Year One: “The Thing About Lunch” or “The Worst I Ever Had”
Let’s get one thing straight. Television production is about one thing and one thing only: lunch.
It was my first job in the business. I was working on a real TV show, on a broadcast network, with my name in the credits. I was psyched.
I would soon be crushed. It was the worst job I’ve ever had. Read the rest of this entry>>
Years Three/Four: Justice
My third/fourth year in the business I worked for this show-runner who was a real piece of work. He was the most hated figure I’ve ever worked for. He made The Weasel look like a normal, well-adjusted human being. From the writers room to the production office to the stage, everybody hated him.
This guy was a harsh dictator. I’ve never seen anybody better at shutting down creativity in a room. Read the rest of this entry>>
Year Four: The Night I *Almost* Met William Shatner
I was working on Weakest Link and we had a Star Trek theme show. All 12 contestants (or 8 or 10 or whatever it was) were Star Trek cast members from the various shows – there was Shatner, the chick who played Tasha Yar, George Takei I believe, LeVar Burton, the hologram doctor from Voyager, that Neelix dude from Voyager, etc. Nobody else memorable. The tapings took 2-3 hours and I was psyched to meet Shatner – I was busy with my job duties before and during the show (my job was in the control booth, not on the stage), but my plan was definitely to somehow meet the guy after the taping. Read the rest of this entry>>
Year Six: Kenny
In my day, there was an old saying in Hollywood (or parts of it anyway): You haven’t made it in this business until Kenny S____ calls you a “c**ksucker.” Well, I guess that means I almost made it in Hollywood. Read the rest of this entry>>
Year Seven: Reality
People sometimes ask me about “Reality TV.” They aren’t quite sure if it’s really such a big change in the business or why. They might know that I (and thousands of other TV production employees) got “squeezed out” of the industry by Reality TV, but they’re not sure what that means exactly. Here’s what I tell them: Read the rest of this entry>>
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