Submitted by PatientBalance t3_10nz467 in television
Im rewatching Shameless and the first few seasons are such good chaotic fun, and I love how every season premiere is extra batshit crazy. But there are so many to choose from!
What's yours and why?
it's the only show where I felt the need to pause and write down what they just said. The Jonah insults were brutal but so clever. I'd be afraid to enter this room because I feel like I would get roasted
The Cloud Botherer
Mike: “Can I blow you?”
Jonah: “Uh, yes, you can. I’ll meet you in the hallway”
Mike: “Sure I’ll get a stepladder”
Not just swear words. The creativity they put into insults in general is astounding.
"12 years a slave to jerking off" is one of my favorites but it's so hard to pick just one.
The goat’s not gonna scape itself
I’m so glad this is the top comment. Because it is the correct comment.
I was just coming here to say that!
I came to comment something else but after seeing your response, this one is the right answer for me
Early season of the Simpson’s. Get to work with Conan, John Swartzwelder, Bill Oakley, Josh Weinstein, and Brent Forrester.
Also 30 Rock would be great.
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There is a great Simpsons writers reunion on Youtube where they talk about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtJ28qOEG1g
Your comment has Rob Gordon from High Fidelity vibes.
Conan talks about those days sometimes on his podcast. It was so loaded with talent that everyday people just as good as you were pitching jokes at nearly the same level. Sounds like a pretty intense environment.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I bet they have so much fun writing scripts.
I hope they actually produce that script it season 16.
The obvious answer is Seinfeld. There’s not been another show with as much cultural impact and the ideas they came up with are still in use 30 years on (like double dipping)
The Hamptons episode with the skrinkage lol.I loved to be in the room for when they came up with that plot point.
And how they came up with Bob Sacamano.
You... you do know that Seinfeld didn't invent the term double dipping, right?
They invented the concept of double dipping and the cultural faux pas around it.
...no, they didn't. Double dipping was around and not approved of loooong before Seinfeld. One of the uses was double dipping in terms of people collecting a public sector pension and working a second job in the public sector.
It really wasn’t.
Guest actors often report hating working with that cast. But if I get to hang out with Larry David, I'll take the punishment
Why’s that? Were they like the Friends cast and closed off to other actors appearing on the show.
I heard they would pretend like the guest actors weren't even there and that they were kinda full of themselves. I kinda refuse to believe Julia could be a jerk though
Look up "armin shimerman seinfeld"
The Good Place seemed like it would have been a really great room to be in. Super cerebral but also silly
I don't think I have enough knowledge about philosophy to have something to offer.
It would be fun to be part of the staff at the bad place. Evil Janet
The official podcast hosted by Marc Evan Jackson (he played Shawn), was pretty close.
Community.
Between Dan Harmon and Chevy Chase I would have loved to see the clash of comedic egos go at it.
I don't know that they actually interacted all that much or clashed that often. From everything I've read, even though he was the boss, Dan usually kept to the writers room and let the Russos and directors run the set.
The clash was mostly over Dan being late with script pages and Chevy randomly going home early - and being an ass to everyone.
The big clash that the press writes about was when Chevy went home early and it was the last day of a shoot for the season, with sets scheduled to be struck later that day, so they couldn't pick an important shot up again like they usually did when Chevy pulled this crap.
The scene would have been a tag at the end of the video game episode with Abed rewriting the game so Pierce's father told him he was proud of him everytime he threw a pixel baseball at his floating head then cutting to irl Pierce giving Abed a hug.
Dan was pissed that the scene was lost and led a chant of "Fuck you Chevy" at the season wrap party with the cast and crew (which reportedly many joined in with - Chevy clearly wasn't beloved on that set).
Chevy then left an angry voicemail about how he embarrassed him in front of his family which Dan played the following week for the crowd at his Harmontown show (not sure if it was a podcast yet at this point) and someone recorded that and leaked it to the press.
Both were on much friendlier terms with each other not long after. The whole incident isn't as dramatic, or as long-lasting as the press makes it out to be.
Worth noting that Community notoriously had a much more demanding and late-hour shoots than even normal tv shows which are already demanding. Chevy Chase was in his 60s, and unused to such an environment. I get him wanting to go home "early".
No you wouldn’t. That sounds like hell.
Working with Chevy Chase sounds like the last thing I’d ever want to do.
Chevy Chase was never part of the writers room for Community
Dan and Chevy always get the brunt of it, but Donald Glover and Alison Brie also have enormous egos. Ken Jeong’s is not particularly small either.
Honestly I think the fact that the cast and crew were all so full of themselves is part of what made Community work so well, given that most of the episodes are about the characters getting in fights with each other due to ego.
Everything I've read, the cast got along really well behind the scenes, including Donald. Chevy obviously got harder to work with as the show progressed, but everyone else was (and still is) pretty tight knit with each other. They are actors, so yes, there is ego involved, but seemed to be a true ensemble and not any competition.
So Jeff the one with the biggest ego in the show, has the smallest ego from the cast?
Can you tell more details on Glover's and Brie's ago? Did they have any stories?
Except the part where you get to watch Dan just shit all over and belittle one of the best writers in the room Megan Ganz because of his weird little incel misogyny shit. He admitted to all of it and apologized in his podcast Harmontown.
I wouldn’t be able to put up with it. Or at least, I hope I wouldn’t.
Any more details on that? And what is his incel shit?
https://youtu.be/WfqoLeDsET0 it’s a very good apology. Probably the best apology conceivable given the situation. Megan called it “a masterclass on how to apologize”.
Honestly working with Harmon sounds like a nightmare.
30 rock
I've heard some things about 30 Rock writing room in that it was a very difficult writing environment. Tina Fey is a workaholic and wrote deep into the night. It didn't sound like it would be very fun to work there.
I’m glad they worked hard because they gave us one of the best shows of all time
That's every writer's room
Do you want to write 30 Rock or do you want to write TGS?
30 Rock is a very demanding show with a very high level of quality. If I worked there, I'd probably be worked to death and my poor quality of ideas would probably result in all my dumb fart jokes getting rejected.
If you wrote for TGS, as far as I can tell the show is utterly terrible. Just recycle an old fart doctor sketch and call it a day. But then you gotta deal with Tracy who doesn't rehearse and Jenna who constantly locks herself into her dressing room
I imagine I'd work my ass off and bring a draft of a one-minute scene with, say, 15 jokes sprinkled throughout – they'd probably tell me to just quit if I'm not going to be serious about my job: we can't have so few jokes in such a timespan.
Parks and Rec.
100%. You get to hang out with Harris Wittels.
Breaking Bad/BCS. It would’ve been an honor to be a part of those writing rooms and table reads
Avatar or Korra, or whatever the next series is gonna be.
Did they creators talk about the next series? I don’t recall hearing anything about that world outside of the live action remake of TLA on Netflix.
From what I understand avatar studios is working on a new animated feature focused on Aang and work has begun on a new series about the next Avatar after Korra.
Seems interesting! Thanks for letting me know!
Might not want to get your hopes up regarding the new series, that's only a rumor and has not been confirmed.
Apparently they walked away from the live action version. Not clear why.
they literally got their own animated studio at paramount/nick
So that's why they left the live action show? Doubtful. They seemed pretty salty about it.
They walked away because of “creative differences” I mean I think Netflix already announced that Katara is now older than Sokka which changes a lot about their characters so there’s something right there. They probably just made too many changes and the OG creators were just done
>No they walked away because of “creative differences”
You realise, you're agreeing with me right? I've pointed out how OP was wrong and how the creators were salty about leaving
I know I probably shouldn’t have started my sentence with no but I was agreeing with you I was just adding more context sorry
My guess is it’s a combo. They were frustrated with having less creative control than they had before and then got a much better offer. For the record I think avatar live action is a bad idea
Arrested Development. The joke was that they never threw a joke away they tried to get everyone of them in.
Key and Peele
I like the idea of having lots of ideas for skits with wildly different premises, keeps things interesting, plus it would obviously be supremely funny and interesting
Their chemistry was insane.
I know they are both talented comedic performers who can work with anyone--but the way they brought the humor of their shared life experiences to life was just magical.
Scrubs
I’ve seen the outtakes and it looks like they just had a ton of fun, plus getting a front row seat to Dr. Cox speeches and the improvisational lines Neil Flynn did as the janitor (he apparently had entire lines where it would just say “Neil says something funny here”)would be a great time
Haha. I'm currently rewatching that now.
you listening to the podcast?
Oh, I'm not. I'm sure there is a few. Which one is good?
Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach & Donald
It's Zach Braff and Donald Faison talking about the series & behind the scenes stuff episode by episode.
Probably cliche’ but damn, The Office. Not only were comedy greats like Greg Daniels and Mike Schur on the team, but the object of making (UK)US office-based humor plausible and applicable would have been so fun. Skirting the line at every possible juncture…
South Park. Ever since I saw the 6 Days to Air documentary I’ve been desperate to be in that room!
Or that story Bill Hader tells about how they came up with the fish sticks episode. That shit is hilarious.
The Other Two.
the show had a short aftershow, "The Other Show", and the showrunner duo (Sarah Schneider and Chris Kelly) seemed fun. before that (and for similar reasons) "Ugly Betty": fun, somewhat cosmopolitan shows where people want to make smart and often queer observations about contemporary culture.
They just finished filming season 3😁
Hope there's more Wanda.
Sarah Schneider worked at College Humor before her SNL days and I used to produce some of their shorts, it was one of the funniest offices I’ve ever seen, felt like what National lampoon must have been like early on, constant pranks, always some goofy sight gag thing, the whole place was laced with laughter and the smell of weed, that was a very fun place to be and Sarah is exceptionally hilarious
and it's weird how I imagine that if I was in the room for "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", I'd be very "shut up and just learn and listen. what a privilege to be here!"
while in a room for "Star Trek: Voyager", I'd be very "hehe, they are limiting themselves SO much and I want to know what assholes and what fears are responsible for that."
You might like this WGA roundtable interview with the Star Trek writers and producers from the 90s era and today. It's long, but it's a terrific look at the nuts and bolts of what it takes to produce Star Trek.
The West Wing. Because we wouldn't be in a room.
All the writing will be done as we endlessly walk various hallways and corridors.
Good exercise.
Except by Season 2, you're only there to break story, and Sorkin is writing all the teleplays. And if you're writing the teleplay, then he's usually re-writing it ("and" means a rewrite, "&" means a collaboration).
That's how it works for basically every show with a show runner like Sorkin
Not credited like that. I don't think there are other showrunners "like Sorkin".
Most showrunners don't take the "written by" credit on every episode. Those who do generally aren't using a room (e.g., Hugo Blick), or do their pass uncredited (e.g., Joss Whedon on Buffy).
And there are some showrunners who are the exact opposite; e.g., Jerry Juhl insisted on Fraggle Rock that every word that ended up on screen be written by whoever had their name on the writer's credit. If that meant they had to keep rewriting it themselves until he was happy with it, so be it.
Every writers' rooms breaks a story together as a group. But most aren't working for only one of the writers to pump out all the scripts, or for everyone to be heavily rewritten by that one writer every episode.
Frasier
Person of interest , so many interesting discussions
90's SNL cast, & King of Queens
I know I'd be terrible at it, but there's a part of me that would love to spend a week writing on SNL. It just seems like such an insane experience.
Dexter
They were like right on the cusp of an actual good show that didn’t devolve into stupidity and memes. With a little push in the right direction and a guiding hand down the line, im certain that show was very close to being remembered as an actually good all time drama
If you stop after the end of season 4 it’s an all-timer
Even season 4 had the issues that would later sink the show, mainly Quinn and Bautista's subplots.
Yes but the main plot is so fantastic it makes up for those stupid subplots.
The showtime classic is literally taking a good show and forcing the writers to write 4 extra seasons instead of ending it.
Northern Exposure
Malcolm in the Middle
SNL There are certain casts that I would have loved to have worked with.
30 Rock. Tina Fey. There's your reason.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. That comedy was fire!
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South Park, always sunny, the office.
I feel like they must be cracking each other up the whole time
Succession! Would love to see how the script develops and how they come up with funny oneliners like tomlette or slime puppy 🤣 Can only imagine what scenes or dialogue they end up not using in the final cut
This would prob be my other choice as well.
Caesar's Hour: Mel Brooks, Mel Tolkin, Larry Gelbart, Gary Belkin, Carl Reiner, Selma Diamond, Neil Simon, Aaron Ruben.
Breaking bad.
Bince seems like a good dude.
South Park
Game of thrones. Someone should have prevented the last two seasons…
Riverdale.
I'm genuinely curious to see how they were able to consistently come up with even fucking stupider ideas year after year. It's genuinely impressive that after they hit bottom they were able to keep digging for six more years.
I mean honestly I would not be surprised if the writers room plays madlibs with shit on a dartboard. Let an intern throw a dart and that idea gets used.
BoJack Horseman. That was a sure crazy ride.
And The Crown. I would love to discuss all the historical topics they must know and trying to figure it out, how to tell them.
It’s all good, man!
Better call Saul, but honestly any vince gilligan’s show
The Big Bang Theory!
Hill Street Blues.
It was groundbreaking.
Any of the Star Trek series.
Deep space 9 would be my first choice
If you were an adult in the late 80s through mid 90s, you could have been a part of the writer's room. They had an open submissions policy; they would take scripts from anyone. Ronald D. Moore, who ended up as a TNG and DS9 producer, was some random guy working a dead end job when he submitted a script to Paramount.
Newsradio for sure. The after-parties must have been legendary.
Early seasons of The Office hands down.
The Sopranos. It's secretly a comedy, so give me something funny to do.
The Sex Lives of College Girls
SNL early 90s for sure. Conan, Odenkirk, Rob Smigel just to name a few that aren’t even the cast. Plus you’d get to hobnob with celebs and see acts like Nirvana, Whitney Houston, David Bowie etc etc etc
Simpsons.
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The CW's Supergirl.
There is no way that a show like that came to be just because the CW doesn't have enough budget for good writing.
Deadwood
The Golden Girls had some seriously heavy hitters at the table.
Mr Show would be a close second
Arrested Development and Veep - tight toss up!
Succession
Psych - that writers room must've been hilarious.
Or Person of Interest, a great show like that probably had a cool writers room
The Day Today: Iannucci, Morris, Coogan and Schneider brainstorming genius comedy ideas and laughing their arses off
The Sopranos, with David Chase sleeping on the couch while everyone else writing like crazy only for him to wake up, grab a marker and outline the entire season beat by beat including crucial points in different episodes. Wanted to be there just to see the other writers' faces, lol
The Big Bang Theory, love those one liner comebacks
Larry Sanders Newsradio Seinfeld
DS9. I would love to know if some of my theories are correct!
Dark, The leftovers or any other complex shows.
Legends of Tomorrow, assuming they shared whatever drugs they were taking.
My other answer is Supernatural, because that show really could have used an obsessive fangirl on their staff yelling at them to keep their characters and canon consistent. I could have helped you, SPN.
Dark Shadows
Yea that's a good one
Sopranos
'80s Twilight Zone S1-S2: George R.R. Martin, Alan Brennert, Harlan Ellison, Rockne S. O'Bannon, Michael Cassutt, Richard Matheson, etc.
CSI, where they discuss and research some highly weird and unusual murder methods. They had an on-call medical examiner to help with research and to determine if it was possible. In fact, the assistant medical examiner was played by the show's main consultant because they liked him and offered him the role as a good way to keep him on-set.
Everything on the show is plausible and fatal - even the ludicrously overpowered gun that shoots a hundred bullets at once to liquify the victim in Miami. That's a real gun design.
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Rings of power. Just what they were thinking and comprehending how they thought it was a good idea
Buffy so I could assault Joss Whedon
lawrencebillson t1_j6bytkn wrote
Veep - if only to learn some new swear words.