TALES FROM THE SCRIPT: THE BEHIND-THE-CAMERA ADVENTURES OF A TV COMEDY WRITER by Gene Perret Page A
Authors: Gene Perret
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purposes, the average script was about two inches thick.
On the evening before the taping, the producer and the two Script
Supervisors finalized the script. They worked until the early morning
hours going over the script page by page, cutting, adding, and rewriting jokes. The various writing teams took turns helping out with that
process. i had to work late once every four or five weeks.
i worked one of those late night sessions with another writer who
was an ass-kisser. He was devoted to getting the producer to like him
and his work. At that particular session, we were going through the
pages when the producer said, “i don’t like page 106. Let’s take it out.”
This derriere-busser chimed in with, “Good idea. Let’s go right
from page 105 to 107.”
Brilliant.
The following year, he was made a Script Supervisor.
Paul Keyes was the producer of Laugh-In the year when Rowan
and Martin had a feud with George Schlatter and had him effectively
banished from the show. Paul liked to smoke big, expensive cigars. it
gave the impression that he was really in charge. At that particular latenight writing session, he handed out cigars to all of the writers there.
We all lit up and puffed away, as we reviewed the pages of the
script. One writer refused; he didn’t care for tobacco smoke. it didn’t
matter. With six others smoking stogies, he had nothing else in the
room to inhale but second-hand cigar smoke.
Finally, during a short break, the non-smoker said, “Did somebody fart?”
The rest nodded their heads and said no.
He said, pleadingly, “Would somebody?”
Once the script was finalized, the writers were out of the process.
We weren’t invited to the taping of the shows. We weren’t banned; we
just weren’t needed nor were we particularly welcomed. if we wanted
to be there, that was okay, however, we were to just sit there like spectators, not participants.
i worked on Laugh-In for a full season and rarely met any of the
cast members. Rowan and Martin occasionally showed up at writers’
meeting to offer some input, but none of the others.
One writer dated one of the girls who was on the show. She was a
gorgeous young lady, but apparently not too bright. Over dinner, that
writer said to her, “You look a little pensive.”
She said, “no. i’m just thinking.”
That was their last date.
Laugh-In was a fun season for me because i enjoyed the zany writers i worked with. However, the show itself was not pleasant for me.
i didn’t feel like i was doing my best writing, nor was i allowed to. i
wasted too much paper and put them in the wrong bins.
Besides, the feud hurt the morale of the staff and the quality of the
show. When Dan Rowan, Dick Martin, and Paul Keyes, for whatever
reasons—and they may have been justified, for all i know—forced
George Schlatter off the set, the stage, and the show, much of the life
went out of Laugh-In .
A lot of the enthusiasm went out of me. i wanted out, but i had
a two-year contract with the show. if they decided to pick up my option, i would be there for another year.
However, George Schlatter was going to produce a variety show
starring Bill Cosby the following season. He again offered me a contract and it was for the position of Script Supervisor on the show.
it was for a hefty increase over what i was making at Laugh-In. My
agent’s advice that i’d make it up along the way turned out to be right,
as it usually was. i told him to snap it up.
He did, and then he had to ask Laugh-In to release me from my
contract. That was not an unusual happening in television; shows
generally released writers who got a more promising offer. However,
Dick, Dan, and Paul Keyes refused.
i was stunned. That was a great opportunity for me and they were
holding me back because of their feud with George. i felt they were
petty; they were using me to get revenge.
i told my agent to ask again and explain things better.
They still refused.
“We’ll offer you a
On the evening before the taping, the producer and the two Script
Supervisors finalized the script. They worked until the early morning
hours going over the script page by page, cutting, adding, and rewriting jokes. The various writing teams took turns helping out with that
process. i had to work late once every four or five weeks.
i worked one of those late night sessions with another writer who
was an ass-kisser. He was devoted to getting the producer to like him
and his work. At that particular session, we were going through the
pages when the producer said, “i don’t like page 106. Let’s take it out.”
This derriere-busser chimed in with, “Good idea. Let’s go right
from page 105 to 107.”
Brilliant.
The following year, he was made a Script Supervisor.
Paul Keyes was the producer of Laugh-In the year when Rowan
and Martin had a feud with George Schlatter and had him effectively
banished from the show. Paul liked to smoke big, expensive cigars. it
gave the impression that he was really in charge. At that particular latenight writing session, he handed out cigars to all of the writers there.
We all lit up and puffed away, as we reviewed the pages of the
script. One writer refused; he didn’t care for tobacco smoke. it didn’t
matter. With six others smoking stogies, he had nothing else in the
room to inhale but second-hand cigar smoke.
Finally, during a short break, the non-smoker said, “Did somebody fart?”
The rest nodded their heads and said no.
He said, pleadingly, “Would somebody?”
Once the script was finalized, the writers were out of the process.
We weren’t invited to the taping of the shows. We weren’t banned; we
just weren’t needed nor were we particularly welcomed. if we wanted
to be there, that was okay, however, we were to just sit there like spectators, not participants.
i worked on Laugh-In for a full season and rarely met any of the
cast members. Rowan and Martin occasionally showed up at writers’
meeting to offer some input, but none of the others.
One writer dated one of the girls who was on the show. She was a
gorgeous young lady, but apparently not too bright. Over dinner, that
writer said to her, “You look a little pensive.”
She said, “no. i’m just thinking.”
That was their last date.
Laugh-In was a fun season for me because i enjoyed the zany writers i worked with. However, the show itself was not pleasant for me.
i didn’t feel like i was doing my best writing, nor was i allowed to. i
wasted too much paper and put them in the wrong bins.
Besides, the feud hurt the morale of the staff and the quality of the
show. When Dan Rowan, Dick Martin, and Paul Keyes, for whatever
reasons—and they may have been justified, for all i know—forced
George Schlatter off the set, the stage, and the show, much of the life
went out of Laugh-In .
A lot of the enthusiasm went out of me. i wanted out, but i had
a two-year contract with the show. if they decided to pick up my option, i would be there for another year.
However, George Schlatter was going to produce a variety show
starring Bill Cosby the following season. He again offered me a contract and it was for the position of Script Supervisor on the show.
it was for a hefty increase over what i was making at Laugh-In. My
agent’s advice that i’d make it up along the way turned out to be right,
as it usually was. i told him to snap it up.
He did, and then he had to ask Laugh-In to release me from my
contract. That was not an unusual happening in television; shows
generally released writers who got a more promising offer. However,
Dick, Dan, and Paul Keyes refused.
i was stunned. That was a great opportunity for me and they were
holding me back because of their feud with George. i felt they were
petty; they were using me to get revenge.
i told my agent to ask again and explain things better.
They still refused.
“We’ll offer you a
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