael Jamin:Right? Right. It's interesting, and especially when scenes are shot out of order, it is easy for actors to lose track of where they are in the story. So that is theAlex Berger:Part I really like is Prep, because I've worked on a lot of big shows, big action shows and into you fly to New York with your script in hand and you're so excited. And then the first thing that the line producer tells you every single time is, we're $400,000 over budget. Before you even say hello. The fun part to me is the puzzle of how do you protect the story with the constraints of we can't shoot this in nine days. I've walked into episodes that were supposed to be seven day shoots, and the board came out and it was 10 days. And so you've got to figure out, okay, we can move this back into the house so we can take this care, we can do this here. And actually the shootout that happens after the bank robbery, maybe that happens off screen, stuff like that.Michael Jamin:So are you doing a lot of rewriting on set then?Alex Berger:It's usually in prep.Michael Jamin:Okay. In prep,Alex Berger:By the time you're on set in a drama, you're pretty close to set to go unless something changes or an actor nowadays, if an actor gets covid, then all of a sudden you're taking that actor out of the scene and rewriting the scenes and why are they, that kind of thing.Michael Jamin:And then are your showrunners ever on any of these shows ever on set? Or are they always sending proxies? Yeah, itAlex Berger:Depends. It depends on the show. So typically on the shows that I've been on, the showrunner, the showrunner was there for the pilot. They're usually going to go for 1 0 2 just to, it's been four months and they want to reestablish a tone and kind of be a leader, and then they'll try to pop in and out a bunch during the year so that it's not like they're just coming when there's a problem. And then when the show's in la, the showrunner will usually try to pop by after set, especially if before the Zoom Room thing, the writer's room would wrap at seven, the production's still going, so they usually come for the last couple scenes, something like that.Michael Jamin:How many writers are there usually on these hour shows?Alex Berger:I mean, I'm curious to hear what your answer is for comedy too, because it's really shrinking in the beginning. I mean, Glen Martin was what, 10, 12, something like that, including if you're Partners is too, and then it's gotten down to 10 and then eight. And then I think Quantum Leap were about 10, which is a big staff, but the Netflix show I just worked on was six. The show, the Assets that I did, which was a limited series was five. And this is a lot of big issues of the strike is these rooms are getting too small. What are the root comedy rooms like now? Because I know there's been, it's like sometimes it's like 25 people in a roomMichael Jamin:Well, on animation, but I think those days are kind of overAlex Berger:Or big network sitcoms aren't there.Michael Jamin:I don't think they're that big. I don't think there aren't big network sitcoms anymore, but I don't think, I mean it was never,Alex Berger:What was the Tacoma room?Michael Jamin:Oh, it's probably eight or so. But that's a small cable show,Alex Berger:But they're all small. I think they're all like that now. Even the network comedies, unless you're Abbott, they're all 13 or eight orMichael Jamin:Yeah, I think even just shoot me back in. This was in the day, I want to say maybe 10 or 12 times. Oh really? That's it. Yeah. Yeah, Roseanne. Roseanne was famously Big. Fred had a big staff, but that was Roseanne. It was a giant show.Alex Berger:And The Simpsons, I know there's these shows that have the two, I mean the drama rooms, there's a bunch of writers who having a big staff and then they like to split the room in two and break two episodes at the same time. A lot of showrunners actually want a small staff and hate having too many voices. I like a big room. I like eight to 10 people because you're always in a drama room, especially you've always got one writer on set, two writers on draft sometimes set, so there's three or four people gone every single day. So your room thins out real fast, and I think you need at least five people to break a story.Michael Jamin:Oh yeah. Now the thing is, you're a funny guy. You have a good sense of humor. You started in comedy, but do you miss at all comedy or do you feel I'm a fish in water with drama?Alex Berger:Yeah, I was in over my head in comedy, I be the guy who can do a little bit of comedy on a drama staff than that guy in a comedy room who's mostly focused on story. I mean, I felt like, obviously I wrote Pilot and I felt like I had a voice on that show, but it was clear to me that this was not the type of show that I was going to be thriving at. I really enjoyed it, but it was like just comedy wasn't my thing. I love writing on a Funny One Hour, Franklin and Bash, which was a legal show, was essentially a comedy that had the stakes of a drama, but the tone of a comedy. And I love because I like being able to go to the serious scene to have the emotional he, to not have to have a joke at the end of every scene. And then I've written some pilots and stuff that have a fair amount of comedy, but I always want, and I've written half hour dramas. It's just I want the pressure of three jokes a page and beating a joke and beating a joke and beating a joke. It just wasn't my pace.Michael Jamin:Well, I got to say, I think it was probably the last script you wrote was you and Pava teamed up to write a Christmas episode. Oh yeah. And you guys crushed it. I remember coming back, you guys turned it in, whatever you guys did together, were like, you guys, you're going to do this together. Probably because PA wanted to write a musical. I was like, Papa, I'm not writing a musical. And he probably did, but you guys turned in a great draft. And I was like, if that show had gone, I'd be like, I remember thinking, well, these guys are going to be stuck in a room together for a long time. Because yeah,Alex Berger:That was a lot of fun. That was a lot of fun. And it's funny, I want to show my kids the show. They're really young and there's not a lot of episodes that are appropriate for little, that one's pretty tame. That one's pretty tame. We did a rom-com parody sort, the Wedding planner parody, and then we did a, what was it? I forget the other ones. It was a lot of fun.Michael Jamin:Oh yeah. What is nutty stuff? So now the dramas, I'm sorry. When you go off to write your own pilots, when you're developing your own, is there a unifying theme tone that you like to pitch? Yeah,Alex Berger:I would say two things. One is fun. I don't want to write some things super dark. I don't want to write. I like watching shows like that. I watch Last Of Us and The Leftovers and a lot of shows that are real bleak and I really enjoy them. But when I'm living in the world for 12 hours a day, for eight years, I want it to be fun. I want to have a certain amount of lightness to it and sort of levity to it, which is not to say it has to be a comedy, it can still be a drama. There just needs to be something fun about it. And even when I'm writing on a show like Quantum Leap, we've had episodes that are really serious, but the ones that I do, I try to make them, I did an airplane hijacking episode, but I tried to make it fun and sort of like an eighties action movie. And then the other thing I would say is sort of optimism. I try to write something that makes you think that the world is going to be a better place. I've written a lot of political shows and politics is pretty dark these days. One, my take is sort of, but if we do this, we can all get through it. None of those have gotten on the air. So maybe that says something about what people feel about optimism these days.Michael Jamin:Well, it's also a numbers game, but how do you feel, let's say you were given the keys to run your show, got on the air somewhere, eight episodes on the air. How do you feel? Feel about that? Yeah, let's do it. I'm ready. Or like, oh my God, what did I get?Alex Berger:Both. I mean, I did the Writer's Guild showrunner training program a couple of years ago, which is phenomenal. WhatMichael Jamin:Was that? Tell me all aboutAlex Berger:That. It was great. But so essentially it's a six week every Saturday, all day, every Saturday college course on how to run a show. And it's run by Jeff Melvoin, who's a really seasoned showrunner, and Carol Kirschner, who's been working in the business forever. And then they bring in John Wells is usually a big part of the program and they bring in really heavy hitter showrunners all the way down to people who were in the program last year and then got a show on the year. And they're like, bill and Ted when they come back at the time Machine and Bill and Ted's, and they're like, you're in for a crazy journey. And so it's really cool to hear from all of those people and they focus one day is on writing, one day is on post one day on production. And what I learned from that was having been on staffs for something like 250 episodes of tv, I've learned basically all the things you can do in terms of book learning to run a show.But the last 20%, you can't learn until you're there. Sort of like if you read a hundred books about swimming, you kind of know how to swim, but if you dropped out of a helicopter ocean, you're going to have to figure it out and you're going to be drowning while you're doing it. And literally, I don't know if this was your experience when you guys had it, but every other show I've talked to says nothing fully prepares you for it. So I have a couple shows in development right now, and if you told me that they were to go, I think the first feeling would be utter terror and like, okay, let's do it. Let's go. This is the time to do it. And I've run a lot of writers' rooms and stuff like that, but I've never actually had the keys to the castle, soMichael Jamin:Interesting. Right. Okay, so you've run the room, you've been breaking stories, you're in charge of that. Now time in terms of tell me about the short run is problem You apply, how do you get in?Alex Berger:You have to be recommended by somebody and applied and they want someone, they're trying to find people who are the next shows up. And so people in the program have a pilot that's already been shot and that's already ordered a series, but they don't know how to run a show. You people who've worked in features or worked in writing novels who are transitioning into television. So all the production stuff to them is totally new. And then you have lot of people like me who sort came up as staff writer, story editor and just worked their way up the ranks who've been around for a while, who just haven't taken that next step, who want to know more about what it's like to run a show. I loved it. First of all, it was like being in college, man, it was just absorbing material and taking notes at a frantic pace and reading that they recommended. But it was just so interesting to hear. It's like this, your podcast is so great because you could hear people speak, but these are people who are specifically targeted at the demographic of you're a co eep and you're about to run a show. Here's what you need to know.Michael Jamin:And so you don't pay for this, right? Or youAlex Berger:Do, the guild pays for it and the studios pay for it. It's a phenomenal program.Michael Jamin:And then it's so interesting. And then, alright, so then how big of a cohort, how big of a group isAlex Berger:It? 30. And it's a bummer because these days it's been on Zoom and so you don't really get to the year. I did it in 2017 or 2018. And so I got to know those folks and they were sort of, yeah, again, my cohort and three quarters of them are running shows and everybody else's EPS or eps, running rooms. It's a very fun dynamic to have a group.Michael Jamin:What are they teaching you? I'm so curious as what they teach you. I bet there's stuff I don't know. And we've done three shows. What are they teaching you about post that you were surprised?Alex Berger:The overwhelming, the first thing they tell you when you walk in the door is quality scripts on time. The bug that they gave me, the showrunner program, quality scripts on time, and that was basically the theme of it was being efficient, being and knowing when to cut your losses and say move on. And knowing when to say this isn't good enough. And so for posts, it's like, are you the type of person who wants to be in post for 10 hours a day? That's fine, but then you need to have somebody who's going to be overrunning the room, or do you want the writer who produced the episode to do the first and the second cut? And then you do the last cut and they bring in editors and they talk, editors tell you about what they want to hear. A lot of things that I'd been in post a lot before I was in that room and then editors were telling me things that I was doing that annoyed the crap out of them. And I was like, oh, little thing like what? Snapping, when you say cut there,Michael Jamin:Oh,Alex Berger:That annoys.Michael Jamin:That annoys them. It's like a dogAlex Berger:Thing. Yeah, exactly. And a lot of editors, some editors want line notes. Some editors want you to say, this scene doesn't feel funny enough, I'm not getting the comedy. And then they'll say, okay, let me take another swing at it. And you need to feel like, is this the type of editor that wants to do it on their own or that type of showrunner that wants to do that. But broadly speaking, it's essentially a leadership training program. The nuts and bolts stuff with all stuff that I had seen up close being a lieutenant on a show, there are a lot of little tips that I picked up here and there and when I get a show, I will go back to my notebook and frantically look through it, but it's mostly about how do you lead, how do you manage, how do you fire people? How do you delegate? How do you tell people that they're not doing a good enough job but give 'em a second chance? Interesting. They bring a lot of directors in, stuff like that.Michael Jamin:What was the last thing youAlex Berger:Said? How to interview a director? How to interview director. A big director came in and talked to you. Here's some questions you should ask when you're interviewing. Here's a great one that they said. They said, when you're interviewing a director, ask if you're the showrunner and you're interviewing somebody who's coming in to do an episode of your show, ask the director, do you cook? And if so, are you a person who uses a recipe or do you like to improvise? And there's no right answers to that, right? But if you cook and you're the person who is going to measure out the exact number of grams of flour and the exact number of grams of sugar, that's kind of how you're going to approach directing. You're going to come in with a shot list, you're going to be going to stay on time, you're going to make sure that you move the set along. And if you're the person who likes to kind of throw a little salt to throw a little sugar, you might be a little more improvisational. I say you might be a little more, more. There's little things like that that are like how to dig in on this with those people.Michael Jamin:Now I'm learning. What else can you share with me thatAlex Berger:Might be helpful? I can get my notebook you,Michael Jamin:Hey, it's Michael Jamin. If you like my videos and you want me to email them to you for free, join my watch list. Every Friday I send out my top three videos. These are for writers, actors, creative types. You can unsubscribe whenever you want. I'm not going to spam you and it's absolutely free. Just go to michaeljamin.com/watchlist.I remember when we're running Glen Martin, which is the first show we ran a lot of this, and you probably weren't even aware of this, A lot of it was me. If I was at the board or whatever, it was me like, okay, I want to make sure I'm not losing the room. I want to make sure everyone, no one's losing focus. And I think part of that was make a decision even if it's a bad one because you can lose the room if you can't pull the trigger. You know what I'm saying? It's so frustrating. You guysAlex Berger:Did a good job with that. And then I think that decisiveness, I think is actually one of the most important qualities in the showrunner, but also willingness to admit you were wrong if you made a decision and moved on and then a day later you realize you were wrong. You have to and say, I made the wrong decision. And one of the things I've learned running that I've really tried to do when I'm running a room is if there's an idea floating around that I hate, but it's getting energy and it's getting excitement, I try not to step on it until it either burns out on its own or it's reached a critical mass and I'm like, look, I think this is not going to work, but let's talk it out because there's nothing worse as having come up on staffs. And this is one of the most valuable things when you've been a staff writer and a story editor as opposed to getting your own show as the first thing that happens to you is you know how demoralizing it is when everybody's super excited about something now it's not going to work. It's so demoralizing. Yes, A lot of times you think it's not going to work. You just sit there back and listen for 20 minutes and you're like, oh, actually, you know what? There is a version of this that'll work if I just add this one thing. It's an organism and you're leading an organism and it's very hard. You guys did a great, and you guys are a team, which is even harder because you've got to read each other's minds aboutThis works.Michael Jamin:You bring a good point. I remember one time, so when Glen Martin, I would go, I would direct the actors on Wednesdays or whatever and see would be running the room, and I remember coming back at the end of a long day directing, come back to the room and you guys had made a lot of progress on the script and everyone's excited. Everyone's excited about this idea and you guys pitched it to me. I wasn't getting it. I didn't get it. I was like, I didn't want to shit on it because I could tell everyone was so excited about it. And so I just kept on asking questions just to explain it to me so that I would get on board.Alex Berger:That's a really hard part is and because I've never been the actual showrunner, I've never been the one, I would be like, I'm sorry we're vetoing this. A lot of times what I would do, because I was a number two, was if I hated something, if I left the room and then I came back and I hated something, I'd be like, look, I'm not totally on board with this idea, but let's give it its day in short and let's pitch it to the showrunner. And I would try, when I would pitch it to the showrunner be to not give away which side I was on or to say, look, here's one side of the argument, here's the other side of the argument. But when it's ultimately up to you, it is hard because I always analogize it to in Family Feud when the first four people give their answer and then that last person has to give the final answer and they want to go against the rest of the family. It's a hard thing to do. You're wrong.Michael Jamin:Yeah,Alex Berger:I guess, I don't know. What was that experience like for you? Did you feel like it was like you had to balance? What was your favorite idea versus losing another 10 people's morale?Michael Jamin:It wasn't even about my favorite idea. It was more like I just want to make sure if sea's on board than I trust, I trust him. But it's also like I wish I can remember what the episode was. It just didn't make anyAlex Berger:Sense to me. No, I remember that a couple times. Every show I've ever been on has had that. Every show I've ever, the showrunners left the room, the room gets excited about, something comes back in and it's not what they want, it's just part of show running. The value of having a staff that's been together for a while is the longer the staff has been together, the more you can say, oh, secret and Michael are going to hate this. We shouldn't even this path. Versus early on, you're going down a million paths you don't know. But once you get to know the showrunner, you kind of get to know what they like and what they don't like.Michael Jamin:Yeah. There was another idea that we had in that, I don't remember what we were all on board, but Seaver wasn't on board. It was something crazy.Alex Berger:Oh, I think it was the radio episode and there was something about wires or no wires, and they weren't recording the music the whole time,Michael Jamin:Who wasn't recording music.Alex Berger:Glen went to, you got to cut this out of the podcast.Michael Jamin:No one's going to care. ButAlex Berger:It was like there were a lot of room bits that I think that's the problem with room bits is they take on a life of their own and then they're an inside joke. And if the runner comes in and there's a room bit in the script, it's an inside joke. It just doesn't work. You weren't there for the beginning of it, which is a good sign that it's not a good story because the audience wasn't there for it either. But I think it was Glen becomes a radio producer named Stacey Rappaport.Michael Jamin:Yes.Alex Berger:His wife was also named Stacey Rappaport. Yes. And I know he works for Stacey Rappaport. And anyway, the whole time it was the, you guys were doing the Brady Bunch, Johnny Bravo episode basically as aMichael Jamin:Yeah,Alex Berger:Remember the debate was like, were they actually recording by the way? I will say again, you can cut this out early, but it's not relevant at all. But I grew up watching the Brady Bunch for whatever reason, even though I'm 10 years younger than you guys. And that was number one reference that you guys talked about. So I did feel like at least I got those references.Michael Jamin:Oh, it's so funny. I remember that. I remember because I think I was the one who pitched the name Stacey Rappaport.Alex Berger:I remember because I had a friend named StaceyMichael Jamin:Rappaport. Oh really? That's so funny. It was just a man's name that the joke was that Glen was going to choose a new identity for himself and he chooses a woman's name.Alex Berger:What have you gone back and just watched full episodes of the show?Michael Jamin:No. And everyone, people want to know about. People ask me that a lot. I don't touch. I should. I love that show, but I don't touch anything that I've written. I just don't. It's over and I don't know why, but you doAlex Berger:Just not even about Glen Martin. That is an interesting thing about writers is whether they want to go back. I go back and watch stuff and I hate it because I'm like, but because Glen Martin was not really mine. It was such an organism of the room. I laugh when I go back and watch it except the one I wrote, which I don't like.Michael Jamin:Oh my God. We had some fun in that show. But okay, so when you take, I have so many questions for you. When you were young, when you were a kid, did you want to be a writer? I know TimeAlex Berger:Know was a profession. I loved television. I was a youngest kid. I was raised by the Cosby Show and the Brady Bunch and G I F. And my idea of a family was basically what those families were probably to go back, rethink the Cosby one. And then even in college, I interned at Saturday Night Live and late night with Conan O'Brien back when he was on, which were fantasy camp, especially the s and l one was truly a dream come true. And it still didn't occur to me that it was a profession that I could go do. I was go to law school and then a buddy of mine, we were in Jerry's Subs and Pizza, which is an East coast person you probably remember. And we were sitting there talking about what we're going to do and he's like, like I said, I'm going to go to LA and be a writer. And I said, how do you do that? And he said, someone writes this stuff, why couldn't it be us? And it just gave me this epiphany of like, oh yeah, everybody who's out there as a writer at some point wasn't a writer and just got out there and learned how to do it. And so we all went out together and we kind of got our start.Michael Jamin:Did your friend become a writer too?Alex Berger:Yeah, we all ended up creating a show together. So the earliest thing that we did was we were on the high school debate team together and we walked into National Lampoon, which at the time was doing low budget cable programming, and the head creative guy there just made fun of my resume the entire time and made fun of debate. And then by the end of it said, there's a show here. And so we came, pitched him a show called Master Debaters that was a debating society, and we ended up getting to make, it was like our film school. I knew nothing about how to make a TV show and that one, I was throwing the keys to the castle. I was casting it, writing it, producing it. I was in it, posting it with every crisis. But it was so low stakes because the budgets were tiny and they were in syndicated cable stations and college campuses. No one would watch me. So I got to learn by doing and I loved it. It was great.Michael Jamin:Interesting. And then, all right, so then you became a writer and then you just kept on writing. I guess mean it's not an easy path, but you've made a really pretty good name for yourself over the years.Alex Berger:Yeah, I mean, thank you. It was a winding path when I came out, I thought for a minute I might want to be a development executive. I read a book by this guy, Brandon Tartikoff, who used to run N B C called The Last Great. It was like basically made it out to be, you're sitting in your room and the smartest people in the world come and tell you what TV show ideas they have, and then you pick the eight of them and pick the order in America Shears. And so I worked in development for a minute and I was not what it was like at all, and I was miserable and I was jealous of all the writers who were coming in. So I said, that's the job I want. And so I quit. WhatMichael Jamin:Was it I didn't know you worked at VO for? I wasAlex Berger:Assistant. I was an assistant in development at N B C.Michael Jamin:What was it like then?Alex Berger:It's very busy and not as creative as I wanted to be. I actually really enjoyed the conversations I had with the executives when it wasn't time to do my job and it was just time to talk about tv. But the actual job I was doing, I was terrible at, I mean, it was a lot of keeping track of who was calling, and I'm an absentminded first, butMichael Jamin:That you're an assistant. I mean, surelyAlex Berger:You, but it's a long time before your branded Tartikoff, right? Almost everybody else under branded Tartikoff has a lot of business responsibilities to do. And it wasn't, that's not how my brain works. My brain needs more free time. I think if I worked at a place that was smaller that was incubating three or four shows, I probably would've enjoyed it more. But we had 50 comedies and 50 dramas in development, and I was trying to get of all of them and who was calling and the letterhead changing and all this stuff. And it was just like I was not good at it. I mean, my boss even said to me one day, he said, you're a very smart guy. Why are you not very good at this? And we had a nice conversation about that. But the main thing was the writers that came in that I was, can I get you a coffee?Can I get you a tea? Can I get you a Coke? I was so jealous of them. Door would close to the pitch, and I just wanted to be in there listening to. And so I realized I should follow that. And so I didn't last that long. I left like eight months and I quit. I at the time had been, I think had a couple of writing jobs, like smaller writing jobs lined up that show Master Debaters had been optioned of VH one. So we were writing a pilot for VH one and a couple of their small writing jobs. So I went to go do those and then got back in the beginning of the line as an assistant, I was a writer's assistant on a show, and then I was an assistant to a showrunner and then I stop.Michael Jamin:So it's a brave move for you to leave that behind in.Alex Berger:It was definitely, I mean, I had some stuff lined up, but it was definitely a risk, but I just knew it wasn't the right, I was in the wrong place. But it's interesting, it was an incredible learning experience. I knew how development work from the inside, and I still think I know more about what's actually going on at the network than a lot of my peers because I was on the other side. And then the folks I met who are the other assistants to the other executives are now all executive vice presidents of networks or presidents of networks or I met my agent because he was an assistant to an agent that used to call, and then he signed me while he was still a coordinator. One of the people on that hall now became the president of Fox, another one who I've dealt with a lot became the president of N B C. I met a ton of great folks through that who have become friends and allies over the years, and I sold Joe to,Michael Jamin:But okay, so it's probably changed lot since you were in assistant that was probably 20 somethingAlex Berger:Years ago, 19 yearsMichael Jamin:Ago. So what is it like then that we don't understand?Alex Berger:I think the main thing that I didn't understand, and this has for sure changed and certainly in cable and streaming is just a volume. They are not spending as much time thinking about your script as you are by definition. But in development, there are literally 40 to 50 scripts at least back then on both on comedy and trauma. And so my boss, who was in charge of both has a hundred scripts to keep track of. So he was very smart and could make a judgment very quickly about a script, but he would read it once, sometimes read it again, and then he was making a judgment about whether it was a show. So as a writer now I know they're reading fast, they're reading it at three 30 in the morning, or they're reading it on the plane, I've got to grab attention fast, I've got to hook you in. I cannot lean, oh, the great twist, wait till the Great Twist. It's on page 55. And when I'm pitching, it's the same thing my boss said to me, I hear 300 pitches a year. I typically hear about five ideas I haven't heard before. The other 95 I've heard before. It's about take, it's about the writer, it's about their passion. And so when I go and pitch an idea, the substance of the idea is the second most important thing. And my connection to it and why it has to be me is the first most important.Michael Jamin:And that's the hard part. I feel that's the hard part because usually you think of an idea, you can't really, I don't know, you're a hundred percent right. They always, they want to know why are you the only one in the world who can write this idea truthfully? It's like a lot of times you're not a lot of times like, well, this is the characters we created. It's a funny situation, but there's probably a lot of people who could write this idea.Alex Berger:I think that what I have seen, and I've never done this, but I know folks who have is, I knew a writer once who his sort of why me paragraph was, I just run a show for a bunch of years. I came off of running that show and I didn't know what I wanted to do next and I had an identity crisis. And so it got to the idea of identity crises and here's a spy show, an action spy show, but at the center of it as a character going through an identity crisis. So it's notMichael Jamin:GrewAlex Berger:Up and my dad was a spy, and therefore sometimes it's emotional or sometimes I had this interaction with a guy on the subway and I couldn't stop thinking about it. And it led me to this show. And sometimes by the way, you retrofitted sometimes you already come up to the show and then you've got to come up with that first paragraph that's retrofitted and sometimes often it feels organic even though it was come up with thatMichael Jamin:Word. That's so interesting because I'm glad you said that to me. It almost sounds, it gives me some soce knowing that, because a lot of times we'll say, okay, this is why we're the only ones, and this is from seabird's idea home life or my home life, and then it doesn't sell. And you're like, well, I don't know what to do now. But you're actually broadening it out into a thematically, it's more personal to you. It's not necessarily a dynamic. It's more like,Alex Berger:Here's how I think about it. I think that, and I could be wrong, and by the way, it's different in a comedy because you've got to make 'em laugh in a comedy, and I know certain comedy executives don't laugh, but for the most, if you're funny in the room, they're thinking, okay, I want to be in business with these pets, but in drama, are there twists and turns? Am I hooked on this? Is this going to fit with something that we have on the air? Do we have something similar? But I always think what they're going to remember when they've heard six, they hear six to eight a day, and then at the end of the week they go tell their bosses about the ones that they bought. So what they're going to remember is, oh my God, you'll never believe the story this guy told about the time that he was held hostage on the subway, or you'll never believe that, or a cool twist or a cool character. They're not ever going to remember the third beat of the pilot, or when pitch episode ideas, here's soMichael Jamin:Interesting.Alex Berger:I think you need that stuff to be in there, but what they're going to remember, it's like when you walk into a house, when you're looking for a house, you remember, oh, I was dazzled by the kitchen and the master bedroom had the fullest bathroom and yeah, yeah, it had five bedrooms and five baths, which is what we need. But it felt like this when I walked in. It's like, how do they feel? That's another, I'm sorry to ramble, butMichael Jamin:No,Alex Berger:For drama. I think in a pitch, if you can make the executives feel how the show is going to make them feel, that's a successful pitch to me. Comedy's a little different, I think. ButMichael Jamin:Interesting. I feel like I'm learning a lot from you actually, because I mean, honestly, we'll sell shows and we'll not sell shows.Alex Berger:We're learning all that time from you guys for 40 episodes on the murder.Michael Jamin:But a lot of this is, like I said, we will sell a show or we won't sell a show, and I won't know why. I don't know. I'm not sure why this one sold this one, the other one didn't sell. I can, but that'sAlex Berger:Why I really don't like Zoom pitches because you can't. I love, that's actually my favorite part. I think it comes from, like I said, I was on the debate team in high school and college, and I loved trying to persuade someone who was not necessarily on my side at the beginning that I'm right. And I viewed every pitch as a miniature debate. I'm debating against the person who says, don't buy this. And I love the feeling of like, oh, I've got them hooked, and they're now, they are going to buy the show as long as it continues to go on this pace. And I hate the feeling of, I think they've checked out. And actually when I've memorized a pitch, when I think they've checked out, I'm talking, but my internal monologue is, well, I guess we didn't sell it to Fox. All right, well, if we can sell it to Fox, we can go to a B, C. Because I'm sort of like, I've moved on.Michael Jamin:How much off book are you have notes or not?Alex Berger:I've developed this method that I got from this guy, Martin Garra, who I've worked for eight or nine years for some blind spot, and now on Quantum Leap, it's different, but I love it, which is, it's different on Zoom, but when we go back to in-person pitches, what he does is he brings in his laptop and he puts it on the table in front of him and it acts as a teleprompter. And so he's looking up at you making eye contact and occasionally looking down. And then he is got a remote that flips page to page and the script is there word for word. So if you're like, oh shit, I'm about to get to the part that I always mess up, then you just look down and read for a minute and they know you've written this. It's not like no one is under the illusion that you walked in and RIFed for 20 minutes off theMichael Jamin:Topic. Does he do this in person or on Zoom?Alex Berger:Both. On Zoom, it's so easy because you can have your screen, but in person, I thought, oh, they're going to think it's offputting. But because I was practiced, I got to the point where 70% of it was eye contact and the laptop was there as the security one did.Michael Jamin:And what program is he using? That's a teleprompterAlex Berger:Work.Michael Jamin:Oh, so you're just scrolling. Oh, you're just clicking.Alex Berger:There's this Bluetooth remote that he uses that I was now in my drawer, and it's just you click and it's to the nextMichael Jamin:Page. You have a Bluetooth remote that works on your lap. I didn't even know this such a thing. I'm learning so much from you Burger.Alex Berger:Oh, you know what? I've lost it. Oh, here. Yeah, so it's like a little U S B that plugs into the back of your computer, and then you're just like, you click, click, click and it's, you look like you're giving its head talk it 5% easy. And I actually think in a comedy pitch, it might come off as too dorky, but for a drama it's like, I'm going to tell you a story. I'm going to deliver a pitch. And I wrote it. And the reason I find it useful is a lot of times when you're developing with the pod and the studio and then also the non-writing show runner, so many Sunday night, you're getting notes for a Monday morning pitch and stuff's changed. So if I get to the section that just changed, I might look down a little bit moreMichael Jamin:Interest. So I was going to say, are you going in mostly with pods these days for people who don't know that they're producers on the overall deals at studios, but is that how it works in dramas as well?Alex Berger:I don't think I'm going to show on the air anymore without an entourage. So when I was on Blind Spot, it was produced by Greg Ante and I did a couple pieces of development with him and then also with Blind Spot. I just think there's the business side of it, which is that these networks want to be in business with their 800 pound gorillas and the not. So if you walk in with one of them, even if it's my vision a hundred percent, and it's my personal story, the fact that this brand is behind it really helps. And then I also, I actually enjoy the process of crafting the idea with smart people. I don't want to work with a pod who's annoying and gives dumb notes or a studio who does that. But every pod I've ever worked with, if I'm stuck on an idea, I'll say, Hey, can we hop on the phone for half an hour and work out this story problem? You guys have each other so you can get in a room and hash out a story problem. But I need to talk. I cannot think through anyMichael Jamin:Interesting,Alex Berger:And we'll work it out. Oh,Michael Jamin:So you'll really use them as a resource. It's so interesting.Alex Berger:I mean, this guy, Martin Garrow who runs Blind Spot Quantum Leap, I've developed him a bunch of times and he's a writer.Michael Jamin:Yeah, it's differentAlex Berger:Stuff is acting as a pod. But I can call him and we have such a shorthand, we've broken 150 episodes a week, butMichael Jamin:That's different because he's a writer. He is not, I mean, he's a writer, is writer producer, but he's really aAlex Berger:Writer. So it's Greg Ante. I like working with folks who are on the creative things, and I've worked with producers who weren't writers, but could be because they're a creative, the worst part of that development is when someone gives you a note and they don't realize, oh, that's going to unravel. They think it's two lines, but it actually unravel all. Whereas when you work with people who've made a lot of tv, they're like, look, I know that this blows everything up to do this one little thing, but here's why I think it's better. Or Hey, they gave a huge note. Here's easy fix. It's only two lines.Michael Jamin:Yeah, I mean, that's so interesting. You're absolutely right. There's a huge difference between, I think between working with a producer, producer and a writer producer, because the writers, they just know what's going to unravel everything. I don't know. Yeah, that's ProducersAlex Berger:Are good for like, oh, you know what? Who'd be great for this is this actress. And they make the call and they're good.I find that you find everybody's in this business, they're good at something. Nobody who's come to this business and is just dashing a check. Well, probably not true, but the people that I try to find work with are people who are in this business smart. And even if they're not totally up on exactly what I wanted to do, fix the script, they have something that they're really good at that I want to use. So even if it's, there's one person at this company who's mostly the production person have a really good idea about like, Hey, if we shot this in Buffalo, we could do this.Michael Jamin:Right. Interesting. Wow. I think I've learned a lot from you. Before we conclude, you want to write drama withAlex Berger:Me? Let's go that. Let's talk about drama.Michael Jamin:I think I'm going to get into the drama business with you. I think you're going to be my pod. What advice do you have for young writers? You must have something to Wise to say.Alex Berger:Yeah, I mean, I probably don't have anything wise to say, but I'm happyMichael Jamin:To. Or how are they breaking in the business?Alex Berger:It's funny. The answer was so different 10 years ago to four years ago. It changed rapidly, and it's very different now because of the writer's strike. So if you're talking about what should I be doing right now, if I want to break in? I was just talking to a writer today and my advice to her was, just use this time to write. It's not a good time to try to get a producer attached or a showrunner attached or an agent. It's a good time to just be writing and really writing diligently. And then this is over. And in general, my advice is get a job in the industry, even if it's as an assistant. If you can't get a job as an assistant in a room, get a job as an assistant in post or get a job as a PA on set, just get into the room. Then just keep building a network and talking to everybody. And when your cousin comes and says, you know what? I used my college roommate, I think as a writer, I don't know what he take them up on all of those opportunities because you never know what's going to result in something. The first three jobs I got were from general meetings that I didn't want to take because actually two of them were from people. My mom had metParties in Washington dc but they were another assistant who was leaving their job and happened to open up. And then the last thing I would say is, I think the thing that people don't do as much of it that they should do is engage in the continuing education piece of this. So your listeners to your podcast are obviously trying to learn how to write, and that's important. There's a lot of other good podcasts out there. There's Deadline Hollywood, which everybody should be reading every single day. There's business podcasts like The Town and the Business and Fresh Air that people should be listening to understand the macro pieces of their business. So often you get people who come out here and they have

Kevin Reilly, the former network exec behind shows like Saved by the Bell, The Sopranos, The Shield, The Office, and more talks about falling in love with television and the palm tree silhouettes of Los Angeles, drinking Evian on Brandon Tartikoff's sofa, and his perspective on the strike from a network insider.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brandon Tartikoff et le hasard

If you're thinking I'm not in sales or I'm not a creative, I'm never going to pitch anything, think again! As my guest for this episode, Dave Noll, says, life's a pitch, life's a series of pitches...whether it's love or work or anything important. Selling anything, creating anything, anything important in life comes with a pitch. Dave knows what he's talking about. He and his partner, Cleve Keller, are the mega-successful creators and producers of Chopped (the most successful show in the history of the Food Network) and America Says (the most successful show in the history of the Game Show Network) plus 60 other shows that went from idea to successful pitch. Dave lives by these Four P's: Positive, polite, persistent, professional. More Dave nuggets: Research, research, research! It's the end all and be all of a great pitch Rehearse what you are pitching Rehearse your pitch in front of someone and ask them to flag anything negative that seeps in Reframe any negatives into positives Identify that one thing that is going to make you memorable and be clear on that one thing One extraordinary idea can change your life Always ask: What about this...? Dave's book, The Visionary in Charge, comes out fall 2023. Enjoy Dave explaining the power and impact of positivity in this episode of Camera Ready & Abel. Connect and follow Dave at www.linkedin.com/davenolltv Dave recommends two of his favorite books: Jerry Weintraub's When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead and The Last Great Ride by Brandon Tartikoff, former NBC programming chief.

I dreamt of being a pilot as a child and grew up watching The A-Team and my favourite character was 'Howling Mad Murdock' played by Dwight Schultz. I was obsessed with aircraft so he was the one I wanted to be as his character could fly any plane or helicopter that he had to. Years later I saw him with Jamie Glazov and Anni Cyrus on 'The Glazov Gang' and was intrigued at his strong Conservative Christian stance while delivering common sense commentary. This is the first interview he has done for many years so it truly is an honour to have Dwight join Hearts of Oak on this audio only discussion. (he is the voice king) We talk about those early days treading the boards in the theatre and as a star in Hollywood, working on the biggest TV programme in the world and Dwight shares some stories of how his strong conservative stance got him into much hot water. He truly is a breath of fresh air in an increasingly demonic industry that opposes truth at every turn and mocks all who have a Christian Faith or Conservative Values. (*Peter takes to the skies regularly and has held a pilots licence for many years) A respected performer on Broadway, Dwight Schultz found everlasting fame by playing the certifiable "Howling Mad" Murdock on the action series "The A-Team" (1983-86). A living, breathing cartoon with a seemingly endless selection of voices and accents at his command, Murdock provided the air power for the A-Team's clandestine adventures, provided that his compatriots could break him out of the mental hospital where he resided. One of the show's most popular and memorable figures, Murdock ensured Schultz steady work on television and on the big screen playing Reginald Barclay in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" An accomplished voice actor, Dwight can be heard in numerous hit computer games and in countless animated shows. Interview recorded 21.3.23 *Special thanks to Bosch Fawstin for recording our intro/outro on this podcast. Check out his art https://theboschfawstinstore.blogspot.com/ and follow him on GETTR https://gettr.com/user/BoschFawstin and Twitter https://twitter.com/TheBoschFawstin?s=20  To sign up for our weekly email, find our social media, podcasts, video, livestreaming platforms and more... https://heartsofoak.org/connect/ Please subscribe, like and share! TRANSCRIPT [0:22] Hello Hearts of Oak, and welcome to another interview coming up with Dwight Schultz, Howling Mad Murdock from the A-Team. He came in on a audio. Dwight hasn't done interviews for years. I was absolutely delighted to have him on when you talk to one of your childhood heroes who you grew up watching him in A-Team. And he was my favourite simply because he was a pilot. And I always wanted to grow up and that's what I wanted to grow up to be. But I'm talking to him about being a conservative, being a Christian in the industry, in Hollywood, in the movie industry. And actually we delve more deeply into his Christian faith, Roman Catholic background, and what it means for him to be a Christian in that industry where you're pulled every way and where your faith is ridiculed, mocked, and everything stands against that. So great conversation about some of his experiences and what it is to be a Christian and to be a conservative in the industry. We talk about his voiceovers, I mean his voice is legendary. Talk about that and why he stepped away from doing kind of in front of a camera in 2001, why that was, and all the voiceover and then I think 100 video games, his voice is in a whole other world, a whole other industry. So, I know you will enjoy listening to Dwight as much as I enjoyed speaking with him. [1:48] It is wonderful to have Dwight Schultz with us today. Dwight, thank you so much for joining us. [1:54] Oh, it's my pleasure, Peter, for my reintroduction to the world of podcasting, radio, television.   Well, this is something I've only been doing three years, So I know you have much more experience back in the day, but we'll get into some of that. And obviously I... Remember you fondly growing up. I think I was six when The A Team first came out, which is now 40 years ago. I'm sure I didn't want it when I was six. But your role obviously is as Howling Mad Murdock. So we can take just a little bit memory lane before we go into and talk about actually being a conservative in the industry and what that is like. But I mean, it ran for five seasons, 83 to think 87. Do you just want to let us know how you actually ended up in that role? Well, actually, it actually only went four seasons, real seasons, so it's not technically considered a success. That's true. I ended up in that role because I made a comedy tape at the Williamstown Theatre Festival around 1979, 1980. [3:18] Somewhere in there. And the comedy tape, and for two years, I didn't hear anything. And then suddenly I started getting calls from my agent to audition and to go to Los Angeles to audition. and it was because of this comedy tape. And I found out it had been making the rounds for two years and eventually Steve Cannell and Frank Lupo, his co-writer saw it and requested me to come. Joel Thurm, who was the vice president of NBC at the time, however, he had different ideas about this character. And anyway, I went in and they flew me out to Los Angeles. [4:03] And my wife was out here. She wasn't my wife at the time, but I had been dating her since 79. And she was out here living in Los Angeles, which was difficult. I mean, I was glad to come out here for any reason. And I had never. It was a joy, but I came in and I auditioned and it was a total flop. It was a bomb. I mean, you walk into a small room with 25 people, 30 people, and there was not a single laugh. There was nothing. There was no... And then they sent me out and they sent the director, Rod Holcomb, out with me to talk to me. I came back in, I did the same audition, And everybody was laughing and I had no idea why they were laughing now. And they weren't laughing before, unless someone said laugh when he comes back. You know, that's the way it was. It was just an astonishing thing. And they said, you got the part. [5:02] And then, uh, and this is the, really, this is the nub, right? So, uh, I, they shoot in Mexico and I went down to Mexico. And when we were down there, I was fired. I was fired. I was fired. Rod Holcomb came into my little room and he said, I'm afraid it's not going to work out. And I said, oh, what? He said, it's not Steven. It's not Frank. It's the would-be's at NBC. They just don't think you're quite right for it. And so they took me out of my little room and they put me in with a stuntman who I loved. I just loved him. I mean, it was incredible to work with these guys. And so there I was with the stuntmen for the rest of the shoot down in Mexico. And when we came back to the States, they were editing it and putting it together as we were shooting it, right? [5:58] I got a call from my agent said your dials were great. I said, what are you talking about? I had no idea what they were talking about. This is 82, right? This is 1980. I don't know what you're talking about. He said the dials, the dials, the testing. The audience loved you. You're the best dials that anybody had. So I was written back in. I was rehired before I was fired. And so you can't make this stuff up in life. You can't. So it just turns out that they had a different view of what this character should be like. And I had another view. And Stephen Cannell and Frank Lupo were in my camp. And so they had to write me back into the first five episodes, which they had kind of written me out of. And that's the way it started. And I was, [7:04] as anybody would be, you know, I got to work with some of the finest old actors [7:12] that I had grown up with in the 50s and 60s. And it was a thrill. The four years were a thrill. I mean, it was an absolute thrill. And I got along beautifully with everybody. And Stephen J. Cannell [7:24] was a conservative. I mean, I'm lucky. I'm fortunate there. I was fortunate because some of my other experiences were not so fortunate, working with people who knew I was a conservative and weren't going to have a conservative on their show. That was the way it started back then. But anyway, so it was four years of, we didn't really have a studio. We were working on locations and I got along famously with everybody. And it was a joy. It was four, believe me, it changed my life completely and totally. I never thought I would end up in Los Angeles and never leave. Well, what was I mean, it's intense, I guess, that you're living and breathing it. And most people, I have no idea what that's like. Most people go to a job and they go home, but you're there nonstop. What's that kind of intensity, especially for years with it's the same people? It's the same people. But listen, as an actor, I mean, I've been working I've been working professionally since nineteen sixty nine. This gig, it's over 50 years. Right. So I had, I have before the 18, I never knew what my next job was ever. I never knew what I was doing next. And after the 18, I never have known [8:50] what I'm going to do next. I've never had a consistent job other than those four years. And I thank God for them every night. I hoped it would go longer, but this was not the intention, nor the background of Stephen J Cannell. His shows were two years, three years. And then they name of every single writer that we had in the first year moved on to their own series. They all became producers. And this is not the way you have a successful series for an, actor, which is selfish, right? You want to go at least five years, seven years. But they all, you have to have somebody there who is consistently behind it, pushing it, making sure everything is the way it's supposed to be. But that was not the way it was. But I did everything that you can possibly imagine, I think, on that show. And as the 14-hour days, 15-hour day, I loved it because I knew that there was going to be an ending. I knew the day I started that there was going to be a last day. And so and I think that's the way life is, actually. [10:02] And so take advantage of what you have and enjoy it and hope for the best. But I savour it every minute and I look back very fondly. When you say it wasn't a success, I remember thinking this is the biggest thing ever. This is phenomenal. I watched it as a kid growing up. So it did seem to be the kind of TV show that you would watch. I mean, the only other one I remember at the same time was I think Knight Rider at the same time, but they were the shows to watch.   Yes, they were. But you see, we were on NBC, Grant Tinker and Brandon Tartikoff, and their moniker was quality programming. And Grant Tinker, and well, Tartikoff gave an interview for the New York Times, right? This is not an example of our quality program, right? Really, this is it. That's what he said. You know, their ideas was Hill Street Blues, which they had on. This was their idea of quality programming, not this schlock that's number one. [11:12] This is not it. And I sent Grant Tinker a telegram and George Peppard said, don't do it, pal. Don't do it. Don't do it, Peppard said to me. I sent it to him and I said, this is third rate executive ship. I said, we do the best work we can and we're number one, why are you doing this to us? And then he sent me a telegram back, which I have kept, saying, well, you're assuming that that was true, what you read. And I said, well, I checked with the writer, the journalist, quote unquote, who he said, he talked to you and this is what you said. And indeed he did. And this is a tag to all of this. He, after the show was over, it was cancelled, several years afterwards, I have received a phone call from his assistant saying [12:13] Brandon wants to talk to you. And I said, sure, I'll talk to him. And I met with him in this basement office, 20th Century Fox. And I walked in and there was nobody there but Brandon Tartikoff sitting at a table and he apologized to me. [12:31] His daughter had been in a very serious accident and it changed his life. It was one of these things. And he apologized to me. I'll never forget it. And this does not happen in show business. It does not happen. And I said, thank you. Thank you so much for that. I said, and then I went into my spiel about being an actor. And that I, you know, you do the best job you can, whether you're doing Shakespeare, whether you're doing a show, or whether you're doing The A-Team. You do the best job you can. It is the same job if you're good and you love your work. It doesn't matter. You do the best thing, the best you put. You're not walking through it. I said, that's what we were doing. And we happened to be number one. And why did you rain on the parade? You know, I asked him and he gave me some explanations as to the the exigencies at the top of a TV network. And I, so at any rate, that that that's the experience. That's the beginning and end of that experience, really.[13:43] And I carry with me.   How did you cope with that fame? And you were what, 30, 32, so you weren't young, young. But still, when you're thrust into that level of publicity, how did that affect you personally and how did you cope with that? Well, you know, I was fortunate that I was working since I had been working since 69. I spent 13 years in regional theatre. I spent years in New York, three Broadway plays. I had a lot of experience. [14:17] Really, they walk in the boards, doing all the grunt work, getting there. And I, fame was not a, I was known and all my interests in theatre were to be, this is a joke actually, but never the same actor twice. I mean, that's it. You didn't want to do the same thing. And here I was, and I forced the idea that this actor, this character would be different in each episode, which the vice president of NBC said, that's the way you comb your hair differently. You should be the same. We want you to be polite on this. And I said, no, no, no, no, no, I don't wanna do that. I wanna be different in every show. And so I maintained, I think, because of the work that I had had. When you do the classics, when you're in, and I don't mean this, when you have the great opportunity to play a Shakespearean role. [15:22] You understand something about talent, about what goes into writing, brilliant writing, and then schlock writing. I mean, you see it all. And when you've been given that opportunity, There's a humility that hits you. So fame was never something that I wanted. I wanted to be able to – and I've had this ability. I've been able to go to a department store or take my daughter to a mall and not be recognized, which is – I'm telling you, I have worked with – I mean, I worked with Paul Newman and Paul Newman was, it was not a, he, he told me he couldn't go anywhere. He was a prisoner of his fame. [16:12] George Peppard was a prisoner of his fame. I mean, the closest I think I've ever gotten was somebody said, your voice sounds familiar, do you know my brother? I'll say, no, I don't know your brother. Then every once in a while, somebody recognizes you, but it's a curse. [16:33] It is a curse, really. If you have a family, if you want a family life, if you want privacy, which I think is necessary for survival in this business. I mean, I've seen a lot of actors drop to their knees and open cardboard tubes and pull drugs out. You know, and that's fame. And you ask them, that's it, it's driven. You know, you gotta have that fame, you gotta have that fame, you gotta. And it's not what I wanted. I really am a repertory actor, that's it. I'm a repertory actor. I spent one year in Houston, at the Alley Theatre in Houston, and it was one of the greatest years I've ever had. And I never wanted to leave. And someone told me, that's why you have to leave. I would have stayed there. I could have stayed there. But my agents all told me, you have to leave. You can't stay here, or your career will be over. And I said, but I love this. And they said, you won't love it when it dries up there. You know, you have to go to a bigger, a bigger yard in essence. But I'm really a repertory actor. That's it. [17:47] Your last I think your last TV role was 2001. I will get into the voice side later, but your last 2001. Why did, why did it end there? Was a personal experience? Was it just choice? Oh, yeah. No, it was a really a personal experience. It was CIA. 2001 was... [18:17] I went in for wardrobe fitting, and we were at the Memorial Cemetery, Veterans Cemetery down in Wilshire Boulevard, and that's where it was being shot. And I walked in, and this is nothing, I won't mention the name, I shouldn't have even said what the show was. Just someone in the wardrobe room. We were talking about 9-11. We were talking about what had happened in New York. I had a lot of friends in New York, of course, obviously. And she said, I don't have any connection to that. I don't know why everybody – I just don't have any connection to it, you know? She still connects? And she rubbed it off, you know? And I said, I mean, life was – rules were at that point not easy to come by, actually. And I said I can't do this, you know, I can't work. This to me was a sign, a sign from God. I'm not joking. You look for these things. This was a sign that this was the wave of the future. There was going to be a lot of denial and there was going to be, and it's complicated. I mean, I'm not judging anybody. [19:43] But for me, I had an opportunity to move into another direction, and I decided to do the other direction because I could be anybody, anything in voiceover work. Video games were just becoming big at the time, and the whole business was very big. And voice work was something that, as an actor in the theatre, I always did. If I couldn't find the voice of the character, I couldn't find the character. And so that was it. I mean, the fates came together at that time. And I was doing radio at the time on a fairly regular basis with a friend named Don Ecker. And I just moved in that direction. [20:36] I mean, there were opportunities there, but I knew things had changed at that point. Yeah, well, we'll get into that. I want to pick on being a conservative in the, the movie and TV industry, and that seems to be opposites. We've seen more and more, and I think it probably gets worse. And you're Roman Catholic, you're conservative. And what has been your experiences having a faith and also having a conservative belief? How does that fit into the showbiz industry? What has it been like for you? Well, going back, if you look at, [21:23] if you look at the world that we're in today, the Judeo-Christian world, which is, and I have to say if I have one criticism of modern Christianity prior to today, and I mean going back, because there's a lot of things I could say about today, which we will, I'm sure. But one of the things which always struck me me was about Christians, was their antipathy for the Old Testament, the Torah. It is Judeo-Christianity, and if a Christian doesn't understand that the Old Testament is their testament, there's, a problem. And they don't, indeed. In Bible study, the number of times that I heard Christians say oh, that's not my God. I want to get out of this. I want to get to my God. Well, that's two gods. [22:24] I mean, there is the Trinity, which is three gods in one, right? I mean, we do have that mystery, but we are monotheistic. And Christ's Old Testament was his Old Testament. He was here to fulfil the Old Testament. This is what he said, that it is the Father. You're speaking of your father. This is Christ's father and the Torah, the law as it was laid down is your law. It went on to the New Testament. [22:58] You know, and Catholics, I mean, I was raised a Catholic, and when I found out that it wasn't, thou shalt not kill, but thou shalt not murder, you know, the wheels begin to turn, and you try to think as best you can about these things. But there was a disconnect between the Old Testament in the New Testament. But that has to do with my criticism of my own faith. In motion pictures in the film industry, it was under attack, as it is today. Christianity is—and Judeo-Christian ethic, the West, everything that has been built through the Judeo-Christian ethic is under attack and they want to destroy it. [23:55] And basically at the very front of that is the communist wagon, and it always has been. And you can go back to 1918 or whatever and read about it, and they tried every which way from Sunday to do it, and they always failed, and now they've found another way of doing it. And they have succeeded by going after our children when we didn't know they were going after our children. But as Christians, we're pretending that it wasn't important to be mothers and fathers and the nuclear family really wasn't that important. Well, then why were they trying to destroy it? And why has it been number one? [24:35] Because and I'm going to say something else here in a second, which I'm pointing to, there's a quote. This is the technique that they have used, and you didn't know it, but you felt it all along. You felt this, but you didn't know it. [24:57] A quote by, it's attributed to Oscar Wilde. And I think it is his, I don't think, I don't think, I think it is his quote. And it is pithy and accurate and brilliant and beyond belief descriptive of everything. Everything in the world is about sex, except sex. Sex is about power. And boy, when I read that, I said, is this, did he really say this? Is it? And it hit me from every direction. The entertainment business in every which way is about sex. Novels, books, television, commercials, life itself, clothes, it's all about sex. And it goes back to God's edict to humanity. [25:56] Go forth and multiply. This is the power of procreation, is sharing in the power of creation. That power was given to all of us. We don't know, I mean, people have talked about it, but you don't, we don't know where that came from, except from God. And it is something to, what do we do with these gifts? Do we throw them away? Or do we say these are precious? [26:30] And you see by the people that you meet, those who recognize the gift and those who don't recognize the gift. And you are asked not to recognize it on a daily basis. And as a child, if you think back to your childhood when sexual urges, whether you're—and of course, I can't tell you what a woman goes through, but I can only tell you what a kid goes through—boy, when you're going through puberty, the whistles and gongs are going off, and you're you're having dreams at night and you can't stop it. [27:03] Everything is at the wrong moment and you're not purposefully thinking about it, but it's a force to be reckoned with. And you understand it as you grow older that this force is to bring you to someone else, to love, to have a family and to create the next generation and then everything changes after that. If you can contemplate that greatness, that extraordinary thing, and realize that the world seems to want to distort it, well, you realize the powers that are set up against Judeo-Christianity. And who say, we don't want the Ten Commandments, we don't want that Old Testament rag, we want freedom, free, and of course I went through that in the 60s and 70s in school, and I saw it. I mean, I was part of it in that it bounced off of me at every moment. And being a Christian, you stay in it. [28:10] I stayed in my Christianity. This is another tale. When I got to school, to college, I mean, I had 12 years of Christian education, right? I wanted to be an actor and I went to Towson University, which had a great theatre program. And it was the first time that I was in a purely secular environment. The thing that killed me was that everybody hated their parents. Everybody hated their parents. I mean, nobody wanted to, nobody had a good thing, I loved my parents. And I used to say, I used to have a long bus ride home and I used to sit in the bus looking out the window saying, why do I love my parents and I can't find somebody who loves their parents? What is that? Well, I can't say that I answered the question, but the answer was in the destruction of the family. [29:10] It was in the destruction, and it had started then. Not my mother and father. And then here's the next aspect, and I think that this plays a very big part in all the trouble we're having today. I never wanted to do something that shamed my parents, that they would be ashamed of. I felt shame. I still do. I feel shame. It was given to me by my mother and my father. Now, none of us are perfect. I know my mother wasn't perfect, my father wasn't perfect. I'm not perfect, but I feel shame and shame is rare. Now, look, I was listening to your podcast [29:58] with Father Calvin Robinson. Right.   Goodness, you make me blush. No, no. And no, but he said something. He said he said something about drag queens in the sanctuary. [30:19] I mean, we're talking about there's no shame if you do that. Before, shortly after, I guess we communicated, I went to here in Los Angeles, I went to the Church of the Nazarene in Pasadena, and I saw two, I don't know if you know these individuals, Dennis Prager, do you know Dennis Prager? Dennis is a Jewish scholar. I've been following him since since 1982, when I came to Los Angeles. He had a program called Religion on the Line, one of the great minds and thinkers of all time. In fact, many times after listening to him, I would say to myself, I'm a Jew. That's what I am, I'm a Jew. [31:05] And then there's Eric Metaxas, who is a Christian writer, thinker, and these two were in a program, an evening called ask a Gentile, Ask a Jew. And it was a great evening, two hours of just two brilliant people talking about the state of religion. What was the final outcome, sad outcome of the evening? Metaxas and Prager both came to the conclusion that we, organized religion, has failed us. It has failed us. The churches and the synagogues have failed us. They have not stepped up to defend their own dogma, their own beliefs. And we are left flailing, individuals almost. And we are struggling to connect, which is what you and I are doing right now. [32:08] I was dumbfounded by that, but at the same time, that's what I'm thinking. That's what I've been thinking for quite some time. And all of these things, you know, we are under attack from every direction. And in your own mind, what do you do? Do you throw it away? Do you say, well maybe I'm thinking the wrong thing. No, no, no, that is not the case. Because when you think about why our children, [32:47] and if you've seen this now, why our children are being told that they don't know what their sex is, Metaxas brought this up in the evening that this is one of those key cardinal points. You can see. This is a perversion of reality, because you know what the truth is. If you have a Supreme Court justice, as we do in the United States, who says, I can't define a woman, and that children, 10 year old children, 11 and 12 year old children, secretly, don't tell your parents the hallmark of a lie. Keep it secret. Don't tell anybody. Don't even tell yourself. [33:26] You know the hallmark of concealment, consciousness of guilt, everything that you know is, they are trying to tell you you know nothing and everything you know is not to be believed, but they are to be believed. That children, there are not boys and girls, that men can give birth, that there are, you know, these things that we, it's incomprehensible what's going on and it's all to destroy right from wrong. Well, that's because it's kind of, I look at it a different way. One is the difficulty of living in a society where evil is slightly different, where it's a slippery slope and it may be difficult to distinguish what you believe with something that's slightly different. But we see such a chasm now between what is true, what is right, and the collapse and degradation of society. So in theory, that means it is easier to be a Christian because it's easy to be distinct, because what you face is the opposite of what you believe. And and that's why it's curious and interesting to see churches going down this line whenever there's, [34:38] there's no question of what we see is the opposite of what is written in scripture. Oh, there's no question. You know what you're saying? You can be crushed. You know, you can be crushed at the same time. You have to deny so many things to accept what's going on. And yet you say to yourself, how do I stop it? The war that's going on in Europe at this moment. And this is why I love Bannon. I mean, I just, I adore him. I never got to, I would not, and I'll say this, Andrew Breitbart brought me out of the closet politically, really politically. I was doing a lot of things, but saying a lot of things that were in the basket, but he truly brought me out.   When was this? When was this? . This is a through also through Gary Sinise and friends of Abe. [35:48] Boy, this is this is in the, I have to say nine. I'd say 2000 to 2005, 2006. By 2008, yeah, I have to say around 2005, 2006. [36:09] I was like a Jew wandering in the desert alone and wondering where God was. And a friend of mine who I worked with on Fat Man and Little Boy, a film about making the atomic bomb, called me up, his wife was a casting director, and he said, you know there are conservatives just like yourself who get together on a regular basis. I said, no, I did not know that. He said, would you like to go to a meeting? I said, I would love to go to a meeting of other people. I went and it was Gary Sinise and Andrew Breitbart, and a lot of other extraordinary people who were all, and this is it, seeking, trying to make connections. And so Andrew said, you have to become public. He had big Hollywood and big, you know, all of, he had all of these big websites. And he asked me to write an article. [37:09] He heard me in private describe a situation that I was in, in which I was at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. I had just come back from working with Charlton Heston and I had a long discussion, which was just a wonderful discussion in the hallway at the Amundsen Theatre about Ronald Reagan becoming president, right? And this individual who was a big producer in Hollywood overheard me talking about Ronald Reagan, and he said, Oh, so you're a Reagan a-hole, you know? [37:58] And yeah, that's right. That's right. And I was, I got to tell you, I mean, this was a big guy at the theatre too, that I was working, and I went cold. I went cold. I said, yes. I said, you know, not as a, you know, and I pulled back. I was, you know, he was attacking me, obviously, with his language. And I was shocked. I was totally numbed. And I didn't want to continue with this discussion, because otherwise there would have been a blowout. But that was how in 78, 80, I understood that there was this chasm there. And [38:51] it only got worse as time went on. As I said, fortunate, it is not a zero-sum game. Fortunate there was for me, and I did have an audition for this producer. There was a writer there and a brilliant writer. We had a fallout, but he's just an extraordinary writer. His name is Tom Fontana. He wrote some very, it was St. Elsewhere, producer, writer for St. Elsewhere, The Wire, many wonderful programs. And he did not know about this problem that I had and invited me to read for a part called Fiscus in St. Elsewhere. And I walked in and there was this producer [39:37] who has passed away since now. And Breitbart wanted me to write about him. And I did, and I regretted it, but I don't regret it. But anyway, so I walked in and he was there and he said, oh, what are you doing here? And to this audition, and I said, I'm here to read for the part of Fiskars. He said, it's not gonna be a Reagan blank hole on my show. So you know what that audition was like, right? You know, I mean, and I walked out and I just, I said, God, is this going to be it? You know, is this the way it's gonna be? And at any rate, so, but I finally did write this article about him and I lost a lot of friends for writing it. And then at the same time, and I was one of the first actors for Breitbart to use my name. This was what he wanted because a lot of pseudonyms, writing for Big Hollywood, And which I understand, please, I did not do this, I did this [40:40] for personal reasons, but not because I'm brave or anything of that nature. I just was at the point where I was going to tell the truth. This is the way it's done. And you are excluded on a cocktail napkin. And that cocktail napkin is sent around to other producers and you're excluded. It is not a zero sum game because there was Stephen J Cannell and he hired me. [41:03] But the majority of people will not, unless, of course, you bring in 30 or 40 million dollars over a weekend. And then they'll hire you. But the attack on Judeo-Christianity, the attack on conservatism, which is a hallmark of Judeo-Christianity, is now at its height. It's never been greater than it is today. Well can I, you're obviously being a Christian, being a conservative within an industry within the workplace, but then you had your podcast, then you're doing, you mentioned Breitbart on the Glazov Gang, that's something different. You're stepping outside and actually you're much more public. I mean was that a conscious decision to actually begin to use radio, use the internet, use TV and speak of these issues as a Christian and conservative. Yes, absolutely. And the reason for that was I, you know, if you're, [42:13] make a point, like I would not, as Murdock from The A-Team, go out and evangelize. I wouldn't go out as Murdock from The A-Team, vote for. Right? [42:34] You're taking something that is not related and you're trying to use it to get somewhere. Where it's not as, to me, as honest as separating yourself out, creating a podcast, creating another world. This is where I talk politics. This is where I talk my personal life, my personal beliefs. This is where I do it. And so you come to me and then we go out from there. And I associate with people who talk about religion, and I associate with people who talk about politics, and I talk it there in that realm. [43:19] There's obviously a mixture. You can't divorce yourself from who you are and what you've done, and I don't. But I've never hidden my religion. I've never hidden my Christianity, as some people do. That's not the way to do it either. Yes, I am a Christian. I'm a Judeo-Christian. I believe in the Old Testament and the New Testament. And it's, for me, not a contradiction in terms. And so I express it that way. I express it here on my own podcast when I had it. And if ever anybody wanted to talk about it, I was willing to do it. And I attended every event, and with Jamie and [44:10] the lovely Anni Cyrus, that was just wonderful. That was absolutely wonderful. I went to a David Horowitz retreat, where I met Jamie. I had the great fortune, an opportunity to speak at a Freedom Concert event. Many of my public heroes were there from various political websites. And I got to meet them. And that's where I met Jamie. And he invited me on to engage with him on his program, the Glazov Gang. It's so funny. But, you know, and I met just so many fabulous people. And there are so many things right now, which I see things now and can talk about things that I couldn't prior to coming out with Andrew. And that, of course, is Bannon's big thing, Andrew. Andrew, I mean, he's – and Andrew changed – just brought the world together. I mean, his vision, his understanding of what was really going on was unique. And he was right into – he was dead on about everything. And I still don't agree with most of his friends. [45:38] I have very dark feelings about what happened to Andrew, even though I know he had a heart problem. But when the, I mean, you know what I'm talking about. I don't want to get into that aside, but I know the darkness that's out there and a voice like his had to be stopped. And they don't stop at anything. They don't. And we have now been witness to it in the United States for five or six years. Nothing stops them. Nothing. And they will lie to your face. They do not care because they are the voice of something that is dark. [46:20] That's not a knife you feel in your back. That's me scratching it. Oh, but I feel blood. No, that's not blood. You know, that's it. That's it. Can I finish off with your voice? Now, it is always wonderful to have a guest coming on and the sound is absolutely beautiful, crystal clear. You're coming through. Obviously, your voice is your how you make your your living now. And you've you've moved away from being kind of front of the camera to doing voice. Tell us what that is like, because it means you talked about fame and that means you're not recognized. It is your voice. And I remember watching, you were the one who, again, using your voice in all different ways, even back as in The A Team. But tell us about, how that works in the industry.   Well, in the industry, it doesn't. You have to be very fortunate. One of the first casting directors I ever met was Sylvia Gold, was her name. And she met with me, my first agent introduced me to her, and she said. [47:36] Oh, darling, she said, you don't understand. No one wants to hear that stuff. That's in the theatre. They want to hear you. They want to hear your voice. It's your voice that's important. And I said, no, it's not. I said, that's not what it's not. You know, I'm a vampire. I'm a thief. I listen to other people. I'm a mathematical idiot. And God gave me this ability to hear people's voices. And I said, I remember being seven years old. I was about seven years old, and I remember the first impression I ever did, which was, James Mason in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, he had a line, it was, I am dying now, and the Nautilus is dying with me, present as him. And I said this out loud to myself, I am dying now, and the Nautilus is dying with me. And the more I did it, the closer I got. And I would spend time, and I became an Anglophile, and I started listening to Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole, and I found that if I put headphones on, their voice came from the middle of my head, and I could steal from them. I could do impressions of their voice, and even if it wasn't perfect. [48:52] It became another voice, another character. And I began to identify with my relatives that way. I started doing impressions of my relatives and they did not like it. And I started doing impressions of my teachers at school and the kids liked it, but the teachers didn't like it if they heard it. And that's how it started. And I just had an ear for people's voices and dialects in the United States. And that's it. And in terms of, well, if I'm coming across crystal clear, That's because somebody recommended this microphone, the Heil PR-40, which is a dynamic microphone. Most people are wedded to very expensive condenser mics. But this is a rejection, it's a cardioid. People can open the door and come into the room and you won't hear it, you'll just hear me. Art Bell used this mic and he was always extolling the virtues of this mic, and I listened to him. And so, you know, and it's inexpensive, comparatively speaking, so it's available. [50:04] And so I, but I have spent years studying and recording people's voices and listening to them and trying to reproduce them. And one of the great thrills in my life was, I was, I knew somebody who was intimately involved with Laurence Olivier. [50:29] Peter Shaffer, and he wrote Amadeus, right? And he was just an absolutely spectacular man. And he gave me the play Amadeus to read before it was on Broadway and in Great Britain. And he was just a sweetheart of all sweethearts anyway. So I went into a bathroom and I did my impression of Olivier doing the Othello chamber scene. And I gave it to someone who was with Peter and asked them to listen to it to see if I caught any of it. And he said, this friend said, Shaffer listened to it and said, well, he said if Larry was very, very sick. But it was, you know, it was one of those, I, God, to have, you know, I, I, I think I listened, I don't know, I can't, I can't repeat anything that I've ever done myself, but I, I think I listened to the chamber scene from Othello, Olivier's Othello a thousand times. And that's how you learn when you're a young kid. That's how you learn. And you say, oh, my God, every comma. I followed it along, and he followed the text. [51:49] Amazingly, he followed the text and was dead on. And those are the kinds of things that I became very attuned to people's voices, and recorded them. And I have a lot of recordings and sometimes I still listen to Burton's Hamlet. And Gielgud, of course, directed it. [52:21] And it was considered a disaster on Broadway, but there's some great, there's just to capture, it is a miracle that I can sit here and listen to people who have passed away as if they're in my room. It is, it is a miracle, a technical miracle, but a miracle, or listening to the great choruses, motion picture choruses from 1958 and 60, and I listen to these grand voices, and I say, most of these people are not here now, But I'm listening to them and I get emotional about it. So anyway...   You've also embraced just finally about. I think I looked through and you've done the voice for like 100 video games. Well, yeah, I guess that's just if you're you're good at something, then that can be used across different, different industries. Oh, exactly. and video games are bigger than motion pictures now. And the hardest thing I was ever asked to do, and we were asked to do this periodically, you know, these great actors, right? [53:31] Sir Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, right? Those two individuals. Do impressions of both of them, to do them in the same thing. They were in X-Men, right? So I can't do them because they're so close. And you just do. You're asked to do it. They can't make it to do a pickup, right? So they ask an actor to come in and do a line, half a line. That's it. I can't do Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart at the same time. But I can't. I can't do it because they're too close. And yet they're different. But I have not been able to. I mean, you know, you in Ian McKellen with Bilbo Baggins, you know, he's called the essence. [54:19] Patrick is done it. Patrick is down there, too. But I can't do them together. I cannot do them together. I have to do them separately. And Patrick is he was a delight, by the way. Very liberal, very liberal. But one of the great things about Star Trek is my greatest experience that I've had in Hollywood, because there was little to no politics on that set, and everybody was a delight to work with. Everyone, absolutely everyone. And walking around on the great Paramount lot was a thrill. Anyway, sorry, I'm getting side-lined. I loved all those people. I did. I really did. Dwight, I so appreciate you coming on. It's absolutely wonderful to speak with you and hear about your experiences in the industry. So we really do appreciate your time today.   Well, it's my pleasure and I am very grateful. It's been a long time since I've done anything like this.   Oh, maybe it'll become more regular. Well, thank you, Peter.   Thank you so much, Dwight. Thank you.   Bye-bye.

Rosie O'Donnell is a beloved comedian, celebrated actress, and talk show legend. Despite all these professional accolades, it is perhaps her generosity of spirit, her tireless advocacy on behalf of children and families, and her heartfelt commitment to the health of the American theater that most definitively define her impact on popular culture.Born in Commack, New York on March 21, 1962, Rosie O'Donnell embarked on a career as a standup comedian right out of high school, and in short order found herself enjoying a five show winning streak on the iconic television series, “Star Search” Shortly thereafter, she scored additional major appearances on television, including a regular role as Maggie O'Brien on NBC's popular sitcom, “Gimme a Break” and a high profile run as a VH1 VJIn 1992, Rosie was cast alongside Tom Hanks, Madonna, and Geena Davis in the smash hit “A League of Their Own.” She went on to further success on the big screen, starring in twelve films between 1992 and 1996, including 1993's “Sleepless in Seattle,” 1995's “Now and Then,”and 1996's “Beautiful Girls.”Her most monumental break came by accepting NBC's offer to host a variety daytime television show, “The Rosie O'Donnell Show” in 1996. Rosie's innate love of all things show business and her easy rapport with the celebrities she had grown up idolizing translated into a unique and hugely popular TV phenomenon. “The Rosie O'Donnell Show” ran for six seasons and went on to win a variety of Emmy awards, leaving a memorable mark on American television before ending production in 2002.In the past 20 years, Rosie's dedication to her artistic endeavors and charitable interests have continued unabated. She has been a regular fixture on television, on Broadway, and, in recent years, has gotten rave reviews for her powerful performances in Showtime's “SMILF” and HBO's “I Know This Much is True.” She can currently be seen in the Showtime original series, “American Gigolo.”-bio adapted and edited from Rosie.com

This week we review Lookwell (Pilot)Lookwell was a television pilot written and produced by Conan O'Brien and Robert Smigel, the latter of whom would become a primary creative voice for O'Brien's late night show.It starred Adam West. Despite being a "personal favorite" of NBC chairman Brandon Tartikoff (who had left that position by the time the pilot aired and was replaced by Warren Littlefield), the pilot was not picked up as a series. It was broadcast on NBC on July 28, 1991, in a summer weekend timeslot reserved for burning off pilots which the network had passed on and has since become a cult classic.It stars Adam West as a washed-up TV action hero—who at the peak of his career was ceremonially deputized by local law enforcement and falsely believes he can solve crimes in real life. His student Jason (played by Todd Field) becomes his sidekick.Written by Conan O'Brien & Robert SmigelProduced by Lorne MichaelsDirected by E. W. SwackhamerA BGP / Broadway Video Production.Lookwell is available here: https://bit.ly/3xEJqfLThe Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube. Subscribe for a new episode each Tuesday. Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

Another Saved by the Bell deep dive. Exploring Johnny Dakota, Dick Belding, & Brandon Tartikoff. Forewarning on the echo  with Tartikoff clips. 

Michael Klein discusses being an NBC Burbank exec, his Carson encounters, Frank Sinatra going on Carson in 1976, Muhammad Ali, Lucille Ball, Redd Foxx, Don Rickles, Joe Namath, Nell Carter, Fred Silverman, Gary Coleman, & Brandon Tartikoff.

Art Bell and Vinnie Favale discuss the early days of the Comedy Central and part two of our interveiw with fellow Comedy Central executive Mitch Semel. - Mitch Semel has worked with TV legends and amongst us networks executives, he is a true legend himself. He started his TV career working for Brandon Tartikoff during NBC’s “MUST SEE TV” era, overseeing classic sitcoms like CHEERS, GOLDEN GIRLS, BOB HOPE SPECIALS and REAL PEOPLE which arguably was the birth of modern reality TV…so we have Mitch to blame for that. - Mitch switched sides from TV network to TV supplier as the head of UBU Productions where he oversaw their flagship show “FAMILY TIES”. While there he worked with newcomers Julia Louis Dreyfuss and Ellen DeGeneres on their big sitcom debuts. - He did a short stint at PBS where he tried to kill off a lovable purple dinosaur…we cannot wait to hear all about that! - He made a huge impact on Comedy Central…which is where Art and I first met him…with the launch of POLITICALLY INCORRECT and the number one show in cable: “ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS” - He’s worked with and produced some of TV greatest talk show hosts including David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Tom Snyder and Howard Stern. - He was General Manager at the Onion and invented TV shows from home long before Zoom did when he launched Huff Post Live. - He now heads up Semel Media, consulting with a wide variety of entertainment companies and is not only a liscensed pilot but is a certified flight instructor! - Seinfeld is often mistaken for Mitch at corporate events, the resemblance is uncanny, although we think Mitch is better looking.

Art Bell and Vinnie Favale discuss the early days of the Comedy Central and part one of our interveiw with fellow Comedy Central executive Mitch Semel. - Mitch Semel has worked with TV legends and amongst us networks executives, he is a true legend himself. He started his TV career working for Brandon Tartikoff during NBC’s “MUST SEE TV” era, overseeing classic sitcoms like CHEERS, GOLDEN GIRLS, BOB HOPE SPECIALS and REAL PEOPLE which arguably was the birth of modern reality TV…so we have Mitch to blame for that. - Mitch switched sides from TV network to TV supplier as the head of UBU Productions where he oversaw their flagship show “FAMILY TIES”. While there he worked with newcomers Julia Louis Dreyfuss and Ellen DeGeneres on their big sitcom debuts. - He did a short stint at PBS where he tried to kill off a lovable purple dinosaur…we cannot wait to hear all about that! - He made a huge impact on Comedy Central…which is where Art and I first met him…with the launch of POLITICALLY INCORRECT and the number one show in cable: “ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS” - He’s worked with and produced some of TV greatest talk show hosts including David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Tom Snyder and Howard Stern. - He was General Manager at the Onion and invented TV shows from home long before Zoom did when he launched Huff Post Live. - He now heads up Semel Media, consulting with a wide variety of entertainment companies and is not only a liscensed pilot but is a certified flight instructor! - Seinfeld is often mistaken for Mitch at corporate events, the resemblance is uncanny, although we think Mitch is better looking.

Art Bell and Vinnie Favale discuss the early days of the Comedy Central and part one of our interveiw with fellow Comedy Central executive Mitch Semel. - Mitch Semel has worked with TV legends and amongst us networks executives, he is a true legend himself. He started his TV career working for Brandon Tartikoff during NBC’s “MUST SEE TV” era, overseeing classic sitcoms like CHEERS, GOLDEN GIRLS, BOB HOPE SPECIALS and REAL PEOPLE which arguably was the birth of modern reality TV…so we have Mitch to blame for that. - Mitch switched sides from TV network to TV supplier as the head of UBU Productions where he oversaw their flagship show “FAMILY TIES”. While there he worked with newcomers Julia Louis Dreyfuss and Ellen DeGeneres on their big sitcom debuts. - He did a short stint at PBS where he tried to kill off a lovable purple dinosaur…we cannot wait to hear all about that! - He made a huge impact on Comedy Central…which is where Art and I first met him…with the launch of POLITICALLY INCORRECT and the number one show in cable: “ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS” - He’s worked with and produced some of TV greatest talk show hosts including David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Tom Snyder and Howard Stern. - He was General Manager at the Onion and invented TV shows from home long before Zoom did when he launched Huff Post Live. - He now heads up Semel Media, consulting with a wide variety of entertainment companies and is not only a liscensed pilot but is a certified flight instructor! - Seinfeld is often mistaken for Mitch at corporate events, the resemblance is uncanny, although we think Mitch is better looking.

Art Bell and Vinnie Favale discuss the early days of the Comedy Central and part two of our interveiw with fellow Comedy Central executive Mitch Semel. - Mitch Semel has worked with TV legends and amongst us networks executives, he is a true legend himself. He started his TV career working for Brandon Tartikoff during NBC’s “MUST SEE TV” era, overseeing classic sitcoms like CHEERS, GOLDEN GIRLS, BOB HOPE SPECIALS and REAL PEOPLE which arguably was the birth of modern reality TV…so we have Mitch to blame for that. - Mitch switched sides from TV network to TV supplier as the head of UBU Productions where he oversaw their flagship show “FAMILY TIES”. While there he worked with newcomers Julia Louis Dreyfuss and Ellen DeGeneres on their big sitcom debuts. - He did a short stint at PBS where he tried to kill off a lovable purple dinosaur…we cannot wait to hear all about that! - He made a huge impact on Comedy Central…which is where Art and I first met him…with the launch of POLITICALLY INCORRECT and the number one show in cable: “ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS” - He’s worked with and produced some of TV greatest talk show hosts including David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Tom Snyder and Howard Stern. - He was General Manager at the Onion and invented TV shows from home long before Zoom did when he launched Huff Post Live. - He now heads up Semel Media, consulting with a wide variety of entertainment companies and is not only a liscensed pilot but is a certified flight instructor! - Seinfeld is often mistaken for Mitch at corporate events, the resemblance is uncanny, although we think Mitch is better looking.

This is The Spoon, where Jake Fogelnest is our guest, and we all had a meeting with Brandon Tartikoff as teenagers.  Music By  Icicle Works  Diane Renay  Cheap Trick  Spoon Feeding  The Untold Story Of Parliament Funkadelic  The Father  Promising Young Woman Jake Fogelnest Patreon The Men Of The Spoon Robbie Rist Chris Jackson Thom Bowers The Spoon on Twitter  The Spoon Facebook Group The Spoon Facebook Page Email: the_spoon_radio@yahoo.com

John R. Holmes discusses working on Carson's Tonight Show, going to Johnny's Malibu home, stealing Dave Letterman's truck, Rodney Dangerfield, Joan Rivers, Brandon Tartikoff, & Dave Letterman.

“Even after I had shows on VH1 or Nickelodeon or Comedy Central it was still like, I'm a kid from Jersey. I'm a dad who lives in the suburbs. I'm never going to have a Fox show, but you have to believe the impossible is possible.” - Dave Noll How do we continue to grow and move forward in 2021 with positivity and tenacity? These are characteristics that I work on cultivating every day. Things aren't easy right now, so we need to consciously create what we want in our lives.  And, as we all know as “Onlys,” creating what's next takes time and energy. That's why I'm so excited to have Dave Noll on today's episode. An expert at embodying positivity, tenacity, and creativity, Dave has created more than 50 television series including the Chopped franchise, the game shows America Says, Punchline, Insanity, and Face The Truth, and the new podcast game Factorious. Dave and his partner Cleve Keller joined together exclusively in 2007. With 3,300 episodes under their belts, they have become one of the most successful format development teams in the world. Dave believes that in order to have these hits, you have to pitch a lot and not be afraid of rejection. Last year alone, he and his partner created 70 plus shows, pitched in over 100 meetings, wrote more than 40 show decks, and loved every minute of it. So how does he keep going and do it with joy? "So much of television is pitching that one thing and working really hard at it, but leaving all the doors open." - Dave Noll In this episode, Dave shares his “Only” story about his early years at MTV and what he calls his "Power Of The Only Love Story". We discover what Brandon Tartikoff, the former president of NBC, said to him that shaped his outlook and what Julia Roberts, Adam Sandler, and I have in common. Listen as Dave Noll shares the secret to his success, how he maintains a positive attitude, and how to stand out when pitching or creating anything. "Think of yourself as the product; what is the one thing that makes you unique?" - Dave Noll Show Notes: How to keep going How Onlys achieve their success The power of positivity Where Dave Noll got his tenacity The moment Dave knew he made it Tips for pitching television shows and more The One-Click Method "In order to face all those disappointments, you have to keep the wonder." - Dave Noll 3 Pieces of Advice or Action Steps: Positivity Tenacity Creativity "Every hit is just one click away from another hit." - Dave Noll Brand and Resource Mentions: Jerry Weintraub Book  Bob Iger-Former Disney CEO Brandon Tartikoff-NBC President Connect with Dave Noll: LinkedIn | Instagram | Twitter Thanks for being a part of this bold and powerful conversation on The Power of The Only! Whether you feel like the only one in your company, industry or community or the only woman in the room, we're here to support you in stepping up, speaking up through power, presence and representation and to make an impact in your personal and professional life. Want even more insider tips, resources and training  to help you own your voice and power and step into your leadership.  Join me in my free, invite only  YOU, Amplified!™ community! You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter. Learn more about this episode of The Power of The Only with Angela Chee at www.angelachee.com/37

Wendy Perl discusses photographing Carson and The Tonight Show, working at NBC, Bob Hope's 90th Birthday, Joan Rivers, Brandon Tartikoff, & being in the audience for Carson's final show.

Garth Ancier discusses his time at FOX during Joan Rivers' late night show, working at NBC with Brandon Tartikoff, & trying to get Rosie O'Donnell a late night show.

June 1-7, 1968 This week Ken talks to former actor, producer, current investment banker and long time good dude Scott Valentine. Ken and Scott talk about Ken moving to L.A., Scott moving back to New York, Scott's true love, climate change, when Scott got run over by a truck, Knight Rider, Family Ties, The Art of Being Nick, the cast of Family Ties, working with smart people, the best sitcom lines, not being no Charles Bronson, visiting the Smokey Mountains, Ginger vs. Maryanne, Raymond Burr, facing Andy Griffith while wearing tight leather pants, Petticoat Junction, My Demon Lover, Pizzatskis, movie acting, being on the stage, being blamed for film failure, The Actor starring Alec Guinness, voice over, Phantom 2040, The DC Animated Universe, Rob Paulsen: Good Dude, entitled actors, coke heads, being caught in a battle between Gary David Goldberg and Brandon Tartikoff, Aaron Spelling hating you, awful executives, becoming a producer, Maverick Pictures, being incredibly lucky, a life well lived, working with Melissa Gilbert, real heroes, digging ditches, The Killing Fields, actors without range, being method, meeting Al Pacino, Bridge on the River Kwai, striving for realism, how art should make us better people, shock humor, Twister, Pierce Brosnon, meeting a killer, The Thomas Crowne Affair, Billy Bob Thornton and Harvey Weinstein's slap fight, knocking out Weinstein, why there is never a good reason to belittle somebody, working people, your kids not being interested in y our work, mean spirited comedy, Steven Wright, Fosse, how great Sam Rockwell is, Restored, and Scott's very nice compliments.

WARREN LITTLEFIELD is the founder and president of the Littlefield Company, which represents the latest chapter in his television career. He currently serves as Executive producer on FX's television adaptation of the Academy Award®-winning feature film, "Fargo," alongside Noah Hawley, and Joel and Ethan Cohen. In its first year, "Fargo" won a Peabody, Emmy, Golden Globe, Producers' Guild, and Critics Choice Award for Best Mini-Series. As an Executive and President of NBC Entertainment, succeeding the legendary Brandon Tartikoff, he was involved in green-lighting "The Cosby Show," "Golden Girls," "LF," "Fresh Prince of Bel Air," "Seinfeld," "ER," "Friends," "Frasier," "Mad About You," "Just Shoot Me," "3rd Rock From The Sun," "NewsRadio," "Homicide: Life On The Street," "Law & Order," "Will & Grace," "Providence," "The West Wing," "Law & Order: SVU," and was the driving force behind choosing Leno over Letterman and adding Conan O'Brien to 12:30 AM, which led to 22 years of dominance in Late Night for NBC and over 150 Emmy Awards.

WARREN LITTLEFIELD is the founder and president of the Littlefield Company, which represents the latest chapter in his television career. He currently serves as Executive producer on FX's television adaptation of the Academy Award®-winning feature film, "Fargo," alongside Noah Hawley, and Joel and Ethan Cohen. In its first year, "Fargo" won a Peabody, Emmy, Golden Globe, Producers' Guild, and Critics Choice Award for Best Mini-Series. As an Executive and President of NBC Entertainment, succeeding the legendary Brandon Tartikoff, he was involved in green-lighting "The Cosby Show," "Golden Girls," "LF," "Fresh Prince of Bel Air," "Seinfeld," "ER," "Friends," "Frasier," "Mad About You," "Just Shoot Me," "3rd Rock From The Sun," "NewsRadio," "Homicide: Life On The Street," "Law & Order," "Will & Grace," "Providence," "The West Wing," "Law & Order: SVU," and was the driving force behind choosing Leno over Letterman and adding Conan O'Brien to 12:30 AM, which led to 22 years of dominance in Late Night for NBC and over 150 Emmy Awards.

It was one of my favorite shows of all time. Quantum Leap is a sci fi fanatics dream series. It still pulls in thousands at conventions every year. In fact the latest convention is the 20th anniversary celebration of Sam and Al's time travels. Quantum Leap is still one of the most innovative shows of the 1980's. Donald Bellisario came up with the idea and threw it in front of legendary television executive Brandon Tartikoff in the late 80's. He explained the theory of a scientist who could use quantum physics to bend the laws of time and jump into the body of someone in the past to help them through a rough situation….to which Tartikoff said, “Explain this again as if you are talking to your 80-year-old grandmother!” After going into detail about the idea, Tartikoff loved it, saying that “you can never run out of scenarios”. Thus the story of Dr. Sam Beckett and his time traveling hologram pal Al was born. It is one for the ages…if you think this show doesn't have legs, think again. When we interviewed Co-Executive Producer Deborah Pratt we had the most listeners in our “LIVE CHAT ROOM” during the show's taping than ever before!

December 2-8, 1978 This week Ken welcomes producer/actor Nancy Valen (Heavenly Kid, Hull High, Baywatch) to the show. Ken and Nancy discuss Ken's great creative idea, being a latchkey kid, learning from television, growing up in NYC, moving to Florida, Queens, Sesame St, Mr. Rogers, culture shock, Miami Vice, Heavenly Kid, Loverboy, SOAP, Richard Mulligan, Fonzie, being able to suppress being starstruck, Ryan's Hope, Garth Brooks, being on Jay Leno, TV Land, Farrah Fawcett, Dick Van Patten,Windmill Entertainment, Black Scorpion, Baywatch, Tim Van Patten, directing, Hull High, musicals, Riverdale, Welcome Back Kotter, Cheers, Rhoda, Good Times, Love Boat, All in the Family, Brandon Tartikoff, Little House on the Prairie, The White Shadow, Made for TV movies, Cindy Williams in Suddenly Love, divorce, Lou Grant, Newhart, video vs. film, to binge or not to binge, Knotts Landing, Dallas, storytelling, Q*Bert, Space Invaders, being obsessive, Three's Company, Taxi, John Ritter, The Jetsons, living in the future, Bing, Charlie's Angels, transcending your time, Friends, The Valentine's Day episode, Saved by the Bell, Kathy Ireland, Variety Shows, The Brady Kids, Barney Miller, checking in on Abe Vigoda, HBO's quality television, committing to a show, and using your connections to binge 24.

Get ready to boldly stay as we meet with "Emissary"!Author, essayist, and photographer Derek Tyler Attico joins the show the week to discuss the premiere episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a series that bravely broke from the established formula of Trek to create the future of the franchise! When Benjamin Sisko arrives on Deep Space Nine, he's a grieving single father who is questioning his future in Starfleet. But when a startling discovery in Bajoran space promises to change the balance of power in the quadrant, he must put aside his doubt and lead his crew and the Bajoran people to a new destiny!DS9 grew from a risky spin-off show to one of the highlights of the Trek franchise, presenting a richly embroidered world that made TOS and TNG's allegories explicit and led to more mature storytelling in Trek. It was a series that thrived under its seeming limitations and excelled at mining real-world issues and ills for story potential. On this episode, we talk about how DS9 broke from the "seven people on a ship" premise, the genius of Michael Piller and the influence of Brandon Tartikoff, giving your show time to breathe, presenting a more "human" lead, seeing a black family in space, "redeeming" faith in the 24th century, the show's perfect casting, and how staying put was the logical next evolution for the franchise.We also discuss empathy as a diplomatic tool, the difference between an omnipotent alien and God, not wrecking your perfect opening, Sisko as Moses, bravely not facing the Borg, Sisko as The Rifleman, baseball as a teaching tool, Trek's first opening crawl, warming up to TNG, Kal starts a little baseball talk, and Derek wants you to call him Batman!It's a show that goes nowhere!Follow Derek on Twitter and Instagram and check out his website!http://www.twitter.com/datticohttp://www.instagram.com/datticohttp://http://derektylerattico.com/DTA/MAIN.htmlTake our internet survey and help the show grow!https://t.co/8ObEGRBWzS?amp=1Grab our ears on Facebook and Twitter and our Facebook group!http://www.facebook.com/eistpodhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/eistpod/http://www.twitter.com/eistpodBuy us an orb on Patreon!http://www.patreon.com/eistpodSubscribe to the show on iTunes!https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/enterprising-individuals/id1113165661?mt=2

Get ready to boldly stay as we meet with "Emissary"!Author, essayist, and photographer Derek Tyler Attico joins the show the week to discuss the premiere episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a series that bravely broke from the established formula of Trek to create the future of the franchise! When Benjamin Sisko arrives on Deep Space Nine, he's a grieving single father who is questioning his future in Starfleet. But when a startling discovery in Bajoran space promises to change the balance of power in the quadrant, he must put aside his doubt and lead his crew and the Bajoran people to a new destiny!DS9 grew from a risky spin-off show to one of the highlights of the Trek franchise, presenting a richly embroidered world that made TOS and TNG's allegories explicit and led to more mature storytelling in Trek. It was a series that thrived under its seeming limitations and excelled at mining real-world issues and ills for story potential. On this episode, we talk about how DS9 broke from the "seven people on a ship" premise, the genius of Michael Piller and the influence of Brandon Tartikoff, giving your show time to breathe, presenting a more "human" lead, seeing a black family in space, "redeeming" faith in the 24th century, the show's perfect casting, and how staying put was the logical next evolution for the franchise.We also discuss empathy as a diplomatic tool, the difference between an omnipotent alien and God, not wrecking your perfect opening, Sisko as Moses, bravely not facing the Borg, Sisko as The Rifleman, baseball as a teaching tool, Trek's first opening crawl, warming up to TNG, Kal starts a little baseball talk, and Derek wants you to call him Batman!It's a show that goes nowhere!Follow Derek on Twitter and Instagram and check out his website!http://www.twitter.com/datticohttp://www.instagram.com/datticohttp://http://derektylerattico.com/DTA/MAIN.htmlTake our internet survey and help the show grow!https://t.co/8ObEGRBWzS?amp=1Grab our ears on Facebook and Twitter and our Facebook group!http://www.facebook.com/eistpodhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/eistpod/http://www.twitter.com/eistpodBuy us an orb on Patreon!http://www.patreon.com/eistpodSubscribe to the show on iTunes!https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/enterprising-individuals/id1113165661?mt=2

Dennis gives his read of Jeffrey Epstein and whether there is enough reporting of his ties to Bill Clinton. He also talks about Trump as a brand, Judd Nelson, Brandon Tartikoff, Mickey Rooney’s character in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, the film “Mannequin” and more! This episode is brought to you by: Mint Mobile - Mint Mobile provides the same premium network coverage you're used to, but at a fraction of the cost because everything is online.  Mint Mobile saves on retail locations and overhead, then passes those savings directly to you.  To get your new wireless plan for just $15 a month, and get the plan shipped to your door for FREE, go to MintMobile.com/MILLER.

Ken & I discuss and/or mention in passing: Emma Dumont, The Gifted, What’s Up Doc?, Touch Of Evil, April Richardson, Go Bayside!, Saved By The Bell, Bruce Springsteen, Growing Pains, Family Ties, Three’s Company, Three’s A Crowd, Brady Bunch, Wonder Woman, Barry, Jane Fonda, Peter Fonda, Easy Rider, Coming Home, Our Town, Hill Street Blues, Brandon Tartikoff, Hollywood Squares, You Bet Your Life, Groucho Marx, The Bronx, Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy, Harold Lloyd, The Three Stooges, Diana Ross, Shogun, Kung Foo, Richard Chamberlin, Is Mrs. Garrett A Secret Spy-Assassin?, Diana Ross, Delta Burke, Designing Women, Barbarella, Dallas, Charlene Tilton, Sofia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Bowery Boys, The Little Rascals, Abbott & Costello, The Flintstones, Gilligan’s Island, Li’l Abner, Threepenny Opera, Car 54 Where Are You?, Fantasy Island, Annette Funicello, Brockton Mass., Rocky Marciano, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Mark Harmon, Artisanal Xenophobia, The Godfather, The Cannonball Run II, Alex Rocco, Somerville MA, The Winter Hill Gang, Return To Horror High, George Clooney, Maureen McCormick, Walden Lake, Thoreau, Concord MA, Appleton WI, Milwaukee WI, Louis Welch, Scarecrow & Mrs. King, Maude, Laverne & Shirley, Paige Conner, In The Heat Of The Night, Fast Food, Traci Lords, Jim Varney, Pamela Springsteen, Tracy Griffith, Little Darlings, Kristi MacNichol, Tatum O’Neal, Huckleberry Hound, Billy Ocean, Kung Fu Fighting, Miss Piggy, Victim Shaming.

The self-proclaimed Downtown Diva is here! You Might Know Her From Sex and the City, Addams Family Values and the Broadway productions of Gypsy, The Women, You Can’t Take It With You, and her frequent work with playwright Charles Busch. She is now starring in Tootsie, the Broadway musical. Julie served us effervescent lemonade and told us about making the move from downtown theatre to the Broadway stage, having Bitsy von Muffling written for her, and managing her friendship with Charles off stage. Follow us on social media @damianbellino || @rodemanne Discussed this week Julie’s IBDB & IMDB All That Chat - Anne’s fave Broadway message board Maggie Smith onstage in London:  A German Life Ben Brantley calling Julie “wonderfully lethargic” Barbara Hershey through the years Lola Pashalinski & Charles Ludlam’s Theatre of the Ridiculous Pakistani playwright, performance artist: Bina Sharif Eve Arden Iris Adrian Playwright, Charles Busch Meghan Robinson Dottie Gets Spanked (dir: Todd Haynes) Sex and the City’s  Bitsy von Muffling Addams Family Values Paul Rudnick Christine Baranski, Harriet Harris Peter MacNicol in Ghostbusters 2 Christina Ricci Raul Julia The Man Who Came to Dinner Jean Smart Network heads: Brandon Tartikoff, Les Moonves, Jeff Sagansky Sex and the City: Michael Patrick King / Cindy Chupack Sitcom with Harvey Fierstein: Those Two Gwen Verdon’s IBDB Amy Sherman Palladino dialogue Jim Carnahan Jerry Zaks Gypsy starring Bernadette Peters, directed by Sam Mendes (2003) Gypsy overture (2003 Broadway revival. The greatest ever written) Tootsie the Musical Peter Bartlett Producer, Sonia Friedman    

Camille James Harman:Born in Shreveport, Louisiana and raised by her adoptive parents in Lafayette, Camille James Harman always knew she was destined to take the road less traveled. Camille studied liberal arts at University of Louisiana, and while there, took on the role of prop mistress in a local community theater production. From her vantage point backstage, she enjoyed watching the actors so much that she acted in the next play and garnered rave reviews. While pursuing an MFA in Drama at the University of New Orleans, Camille booked her first television movie, "Silent Cries,” an NBC ‘Movie Of The Week,' opposite Annabeth Gish. The WW II film was shot in New Orleans, and it gave Camille the opportunity to perform with a British accent and begin building SAG credits. Legendary producer Brandon Tartikoff wrote a role specifically for her in a pilot project shot in New Orleans with actor Jim Gleason.Camille took a hiatus from acting to focus on raising her now teenage son, and she has come a long way since her first credit. This winter, you can see her in the highly anticipated film, “Vice,” directed by Adam McKay, which is set to be released on Christmas Day, 2018. The film, from Annapurna, stars Christian Bale as Dick Cheney, Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney, Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld and Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush and is already receiving pre-release award season buzz. “Vice” tells the story of Dick Cheney and his rise to power as Vice-President to President George W. Bush. Camille plays Mary Matalin, Counselor to the Vice President, and counts her role as this powerful woman to be her most exciting to date. She spent many hours researching and watching interviews of Matalin to prepare for the part, and discovered that she had much in common with the now New Orleans-based political consultant. Following “Vice,” Camille can next be seen as a news anchor in the comedy film “Loqueesha.”https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6266538/Camille currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband Jeff, who is a well-known astrologer, their son Aidan, who is also an actor, and their pet cat and dog. She is active in faith-based charities as well as groups that support veterans and first-responders. She looks forward to building her list of film and television credits.In her free time, Camille enjoys visiting museums, listening to live music, and exploring historic homes and gardens. Camille and her husband Jeff are partners in a production company, Conjunction LLC, currently in discussions to produce several projects. Camille is passionate about acting, but her favorite role continues to be wife and mom.Music List: 1. The Neverending Paegent by Colin Clyne2. Berlin by Airport Impressions3. Butterfly by Halie Loren4. Half light Half Sound by Acme Giants5. My Destination by Kyoto Kandy6. (Outro) All the Way on Love by Douglas Coleman If you're interested in being a sponsor on The Douglas Coleman Show, please check out our packages on Patreon or contact us directly. https://www.patreon.com/douglascolemanshowradio@douglascolemanmusic.comOR if you'd prefer to make a one-time donation, please check out our GoFundMe. https://www.gofundme.com/the-dcs-needs-your-help

Camille James Harman:Born in Shreveport, Louisiana and raised by her adoptive parents in Lafayette, Camille James Harman always knew she was destined to take the road less traveled. Camille studied liberal arts at University of Louisiana, and while there, took on the role of prop mistress in a local community theater production. From her vantage point backstage, she enjoyed watching the actors so much that she acted in the next play and garnered rave reviews. While pursuing an MFA in Drama at the University of New Orleans, Camille booked her first television movie, "Silent Cries,” an NBC ‘Movie Of The Week,' opposite Annabeth Gish. The WW II film was shot in New Orleans, and it gave Camille the opportunity to perform with a British accent and begin building SAG credits. Legendary producer Brandon Tartikoff wrote a role specifically for her in a pilot project shot in New Orleans with actor Jim Gleason.Camille took a hiatus from acting to focus on raising her now teenage son, and she has come a long way since her first credit. This winter, you can see her in the highly anticipated film, “Vice,” directed by Adam McKay, which is set to be released on Christmas Day, 2018. The film, from Annapurna, stars Christian Bale as Dick Cheney, Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney, Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld and Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush and is already receiving pre-release award season buzz. “Vice” tells the story of Dick Cheney and his rise to power as Vice-President to President George W. Bush. Camille plays Mary Matalin, Counselor to the Vice President, and counts her role as this powerful woman to be her most exciting to date. She spent many hours researching and watching interviews of Matalin to prepare for the part, and discovered that she had much in common with the now New Orleans-based political consultant. Following “Vice,” Camille can next be seen as a news anchor in the comedy film “Loqueesha.”https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6266538/Camille currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband Jeff, who is a well-known astrologer, their son Aidan, who is also an actor, and their pet cat and dog. She is active in faith-based charities as well as groups that support veterans and first-responders. She looks forward to building her list of film and television credits.In her free time, Camille enjoys visiting museums, listening to live music, and exploring historic homes and gardens. Camille and her husband Jeff are partners in a production company, Conjunction LLC, currently in discussions to produce several projects. Camille is passionate about acting, but her favorite role continues to be wife and mom.Music List: 1. The Neverending Paegent by Colin Clyne2. Berlin by Airport Impressions3. Butterfly by Halie Loren4. Half light Half Sound by Acme Giants5. My Destination by Kyoto Kandy6. (Outro) All the Way on Love by Douglas Coleman If you're interested in being a sponsor on The Douglas Coleman Show, please check out our packages on Patreon or contact us directly. https://www.patreon.com/douglascolemanshowradio@douglascolemanmusic.comOR if you'd prefer to make a one-time donation, please check out our GoFundMe. https://www.gofundme.com/the-dcs-needs-your-help

It's another dip into the 1997 pool, as Paul and Erika watch As Good As It Gets, starring Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt and Greg Kinnear. Paul finally realizes his lifelong dream of becoming a mean girl, while Erika is fascinated by the cuteness of the dog in this film. Together, they soldier through and survive this relic from the 90’s. -Wanna see the photo that Paul and Erika are talking about? Check out our Instagram!  -THIS is Brandon Tartikoff. THIS is Randall Batinkoff. Now none of us need ever make that mistake again! -Paul wanted something filthy to get this movie off his mind. He recommended Big Mouth on Netflix! -Erika went further into the past and thought Batman would be a good scrub for the brain.

Welcome back to Deep Space Nine, Season 6!   The Dominion War has been waging for three months, DS9 is occupied by the Dominion, and Sisko and his crew have to undergo a dangerous mission... eventually.   But first: Who is Brandon Tartikoff?   Cool your butts everybody, we all love this episode. Oh, but don't think we don't have things to talk about. Bashir, for instance. We disagree. Go figure.   Does this once biting political commentary feel out of place in the times we currently live in?  How does it feel to watch DS9 during the Bush years vs the current Hellworld?   Kira and Odo and Dukat and Weyoun. Games are played.   Quark and the Lizard Pigs: What's a story they could have done? Put heroin in their   sandwiches!   There's always room for rock n roll pedantry.   Oh, and speaking of sandwiches: Admiral Ross!   Hugh has a problem with this episode that's not this episodes fault.   Serialization: We've come a long way, baby.   In this modern TV landscape, let's take a relaxing break to appreciate the psychological euphoria of The Great British Bake Off.   Oh, and finally the plot in the IMDB description happens.   Let's talk about chairs. Lean into it.   Good ol' Charlie Reynolds and the Centaur. What kind of name is “Centaur”? Oh. Let's talk about that too.   Kira has a #metoo moment. It gets uncomfortable. Are the times intruding on enjoyment of the show?  James grapples on air.   Before we wrap up: Does the Federation have Christmas?   Give us a call, check out the Patreon, and do all the things that every other podcast asks you to to! 917 408 3898 patreon.com/kickersofelves

Sally and I talked about her new film Midnight Return, irony, racism, the power of story through film and why truth is indeed stranger than fiction. Watch the Trailer here. Synopsis After his ingenious escape from a Turkish prison in 1975, Billy Hayes arrived home to a hero’s welcome, instant celebrity and within a week had a book and movie deal for his story. From the moment it stunned the world at the Cannes Film Festival in 1978, 'Midnight Express' cemented its place in film history as an artistic and financial success, before becoming an indelible part of pop culture. But its lasting impact has been on Turkish people worldwide who still condemn the film as racist and blame Billy Hayes for defaming them and their country.  Despite warnings from family and friends, Billy returns to Turkey and faces a nation still haunted by the film and his own demons. Biography Sally Sussman Morina was born in Toronto, Canada. She attended the University of Southern California and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism. Less than two years after her graduation, Sally was hired as writer on the NBC series, “Facts of Life.” She wrote several episodes of that series while serving as a staff writer. After leaving the sitcom business, Sally decided to pursue her lifelong passion for daytime soap operas where she was hired by William J. Bell, creator and head writer of “The Young and The Restless” as a story consultant and writer, two jobs she held for five years. During her years at Y&R, the series went from number six to number one in the Nielsen ratings, a position it has held ever since. Sally was responsible for many memorable storylines, including Dina’s return to the Abbott family, Jack and Jill’s affair, Katherine’s face lift and Lauren being stalked and ultimately, buried alive. During her tenure, she was nominated for two Emmy Awards. In 1989 Sally was approached by Brandon Tartikoff, the President of NBC to create her own show and after submitting a bible for the series, “Generations” was born. “Generations” immediately earned accolades from the press for creating the first fully integrated daytime serial. The series launched the careers of Vivica A. Fox, Kristoff St. John and Kelly Rutherford and featured veteran performers like Richard Roundtree, Taurean Blacque, Joan Pringle and Robert Hooks. During its two year run, “Generations” received numerous awards and attention including being written into the Congressional Record. The series was sold all over the world where it still retains a huge following. After its cancellation by NBC, the series was picked up by BET which ran it again. The show may be gone but it is definitely not forgotten. After “Generations” Sally returned to daytime again as the Head Writer of “Days of Our Lives”. During her tenure, she earned the show its first and only Writers Guild of America award for her storyline involving Sami’s execution. Along with that story, she penned the Kristen/Susan murder mystery and the Mike/Carrie love story. She was also nominated for two Emmy awards, won the People’s Choice and the TV Guide awards. From “Days of Our Lives”, Sally went to work for MTV where she was Executive Producer and Head Writer of the network’s first evening serial called “Spyder Games”. The series ran for 65 episodes and she was nominated for another Emmy Award. Currently, Sally has many active projects in development including a documentary entitled “Midnight Return” which chronicles the turbulent relationship between Billy Hayes, the real life character in “Midnight Express” and the republic of Turkey. Sally and her husband returned with Billy to Turkey in 2007 thirty years after Billy Hayes escaped from prison. Sally lives with her husband, Anthony Morina who is currently the Supervising Producer of “The Young & The Restless” and their 16 year old son, Adam. To learn more about her work visit her site here. ---------- Image Copyright: Sally Sussman Morina. Used with permission. For more information about my podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit my site here.   With thanks to producer Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.     See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Mark L. Walberg is a television personality best known for hosting PBS' ANTIQUES ROADSHOW. He started his television career as an assistant at Dick Clark Productions and quickly moved in front of the camera as the announcer for the popular game show Shop Til You Drop and then as host of Burnt Toast, a sports magazine show on ESPN. It was there that the late Brandon Tartikoff noticed his work, and that association produced the nationally syndicated The Mark Walberg Show. Walberg has hosted and been featured in an array of popular talk, reality competition, and game shows, including the FOX hit The Moment of Truth. He also has hosted home improvement competitions The Mansion andHouse Rules, knowledge quiz shows Test the Nation and Russian Roulette, and won The Weakest Link as a contestant playing for charity. He also hosted the relationship challenge Temptation Island. Realizing a long-held ambition to produce, Walberg created and produced Sunday Dinner. In 2017, Mark will be releasing his new book, Appraise This: How Life on the Road Taught Me What is Valuable, which will detail the four criteria that appraisers look for in antiques and collectibles that readers can apply to business and personal relationships to increase their effectiveness and value. Link to episode: http://bit.ly/gdapodcast18 Transcripts, blogs, and more: www.gdapodcast.com For booking info: www.gdaspeakers.com or call (214) 420-1999 twitter: @gdapodcast instagram: @gdapocast fb: facebook.com/gdapodcast

Ben Silverman, the Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning show creator and media executive, is Chairman and Co-CEO of Propagate Content. In this revealing sitdown with Jimmy, Ben discusses his storied career including: his days of working for TV legend Brandon Tartikoff, selling "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" as a young agent, founding Reveille where he executive produced such shows as "Biggest Loser" and "The Office", his transition to becoming a network executive while running NBC and his return to producing where he picked up right where he left off with hits "Mob Wives," "Running Wild with Bear Grylls," "Jane the Virgin," and the first ever Apple competition series "Planet of the Apps." Twitter: @IamJimmyFox / @Realscreen

For his monumental 150th (!) episode Ken is honored to welcome the fantastic, fabulous, one and only Cassandra Peterson, also known as Elvira Mistress of the Dark. Ken and Cassandra discuss who the hell she is, drag disguises, the trappings of celebrity, the great flood, Colorado, the 70s conservative Christian invaders, being a show girl in Las Vegas, living on a farm without a TV, "The Silver Ace", forced singing, Gunsmoke & Wrestling, coming from a costume Dynasty, Tina Louise, Gilligan's Island, I Dream of Genie, Destiny as the queen of Halloween, loving comedy, The Three Stooges, the golden age of Las Vegas, Addams Family vs. The Munsters, Bewitched vs. I Dream of Genie, Twilight Zone, The Beatles on Ed Sullivan, Joan Rivers, Phyllis Diller, the creation of "the teenager", Beatniks, Hulabaloo Go Go girl contests, Shin Dig, Dragnet, Nick at Nite, being blind to The Brady Bunch, moving to Europe, Elvis, acting, The Groundlings, taking classes with Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl, SNL, Phil Hartman, Paul Reubens, Laraine Newman, Fantasy Island, dancing on Tony Orlando and Dawn, the birth of Elvira, The Paragon of Comedy, 3-D movies, Vincent Price, Holly Knight, Fred Schneider, Kabuki, David Bowie, Joey Arias, Klaus Nomi, the 1st TV Generation, Oingo Boingo, The Whisky, KROQ, Punk Rock, forgetting the 70s, managing the Go-Gos (almost), Rodney on the ROQ, syndication, CHiPs, The Fall Guy, Bloopers and Practical Jokes, The Tonight Show, The Monster Club, Elvira Mistress of the Dark on Blu Ray, Coors Beer, the death and resurrection of the horror host, Tim Burton, NBC Productions, The Nick, Brandon Tartikoff, being the beacon of hope for outsiders, gay kids, and goths, conventions, the Elvira pilot, and befriending Vincent Price in search of his cookbook.

WARREN LITTLEFIELD is the founder and president of the Littlefield Company, which represents the latest chapter in his television career.  He currently serves as Executive producer on FX's television adaptation of the Academy Award®-winning feature film, "Fargo," alongside Noah Hawley, and Joel and Ethan Cohen.  In its first year, "Fargo" won a Peabody, Emmy, Golden Globe, Producers' Guild, and Critics Choice Award for Best Mini-Series.  Year 2 Premier 10/12.   As an Executive and President of NBC Entertainment, succeeding the legendary Brandon Tartikoff, he was involved in green-lighting "The Cosby Show," "Golden Girls," "LF," "Fresh Prince of Bel Air," "Seinfeld," "ER," "Friends," "Frasier," "Mad About You," "Just Shoot Me," "3rd Rock From The Sun," "NewsRadio," "Homicide: Life On The Street," "Law & Order," "Will & Grace," "Providence," "The West Wing," "Law & Order: SVU," and was the driving force behind choosing Leno over Letterman and adding Conan O'Brien to 12:30 AM, which led to 22 years of dominance in Late Night for NBC and over 150 Emmy Awards.

S1E22 - “Elyse D’Arc.” Today on QTWFT we learn . . . Brandon Tartikoff had an amazing amount of patience.

Us Weekly TV critic John Griffiths is on the public awareness task force for the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and is the founder and president of the Gay & Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association. Yet the 51-year-old Angeleno wasn't always such a do-gooder. After having his first drink at five (!), little Davy Griffiths (as he was known then) eventually ended up at USC, dreaming of being a TV programming executive a la Brandon Tartikoff but spending more time being the guy who talked about wanting to be a network executive while actually being the life of the party. Despite the chemical chaos racing through his system (alcohol! pot! ecstasy! meth!), Griffiths was able to build a successful writing career, first at People magazine (where he and I first met) and then as a contributor to such magazines as Cosmo, Redbook, The Advocate and In Style, among others. In this episode, he and AfterParty s Anna David talk about how fussy kids can turn into alcoholic adults, discovering hookers and crystal meth in one night and being able to recite our character defects, among many other topics.   Photo courtesy of LinkedIn  

Suzanne opens discussing Ryan Seacrest’s new reality show “Montecito” and then  analyzes some hits before reviewing “The Seven Worst Reality Shows” to ever make it on the air...while Bob shares his passion for vinyl Rock ‘n Roll record albums. The conversation moves on to how Bob took advantage of his “inside track” deal with NBC Productions and his relationship with programming exec Brandon Tartikoff to pitch and sell a pilot for  Time Out for Dad, which starred NFL Hall of Famer Dick Butkus and Harriet Nelson. Bob tells what it was like meeting Chicago Bears linebacker Dick Butkus for the first time, and then how Butkus held his own as a comedic actor surrounded by first timers on a movie set.  Bob recalls his meeting withHarriet Nelson who appeared in the show...while Suzanne lets it be known that she’s had a lifelong “thing” for Harriet’s son, famed rocker Ricky Nelson.  We also hear about the casting process that discovered future TV star Johnny Galecki, star of the CBS-TV series The Big Bang Theory . Bob and Suzanne touch upon the fact that Time Out for Dad may have been ahead of its time, dealing with the challenges faced by a stay-at-home father married to a wife whose career is on the rise.  They reminisce about working with Scarface star Paul Shenar on the pilot, as well as with the veteran crew members whom Bob spent time with, pumping them for their stories of “Old Hollywood”. Bob admits to being a “born marketer”, describing the story-point prop shoes that he shamelessly wrote into the show in hopes of breaking into the world of  Nike’s Air Jordans, and then turns to the cruel odds of the TV pilot process as a project goes through the various phases of story-pitch-script-shoot...and then the dreaded decision-making that follows. The episode closes with the realities of network programming changes, as Bob gives his own definition of “failure” in the world of television.

Suzanne plays the “Latina Power” card, gives her review of today’s Hollywood Reporter Magazine, does a bit of name-dropping about their Santa Barbara neighbors, touches upon the years of the Hollywood Blacklist, and Bob opines about how The Academy Awards seem to overlook the obvious. Suzanne then takes Bob into the heart of his writing-producing-directing career, touching upon being laid off from his location manager job at Universal and then paying dues as “the writer in the closet” with a startup production company which led him to his first “real” agent. They discuss early breaks on shows like “BJ & The Bear” and “Sheriff Lobo” which put Bob’s spec slasher scripts in front of CBS execs who hired him to add some “spice” to their failed “Vintage Years” pilot.  The concept of nepotism is touched upon as Suzanne gets the credit for ghost-writing the first season’s series bible for what became “Falcon Crest” which later propelled Bob into the waiting arms of Aaron Spelling Productions.  Suzanne speed-dials Bob’s memories of Brandon Tartikoff, Dick Butkus, Pat Morita, and “Star Trek”.

Autopilot 06 - The A-TEAM The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by writers and producers Frank Lupo and Stephen J. Cannell (who also collaborated on Wiseguy, Riptide, and Hunter) at the behest of Brandon Tartikoff, NBC's Entertainment president. Despite being thought of as mercenaries by the other characters in the show, the A-Team always acted on the side of good and helped the oppressed. The show ran for five seasons on the NBC television network, from January 23, 1983 to December 30, 1986 (with one additional, previously unbroadcast episode shown on March 8, 1987), for a total of 98 episodes.

Need a Quick Infusion of Spinal Tap Moments? Try Quick Taps - short episodes with short stories for short attention spans. In this episode, hear why lying about Steven Seagal doesn't put you Above the Law; how knocking on wood isn't necessarily good luck when auditioning at NBC; and whether Pink Floyd really needed oversized bonsai trees in Antarctica.--------------------------------------------------Get in touch with Too Much Effing PerspectiveContact us: hello@tmepshow.comJoin our Mailing List: https://tmepshow.comFollow us on Social: @tmepshowAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy