Bruce starts us off.
Did you or David Isaacs or Larry Gelbart ever think about doing a MASH sequel set in "real time"?
For example, 15 years after Korea and 15 years after it went off the air, Hawkeye and BJ are physicians at a Free Clinic in the Bay Area.
David and I never did. And I suspect Larry never did either. However, 20th Century Fox did mount a one-hour “Trapper John M.D.” series in the late ‘70s that was essentially what you pitched. It starred Pernell Roberts and was essentially a drama. By the way, one of the producers was Don Brinkley. You may have heard of his daughter, Christie.
From -30-
I recently came across your ex-partner Jon Miller's impression of Vin Scully. Pitch perfect, so to speak. And Miller does Vinny doing a Farmer John commercial in Spanish. Ole my gosh!
Did Vin like people doing him? Famous people can be a little thin skinned about that sort of thing. I know Carson didn't like Rich Little too-accurate version of Johnny.
I never asked Vin, but I get the feeling he did like Jon’s impression because it was so good and so affectionate.
At one time when my partner, David Isaacs and I had an office at Paramount I got Jon to record our voicemail greeting as Vin Scully. It was hilarious.
One day I’m listening back to the messages, I hear a little laugh and then “You’ll hear from my lawyers.” It was obviously Vin who clearly was a good sport about it.
Mike Bloodworth asks:
As a writer, how do you feel about the movies that tout that their actors IMPROVISE many of their lines? Judd Apatow is one example. Do you think its because the writer's aren't up to the task of writing enough funny lines to fill an entire script? Do they honestly believe the product is better because of the improvisation?
Based on the "deleted scenes" and "outtakes" I've seen that's not necessarily the case. My personal peeve is that a lot of these actors aren't trained in improv. It kind of cheapens what we do. Just curious.
It does cheapen what writers do. Does anyone believe that Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond’s SOME LIKE IT HOT would be better if Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis were allowed to improvise?
That said, I come from a different era where we took pride in making our screenplays as polished and funny as we could make them. Actors were hired because they were the best ACTORS, not because they also spent time in the Groundlings.
But now screenplays are just blueprints, and directors like Judd Apatow allow actors to improvise and sometimes that results in magic. Sometimes the improvisation adds a sparkle the screenplay didn’t have. But it also results in loose narratives and it’s not a coincidence that Apatow’s movies, although generally very funny, are always too long. And the length (at least to me) cancels out the benefits of the better improvised lines.
And finally, from Mike Miller:
Another question for you-what did you think of "Brockmire"?
I love BROCKMIRE. I’m enjoying season two even more than season one. Of course it helps that I know guys like Brockmire. And Hank Azaria’s portrayal is scary dead-on.
What’s your Friday Question?
from By Ken Levine
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