It isn’t easy becoming a TV writer, and guess what? It isn’t easy to stay one either. The following post by a distinguished “old pro” is among the best advice I’ve ever heard or read for anyone thinking of going into – or already in – showbiz.
Especially, yeah, writers:
Time now for another True Life Testimonial. This time around, it’s from Dawn McElligott, a student in the TVWriter™ Advanced Online Workshop who’s been working on a short film and potential pilot called LADY OF THE LAKE in class.
And there’s no denying it: Reading this email made my day:
I learned this morning from members of his family that my old frenemy Glen Larson, creator of dozens of classic television series, bon vivant, and, in the words of one of my agents, “evil genius,” died yesterday.
Glen was a complex and, to those of us who spent a lot of time with him, fascinating man. Multi-talented in the true sense of the word, he was a member of the Big Deal early ’60s pop singing group The Four Preps who turned from singing to writing and became the creator (or co-creator), writer-producer of more long-running hit shows than anyone else in the world, before, during or since. We’re talking Alias Smith and Jones, Switch, Quincy, M.E., The Hardy Boys Mysteries, Battlestar Galactica, B. J. and the Bear, The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, Magnum, P.I., The Fall Guy, Knight Rider, Manimal, Automan, and a passel of others.
I worked with Glen on many of those shows, and the experience was colorful, to say the least. In fact, often it was truly mind-gobbling. Glen was a very controversial figure in his prime, punched by James Garner, sued by several others, richer than Croesus and possibly the unhappiest man I’ve ever known.
A TV writer I never knew but whose work helped me survive the ’60s died a few weeks ago. His name was Sam Hall, and he was the head writer of DARK SHADOWS.
I’m talking about the real DARK SHADOWS, the gothic daytime serial (that’s “soap opera” to those who probably watched it). Sam Hall wrote more than 300 episodes of the series and was nominated for 5 Daytime Emmys and a Peabody Award during his career.
How did Sam Hall help me survive the ’60s? If you have to ask, you probably won’t understand the answer, but I’ll give it to you anyway:
I’m stepping in to introduce Mia Pinchoff’s MY LIFE WITH SOCK because…well, because even if I weren’t a puppet lover who spent much of my life with various socks over my hands doing their shtick with my kids when they were younger, I’d still be absolutely charmed by Ms. Pinchoff’s take on what happens when a very human woman dates an even more humanlike sock.
Here’s what I mean: