Stephen Falk, the creator / showrunner / executive producer of NBC's canceled midseason sitcom Next Caller, wrote a long, thoughtful piece on his Tumblr about the experience of working has ass off on the show for a year, only to have NBC pull the plug before even giving it the chance to air. It's a revealing look into the frustrations of working in network television and a reminder of how much hard work goes into every single show you see on TV (and some that never even make it to the screen). Here's a taste:
"For if you work hard enough, someday you too may work on your [...]
Deadline interviewed Louis C.K. as part of their coverage leading up to the Emmy nominations' announcement. They had him talk about the episodes he is submitting for consideration, including: "Pregnant", "Subway/Pamela", "Oh Louie/Tickets", and "Duckling". In doing so he addressed the whole Dane Cook thing for what should be the last time:
What I wrote for Dane and me on camera represents what each other feels about the situation. The only difference is that he’s not angry about it. Neither of us really care. Dane was generous in allowing me to take him to a place of anger and it was funny the way he did it. [...]
Unpopular Opinions is a new weekly column in which a writer takes a stand against popular opinion, whether it's asserting the true merit of a supposedly guilty pleasure or dissenting against the universally lauded.
Joke “stealing” is not a new phenomenon. Hell, Milton Berle basically made a career out of it, earning himself the nickname, “The Thief of a Bad Gag.” With the rise of the Internet and cellphone cameras, however, it seems like fans have started to care more. But how did something that used to only be a comedy community matter give birth to a legion of joke vigilantes?
Let’s start with a couple examples.
Example [...]
Yeesh. Apparently Dane Cook showed up to the Improv in LA last night and performed a pretty angry set. TJ Miller tweeted a lengthy response that continued this morning, noting that Cook talked about not paying for an abortion and "finding some whore to fuck to take out his anger at his ex girlfriend." (Ali Waller also tweeted about how glad she was to "hear the story about how he 'chainsaw-fucked' a 'disgusting whore's cunt.'") Guess Cook decided not to take a break from standup after all.
You might not have noticed that Dane Cook hasn't been performing or writing any standup since February, but it's true. He says he's "taken it everywhere I've wanted to take it" and wants to focus instead on projects like the dramatic indie film Answers to Nothing and, of course, his upcoming NBC sitcom premiering in the fall. Be careful when you read that profile if you're committed to hating Dane Cook, though, because its description of his financial struggles after his parents both died and his brother-slash-business manager screwed him over might actually make you feel a little sympathetic for him. Just a little.
