Sit, Ubu, Sit: How I went from Brooklyn to Hollywood with the Same Woman, the Same Dog, and a Lot Less Hair [Hardcover]

Gary David Goldberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 5, 2008

A sports-crazed kid from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Gary David Goldberg never imagined he’d end up in Hollywood, let alone make it big there. But as a twenty-five-year-old waiter in Greenwich Village he met Diana, the love of his life; followed her out to Northern California; then moved in and never moved out. He also, without realizing it, put himself on track to found UBU Productions (named after his beloved Labrador retriever) and become a successful creator of such family sitcoms as Family Ties, Brooklyn Bridge, and Spin City.*

In Sit, Ubu, Sit, award-winning writer/producer Goldberg tells the mostly upbeat, sometimes difficult, and frequently hilarious tale of his improbable career and the people who have filled it.

A love story and a rare behind-the-scenes look at the entertainment industry, Sit, Ubu, Sit proves that it is possible to be creative and successful while holding on to your integrity, your family, and your sense of humor.


*with Bill Lawrence

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Goldberg, a TV scriptwriter and producer, fondly recalls his rocky, improbable route to Hollywood success, including the people who helped him along the way. Funny, dry and self-deprecating, Goldberg cuts swiftly through the years, from the mid-1950s growing up in a loving extended Jewish family in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, to his scruffy vagabonding in 1972 in Europe with his pregnant girlfriend, Diana, and their canny Labrador dog, Ubu. He sold his first scripts to TV shows in the 1970s, prompting his move from New York to California with Diana, who opened a day-care center. Goldberg took a class with scriptwriter Nate Monaster, who motivated him and helped submit his work to Los Angeles producers. Soon enough, Goldberg's scripts for the Bob Newhart Show, the Tony Randall Show and the MTM empire gave him the clout to start his own company, UBU (named for the beloved dog he eventually gave away, by the by), launching such pilots as Family Ties for the networks. Indeed, Goldberg's memoir is a kind of love letter to longtime partner Diana as well as to Michael J. Fox, with whom he later worked on Spin City. His professed guilt for making fistfuls of money while making people laugh renders this work effortlessly likable. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“Very funny. Very touching . . . and not a lot of big words. Gary is many things: a great boss, a smart writer, a very good basketball player . . . and now an even better author.”
—George Clooney

“Sit, Ubu, Sit is a poignant, hilarious, humble book—but at its heart a true love story. I couldn’t put it down.”—Julia Louis-Dreyfus

“Gary David Goldberg has a heart the size of Brooklyn, and you’ll feel it beating on each and every page of this sweet, beautifully written love story.”
—Claire Cook, author of Must Love Dogs and Life’s a Beach

“Full of love and laughter . . . Reading Sit, Ubu, Sit is like the best walk in the park on the most beautiful day of the year with your best dog, friend, or lover. You never want the experience to end.”
—Pat Mitchell, President and CEO, The Paley Center for Media

“Funny, dry, and self-deprecating...A love letter to longtime partner Diana as well as Michael J. Fox....Effortlessly likable.”
—Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Crown Archetype; 1st ptg. edition (February 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307394182
• ISBN-13: 978-0307394187
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #266,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous Writing... but the production, February 9, 2008

By 

S. Berner (Cocoa, Fl USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Sit, Ubu, Sit: How I went from Brooklyn to Hollywood with the Same Woman, the Same Dog, and a Lot Less Hair (Hardcover)

Gary David Goldberg is the creator/co-creator of three major television series. Two of them were smash hits; the third was one of the best shows ever on and thus, almost by definition (alas), a flop. For the record they were/are "Family Ties", "Spin City", and the brilliant "Brooklyn Bridge". This memoir is on a par with any/all of them and will bring a smile and a tear to any sentient reader. Having said that, one must follow up with: "What's wrong with you people at Harmony Books?!?! Don't you have any respect for a (minor) classic?" The binding on, at least my copy of, the book seems "tenuous" at best; and where's the photo section the book cries out for? (Yes, the are photos on the end-papers... unidentified and uncaptioned). This is a fine reading experience. One can only wish that the publishing attained even half the level of the writing.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Sit, Ubu, Sit" by Gary David Goldberg, February 18, 2008

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sit, Ubu, Sit: How I went from Brooklyn to Hollywood with the same woman, the same dog, and a lot less hair (Kindle Edition)

I was never a big fan of Gary Goldberg's TV shows -- "Family Ties," "Spin City" -- only because I haven't been too big of a TV fan in general. I am, however, a huge fan of funny, compelling, compassionate writing, and I couldn't read Goldberg's book fast enough. This is a clever, laugh-out-loud book that also can double as a primer on the insider's world of writing for network TV. I loved the way Goldberg played with chronology, switching back and forth in time, creating separate storylines that are each fascinating in its own way. My one fear was that, in the early chapters, Goldberg seems to live a charmed existence. Everything he touches turns to gold. Of course, outside of Donald Trump's wigmaker, no one escapes bad news for long, and the second half of the book finds Goldberg, his family, and his best TV friend, Michael J. Fox, all being severly tested. Throughout, Goldberg maintains his sense of humor as if that charmed existence of his had never been shaken to its core. Of course, the problem with racing through such a delightfully humane memoir is that I'm left without the pleasure of its company all too soon. Sigh!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love Love Love it!, September 22, 2008

By 

Amy Arden (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sit, Ubu, Sit: How I went from Brooklyn to Hollywood with the Same Woman, the Same Dog, and a Lot Less Hair (Hardcover)

There are essentially two problems with this book. It is so engrossing it's hard to put down and you will get nothing else done. Two if you read it in public, as I did the first time, you will alter between laughing and crying so much that people will think you're a manic-depressive. Other than that you are good to go.