A bang of a night

Last night I went to my sixth taping of the sitcom ‘The Big Bang Theory’. My sixth in two years. For baseball fans, this is akin to attending six baseball games in two years, not so odd. And cheaper. And funnier. I’m just saying, there’s not much levity in baseball until the big-headed mascot comes out to lead a song or a spinning of the heads on bats. (Full self-disclosure, I’m not a huge baseball fan. If I do one game a year, I’m good. And there better be some fun baseball snacks or a shopping trip on the way there or something.)

But yesterday I took my parents to the Warner Brothers lot, we waited in line for three and a half hours, passed through several security checkpoints, left our cell phones at home, and then sat smooshed together in tiny seats for about four hours. All to see some actors put on a little “play” as it were. A little play that takes about 150 people weeks to craft and execute and will eventually be seen by tens of millions of people around the globe. It was rather exciting. For all of us.

It was a special night because it was the taping of the fourth season finale. The cast and crew all seemed to have a light-hearted energy. They laughed and danced and waved. They broke up during takes, they came out to talk to the audience members (which rarely happens in my experience). Everyone had fun. So much fun. At work. Doing what they love. (Well, I am just assuming the guy who holds the mike and the guy who puts paper towels over the prop food love their jobs.)

And as the curtain call commenced I watched the guys over on the left hand side of the stage: Bill Prady and Chuck Lorre, the co-creators of the show. They stood there watching these actors bow and wave and be cheered on. They had pretty big smiles on their faces. And all I could think of was how much I want to be down there on that stage. Not in front with the cheering and the bowing but off to the side, standing with the other writers, watching what I’ve created happen. What I’ve created be applauded. What I’ve created make so many people happy. Amazing.

This is why I moved to Los Angeles. This is why I have spent the last three years worry over scene descriptions and one-liners. This is why I spend most of my waking moments thinking of the next script, or the current script, or the script that I wrote two years ago. I want nothing more to be down there, in the trenches.

It was an amazing night. It was awesome to see it through fresh eyes. To laugh, to be surprised, to smile at the little jokes, to watch all these people work. An amazing night. That’s what I want.

I'm starting

Tonight I went to the taping of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. This isn’t the first time I’ve gone, it won’t be the last. We already have tickets to take my parents next week to the taping of the season finale. But tonight, as I sat there, I realized something. I wanted to be down on the stage. I wanted more than anything to be a part of the hustle and bustle, the frenzied movement, the action. I wanted to be one of the writers bringing new pages to the actors, whispering about new jokes. I wanted to be one of the showrunners talking about sweaters and pacing and where everyone should stand. I wanted to be in the muck. 

I’ve started the process. I’ve studied television episodes and broken down screenplays. I’ve timed scene lengths and transcribed dialogue. I’ve written joke after joke and spent hours just sitting here at my desk thinking of the perfect title or the perfect line. I’ve put in some time. A lot of time. 

I’ve written spec scripts and original scripts. I’ve watched more television than most people should. And now I’m working to move beyond all that. I’m working to go out into the real world, if you can call Hollywood the real world, and put it all into practice.

Today I mailed out 56 query letters to agencies around town. It’s a start. It's scary but I needed to do it. Because I’ve realized, more than anything, I want to, I need to, be down on that stage, not up in the audience. I need this. Now. So I’m starting…