October 03, 2024

TV Writer & Author Stan Zimmerman (The Girls: From Golden To Gilmore) Part 1: "I Wanted To Be An Ernie Flatt Dancer On The Carol Burnett Show"

54 minutes

Dennis is joined via Zoom by television writer Stan Zimmerman to talk about his memoir The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore, which documents his career working on such iconic shows as Roseanne, The Golden Girls and Gilmore Girls as well as The Brady Bunch Movie and A Very Brady Sequel. In this first part of a two-part interview, Stan talks about his midwest upbringing and how his mother bought him the ballet shoes he wanted behind his father's back. He also talks about meeting his longtime writing partner Jim Berg, why they work wll together and how they landed a gig on the first season of The Golden Girls when they were still in their 20's Stan also recalls feeling like he had to stay in the closet on that job but feeling like he had an ally in Estelle Getty. He talks about the culture of fear that was so common in TV writers rooms in those days and expresses hope that things are better today. He also talks fondly about working with director Betty Thomas on the first Brady Bunch Movie as a punch-up writer and feeling like his contribution was finally being properly appreciated...only to end up without a screen credit thanks to an old WGA rule. He also recalls Bea Arthur being concerned that the Golden Girls writing staff was too young, Rue McLanahan being extra funny when she said words ending in E-R, and the eyebrow raising thing Betty White would do when Estelle Getty flubbed her lines. Other topics include: the warm fuzzies Stan gets when he talks with Golden Girls fans, suggesting RuPaul for that cameo in The Brady Bunch Movie, Pia Zadora's giant cell phone and how when it comes to a career in entertainment, it's all about perseverance.