Archive FM

Ian Talks Comedy

Lew Morton, Part II

NewsRadio's Sesame Street; favorite episodes of Taxi; his submissions for Harvard Lampoon and SNL; the change to writing half hour; how Newsradio creator Paul Simms hired comedy writers with no sitcom experience; his first episodes was co-written with Paul Simms; Newsradio's own style of writing; the length of days at Newsradio; hours were similar to Barney Miller; Christmas Story one of my favorite TV episodes of all time; Fibber McGee & Molly always in the script; joke written for 10% of the audience; writing an episode for Johnny Cash but he never agreed to do the show; Station Sale is an example of a "gang-written" show; team re-write after some read throughs; six people credited with some episodes; jokes sometimes written for 10% of the audience; eunuch jokes on Futurama; James Caan guest stars; episode is an homage to Clockers; Tubalcain; Joe Furey; Phil Hartman; why NBC continuously messed with the series; leaving Newsradio; death of Phil Hartman; 3rd Rock; Preston Beckman programmer; Undeclared; Rob Schneider's sitcom Rob; writing Ron Schneider's Annoying Girlfriend Theatre on SNL; writing the most episodes of Futurama; which show is the most in his creative voice; Sidney Poitier Mr. Pibb joke; Brickleberry; Yucko the Clown; Family Guy; cutaways are the hardest part; Seth MacFarlane's assistants become the best writers; ever meeting the boss; Cherry Chevapravatdumrong; toughest job he ever had; he was a manatee; South Park; Beavis and Butthead; Norm Hiscock

Broadcast on:
03 Dec 2022

NewsRadio's Sesame Street; favorite episodes of Taxi; his submissions for Harvard Lampoon and SNL; the change to writing half hour; how Newsradio creator Paul Simms hired comedy writers with no sitcom experience; his first episodes was co-written with Paul Simms; Newsradio's own style of writing; the length of days at Newsradio; hours were similar to Barney Miller; Christmas Story one of my favorite TV episodes of all time; Fibber McGee & Molly always in the script; joke written for 10% of the audience; writing an episode for Johnny Cash but he never agreed to do the show; Station Sale is an example of a "gang-written" show; team re-write after some read throughs; six people credited with some episodes; jokes sometimes written for 10% of the audience; eunuch jokes on Futurama; James Caan guest stars; episode is an homage to Clockers; Tubalcain; Joe Furey; Phil Hartman; why NBC continuously messed with the series; leaving Newsradio; death of Phil Hartman; 3rd Rock; Preston Beckman programmer; Undeclared; Rob Schneider's sitcom Rob; writing Ron Schneider's Annoying Girlfriend Theatre on SNL; writing the most episodes of Futurama; which show is the most in his creative voice; Sidney Poitier Mr. Pibb joke; Brickleberry; Yucko the Clown; Family Guy; cutaways are the hardest part; Seth MacFarlane's assistants become the best writers; ever meeting the boss; Cherry Chevapravatdumrong; toughest job he ever had; he was a manatee; South Park; Beavis and Butthead; Norm Hiscock