Category: By Larry Brody

LB: A Sad Goodbye To An Old Friend

Dann Cahn, one of the sweetest guys I’ve ever known, died last week in L.A. He was 89 years old and, to me, both the Big Dog of the TV Editing World and the Best Reason to Go into Work Every Day While I was Producing THE FALL GUY.

How brilliant an editor was Dann? Let’s put it this way: He edited Orson Welles’ MACBETH and also just happened to perfect the technique for editing three-camera comedy, back in the day when he was chief editor of the funniest show to ever be on television, I LOVE LUCY. read article

LB: In the Words of Nikki Finke: “Toldja!”

Ah, I love the smell of vindication in the morning!

Study: Online Video Viewers Start Leaving After Waiting Two Seconds – by David Murphy

One of the more frustrating things that can happen to your average Web surfer is the dreaded, “Why is my video not playing” error. Whether YouTube’s having a hiccup, your connection’s fizzling out, your browser’s taking a nap or some other perfect storm of problems is preventing you from watching two minutes of a cute kitty cat do its cute kitty cat thing, the end result is the same: No video.

You have a few choices when this happens. You can wait it out. You can hit refresh and hope that the problem goes away. Or, if you’re like most people, you can get hacked off and close the Web page. read article

LB: Remember the WKRP Turkey Drop Episode?

Thar she, um, flies…?

It was based on an annual tradition in the tiny town in Arkansas where my wife, Gwen the Beautiful, and I lived for almost a decade.

Well, we didn’t actually live in the town but on our property, Cloud Creek Ranch, which was about 12 miles away.

Today being Thanksgiving, my thoughts have turned in the direction of this now far-famed activity, so here’s the piece I wrote about it for my newspaper column, Live! From Paradise! back in 2005: read article

LB: Hey, Gang, My TV Writing Book is Now Available on Kindle

Television Writing from the Inside Out

by Larry Brody

TVW Kindle Cover 625 x 1000 sm
Sweet!

Whoo-hoo!

(And, speaking from a slightly more writerly perspective, “Whew.”)

A few years ago I wrote a book called Television Writing from the Inside Out, spilling everything I’ve learned about the art/craft and business of television writing and television in general after many, many, many (oy!) years of dedication, joy, and, yeah, the inevitable moments of despair. read article

LB: “Why is Television So Bad?”

For over 40 years people, upon hearing that I write-produce TV shows, have always – and I mean always, felt obligated to ask the not-very-musical question, “Why is television so bad?”

I hate this question for any number of reasons, starting with the fact that not only does it assume that the shows on TV are bad but also that I agree with that assumption. Which, for the record, I don’t. read article