MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO UNIVERSITY SATELLITE SEMINAR SERIES, THE: TELEVISION AS A SOCIAL COMMENTARY: A CELEBRATION OF 30 YEARS OF THE HUMANITAS PRIZE: COMEDY {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in this series of seminars conducted by The Museum of Television & Radio. Held at the Museum in Los Angeles, and co-moderated by Barbara Dixon, vice president and director of the Museum, and Chris Donahue, the executive director for the Humanitas Awards, this seminar is the second of three celebrating thirty years of the Humanitas Prize for excellence in television writing. The Humanitas Prize is awarded for work that "honestly explores the complexities of the human experience and sheds light on the positive values of life." This seminar, presented as a university satellite seminar, explores the tradition of creating provocative entertainment programs that tackle difficult social issues with intelligence and honesty in the television genre of comedy. For television's first three decades, thirty-minute comedies were set in hermetically sealed worlds where reality rarely, if ever, intruded. In the early 1970s, sophisticated comedies like "M*A*S*H," "All in the Family," and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" revolutionized the genre, creating unprecedented opportunities for sitcom writers interested not only in making people laugh, but also in commenting on the world around them. In the decades since, television's best comedy writers have followed in this tradition, pushing the boundaries of the genre with programs combining humor, insight, and emotion. Panelists for the seminar include the following past Humanitas winners: Matthew Carlson, writer for "Malcolm in the Middle"; Marcy Carsey, writer and producer for "Whoopi"; Matt Tarses, writer for "Scrubs"; and Steve Tompkins, writer for "The Simpsons" and "The Bernie Mac Show." (Co-moderator and panelist biographies immediately follow this summary.)
The tape begins abruptly, ten minutes into the seminar, as several highlight tapes have just finished. Next, panelists engage in an open discussion about the following topics, among others: issues each would like to see addressed on television, including Tompkins's lack of interest in issue-focused writing; racism on "Sports Night"; the irony that Humanitas awards a money prize; "The Cosby Show"'s message of "the parents taking back the household"; jokes each panelist wrote that received a lot of attention, either positive or negative; Tompkins's work on "The P.J.'s"; the difference between "Malcolm in the Middle" and "The Wonder Years"; Tarses's work with Aaron Sorkin; and the difference between writing for live-action and animation.
Next, a second round of clips from the panelists are shown featuring the shows "Whoopi," "God, the Devil, and Bob," and "Scrubs." The panelists then field questions from universities across the country, including Towson University, Oral Roberts University, Keene State College, SUNY, New Paltz, Muskingum College, Bloomsburg University, and the University of Baltimore, among many others, where students view the seminar live via satellite. Topics discussed include the following: how to keep the comedic form new; the shows that influenced the panelists; fantasy sequences in "Scrubs"; whether actors ever contribute to writing; each panelist's favorite character written for; how much a script changes from first to final draft; why "The P.J.'s" was taken off the air; how current events can affect writing; pilots that were never picked up; writing for a particular time slot; and future projects.
Biographies Co-moderator Chris Donahue is executive director of the Humanitas Prize. For the past fifteen years he has divided his time between producing films and teaching. He recently completed production of "Day of Independence," chronicling the lives of a Japanese-American family during World War II. His film "Be Good Smile Pretty," winner of the jury prize for best documentary at the 2003 IFP Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, aired on PBS last November. In 1998 he won the Academy Award for best live action short film, "Visas and Virtue." Before moving to Los Angeles, he was honored in two consecutive years by the New Orleans Press Club for his documentaries, and his work at the local PBS affiliate led to his being selected as a Corporation for Public Broadcasting Fellow at WGBH in Boston.
Panelists Matthew Carlson began his television career as a writer/producer on "The Wonder Years." He went on to create several shows of his own, including "Townies"; "Men Behaving Badly"; and "God, the Devil and Bob." He currently is coexecutive producer on "Malcolm in the Middle." He was nominated for two Emmy Awards for his work on "The Wonder Years" and in 1989 received a Humanitas Prize for "Pottery Will Get You Nowhere," an episode of the same series.
Marcy Carsey is a partner and cofounder of one of the most successful independent studios in the history of television sitcoms, Carsey-Werner-Mandabach (previously Carsey-Werner), producer of such series as "The Cosby Show," "Roseanne," "A Different World," "Cybill," "3rd Rock From the Sun," and "Grace Under Fire." The studio's current programs include "That '70s Show," "Grounded for Life," "Whoopi," and "The Tracy Morgan Show." In 2000 Carsey and her partners joined forces with Geraldine Laybourne and Oprah Winfrey to form the Oxygen Cable Network. Carsey began her show business career as an NBC tour guide and soon became a production assistant on "The Tonight Show." Following that, she became a program supervisor at William Esty Advertising. She then left New York for Hollywood, where she worked as a story analyst for Roger Gimbel at Tomorrow Entertainment, eventually becoming executive story editor. In 1974 she joined ABC-TV as a general executive for comedy programming; two years later she became vice president of prime-time comedy and variety programs, and three years after that was named senior vice president of prime-time series. In 1980 she went out on her own to pursue independent production, and a year later teamed with her former ABC partner Tom Werner. In 2001 they joined with longtime partner Caryn Mandabach to form CWM. In addition to the Humanitas Prize, they have won Emmys, the Peabody Award, and the NAACP Image Award.
Matt Tarses, a graduate of Williams College and the University of Florida, broke into television as a staff writer on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." His subsequent credits include "Men Behaving Badly," "Norm," "Sports Night," and "Scrubs." He received the Humanitas Prize in 2002 for "My Old Lady," an episode of "Scrubs," and earlier shared a Humanitas Prize with Aaron Sorkin, David Walpert, and Bill Wrubel for "The Six Southern Gentlemen of Tennessee Tech," an episode of "Sports Night."
Steve Tompkins began his writing career a staff writer on "In Living Color." He has written for both animated and live-action shows including "The Edge," "The Critic," "The Simpsons" for which he received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program, "Everybody Loves Raymond," "The P.J.'s" which he co-created with Eddie Murphy and Larry Wilmore, and "The Bernie Mac Show" for which he received an Emmy Nomination for outstanding writing for a series and a 2003 HUMANITAS Prize for the episode "Sweet Home Chicago." He is currently developing two series for HBO.
Details
- NETWORK: Paley
- DATE: February 11, 2004 5:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:15:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:79837
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: She Made It Collection (Marcy Carsey)
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Barbara Dixon … Moderator
- Chris Donahue … Moderator
- Matthew Carlson … Panelist
- Marcy Carsey … Panelist
- Matt Tarses … Panelist
- Steve Tompkins … Panelist
- Aaron Sorkin