Funny You Should Ask : Oral Histories of Classic Sitcom Storytellers

This Oral History Of Television Sitcom Offers The Perspectives Of 22 Of The Best And Most Prolific Early Comedy Writers. The Book Documents Insider Knowledge And Gives The Reader A Better Understanding Of What Makes Great Television Comedy. The Writers' Observations About The Changes That Took Place And Help Explain Why Television Comedy Has Evolved In Recent Years-- The Writers.i'm Really A First Baseman: Getting The Job -- Careening Into A Wall: Writing The Script -- We Had To Cut The Laugh: Classic Series -- A Spectacular Idea: Classic Episodes -- This Is Good: More Hits -- I'm Going To Acting School: Flops -- Gold Is What You're Always Going To Get: Working With Actors -- Like A Marriage: Collaborators -- The End Of It: Retiring. Scott Lewellen. Includes Index. This oral history of television sitcom writing offers the perspectives of 22 of the best and most prolific early comedy writers. How they broke into the business; how they wrote scripts (and where they got their ideas); what it was like to work on hits--and on flops; what the sitcom actors were like; how they collaborated with other writers and producers; and why they retired are just some of the topics they speak to. The book documents insider knowledge and gives the reader a better understanding of what makes great television comedy. The writers'observations about the changes that took place during their long careers help explain why television comedy has evolved so greatly in recent years. This oral history of television sitcom writing offers the perspectives of 22 of the best and most prolific early comedy writers. How they broke into the business; how they wrote scripts (and where they got their ideas); what it was like to work on hits—and on flops; what the sitcom actors were like; how they collaborated with other writers and producers; and why they retired are just some of the topics they speak to. The book documents insider knowledge and gives the reader a better understanding of what makes great television comedy. The writers' observations about the changes that took place during their long careers help explain why television comedy has evolved so greatly in recent years. "This oral history of television sitcom offers the perspectives of 22 of the best and most prolific early comedy writers. The book documents insider knowledge and gives the reader a better understanding of what makes great television comedy. The writers' observations about the changes that took place and help explain why television comedy has evolved in recent years"-- Provided by publisher