Should Puig be an All-Star?

Major League Baseball just doesn’t get it. They never have. This is why Les Moonves needs to be the commissioner.   MLB spends so much time arguing minutia that they miss the big picture. The latest raging controversy-over-nothing is this: Should Yasiel Puig play in the All-Star Game later this month?

Yes, I know. Most of you are saying who’s Yasiel Puig? And how do you even pronounce

My first "dirty" movie

Here's another excerpt from my book, THE ME GENERATION... BY ME (GROWING UP IN THE '60s).  You can order it (or write a glowing review, which would really be appreciated) here. 

I had just turned 16.
One
day I read in the paper that a new French movie was opening called THE
GAME IS OVER. The review mentioned that Jane Fonda starred and was
naked in quite a few scenes. This I HAD to see!

It

A mystery of the ages finally SOLVED!

I am not a master chef. And I'll admit -- some things in the kitchen baffle me. Like how does one slice a piece of cheese? I always thought this would be one of those secrets I'd be destined to go through life not knowing. But now, for the first time, like a great magic trick revealed, comes actual instructions on exactly how you slice a piece of cheese. And as if that weren't mind blowing

Julia Duffy, Jan Smithers, and the Pineapple

Yes, it’s a holiday weekend, but I never stand down from my Friday Question watch. So here they are:

Klee gets us started:

Perhaps it's been brought up before. Kirstie as Shelley's replacement brought new life to the show. On the other hand, when Julia Duffy replaced Delta Burke on Designing Women, the show never quite recovered. Conversely, when Julia replaced Jennifer Holmes on Newhart,

Dave Niehaus celebrates the 4th of July

Dave Niehaus WAS Seattle baseball.  From their very first game until he unfortunately passed away in 2010, Dave was the voice of the Mariners.  He was passionate, colorful, and something that is sadly almost gone in baseball broadcasting these days -- a storyteller.  Even with bad teams, fans would tune in just to hear Dave spin a yarn.  Play-by-play was an art.  And now, as someone said, the

Happy July 4th

Why the hell do people buy home fireworks?

How many fingers and eyebrows do they have to lose? How many trailer parks have to burn down before they learn?

What parent in his right mind with children would set off something called a 12 inch
“strike force missile”?

Or a “Mad Dog”
 “Bazooka Bear”
“Titanium
Cracker”
“Dragon’s Wrath”
“Big Mama Jama"
“Brutal Force”
“Nuke
Power”
“Pull String

It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp

People generally can’t believe that I’ve had so many careers. Comedy writer, baseball announcer, director, Amway salesman, screaming disc jockey, etc. They say no one has worn more hats. That’s lovely to hear and I’m very proud of my accomplishments (especially Amway), but I’m here to tell ya – it’s not even close.

Reading the wedding announcements in a recent New York Times I came upon

Following up on Yesterday's post

First off, you guys were GREAT yesterday!!   Thanks so much for the amazing comments.  I think I agree with every single one of your pet peeves.  If you haven't read yesterday's post, just skim my rant and go right to the comments. 



I even agree about the ones you cited from shows I wrote.  A MASH episode David Isaacs and I penned called "The Merchant of Korea" involved a poker game where they

Things that drive me crazy

Okay.  I admit -- it's a long list that covers just about everything in daily life.  But I'm going to concentrate today on television. 

As a TV writer, these things stick out for me. And some of them I’m guilty of doing myself. But there are bits of behavior or speech patterns that are frequently used that don’t feel real. And yet, they’re very acceptable on TV although not in real life

One of the worst movie trailers EVER

Here's a movie trailer for THE LEGEND OF LYLAH CLARE, a 1968 film about the inner workings of Hollywood.  I defy you to find one frame of subtlety in this movie.  I think even Faye Dunaway would say, "Whoa, ease up on the throttle."  This movie  makes  THE OSCAR seem understated.   My thanks to bad movie aficionado, Mark Legan for turning me onto this gem.  I'm guessing it's not available on

Even I can't get an agent

The difficulty in securing an agent is not confined to those writers
just starting out. I tried to get a theatrical agent when I wrote my
play a few years ago and hit a brick wall, even with my resume. And I
didn’t list AfterMASH so I know it’s not that.

The
Hollywood literary agency that represented me did not have a theater
department so when I wrote my play a few years ago I decided to

How accurate is CALIFORNICATION?

For many of you the 4th of July holiday begins today. What better way to celebrate than with Friday Questions?

Dodgerdog has one near and dear to my heart:

Both "Episodes" and "Californication" have story arcs involving television writers getting it on with hot young actresses on their shows. (Hilarity ensues.)

The public is well aware that movie producers and directors often have "special

Natalie Wood's most erotic scene

A lot of you yesterday wanted me to post some Natalie Wood pictures.  For new readers, whenever I can't find an appropriate visual I post Natalie Wood photos.  She's been my all-time favorite since the first time I saw her in THE GREAT RACE.  I was at that impressionable age when... well, my hormones were exploding.  13 year-old Kenny sat in the Pantages Theater thinking " Holy God!  What is

WARNING: This post may suck

The hardest part of writing a blog is coming up with topics. Once I come up with a decent topic I’m usually off to the races. Today I have no idea what to write. So I thought I would use that as an experiment. Experiment is a nice way of saying I may never do this again. But here’s the plan: I’m going to just start writing, free associating, and just keep going. It may turn out great; It

RIP Gary David Goldberg

Gary David Goldberg was what the hippie movement was supposed to be. Before it all got corrupted by drugs, greed, and bad fashion the point was to spread compassion, understanding, love for one another, and place the human spirit over material wealth. If anyone fulfilled the promise of our generation it was Gary Goldberg. (I always knew him just as Gary. The David was silent.) Gary

Superstars in the shadows

There’s a great new documentary out called 20 FEET FROM STARDOM. It was a big hit at Sundance and is now playing a limited theatrical run. That might mean one theater in LA, New York, and Madison, Wisconsin. But if it’s playing in your area, check it out. Or when it gets to Netflix in twenty minutes, flag it.

The movie is about backup singers – those incredibly talented musicians who you

How to hit on Margaret Colin

Guys, how’s this for a sure fire pick-up line?

Margaret
Colin is a fine actress. You’ve seen her on many things I’m sure.
Recently you've seen her in THE GOOD WIFE, NURSE JACKIE, and GOSSIP GIRL. She’s been in
INDEPENDENCE DAY, THREE MEN AND A BABY, and SOMETHING WILD among other
features. In the late 80s and early 90s she was very hot in television.
She starred in such series as

Vintage Disneyland

This is an AMAZING video. It's an hour long but features tons of lost footage on the construction and evolution of Disneyland. Lots of great facts too as one of the Disney Imagineers leads you through it. Included is a simulated tour through a ride that was never built.   How one man conceived this and actually built this amusement park it is extraordinary.  The logistics and amount of

More of the CHEERS outline

Earlier this week I posted a portion of a CHEERS outline and it prompted a couple of Friday Questions. Many of you also asked to see more of the outline so I’m providing that too.

B.B. Callow asks:

Why is the outline so detailed if it's only an outline? If you kept all the dialogue from the teaser and formatted it to script form, it would be very close to what the finished teaser would look

James Gandolfini RIP

Like everyone else, I was shocked and saddened by the sudden death of James Gandolfini. He was 51.

How many actors could play a vicious gangster who had a conscience and you actually believed it? How many actors could command any scene or any stage? How many actors could play loveable as well as hateful? And how many actors could play comedy as well as heavy drama?

And despite all