Category: Opinion

Keith Telly Topping’s ‘The From The North TV Awards (2020)’

by Larry Brody

Yer actual Keith Telly Topping

The Most Honourable Keith Telly Topping His Very Self is the sole proprietor and writer of “From the North,” which is, hands down, my favorite blog written in the English language.

The blog might well be my fave written in any language, but inasmuch as I only read and understand English blogs, I guess I’ll never know. (At least I believe I understand them. Hard to be sure what one is ignorant of when one is, you know, ignorant.)

Anyway, Keith has this terrific blog that you all should be reading regularly, or to be more accurate, “irregularly” because that’s the interval at which it comes out. read article

When Herbie J Pilato Met Charlton Heston’s Family

by Herbie J Pilato

(LB’S NOTE: We’re so tickled to have found another Herbie J Pilato article that we didn’t know about that we’re bringing it to you today as mate to the one below. How tickled am I? Well, I actually used the word “tickled” without shame, didn’t I? Now if we could only get HJP to send us something new we would be, hmm, how about this? We’d be over the moon! Meanwhile, please enjoy the following:)

In 2011, I was privileged to attend the world premiere and special screening of Paramount Studio’s newly-restored and quite stunning edition of Cecil B. Demille’s 1956 feature film classic, The Ten Commandments, which just so happens to be my favorite movie of all time. read article

Herbie J Pilato Remembers ‘The Golden Girls’

by Herbie J Pilato

(LB’S NOTE: TVWriter™ Contributing Editor Emeritus Herbie J Pilato wrote this awhile ago, but for some reason it never came to our attention. We’re very glad to be rectifying that situation right now!)

Before I began my contracted 18 months as a Page for NBC in the spring of 1984, my tenure with the Peacock network was several times foreshadowed. In the fall of 1982, for one, while studying Television and Film at U.C.L.A. I had a celebrity brush with actress Bea Arthur, then best-remembered as the star of TV’s iconic Maude series (CBS, 1972–1978), and soon to be recalled to fame as one of NBC’s ground-breaking senior leads in The Golden Girls (1984–1991), alongside Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty. read article

Hollywood’s Responsibility to Tell Authentic Stories

Last week a particularly interesting guest post by writer-producer Angela Harvey appeared in The Hollywood reporter. In a nutshell “The question for writers shouldn’t be rooted in whether or not one can write a story – it’s whether or not they should.” Think about it as you read:

by Angela Harvey

You know what working from home makes me miss? Water coolers. If Hollywood still gathered in offices and writers rooms, one of the hottest topics around those coolers today would be authentic storytelling onscreen. read article

With the Credit Comes the Blame (Bill Blinn Day Part 2)

If Hollywood Takes the Credit, It Must Also Share the Blame
by Bill Blinn

(Note from Larry Brody: For those of you who need to know more about my first mentor, Bill Blinn, here’s a little something he wrote in The Lost Angeles Times way back in 2001. This will explain what I mean when I say he was a good guy and the best boss I ever had.  Hell, he may in fact have been the best man I ever knew in showbiz.)

Years ago I was fortunate enough to be executive producer and writer on the TV series “Fame.” It was set in the semi-fictionalized School of the Arts in New York City and dealt with the hopes and aspirations of the students as well as their angst and interplay with the school’s faculty. read article