Peter Desberg - Show Me the Funny!: At the Writers Table with Hollywoods Top Comedy Writers

SHOW ME

FUNNY!

SHOW ME

FUNNY!

AT THE WRITERS TABLE WITH
HOLLYWOODS
TOP COMEDY
WRITERS

STERLING and the distinctive Sterling logo are registered trademarks of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Desberg, Peter.
Show me the funny! : at the writers table with Hollywoods Top Comedy Writers / Peter Desberg and Jeffrey Davis.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-4027-6841-5
1. Television comedies--Authorship. 2. Comedy films--Authorship.
3. Television comedy writers--United States--Interviews. 4. Screenwriters--United States--Interviews. I. Davis, Jeffrey.
PN1992.8.C66D37 2010
808.225--dc22

2010007181

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Published by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016
2010 by Peter Desberg and Jeffrey Davis
Distributed in Canada by Sterling Publishing
c/o Canadian Manda Group, 165 Dufferin Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6K 3H6
Distributed in the United Kingdom by GMC Distribution Services
Castle Place, 166 High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England BN7 1XU
Distributed in Australia by Capricorn Link (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
P.O. Box 704, Windsor, NSW 2756, Australia

Manufactured in the United States
All rights reserved

Sterling ISBN 978-1-4027-6841-5

For information about custom editions, special sales, premium and corporate purchases, please contact Sterling Special Sales Department at 800-805-5489 or specialsales@sterlingpublishing.com.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the memory of Jerry Davis, who inspired almost every aspect of it. His warm relationships with more than a few of the writers interviewed didnt hurt, either.

In addition, wed like to extend the dedication to include our loving and patient families for putting up with us as we worked, complained about, and were consumed by this book:

Cheryll and Lauren Desberg
Louise, Nora, and Michael Davis

Contents

Laughter Off the Twuck
An Interview with Walt Bennett (The Bill Cosby Show, The Steve Harvey Show)

Keeping It Clean
An Interview with Yvette Bowser (Living Single, A Different World)

My Mother the Sociopath
An Interview with David Breckman (Monk, SNL)

Dont Throw Away Your 10 Percenters
An Interview with Peter Casey (Frasier, Wings)

Theres Something About Ed
An Interview with Ed Decter (Theres Something About Mary, The Santa Clause 2)

Sit Down and Write... But First, Stand Up
An Interview with Michael Elias (The Jerk, The Frisco Kid)

Blonde with Dark Roots
An Interview with Heather Hach (Freaky Friday, Freaky Monday)

Joke, Joke, Story, Joke, Joke
An Interview with Mitch Klebanoff (Beverly Hills Ninja, Disorderlies)

Gunfight at the Klein Corral
An Interview with Dennis Klein (The Larry Sanders Show, Buffalo Bill)

How Big Is My Paycheck?
An Interview with Bob Myer (Roseanne, Cybill)

Exit Sarah... Enter Bernie
An Interview with Hank Nelken (Saving Silverman, Are We Done Yet?)

A Nobly Seductive Story
An Interview with Tracy Newman and Jonathan Stark (According to Jim, Ellen)

Losing the Bubble
An Interview with Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio (Bubble Boy, The Santa Clause 2)

In No Mood for Nice Moments
An Interview with Heide Perlman (Cheers, Frasier, The Tracey Ullman Show)

It Sucks to Be in a Movie
An Interview with Charlie Peters (My One And Only, Three Men and a Baby)

Write Yiddish, Cast British
An Interview with Phil Rosenthal (Everybody Loves Raymond, Coach)

Driving Miss Molly
An Interview with Lew Schneider (Everybody Loves Raymond, Less Than Perfect)

A Plot, A Plot, B Plot
An Interview with Sherwood and Lloyd Schwartz (Gilligans Island, The Brady Bunch)

Jews Dont Square Dance
An Interview with Marc Sheffler and Paul Chitlik (Harry and the Hendersons, Whos the Boss?)

How Much Do You Tip A Cab Driver on the Way to Your Suicide?
An Interview with Elliot Shoenman (Home Improvement, Maude)

From the Writers Table to the Kitchen Table
An Interview with Cheri and Bill Steinkellner (Cheers, Family Ties)

The Best of Intentions... The Worst of Outcomes
An Interview with Leonard Stern (Get Smart, The Honeymooners)

Its a Hit... Man
An Interview with Charlie Hauck (Frasier, Home Improvement, Maude)

Shrink-Wrapped Comedy
An Interview with Dan OShannon (Modern Family, Back to You, Frasier)

My Mother Made Me Write It:
An Interview with Marley Sims (Home Improvement, Sabrina the Teenage Witch)

Y ears ago, I got a phone call from a woman named Susie who said she was getting her masters degree in psychology from Antioch West University. She said she was interested in the psychology of humor and had gotten my name from one of her professors. She asked if I would be willing to help with her thesis and serve on her thesis committee.

It was the tail end of a grueling day and the thought of working for no compensation was doing nothing for my mood. But being polite to a fault, I asked her to describe her thesis. In a droning voice she outlined a plan to write a chapter on the psychology of humor, a chapter on the sociology of humor, and a chapter on the anthropology of humor. I was about to cut her off, politely, of course, when she said she was going to interview a famous Hollywood comedy writer. I asked who the writer was. Edmund Hartmann, she said. He was the first president of the Writers Guild of America. Hed written several classic Bob Hope movies, including The Lemon Drop Kid, Sorrowful Jones, Paleface, and Fancy Pants. He also wrote several movies for Abbott and Costello and much, much more. I asked how she knew him and she said offhandedly, Oh, hes my dad.

I suggested that we drop the first three chapters and asked if her father would ask some of his comedy writer friends to be interviewed. This seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I had an idea that was different from books on the subject in which writers were asked, How did you get into comedy writing? Instead, we would give the comedy writers a task that they performed as part of their work. They would tell us how they solved comedy writing problems while our tape recorder was rolling.

We were lucky enough to get some of the top writers in Hollywood at that time, including people like Hal Kantor and Herbie Baker. We completed eight interviews and then I got a disasterous call from Susie announcing that she was moving to Illinois. The project, which, by this time, had worked its way into my heart, was dead.

Fast-forward twenty years. Jeffrey was sitting in his car in front of my house. He had come to pick up his son, who had a playdate with my daughter. He was sulking in the front seat, waiting for his son to come out, knowing that if the kid didnt come out soon, he would have to make small talk with yet another set of parents. His luck ran out, as often happens when you are waiting on fifteen-year-olds. He came in and we introduced ourselves.