Was this style of writing, taking these different writers’ own experiences and building an episode out of it, unique to “Seinfeld?” In some ways, yes and in some ways, no. I would say it’s tough because when I wrote “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” book, a huge part of that was about how they hired more women writers than any show before it because they wanted to use real women’s stories for the actual show, and now I’m now writing a book about “Sex in the City” where they had writers that would use their real dating experiencing and wouldn’t use it unless it was real. I think there’s that school and the silly sitcom school of zany, stupid stuff happening, so the thing with “Seinfeld” that I think was really different was this focus on these tiny things and the sort of minutiae of everyday life. There were big characters but also these tiny moments they emphasize. That’s why they had to keep bringing in the new writers. But they were looking for those tiny moments like the whole double dipping, yadda yadda, all that stuff, that is what was challenging. You needed a certain eye for those details to notice them in life and know how to make them into something. It seems like they did a great job writing for female characters, specifi cally Elaine. Yes. It’s very clear when you’re interviewing these writers, that it’s a bunch of white guys. With 2017 eyes, it’s very clear. There were a few women here and there who I talked to but for the most part it was a lot of guys, so I always asked. The thing that really worked was that they didn’t really make a huge distinction. They didn’t say fi gure out how to write a woman. They just gave Elaine the same plotline they would give guys and she was her own character just like the guys were and that’s how they knew how to write her. I really didn’t realize until I read the book how different the show’s tone was once David left. I still love those episodes, but there were some more over-thetop scenes and characters. Do you think the show suffered with his absence? I think a lot of people noticed the difference at the time; everyone was watching really closely at that point. The difference was probably overestimated in the moment. If you watch them now, like you said, there were still great episodes at the time, like the soup Nazi, which was in the last two seasons. It’s not terrible. A downtick “Seinfeld” is still a really good episode. It’s not even really so much a downtick; it’s a matter of personal taste. It was a loss of that dark Larry David thing. The last episode which he wrote, to me was the ultimate Larry David mic drop moment. He comes back for the fi nale and puts them in prison so he’s just a little darker. Did you enjoy the last episode? I sort of defended it. I understand why people didn’t like it but I sort of admire the risk it took and while I understand people’s issues with it, I think it holds up better now than it did in that moment of incredible heights. I think it was too much before at the time but if you look at it now, it’s a great piece of work on its own, even if it’s not perfect. What would you advice be for others that want to write a book like this or any kind? I think my advice to anyone who wants to do this kind of writing is just to start doing it. Just get out there, practicing, start getting published and start learning about the subject because you need to know a lot and be passionate about it. I took a year and a half on it and then for eight months I’ve been talking about it and it’s probably going to continue so you really have to be excited about your subject matter or else you’ll burn out. Y ou have to be passionate about it and that comes through in the work you do. QNS.COM 34 SPRING 2017
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