In Memorium: Sitcom Writer Reinhold Weege

Farewell, Reinhold Weege. Our condolences to his family.

Reinhold Weege is dead at 63 – by Team TVWriter Press Service

The creator of the quirky 1980s NBC comedy series “Night Court,” who also wrote and produced for ABC’s “Barney Miller” and worked on a number of other high-profile TV shows, has died, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Reinhold Weege was 63.

Weege was a staff writer and producer on “Barney Miller” before he left the show to start “Night Court.” The new series went on to a nine-season run, winning seven Emmys and earning a total of 31 nominations. Reege was a part of four Emmy nominations for outstanding comedy series — one as a member of the team behind “Barney Miller” and three for “Night Court.” read article

Creativity Happens When You Least Expect It

…Especially if you’re as impatient and demanding as we are!

Luv this pic!

by Sian Beilock

It’s well known that there are circadian or daily rhythms in basic physiological functions like body temperature or digestion. Interestingly, these circadian rhythms extend to our psychological abilities too. Simply put, we tend to have more brainpower at our peak circadian arousal time, which leads to success on activities that require us to concentrate and mentally ‘buckle down.’

Morning types (i.e., people who are most alert in the morning) excel on a whole host of cognitive tasks when they complete these tasks early in the day. This is especially true for tasks that require working memory, like systematically reasoning through a problem or juggling numbers in your head. Working memory is our flexible mental scratch pad. It’s the brainpower that helps us keep what we want in mind and what we don’t want out. On the other hand, evening types, those who are most alert at night, tend to perform at their best on demanding cognitive tasks later in the day. read article

Read Lena Dunham’s $3.7 Mil Book Proposal

Yeah, she’s 26 years old and just sold a kind of memoir/advice book for a fucking fortune. But we love Lena anyway because…um, because…we think we have a shot at her, that’s why. Right. Yeah.

This is so deluxe! Pics! Cool fonts! Detail! Forget the book. The proposal’s a masterpiece!

Actually, this is one of the best book proposals we’ve ever seen, with “best” described as “it sure as hell got my attention and looks like it’ll be fascinating to its intended audience.”

Download Lena Dunham’s book proposal or read it online atScribd.Com read article

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 12/14/12

Latest News About Writers Doing Better Than We Are

  • Bridget Tyler (BURN NOTICE) is writing the USA pilot HORIZON, a science fiction show set during World War II. (Because, evidently, network executives think the current generation of TV viewers, who’ve barely even heard of WWII will care.)
  • Unknown Writer (um, do we really have to explain why we aren’t putting some credits in here?) will soon be writing the ABC pilot BASTARDS, about a Cuban-American family that discovers the family patriarch had a child with the family’s maid decades ago. (Because network executives think Ahnold has made maid-shtupping cool?)
  • Philip Gawthorne (EASTENDERS, among other UK shows) is writing the pilot for the drama HUMAN ERROR for Starz. The show is about a “synthetic” human detective in the near future. (Because Data is the most popular member of the cast on all versions of STAR TREK re-runs. Or not.)
  • Gideon Raff (Israeli version of TYRANT) has written the pilot for, yes, a U.S. version of the same show for FX. TYRANT tells what happens to a modest American family when it’s drawn into the conspiracies of a “turbulent Middle Eastern nation.” (Why is FX bothering to make the family American when this show is clearly going to be all about Israel? Could it be because U.S. audiences are considered the most xenophobic in the world? Hmm?)
  • Robert Zemeckis (BACK TO THE FUTURE) is reviving his feature film, DEATH BECOMES HER, a comedy about 2 bitchy women who take an eternal youth serum and must live forever with its consequences, as a drama for Bravo. (Why a drama? Because making it a sitcom would be too sane an idea, of course!)

Guy Kawasaki Talks About Grammar From A Publisher’s POV

…Because not only is he an e-book publisher, he also has a new book about the past, present, and future of the publishing business – APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur-How to Publish a Book – on Kindle. So he knows:

The Most Common Grammar Gaffes Writers Make (and How To Avoid Them) – by Guy Kawasaki (Lifehacker.Com)

In 2011, the publisher of my book Enchantment could not fill an order for 500 e-book copies. Because of this experience, I self-published my next book, What the Plus!, and learned first hand that self-publishing is a complex, confusing, and idiosyncratic process. An obvious sign of self-publishing is the presence of gaffes—unintentional mistakes that cause embarrassment—in a book. It’s easy for authors to make these mistakes because editing, particularly copy editing, is a different skill from writing. Whether you’re self-publishing a novel, writing a blog, or typing a term paper, here are the ten gaffes I’ve come across most often and how to avoid them. read article