KCRW's Martini Shot
Summary: Veteran TV writer and producer Rob Long shares his behind-the-scenes look at Hollywood life on "Martini Shot." A contributing editor for the National Review and Newsweek International, he was a co-executive producer of "Cheers" while still in his 20s and is the co-creator of a string of (cancelled) sitcoms: "George & Leo," "Men, Women & Dogs," etc. Rob is also the author of "Conversations With My Agent," the cult classic about real life in Hollywood, as well as its recently published sequel, "Set Up, Joke, Set Up, Joke."
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- Artist: Rob Long, KCRW.com
- Copyright: KCRW 2014
Podcasts:
I used to live near a coffee place that had a fun tradition of choosing someone from their long line of customers and dubbing that person, Customer of the Week. They?d take your picture and post it next to the register and you?d get free coffee for that week and you?d bask in the approval of the pierced young people behind the counter, and pretend not to notice the other patrons noticing you, your celebrity, and the modest way you carried yourself during your special week.
Rob eats dinner with some friends and they stack up their cell phones on the table. First person to peek at his or her phone picks up the check...
Rob Long gets a free trip to a former Soviet republic and somehow applies that to show business. It's complicated.
Something most people in Hollywood would rather not do: make the script better. By listening to executive notes.
Rob dives into an old controversy about women comedy writers, aggressive joke pitching, and the transgendered...
Rob Long on one of the stupidest things he's said ? not ever, just in the past 48 hours ? and how you can sometimes be both stupid and smart. Or at least he can...
The only reason anyone is nice to anyone else in the entertainment business: because friends are your retirement plan.
Rob impresses an agent by ordering a cobb salad. Apparently, impressing an agent is easy to do...
Rob Long on the only way to save a project from certain failure: fire the writer.
Rob Long on the foundations of the television business: funny jokes at the end of the scene and attractive people to look at. Everything else is just, art.
Rob Long talks about smoking, which is a deadly and cancer causing habit, of course, but does make bad dialogue seem more interesting.
Rob Long talks about his highly professional way of meeting deadlines. Which is by figuring out how they don't really apply.
Rob Long talks to others in the entertainment business and gets talked to in return ? like you would a dangerous and volatile mental patient. Works like a charm.
Rob Long talks about good news and bad news, the difference between pessimism and catastrophic thinking. He also converts to Judaism.
Rob Long talks movie stars, CGI, Bob Saget, and little people. Somehow, he make it work...
