John Levenstein
I’m Just Like J.D. Salinger!
The Los Angeles Times tackles the mystery of what happened to 80s icon John Hughes. He made some pretty good commercial films that evidently inspired some pretty good present-day commercial filmmakers before disappearing somewhere north of Chicago sometime around 1990. He is missed. Recently he briefly resurfaced as the source of the original story for […]
The last time I saw Maya
My friend from college was in the news again today. Maya and I met freshman year at some sort of Jewish community center, even though I wasn’t religious and she was Chinese American. She liked Dumbo, she said, unapologetically childlike. Did I like Dumbo? We grew closer Sophomore year when I fell in love with […]
Cashmere Mafia versus Lipstick Jungle
Lipstick Jungle wins, and I’m not just saying that because I have a horse in this race. I honestly don’t have that much to do with how the show turns out. My job is to add a little comedy around the margins, and it can only support so much. But mainly I’m thinking there are […]
For anyone who thought show business was sexy
I was copied on this email today, from Lipstick Jungle’s payroll company to NBC-Universal… This notification is to let you know that the following Document Type folder names have been changed as described: Script Clearance Report has been renamed: Script Research Report.Script Collated has been renamed: Script – First White.Script Revisions has been renamed: Script […]
Countdown to Lipstick Jungle
One of our Bloggers™ has a show coming out on Thursday: Lipstick Jungle. Brooke Shields is one of the stars. I can’t help but think of my childhood, when Brooke was one of the beauties, and her name was bandied about constantly. Bo Derek, Brooke Shields and Farrah. I remember the ubiquitous poster was omnipresent […]
strike?
The writers’ strike led to an impasse, with management walking out of the negotiations. The DGA stepped in and made a deal, a better one than they would have made without our efforts. That deal has unofficially been offered to the writers. End of story. But, sadly, for many, it’s just the beginning. I’m getting […]
Walking into a Reality Show
Dropping off some drycleaning I saw some velour track-suited women, cell-phones in hand, a TV camera pointed at them entering the nail salon: the Kardashians. I know they have a reality show on TV which I’ve never seen, and I know that their step-father is Bruce Jenner, and I do have fond memories of his […]
Letterman versus Leno
I’ve never met Letterman. Leno is a famously great guy. I worked with him briefly, on a show called “Television Parts,” hosted by Michael Nesmith, sometime around 1984. He was as nice as advertised. The show was an effort to do for comedy what MTV had done for music, sparked by legendary NBC president Brandon […]
Sopranos series finale
Sunday afternoon in Topanga canyon, and I’m going on the record with my predictions. We’re going to be left with a final image of Meadow becoming a mob wife, capable of making all the same rationalizations as her mother. And not one person will be talking about the Tony Awards tomorrow.
Jack Silbert, curator