Sitcom Writer's Talk Shop

Ever watched an episode of classic sitcom television and wondered how it got so funny? Here's your answer! This book is full of stories, ranging from how the shows were written to the funniest jokes, written by literally the greatest TV writers ever. Sitcom Writers Talk Shop was written by Paula Finn, daughter of Honeymooners writer Herbert Finn, and it contains interviews with a cast of the best writers in Hollywood. From Carl Reiner (The Dick Van Dyke Show) to Larry David (Seinfeld) to Norman Lear (All in the Family) and many others, it'll make you laugh aloud, even as you admire the skill behind each show.

These writers are each funny in their own way, and this book manages to point that out. As Carl Reiner says, "If it makes you laugh, it's funny. If it doesn't make you laugh, it's not." And that is the gist of this book. As each writer explains how they worked and how they came up with their ideas, you realize the humor is part of them, in each of their lives. Each writer worked in their own way, but ultimately they drew the ideas for the jokes from their lives or the lives of people around them.

Not only did the humor come from things around them, but the writers drew humor from caring about the situations and actors. As Norman Lear said about Bea Arthur as Maude, "Bea Arthur made me laugh in places in my body I didn't know existed." Unfortunately, the television censors and audience did not always see the same humor. They often criticized the episodes for the very things that they are praised for now. Yet the writers went past that and, as Ken Estin says, "We all just go by what our gut tells us." They wrote what was true and funny, and they wrote it well.