I graduated college with a great idea of what I didn’t want to do.  I’ve always had the ability to see the humor in almost anything.  At the time, TV sitcoms were at their zenith, with landmark shows like Mary Tyler Moore and Mash dominating the ratings.  It was another landmark show, All in the Family, that inspired me to write comedy for television.  Fresh out of college, I wrote a “spec” script for the show, pretty much teaching myself along the way.  Not knowing anyone in the business, it was tough to get an agent and break in.

I got my start in television writing for Saturday morning shows, cartoons and live action.  My first prime time, big time show was The Love Boat, which still occasionally runs today on some station.  I had a foot in the door and from there, I kind of willed myself all the way in.  After getting a few decent credits, I got an interview with Carroll O’ Connor himself, aka, Archie Bunker.  All in the Family had ended and he was in the second year of its sequel, Archie Bunker’s Place.  The show wasn’t the Emmy-winning show AITF was, but it was still funny and dealt with compelling social issues.  I was hired to be a writer on the show, which was even more special because of that first spec script I wrote.

Mea Culpa: I killed off Edith Bunker.  Well, I was at least a co-conspirator.  The great actress, Jean Stapleton, had left the show and someone decided to kill off her character.  I was part of a team of writers who crafted the special one-hour episode called “The Death of Edith.”  It was a big TV event, with over 40 million watching it.  We were actually number two in the national ratings that week, and I still can’t remember who beat us out.  Despite all the attention and critical acclaim, I must admit, it felt creepy to kill off such a beloved character, and to this day, I still wish we didn’t have to.  I spent three years writing for Archie’s Place, moving up to become a producer and really learning the craft of writing along the way.  We did more than a few shows I was proud of and they would still hold up today.

I moved on to other sitcoms such as Perfect Strangers, Growing Pains, Head of the Class, Full House, Boy Meets World, and Saved by the Bell.  I worked on the early development of Saved by the Bell, and helped bring it to prime time with SBTB The College Years.  That led to writing the TV movie, SBTB Wedding In Las Vegas, a fan favorite that still reruns around the country today.

One of my more fulfilling gigs was creating the NBC teen comedy Hang Time and running the show.  This job married two of my biggest passions: comedy and basketball.  I also had the chance to work with NBA stars Reggie Theus, Alonzo Mourning, Grant Hill, and the legendary Laker announcer, Chick Hearn.

The television business started to change, with sitcoms falling out of favor and reality shows littering the landscape.  I started to transition to other kinds of writing.  I wrote two short stories, both of which won contests.  This encouraged me to try to write a Young Adult novel.  Having worked on a lot of teen-oriented TV shows, I had a feel for that genre.  Stepping Up, my first published novel, once again combined my passions for basketball and comedy.  I always saw Ernie Dolan as an Every Kid, average as most of us, but a kid who gives average a good name.

The first book I wrote, The Summer I Got A Life, will be published by Westside Books in the fall of 2009. It’s a humorous story of first love and self discovery and I’m excited to be seeing that in print as well.

I’m lucky to have a great family, my wife, Susan, and sons, Kevin and Eric, all of whom gave me much support with these books.  We live outside of Los Angeles and I still play basketball a few times a week.  Like Ernie Dolan, I’m an average player, but every now and then . . .