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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Amusing and insightful, this is a deftly sketched portrait of life inside the Hollywood "development deal," that limbo in which writers get paid generously to create something new for a notoriously fickle set of bosses. Long and his writing partner, still in their 20s, had risen to become coproducers of the popular TV series Cheers before it expired; they were rewarded with an office, long lunches and many meetings at which to try to pitch their ideas. (No, their new shows never took off.) Long makes the story entertaining by rendering many scenes-especially those involving his nameless, genderless agent-in sitcom form (dialogue, stage directions, etc.). "People in this business love their souped-up vocabulary," Long writes, and he affectionately skewers Hollywood pretension ("I love a quirky love," says one exec). Long doesn't tell us much about himself or his relationship with his writing partner, but the story skitters along fast enough for that to be forgivable. And when one reviewer calls their pilot "snappy" and another denounces it as "without snap," you can sympathize if well-paid creative types think the world wretched. Unfortunately, the book's charm and verisimilitude are vitiated by Long's contradictory admissions that it is "half true" and "mostly true."
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Television writer Long (Cheers) has written a humorous account of what it means to be a TV scriptwriter in Hollywood. It's a TV version of Linda Obst's recent insider's view of feature filmmaking, Hello He Lied (LJ 10/1/96). Interspersing the book with conversations with his agent and writing in the style of a TV script, Long imparts the "inside" story on getting a TV deal, "one of those entertainment industry creations that...sounds suspiciously like goofing off. Essentially the studio agrees to pay a writer a minimum sum,...hopeful that the writer...will decide, 'What the hell, I may as well create a hit television show.' " Though very funny at times, it's a bit too much of an insider's view for the general reader. Though not an essential purchase for public libraries, it would be a good addition to media colletions.?Rosellen Brewer, MOBAC Lib. System, Monterey, Cal.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
See all Editorial Reviews
Amusing and insightful, this is a deftly sketched portrait of life inside the Hollywood "development deal," that limbo in which writers get paid generously to create something new for a notoriously fickle set of bosses. Long and his writing partner, still in their 20s, had risen to become coproducers of the popular TV series Cheers before it expired; they were rewarded with an office, long lunches and many meetings at which to try to pitch their ideas. (No, their new shows never took off.) Long makes the story entertaining by rendering many scenes-especially those involving his nameless, genderless agent-in sitcom form (dialogue, stage directions, etc.). "People in this business love their souped-up vocabulary," Long writes, and he affectionately skewers Hollywood pretension ("I love a quirky love," says one exec). Long doesn't tell us much about himself or his relationship with his writing partner, but the story skitters along fast enough for that to be forgivable. And when one reviewer calls their pilot "snappy" and another denounces it as "without snap," you can sympathize if well-paid creative types think the world wretched. Unfortunately, the book's charm and verisimilitude are vitiated by Long's contradictory admissions that it is "half true" and "mostly true."
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Television writer Long (Cheers) has written a humorous account of what it means to be a TV scriptwriter in Hollywood. It's a TV version of Linda Obst's recent insider's view of feature filmmaking, Hello He Lied (LJ 10/1/96). Interspersing the book with conversations with his agent and writing in the style of a TV script, Long imparts the "inside" story on getting a TV deal, "one of those entertainment industry creations that...sounds suspiciously like goofing off. Essentially the studio agrees to pay a writer a minimum sum,...hopeful that the writer...will decide, 'What the hell, I may as well create a hit television show.' " Though very funny at times, it's a bit too much of an insider's view for the general reader. Though not an essential purchase for public libraries, it would be a good addition to media colletions.?Rosellen Brewer, MOBAC Lib. System, Monterey, Cal.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
See all Editorial Reviews
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Citations
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7
books
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- Writer's Quotebook: 500 Authors on Creativity, Craft, And the Writing Life by Jim Fisher in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- We, Me, Them & It by John Simmons on page 75, and Back Matter
- The Producers: Profiles in Frustration by Luke Ford on page 445
- The Screenwriter's Survival Guide: Or, Guerrilla Meeting Tactics and Other Acts of War by Max Adams in Back Matter
- Power Money Fame Sex: A User's Guide by Gretchen Craft Rubin in Back Matter
See all 7 books citing this book