Amazing Alan Alda impression

From Bill Hader on last night's SNL...

My idea for a really cool slasher movie!

I must admit I never got into those slasher movies. Seems to me they’re all the same story. The popular kids who were too good to ever go out with you in high school all frolic off to a cabin for some holiday and some disfigured skeesix in a goalie’s mask terrorizes and one-by-one graphically slices them up. Yes, it’s grizzly and horrible but isn’t that sorta what they deserve? Would it kill them to agree to dance with us just once??

Then there’s a sequel where the ones that survived go BACK to the cabin. You’d think maybe they’d hit the MTV beach house the next winter break instead?

And there’s always the backstory explaining how the psychopath became a killer…such as he was a bed wetter or flunked out of Benhinana Chef school.

I have what I believe is a great idea for a slasher movie. I’m sharing it because I’ve had it registered (in other words, you can’t steal it!!!). But it seems to me the key to this genre is creating a truly terrifying slasher. My idea is to hire Gordon from SESAME STREET as the psychopath. Can you imagine how disturbing THAT would be to anyone who grew up with that show?

“You didn’t eat your vegetables!” “AAAAAAAA!!!” Slice! Hack!

“Can you spell ‘help’?” “H-E-L-AAAAAAAAAAA!!” Stab! Slit!

“One of these limbs is not like the others!” Chop!

“Today I’m brought to you by the letters D.O.A.!!”

I can hear the screams now. Freddie and Jason and Chucky, eat (or cut) your hearts out. Plus, I’ve got the sequel all storyboarded. Only this time it’s Maria.

Happy Halloween, kids.

G3 Trailer

Alright! Another Transformers Optimus Prime G3 Trailer added into my collection! This is third party company item, meaning it's not official Hasbro nor TakaraTomy product. If I am correct this item is manufactured in HK by Parallax(?) I bought it on a Hobby Online store for around BND$100++.

Optimus Prime is my all time favorite Transformer character and anything to do with him, I will not let it go pass by. This Trailer will fit my Henkei Transformer Optimus Prime or Convoy (C-01). The item is pretty high in quality. Comes with all the accessories. Check it out!



Different weapons for Optimus Prime disposal


Carrier connecting the Optimus Prime in truck mode and the trailer


The trailer can transformed into a Battle Station just like the G1 version



Soon, I will have them "mated"


Here is the picture of the final product

Katey Sagal sings

Here's an episode of the MARY series that David Isaacs and I created for Mary Tyler Moore in 1985.  Thanks to reader Benson for posting it on YouTube.    This is the episode that features Katey Sagal singing.   We knew she was a terrific singer (she was one of Bette Midler's Harlettes) but the character she played in the show was a real curmudgeon, not the kind of person who would just break into song. 

So we constructed a story to justify it.  The episode was directed by Ellen Falcon, written by me and David, and Richard Gilliland was the guest-star. 

Merrill Markoe's Book of Genesis

Finally, some actual PROOF of the Book of Genesis, compliments of esteemed theologian, Merrill Markoe.

How a baseball is made

As the World Series continues, I'm always looking for baseball posts for people who don't give a crap about baseball. Here's one for anyone just curious or that entrepreneur looking to start his own sweat shop. How a baseball is made. This is from the Discovery Channel and it's pretty fascinating. Before you can "play ball" you gotta "make ball".

What is the best spec to write?

Working through these Friday questions as fast as I can. Here are a bunch more.

Ajjjj asks:

What show do you recommend to spec? You’ve mentioned 30 Rock, but since it's in its fifth season, is it maybe getting long in the tooth?


Is it wiser to write for a young show with promise (Raising Hope, Modern Family) or to write for a show that might be too stale in a year or so (Always Sunny, 30 Rock?)


Thanks, and I'll take my answer off the air.

If possible, write specs for shows that are hot or on the way up. The problem with writing a spec 30 ROCK now is that there are already a gazillion of them out there.  Producers are tired of reading them.

That said, the most important factor is what show do you feel would best show off your talents?  That's the show you should target. If you really don’t get MODERN FAMILY or like MODERN FAMILY then don’t spec one. On the other hand, if you are Barney, then HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER is your "quid pro bro".

Among the preferred specs to write these days – and I’m just guessing here but I’d say MODERN FAMILY, PARKS & RECREATION, COMMUNITY, BIG BANG THEORY, maybe BORED TO DEATH.

I’d give the freshmen comedies a few more weeks before tackling one of them.  I wouldn't put too much time into plotting out a spec RUNNING WILDE.

And if you have a great GARY UNMARRIED, sorry but junk it.

Here’s one from Richard Carpenter (I assume not the one who was Karen’s brother since he’s from Milwaukee):

Do writers for a series have a list of special talents of the actors, or do they ask around when they need something special for a scene?


There was an episode of Modern Family that centered around Cameron playing drums, an episode for which the actor really had to know how to play, and not just fake his way through it. I can't imagine even starting such a script before you knew it was possible to pull off.


Were there any cases in your shows where you used such a special talent, and if so how did that come to be?

Not a list per se but usually on actors’ resumes they will list their “skills”. I always check that because I am forever amused at what they consider to be “talents”. Bicycling, suitcase packing, stenciling, old lady impersonation, can throw a spiral, cook tacos, look good in shorts.

Normally you don’t have to ask actors what their special skills are. They’re happy to volunteer that info. And sometimes we’ll try to work those skills into shows. Eric Stonestreet really was a clown in his past life.  MODERN FAMILY parlayed that knowledge into Emmys.    On that Mary Tyler Moore show David and I did where we gave Katey Sagal her first job, we knew she could sing (she was once one of Bette Midler’s Harletts) and found a way to have her sing in an episode.

And then there’s Jane Leeves.

In the first year of FRASIER there was an episode where they needed her to play pool. Jane had never played pool so a tutor was enlisted to hastily teach her the fundamentals. After two days she was making trick shots. The tutor said he had never met anybody who picked it up faster and was as naturally talented at pool as Jane. He said she could be a professional after three days. Sometimes these people are just brimming with gifts. (I also understand that Jane is good at stenciling.)

Jim Miller wonders:

Why don't TV writers ever use the wisdom of the crowds by publishing and taking comments on a script before the script was shot? Fans could even vote on which jokes worked.

Jim, that’s an honest question but I can tell you there is NOTHING in the world, the universe that would piss off a comedy writer more than people voting on his jokes.


My post yesterday dealt with this to a certain extent. Audiences vote with their laughter.

And finally, from Eduardo Jencarelli:

Regarding those Simpsons episodes you wrote, did you and David get paid extra for creating the Capital City Goofball on Dancin' Homer and Ronnie Beck on Saturdays of Thunder?

No. Maybe we could have made an issue of it but we didn’t. The thing about the Capital City Goofball that I’m most proud about is that I also designed the character. I’m an amateur cartoonist and offered sketches of what I thought the Goof could look like. Much to my delight, they were accepted. I still have my original sketches. And just the fact that a character I designed was used on THE SIMPSONS is worth waaay more than a few dollars residuals. Of course David might not feel that way.

What’s your question?

One of the true idiots I've ever worked with

Early in my directing career I did a couple of episodes of ASK HARRIET for FOX. It actually was not a bad show and I worked with some wonderful actors like Willie Garson, Ed Asner, and Julie Benz. But one of the producers was maybe the worst writer I’ve ever encountered in the business. And he really stuck out because the rest of the staff was terrific.

For purposes of this piece let’s call him Shecky because he pretty much embodied the lowest of the borscht belt comics. Loud, lascivious, dyed his hair and eyebrows with shoe polish, always hustling and creeping-out the extras. He was the uncle your parents always kept you away from when you were little.

Shecky only cared about jokes. Usually old, usually off color. Supposedly when he was on staff of an earlier series whenever it was time to break a story he fell asleep.

One week we had an act break joke that was just a vile gratuitous slam on gays. I called and said the cast and I were all extremely uncomfortable with the line. He said he wanted to see it at runthrough. Okay. Fair enough.

I rehearsed the scene and told the cast not to purposely tank the line. They didn’t need to first of all, and secondly, we didn’t want to give Skecky any ammunition for keeping the line.

So the writers all came down, we did the scene, and predictably the joke bombed… except for Shecky laughing hysterically. And this was the conversation that followed, almost verbatim, between me and the Sheckster.

Me: Well, it didn’t work. We could really use something else here.


Shecky: What are you talking about? It worked great!


Me: Huh?   It did? No one laughed.


Shecky: I laughed.


Me: Yes, but not one of your other writers.


Shecky: Well, of course they didn’t laugh. They’re comedy writers.


Me: Excuse me??


Shecky: They’re comedy writers. But real people will laugh at that.   Writers are jaundiced.

Me: Wait a minute. Isn’t the fact that they’re professional comedy writers mean they’re watching the material to determine whether an audience of real people will find it funny? Their job is not to be entertained themselves. Their job is to best determine what others will like. Otherwise, what’s the point of even having a runthrough?


Shecky: To support the actors. Look, the joke stays.

I was just the freelance director. I walked away in utter disbelief. They did the joke on show night and not only did it not get a laugh, it got gasps from the audience.

Later that night Shecky said he was putting in a new line in the scene we were about to shoot. It was an office party scene and one character was trying to impress a co-worker he had eyes on. So another character suggests Xeroxing his ass. Why this would charm a woman I do not know. But there was some lame line of justification. Shecky wanted to change it. When the one character was reluctant to Xerox his ass the other was now to say, “Look, everyone knows the way to a girl’s heart is through the butt.”

Me: No, really.


Shecky: That’s the line.


Me: You’re not serious, are you? I mean, you’re not actually proposing that line, right?


Shecky: Why not? What’s wrong with it?


Me: What's wrong with it?   Really?  Uh… well, for starters -- it’s tasteless and offense and not remotely funny.


Shecky: Well, fuck you! That’s the line.


I refused to give that line to the cast. If he wanted it in he would have to do it. He cursed me out again and stormed onto the stage. Two minutes later he returned.


Shecky: (begrudgingly) Alright, we’ll do the original line.


Me: Let me guess, the actor refused to say it?


Shecky: FUCK YOU!!

By mutual consent, that was the last ASK HARRIET I directed.

But the big question is this: How do you know when something’s funny? Especially since humor is so subjective. The standard answer is “it’s funny if it’s funny to you”. I disagree. And I use Shecky as an example. If you’re attempting to become a professional comedy writer you need to gage what strangers will find funny.

This requires a knack, based on observation, experience, and your own sense of humor. Paying attention to what works. The only true determination is if the audience laughs. So how are the jokes constructed? How dependent is the material on performance? Or reactions?  What about tone?  Timing? Do you have the right target audience? What and exactly when are they laughing?  And then of course, there’s common sense. I’d be surprised if a single one of you thought, “the way to a girl’s heart is through the butt” was funny and appropriate. Earl Pomerantz, by the way, had an excellent piece in his blog on this subject too.

Can this knack be developed? Absolutely. My first staff job was on THE TONY RANDALL SHOW. I went down to my first runthrough, sat on a director chair with the rest of the writers and enjoyed the runthrough immensely. Meanwhile, I’m looking over at everyone else and they’re madly scribbling. I’m thinking “What are they seeing?” But then we’d get back to the writers room and they’d start discussing the script and their concerns. The next day’s runthrough would be dramatically better. By paying attention I began to see what they saw.

So what if you don't have the luxury of being on staff? 

When you go to comedy movies make note of what works and try to figure out why. Same with plays. Sitcoms are harder unless they’re multi-camera and you’re in the audience. Because through editing, sweetening, and retakes they can make shows appear better than they played. But train yourself to study comedy. And when you feel you finally have a real handle on it then learn this cardinal rule:

No one is always right.

I hate to say it and wish it weren’t so but no matter how long you’ve been doing it, how many Oscars or Emmys or Tonys you have, you still may be wrong. That’s why we have runthroughs. That’s why Neil Simon, after all his smash hits, rewrites constantly while his plays are still in tryout. That’s why movies are previewed.

So we never know for sure. But start thinking professionally.  If you do your due diligence, if you begin to trust that you’re right most of the time you’ll have a much greater shot at breaking in. And more importantly you’ll help weed out fucking idiots like Shecky.  Please do it.  For me.

Schuco 1/43 - Mercedes Benz SLS AMG, Red

Vitesse 1/43 - MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION X - #61 F.Nutahara/T.Sato (2009 JRC CHAMPION LIMITED EDITION)

Charlie Sheen, the World Series, the Kardashians, and Crusader Rabbit

Random this and thats…

So Charlie Sheen was found naked and drunk and trashed a hotel room in the Plaza in New York. The naked hooker he was with was screaming from inside a closet. And what was the spin this time? Why it was merely an allergic reaction to medication. I dunno. On all those drug commercials when they list the possible dangerous side effects I’ve never heard them say “may cause patient to get naked, drink heavily, throw furniture, and terrorize prostitutes.”

Debra Winger is such a good actress that after watching her for ten minutes on IN TREATMENT I stopped saying “Boy, she’s had work done” and got wrapped up in her character.

Bristol Palin is the Sanjaya of DANCING WITH THE STARS.

Most people think Jay Ward created Rocky & Bullwinkle and Dudley Do-Right but it was really Alex Anderson Jr. He also created Crusader Rabbit. Alexander passed away recently at age 90. Crusader Rabbit was the first cartoon produced expressly for television. Anderson approached Ward for financing and the two formed an early partnership. Crusader Rabbit was my favorite TV cartoon as a kid, primarily because the stories were so clever. Ironically, the writer of those stories, Lloyd Turner, is the same writer who twenty years later gave me and David our first break (an assignment on THE JEFFERSONS).

I still haven’t heard back from Matt Damon. I know Charlie Sheen is flying back to New York around Thanksgiving but what if I want to use the restroom and the hooker is in there screaming? And I’m ducking those floatation devices. Not worth it. I’ll just wait to hear from Matt.

Considering how many new shows are getting full season pick-ups despite dismal ratings, Jimmy Smits and Maura Tierney must be saying, “Hey, what the fuck did we do?!”

KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS has double the adult ratings of BOARDWALK EMPIRE. But B.E. still beats SWAMP PEOPLE and ICE ROAD TRUCKERS: DEADLIEST ROADS … by .l. The power of Scorsese!

Speaking of ratings: Analysts are predicting this World Series (which starts tonight) could be the lowest watched in history. Maybe there would be more interest in the Texas Rangers if before tonight in their 39-year history they were on primetime network television just once.

And even though there’s a great Game One match-up between the Giants’ Tim Lincecum & the Rangers’ Cliff Lee, more people will be watching the kidnapped guy in Mexico naming names at gunpoint on YouTube.

What are you going as this Halloween?

The Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in Halloween.  So the one night of the year when people would actually open their doors to them they stay home.

In Evanston, Illinois it is illegal to Trick-or-Treat.  It's also illegal to skip.

Is it just me or is the new Nook eReader not a great name? No one at Barnes & Noble Inc. bothered to say it out loud? “I’d like to buy one of those new Nooky Readers.”

George Bush is making the talk show rounds plugging his new book. I wonder who wrote it for him.

The trailer for the new TRON looks very cool. This is one I think I'll see on the big screen and not my phone.

And finally -- Allen Iverson has agreed to play pro basketball in Turkey. Please take Charlie Sheen with you.

Hotwheels Elite 1/18 - Ferrari 458 Italia Red

Motul Autech GT-R

After my 1st purchase of the Nismo Z few months back, i was totally in love with kyosho 1/64..the level of detailing is irresistible indeed! One of my main target then was this Motul GT-R..really glad i finally have it in hand, and at a good price too! thanks to my friend Kendrew frome Diecast Empire :D
Now let the pictures do the poisoning!! :D

though i've been referring it as Motul Autech GT-R, the one stated here is different..not sure if the naming is correct..anyway like any other kyosho, this one comes with a base, but not with the box..only a hard plastic cover as enclosure..probably because its from a "tikam" set.

(or in english is called random set or blind set? not sure ^ ^ ;)

look at the sheer details and paint job, the previous me would not be able to tell whether this is a 1/64 or not..really awesome stuff :D

The one thing I'm wondering here is what is the logo at the side represents? if u ask me, it looks more like my local school badge..hahah

close up on the detailing..click for bigger images

Never get tired of this :)

Totally no regret in getting this one..i guess i'll really start collecting kyosho 1/64 now..but probably will focus on the GT cars cuz this is where kyosho's superiority in detailing shines! Poisoned? i hope u are :P