Show Notes
A double-header today! First, Jen Statsky (co-creator, Hacks) returns to discuss maintaining the high quality of the show four seasons in, staying honest while staying funny, season 4's big emotional moments, Carol Burnett, being raised by television, and more.
Then, Severance creator Dan Erickson discusses the challenges of season 2, finding "things you can only do on this show," early comedy influences, "Bad Pitch Mondays," and more.
LIVE STUFF!
A live Dead Pilots Society in LA (or available to stream on demand) on Sunday 9/14 2-4pm at the Elysian Theater. With scripts by Lisa Muse Bryant (The Four Seasons; Black-ish) and Jim Brandon & Brian Singleton (Animal Control; Mixed-ish). Starring Amber Riley (Glee), Vic Michaelis (Dropout's Very Important People), Dan Gregor (The Naked Gun co-writer), Phil Lamarr (King of the Hill; Futurama), Marcel Spears (The Neighborhood), Brian Safi (Throwing Shade), Jessica McKenna (Dropout), and more. Get live or streaming tickets here.
Come see Paul F. Tompkins, Paget Brewster, Busy Philipps, Joshua Malina, Janet Varney, and more in The Thrilling Adventure Hour live in New York or London this fall! https://thrillingadventure.live for details.
THE WRITERS PANEL IS A COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION. Follow and support the show by subscribing to Ben Blacker's newsletter, Re:Writing, where you'll also get weekly advice from the thousands of writers he's interviewed over the years, as well as access to exclusive live Q&As, meet-ups, and more: benblacker.substack.com
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More from The Writers Panel
Joe Port & Joe Wiseman (creators, Eternally Yours; Ghosts) discuss the death and rebirth of their new show (thanks to Dead Pilots Society!), the "easy" eleven year path to getting it on the air, their comedy influences, and more.
Russell T. Davies (Tip Toe; Doctor Who; Queer As Folk) discusses building a story out of anger, his relationship with actors, his response to stupid notes, discovering writing, his unique process, empty staircases, and more.
Anthony King (Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat; Rooster; The Afterparty) discusses worldbuilding in the real world, what's too funny for reality, lessons learned from Jury Duty that are applicable to traditional script writing, how the game was nearly blown up, and more.
Teacher and script consultant Pilar Alessandra is ending her inspiring and instructive podcast, On the Page, after 19 years and 1000 episodes. Ben Blacker administers Pilar's exit interview, discussing why she started the podcast, invaluable advice gleaned from the writers she's interviewed, the "drunk and naked" early episodes, how to write great dialogue, tips on pitching from her children, podcast as inadvertant autobiography, workflow, her favorite episodes, and more. You can listen to On the Page wherever you get your podcasts, and visit onthepage.tv to find out about Pilar's classes and script consulting. She knows her stuff!
Cassie Pappas (showrunner, Lucky; Silo; Griselda) discusses shooting in Vegas, movies that inspired the tone of Lucky, the emotional guts of the show, getting weird with the writers, showrunning as a "creative team sport," whether or not you need to live in LA to work in TV, and more.