Martini Shot

Rob explains why rewrites of existing scripts can go on for years — all in the quest for that one teeny tiny note scrawled in the margin. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe

An encounter at Brentwood Country Mart with a former Mr. Ed writer sends Rob Long wondering about the binge-and-purge nature of this industry, where insiders suddenly can find themselves on the outside. Rob suggests ways to persist and keep showing up despite disaster, similar to the way Angelenos remain indifferent to L.A.’s mudslides and fires. Because, as he learned long ago, you may still end up in the equivalent of the Sinatra Room at Chasen’s. For a full transcript, click here. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe

While helping a friend on-set with his television pilot, Rob Long encounters two mysterious men, both named Larry, hanging around the soundstage. Nobody knows who they are, or what they actually do. And therein, says Rob, lies the problem with the current state of the business as our host, under the influence of too many Larrys, takes a dramatic turn in his opinion on the looming writers strike. For a full transcript, click here. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe

When is a network like a fast food restaurant? Rob answers, and explains why he wishes his Hollywood overlords would ask if he'd like with fries with that more often. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe

Rob explains his personal regimen for maintaining his mental health and why it's important to be grateful for a free trip to Azerbaijan (it's a metaphor). This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe

As the business braces for a potentially bruising writers’ strike, Rob Long tries to remember that in show business, everybody ends up working for — and with, and next to — each other. It’s an org chart that makes no sense, except it’s the only one that works. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe

This week, Rob Long gleans takeaways from the reboot of Night Court. One of the reasons Rob is happy about this traditional multi-cam sitcom revival is because it could be good for him (the format is the Cheers veteran’s sweet spot). But no matter who you are, you’re still desperately trying to buy or sell something — a lesson best illustrated through a recent cryptic interaction with a stranger at an L.A. car wash. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe

Rob Long examines the concept of spec scripts, and the risks involved with writing something without knowing whether there’s any interest in it. And when it comes to buyers, it’s impossible to know what they think they want. It’s why Rob suggests always pitching the show you want to do; typically, people don’t know what they need until they’re faced with it, and sometimes, as Rob learned recently, that might just be a Nigerian choir. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe

Rob Long advises “Be nice to everybody. Or at least, in Hollywood, don’t be not nice to anybody.” Not just for manners, but also, as Rob learned, sometimes someone who escaped your memory, yet with the power to give you money, will be seated opposite you on a suede sofa. As it turns out, hundreds of moments in your life when you were not your best are embedded in someone else’s. Which is why even Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote should say thank you to each other. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe

No matter how much power you have, you’re going to eventually sit in someone’s office and pitch something. It’s why Rob Long thinks everyone has to perfect at least 10 minutes of pre-meeting chit chat — those short but important conversations, usually between writers and execs, that take place prior to the official start of any pitch (weird traffic patterns, huh? Did you guys know each other in college?). Just don’t talk about scary spiders. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe