#14 Writing - Selling - Producing a Television Pilot

Suzanne opens discussing Ryan Seacrest’s new reality show “Montecito” and then

analyzes some hits before reviewing “The Seven Worst Reality Shows” to

ever make it on the air...while Bob shares his passion for

vinyl Rock ‘n Roll record albums.

The conversation moves on to how Bob took advantage of his “inside track”

deal with NBC Productions and his relationship with programming exec

Brandon Tartikoff to pitch and sell a pilot for Time Out for Dad, which starred

NFL Hall of Famer Dick Butkus and Harriet Nelson.

Bob tells what it was like meeting Chicago Bears linebacker Dick Butkus

for the first time, and then how Butkus held his own as a comedic actor

surrounded by first timers on a movie set.

Bob recalls his meeting withHarriet Nelson who appeared

in the show...while Suzanne lets it be known that she’s had a lifelong “thing”

for Harriet’s son, famed rocker Ricky Nelson. We also hear about the

casting process that discovered future TV star Johnny Galecki,

star of the CBS-TV series The Big Bang Theory .

Bob and Suzanne touch upon the fact that Time Out for Dad may

have been ahead of its time, dealing with the challenges faced by a

stay-at-home father married to a wife whose career is on the rise. They

reminisce about working with Scarface star Paul Shenar on the pilot, as well as

with the veteran crew members whom Bob spent time with, pumping them

for their stories of “Old Hollywood”.

Bob admits to being a “born marketer”, describing the story-point prop shoes

that he shamelessly wrote into the show in hopes of breaking into

the world of Nike’s Air Jordans, and then turns to the cruel odds of

the TV pilot process as a project goes through the various phases of

story-pitch-script-shoot...and then the dreaded decision-making that follows.

The episode closes with the realities of network programming

changes, as Bob gives his own definition of

“failure” in the world of television.