I've been looking back on my adventure in Hollywood, culling pages from my journal...
I didn’t write in my journal until half-way into January 1993. Heard from the agent Robbins. He passed on the second script I sent him, “Dashing Dan.” But he thinks it might make a good 2-part “Seinfeld.” Oy. I decide to send him my “Seinfeld” spec, based on my “Wedding” script, “He might get a kick out of that.”
I slowly had begun “Closed Set.” Typing “Peking Duck.” Pitching and working on material for the award show. And I discover from my wife’s cousin that there are people out there who remember “Galaxy Rangers,” the animated series I worked on back in 1986. I’m reading my journal now, and I don’t remember this at all, which is weird, in light of how “Galaxy Rangers” would keep popping up in the future. Anyway, I made copies of the video tapes I had of my episodes and sent them off.
A week later, I spoke to Kevin. I called him after reading how the planned “Beverly Hills Cop 3” with Eddie Murphy had been cancelled. And the plot sounded like a “Die Hard” in an amusement park.” That amused Kevin, who then realized he never gave me feedback on my “Closed Set” treatment. He didn’t like it. He could not reconcile the violence of the genre with comedy. Sigh.
A week later, I spoke to Kevin. I called him after reading how the planned “Beverly Hills Cop 3” with Eddie Murphy had been cancelled. And the plot sounded like a “Die Hard” in an amusement park.” That amused Kevin, who then realized he never gave me feedback on my “Closed Set” treatment. He didn’t like it. He could not reconcile the violence of the genre with comedy. Sigh.
Then there was the Mad magazine thing; I had gotten the name of the editor off an old issue of Mad (or a writer’s handbook, I don’t remember). Anyway, I had addressed it to a former editor at the magazine. They forwarded it to her, not realizing it was a submission. She returned it with a note berating me for not checking a recent Mad masthead. This is bad enough, but I, figuring the last packet got lost in the mail, send another packet of the same material to the same address.
And, although I didn’t note it in the journal, the New Year marked the end of “Style Without Substance.” They had been booked to perform during a town-wide New Year’s Eve festival, with different acts in different local venues. It seems they performed a couple of new bits (NOT MINE!) that were NOT well-received. At all. They went a bit blue that night. They got complaints about it afterward, in light of the fact that the event was attempted to be “family-friendly.” And, to the best of my recollection, that was the final appearance of “Style” anywhere. Which was a shame. They were an amazingly talented bunch of actors and it was a joy writing for them. I really felt good writing for them, through all their alterations and as they attempted to expand beyond their NJ base. And it was another door closing in my face.
And, although I didn’t note it in the journal, the New Year marked the end of “Style Without Substance.” They had been booked to perform during a town-wide New Year’s Eve festival, with different acts in different local venues. It seems they performed a couple of new bits (NOT MINE!) that were NOT well-received. At all. They went a bit blue that night. They got complaints about it afterward, in light of the fact that the event was attempted to be “family-friendly.” And, to the best of my recollection, that was the final appearance of “Style” anywhere. Which was a shame. They were an amazingly talented bunch of actors and it was a joy writing for them. I really felt good writing for them, through all their alterations and as they attempted to expand beyond their NJ base. And it was another door closing in my face.
I wrote that my brother talked to a friend whose sister works reading scripts, so I passed a couple of my scripts to him. I wonder what happened there? Kevin the producer got a job with a production company, the animation company he was pitching “The Kringle Project” too. Weird. Writing and waiting, writing and waiting.
