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."
- Visit Website
- RSS
- Artist: Rob Long, KCRW.com
- Copyright: KCRW 2014
Podcasts:
Rob break his rule and talks politics, just for a moment, and just the only way he can: by talking about show business first.
Rob tries to step around the nasty arguments on Facebook without stepping in any of them, and still ends up having to scrape some of them off his shoe.
Rob tries to talk about Comic Con the way it should be talked about -- as a giant promotional event that's all business and no play.
Rob shakes his fist at progress like an old, deranged man -- in other words he talks about Pokemon Go, and Hollywood, and how one is going to eat the other.
Rob takes a simple, successful movie franchise and extends its financial value by rebooting it, then reversing it -- which means he never has to come up with another original movie idea again.
Rob dresses up as a famous movie character and beats the stuffing out of someone dressed up as another famous movie character, and they keep doing it until they get sued.
Rob makes a series of painful confessions surrounding politics, Interstate 40, Hollywood pettiness, and trying to be happy for other people's success. He more or less pulls it off.
Rob helps actors with their headshots and writers with their pitches and even executives with their office politics. He says to stop worrying about the boss, because the boss is only worried about the boss one level up.
Rob sends you a LinkedIn request to join your professional network and then endorses you for your many skills and then we both get lots of push alerts and notifications and we both wonder why we're on LinkedIn.
Rob discovers that recaps are a really great way to get out of watching television.
Rob talks about DC and Marvel, Sunni and Shia, and whether cancer can be funny -- all in three minutes. Yes, it's a stretch, but that's sort of the point.
Remembering a great teacher.
How the late Andy Grove, of Intel, helped make it easier for executives to give notes.
Today's Martini Shot is all about Beyoncé. Well, it's about Rob and Beyoncé. That came out wrong. It's about money and Beyoncé.
Rob figures out how to save Al Jazeera America cable news network. Too late, of course, but he does figure it out.
