Marc Zicree [Interview]

Today’s interview subject is a writer who has had such varied and successful career, it almost seems made up. Is it truly possible that one man can be the voice behind everything from a legendary children’s cartoon series, to a cult classic horror television series, right down to a new age epic science fiction saga? Well, I am here today to say YES! Yes it is possible. And Marc Zicree is the man who can make all of this possible.

Marc Zicree’s early days were spent penning stories for the world renowned and now legendary cartoon series The Smurfs which is forever engrained in my mind as the best animated series of my youth, and the youth of so many of us out there, for generations in fact. He is also another part of the creative force behind a series that we have mentioned here at Trainwreck’d Society at lengths, the legendary Friday The 13th: The Series, a brilliant yet short lived series that was related to the film series in name only and was a truly unique experience in the world of television. Yes, the same guy who made us laugh our smurfing asses off as children was also responsible for scaring the shit out of us years later.

And recently, Marc is part of the guiding force behind Space Command, a science fiction that is gaining momentum and a hardcore following after and extremely successful Kickstarter campaign, which we will discuss in the words below. Basically, this is a guy who has done it all, and was kind enough to share some stories and words of wisdom with you fine readers here today. So ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy some great words from legendary writer Marc Zicree!

What was the first bit of your writing that you can remember seeing performed on screen? Can you recall how you felt in that moment?

I can’t remember the first thing I saw on screen, but television and movies were a big influence as long as I can remember. I watched all the major shows on television as a kid and the original versions of Star Trek, Twilight Zone and Outer Limits were a huge influence.

Additionally this was a great time for science-fiction and fantasy in movies and I love the films of George Pal and Ray Harryhausen. Also 2001: A Space Odyssey came out when I was a kid and that was just astonishing.

At the same time, I was reading science fiction novels and comic books voraciously. It was a great era for both of those, the silver age comics with Marvel and DC and gold key etc. In terms of novels I was reading Ray Bradbury, Arthur C Clarke, Heinlein and all the other major writers.

Smurfs was hands down my favorite cartoon when I was a kid. And I have recently become aware that you were a major factor in those early days of the show. What was it like to write for a show like this? And what are some of your favorite moments that you manage to write into the show?

I broke into television writing animation in my early 20’s and Smurfs was the second show I wrote for (the first was Space Ghost).

At that point, none of the animation had yet been done by Hanna-Barbera and none of us had heard of the Smurfs. We were told it was a huge sensation in Europe and were shown some of the graphic novels. Peyo and Delaport, the creators of the Smurfs, flew in from Belgium to meet with us writers and explain to us what the Smurfs were.

Then we started coming up with stories and writing scripts. It was great fun, because the characters were so very distinctive and the look was unique. They were also really funny and it was fun writing comedy. Plus Gargamel was voiced by Paul Winschel, who had a television show in Los Angeles as a ventriloquist when I was a kid and was one of my idols.

Of the Smurfs scripts I wrote, my favorite was “It Came From Outer Smurf,” because that was a science-fiction story about an alien landing in a flying saucer in the Smurf Village and disguising himself as a Smurf. Very much in my ballpark.

You did a great amount of work on the highly underrated and now cult favorite show Friday The 13th: The Series. The horror genre seems a bit of a stretch from the stuff you were doing previous to the shows release, so what made you want to become a part of the Friday franchise? Were you a fan of the films prior to working on the show?

Friday the 13th: The Series was my first job as a story editor and I enjoyed it greatly. I had an office on the Paramount lot and it was the same time they were shooting Star Trek: The Next Generation, so it was all very exciting.

The show had nothing in common with the movies, which I found sadistic, other than the title, which is what helped sell the show. In fact, the show had what I found to be a moral core, as it was about two young people and a friend helping to undo the wrongs their late uncle had done. I had grown up with horror movies such as Frankenstein and The Haunting and it was a genre I loved, when it was done well.

I’m very proud of the work I did on that show, and I enjoyed finding the balance between writing a story that would have meaning and writing something that would be scary. I’m most proud of an episode I wrote called “Pipe Dream,” which was about Ryan and his father and their very troubled relationship, which was a very autobiographical piece.

I also think it’s amusing that I’m the only writer who wrote for both Smurfs and Friday the 13th: The Series. I often tell people that they were very similar in that the phrase most often said by the characters in both was, “Oh, no!”.

Marc and his writing/life partner Elaine.

While you have worked in so many different genres, it seems as though you have quite the preference for the science fiction world. What is it that has made you work so much in the science fiction genre?

The shows that made me want to be a writer  were the original Outer Limits, the original Star Trek and the original Twilight Zone.

I also was avidly reading science fiction, including the works of Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein and Theodore Sturgeon.  So it was only natural that would be the genre I would gravitate toward.

One of the things I love about science fiction  is that it allows you to look deeply within yourself and comment profoundly on life and the world around us. Taking it one step away from the current moment and events of the day allows you to be both more specific and more universal.

I also love world building, projecting a possible future and also offering a tantalizing possibility of going beyond the specific story or characters and out into a much wider universe that I’ve created.this allows for the man’s number of storylines and also collaboration with others to expand that fictional world.

And yes, while I have written westerns and horror and comedy and other genres, my heart belongs mostly in science fiction.

Additionally, my mentors have all been in the genre, in one way or another,  including Ray Bradbury. So again I was learning from the best and then striving to create high-quality work of my own.

How great did it feel when your Kickstarter campaign for Space Command absolutely CRUSHED its goal? Had you anticipated such a turn out?

I was very gratified when we raised over $221,000 on our original Kickstarter campaign. Since then, I’ve sold  investment shares in Space Command and raised over half a million more. In fact, we’re still selling shares until we sell the series itself, so it’s a great opportunity for investors.

I’ve always felt I’ve shared the same enthusiasms and aesthetic as my audience, so it was a pleasant surprise but not wholly unexpected.

What is the latest news in the world of Space Command? What should fans be expecting next?

We’ve shot the first two-hour story and are now in post production on that, have also shot 35 minutes of the second two hour story, and the opening scene of the third two-hour story — essentially a good representative sample of what will be a first season representing twelve one-hour episodes.

Our VFX team is now working full-time on the 1,900 VFX shots in the first two hour story — essentially our Space Command pilot.  I’ve written the first eight hours of the twelve-hour first season, and have outlined hours nine through twelve, plus a prequel.

I’m now actively pitching the show to major networks and platforms, both here and in England and France.  So hopefully Space Command will be available soon.  I can’t wait to share it with the world.

I’m thrilled with what we’ve produced so far.  You can check out our trailers and more at http://www.spacecommandseries.com and also my YouTube Channel Mr. Sci-Fi at:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkKt7gHnZpcY0nreBdPhwmQ

And of course there’s my Facebook and Twitter posts, and also http://www.marczicree.com

What else do you have going on? Anything else coming up that you would like to plug to our readers?

The new Twilight Zone Companion comes out at Christmas, with tons of new material, including links to audio and video rarities, plus new interviews with Rod’s daughter Jodi and George Takei.

Beyond this, we’ve founded a new company called Better Angels Productions, with our studio here in LA, an Executive VP of Business Affairs in Dallas and a presence in London.  We’ll be doing three features in the next two years, and have a slate of nine movie and TV projects.  So lots of exciting times ahead.

I’ve also just finished a memoir about my mom and am writing three new books:

My Ray Bradbury, about my friendship with Ray Bradbury; My Televised Life, about growing up watching TV and then making television, in all its past and current permutations; and The Making of Space Command.

Star Wars novelist Maya Bohnhoff has also written the first Space Command novel, which will be coming out soon.

Oh, and Elaine and I also mentor writers, directors, actors and producers.  You can find out all about that at http://www.marczicree.com too.

What was the last thing that made you smile?

When the money came through a few days ago for my wife Elaine to be hired to write the feature Subversive, based on current member of Parliament Lord Peter Hain’s memoir about this apartheid-era activist parents in South Africa.  We’re aboard that movie as producers, along with two producers in the UK, and we’ll be leaving in a couple weeks for England, Wales and South Africa to research the film so Elaine can jump in writing the script.  I can’t wait.

Jermaine Hopkins [Interview]

Today I have an amazing interview with a man I have been trying to get into the TWS universe for quite some time. In fact, when I originally came up with the idea for this site, and I was considering all of the folks I would love to ask some questions with, Jermaine Hopkins was right up there at the top of the list. I will admit, the original reason was simply for his hilarious role in a film that helped guide me from adolescence into becoming a man, the great Def Jam’s How To Be A Player. I know, I know. It may not seem like a film that is most appropriate for such a thing as human growth, but I truly took in the message at the end of the film. And of course Jermaine was the highlight of the film, even in those post-pubescent years, and he was what made it so enjoyable to me.

And beyond just this one film, Jermaine Hopkins has appeared, and is appearing, in some of the greatest works of our modern times since he was a very young man himself. He really brought attention to himself with brilliant roles in the films Lean On Me and Juice, which truly kickstarted his career in a major way, and the man hasn’t looked back since!

So how about I stop babbling and let the genius speak for himself. Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy some great words from the brilliant Jermaine Hopkins!

When did you first realize that you wanted to join the world of acting? I know you started at a pretty young age, did your passion go back that far as well, or did you just sort of fall into it?

Lean on Me was my first film, I got the role by attending a casting call; I thought I was lucky. Then I landed a role in Juice but I still thought it was a fluke. After Juice I realized that people really thought I could act and that’s when I decided I wanted to make acting my career.

Jermaine Hopkins as Samms in Lean On Me.

When I was a teenager, Def Jam’s How To Be A Player was in regular rotation of my viewing habits. I absolutely loved it, and still do. And one of the main reasons I loved the film so much was the brilliant paring of yourself and Anthony Johnson. So with that, what was it like to make this film? Was it as much fun to create as it was for fans like me to watch?

Making How To Be A Player was a blast, we had a great cast with great chemistry. It was also my second opportunity to work with Russel Simmons (I’d previously worked with Russel on Rhyme & Reason), when we began filming he told me to bring the fun and that’s what I tried to do with my character.

You also appeared in another film that is still a classic in my mind, and millions of others I am sure, featuring the dearly departed poet Tupac Shakur, known as Juice. What was it like for you to work on such a dark tale at such a young age, and under the guise of a legend like Ernest Dickerson?

Juice was my second feature film role, and to be working with such talented individuals so early in my career was a blessing. Tupac was just starting his acting career, Ernest Dickerson who had previously been Spike Lee’s camera-man was making his name. To name all of the talented people involved in Juice would take forever. The great thing about filming Juice was with all the talent involved, it was still an even playing field; the best of both worlds.

Jermaine Hopkins with Juice director Ernest Dickerson.

I am also a huge fan of the largely underrated, and also featuring the belated Tupac Shakur, know as Bullet. Again, what was it like to work on this brilliant and dark project?

The filming of Bullet was a unique experience; the whole project definitely had that dark brilliancy that you mentioned. It was cool to work with Tupac again, even though by this time his life was in a different place, he had become outspoken on social issues and had gained a good bit of notoriety. Bullet was being filmed while Tupac was facing sexual assault charges, with everything going on in his life, I admired him for his professionalism; being able to keep it altogether while on set.

Jermaine Hopkins as Dupree on the seminal classic sitcom The Wayans Brothers.

What does the future hold for you? Anything you would like to plug to our readers?

I recently relaunched my film company J Hop Films. We are developing quality content for television and the big screen, our motto is good projects done right; look for us in 2018! Hit me @ Jermaine Hopkins on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or check out our website http://www.jhopfilms.com (under construction)!

What was the last thing that made smile?

I smiled when I woke up this morning. I’m always smiling!

Nicholas Meyer [Interview]

Spencer Garrett [Interview]

Spencer Garrett is one of the hardest working people in the world of acting today. As versatile as he can be hilarious, he currently has re-occuring roles in no less than 4 of today’s hottest television shows including HBO’s Insecure and the Amazon Original Show, Bosch. More specifically catered to avid Trainwreck’d Society readers, you will love him in HBO’s stand up comedy vehicle Dice, as well as Room 104 from the beloved Duplass Brothers.

And for over 30 years, this has been Spencer Garrett’s life. He was born into the world of acting, and he has been making it his passion since he began. If you have only managed to turn on a TV or pop into a cinema over the last few decades, it is extremely possible that you have caught Mr. Garrett in action. And his career is showing no sign of slowing down, it’s quite the opposite, really. He has some pretty great irons in the fire right now that I am very excited to see come to live, including some work with the great Kevin Pollack, who we have fawned over numerous time over the years. And because of that and more, we are so fortunate that he was able to stop and share a few words with us here. So ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy some words from the brilliant Spencer Garrett!

I understand you grew up around the world of entertainment, so it almost seems inevitable that you would join the ranks as well. But, when did YOU personally realize that you also wanted to play pretend for a living? When did you make the decision that this was what you wanted to do as a career?

I’m pretty sure I was a bit of a ham coming right out of the gate. Being an only child  – and the son and grandson of performers – I imagine the acting gene was ingrained in me at birth.That desire to be noticed, to stand out somehow. I grew up being taken to the theatre and musicals in New York City from a very early age.Seeing Sir Peter Hall’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with The Royal Shakespeare Company at around age 8 or so was a mind boggling and eye opening experience for a little kid and I remember being entranced by it. Heavy drama or the most frothy musical, it didn’t matter. I just loved being a part of that experience. I was always keen to do plays for as long as I can recall from elementary school all the way through high school in Maine, which had a very strong performing arts curriculum. And at holiday parties I was the kid who organized all the other kids to put on an impromptu ‘Christmas sketch’. At The Hyde School in tiny Bath, Maine, whether it was fighting for the solo number in a particular song or being the first one to raise my hand to audition for the lead in the play, performing and expressing myself onstage was where I found a kind of comfort zone. Whether I was any good or not remained to be seen. But I was always game. When I got to Duke University I auditioned for a role in Peter Shaffer’s Equus, amongst other shows. I was a horse. Small parts, larger roles, didn’t matter. I just wanted to know if I was any good. But I was hooked. From that point on I was off to the races. My ‘Aha!’ moment probably came when I was out of university and living in NYC in the early 80’s. Seeing, in the course of a few years, John Malkovich and Gary Sinise in Sam Shepard’s True West, ‘Lanford Wilson’s Balm in Gilead by The Steppenwolf Company with Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits blaring over the loudspeakers as I entered the theatre, and Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson and Derek Jacobi doing Much Ado Handout Nothing one day then Cyrano de Bergerac the next, blew my mind. It was probably around that time, along with my deep and abiding love of the movies, that I said ‘alright’ let’s give this a shot. Here I am, some thirty years in, still grinding away.

I have learned that you will be appearing the upcoming film The Front Runner, in which you will be portraying the legendary journalist Bob Woodward. I am always curious as to what type of preparation goes into a portrayal of a real person who also happens to still be alive. So how has that process been for you? Did you meet with Bob to learn a thing or to?



I’ve had the experience of playing a few real life characters while they were still alive, so it’s tricky ground. You want to put your own stamp on it while honoring the director’s vision. A fine balance. Tom DeLay, In Casino Jack comes to mind. That was a straight up satire so I had a little wiggle room to make it mine, but DeLay was such an outsized character that I didn’t have to work for it too hard. That was just delicious to play. I remember going to see him on ‘Dancing with the Stars’,watching him flail around the dance floor in brown spandex. Sometimes the characters just do the work for you. With Bob Woodward in Jason Reitman’s The Frontrunner I wanted to get the accent right. It’s VERY specific. The world didn’t know Woodward, really, or what he sounded like when All the President’s Men came out but he’s been a huge media presence in the last decades so I wanted to try to capture his essence as best I could. I had the opportunity to meet him before I started filming but was working on another project and couldn’t get the timing right. Jason had actually preferred that I just ‘come in clean’ with no preconceptions about him, so it actually worked out. It’s not a Woodward impersonation. It’s me, trying to channel a bit of him from 1984 if that makes any sense. I’ll meet him after I wrap. And of course I hope he likes the film and my work, as his career has had a great impact on me.

You have also been appearing regularly on the brilliant new HBO series Insecure. Can you tell us a bit about your experience working on this project? What has been unique about this experience?


I wasn’t hip to Insecure when I was offered the role, to be honest. Theres just SO much television out there – GREAT television – it just hadn’t crossed my radar yet. I watched the entire first season in one day. Not just as research – but because it was so f*****g good. Issa Rae and Yvonne Orji are a great comic duo and the writing and editing is kind of amazing. I had a blast working on that show. It taps into the zeitgeist in a very unique way and, being a native Angeleno, films in places familiar to me but not necessarily to the audience outside LA. It captures another side of my city in ways other ‘urban’ shows based in L.A never have.  Probably the thing that made the biggest impression on me was how diverse the crew was. All of my directors were women of color and the crew, for the most part, are largely women and minorities. It was refreshing to see and a blast to walk onto that set each time they asked me to come back and play.


On credits alone, it appears as though you may be one of the hardest working people in Hollywood! You’ve appeared in just so many of the finest television programs out there right now, and that isn’t all you’ve done! So what keeps you motivated to work so much? Where does this drive to succeed stem from for you?



Something like 200 credits on IMDB. Bananas, right? Where has the time gone? I still LOVE what I do (flying to Kuala Lumpur with Viola Davis to work on a Michael Mann film, a Lynn Nottage play at The Geffen, a week with Owen Wilson and Pierce Brosnan in Chiangmai, Thailand – this can be a hell of a fun job, sometimes) and, more importantly, I feel like I’m just hitting my sweet spot as an actor. I think I’m finally getting the hang of it. And I’m not kidding.


From an actor’s perspective, and someone who has been in the game for a quite a while, what are your thoughts on the modern world of film and television? With digital platforms making their way into the industry, as well as more and more cable options, is world becoming over saturated? Or is simply just more opportunities? Your thoughts?



I think we really are in a golden age of television. For the movies, not so much, alas. It’s tentpoles and action figures and occasionally something wonderful will break through.But I have hope that audiences will tire of the explosions and drivel and faint their way back to embracing more character driven stories. I’m finding the most interesting work as an actor  – and a viewer – on the small screen. Yes, there seem to be more and more opportunities for actors on multiple platforms, meaning more competition. But that doesn’t mean the glut of work has made it any easier to sustain oneself as an actor. You are always struggling to make a living, to stay ahead of the curve when the guy who’s #1 on the call sheet is getting all the dough and the supporting cast has to negotiate for the privilege of working for union scale. It’s always a battle.


What does the future hold for you? Anything you would like to plug to our readers?



The most exciting thing I’m working on these days is a podcast called “America 2.0″ by a wonderful young writer with an amazing voice named J.S Mayank. Several months ago I was asked to do a table read of his pilot script and just fell in love with the writing. Frustrated by Hollywood’s insistence that ‘political dramas are kind of radioactive right now” given our current, um, situation – J.S decided to split the pilot up into six segments as a narrative arc. We have put together a dream cast: Laurence Fishburne, Mary Louise Parker, Patrick Adams, Ming-Na, Jack Coleman, Katherine Castro, Steven Weber, Iqbal Theba, Shanola Hampton, and CNN’s Chief Political Correspondent, Dana Bash. We started recording this dream cast about two weeks ago and are already blown away by the work. We are hoping to get it out there by January.


What was the last thing that made you smile?



The last thing that made me smile was watching my girlfriend receive a prestigious award from her George Washington U. Alumni association in D.C. last night for her outstanding achievements in political journalism. Nobody works harder than she does at sifting the spin and fiction from the cold facts. She does ‘real news’ like nobody’s business and is the best in the biz. I’m very proud of her and she inspires me every day to get off my ass and do something good.

David Steven Simon [Interview]

Oh man, do we have a damn good interview for you fine folks today! We have showcased some pretty amazing people from the world of television over the years, and today is absolutely no exception and very well be one of the finest we have had the pleasure of showcasing to date. His name is David Steven Simon, and he is very likely a creative force behind one of your favorite television series.

For me personally, I did not realize that I was a huge fan of David’s work when I was watching two of my favorite sitcoms, The Wayans Brothers and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, yet there he was! I was also no stranger to one some of his other projects that we all know and love like My Two Dads and Mad About You. And those last two coincidently happen to feature a man who David is currently teaming up with again to create some new television magic, the great Paul Reiser. You all know that guy, I’m sure of it.

David’s latest project, There’s Johnny, is already proving to be one of the most stellar television series to come out in these most recent golden years of television. The show not only chronicles the days behind the legendary days when the Tonight Show ran supreme, but gives a very clear and somewhat disturbing view of America in the 1970’s. I dare say that this project is unlike anything Mr. Simon and Reiser have worked on in the past. It’s something new, and it’s something brilliant.

So ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy some amazing words from the brilliant producer, writer, and more, Mr. David Steven Simon!

How did you find yourself in the world of television as a writer and producer? Was the world of television always something you aspired to get into?

I was in acting class at 4. I went to the “Fame” school, the High School of the Performing Arts. I had a four-year drama scholarship to college and then I became a publicist for United Artists (who were still based in NY) where I worked on three Oscar winners (Rocky, Network, Cuckoo’s Nest), the Bond films, Woody Allen films, Carrie and on and on. During those years is when I realized the effect that my writing could have. Moved to LA with no plan. Partnered up with another writer and right out the gate we had great luck. I wound up being under contract to the studios for years: Disney, Universal and Columbia. While I was at Universal that’s when I started meeting all the TV people there and little by little I started to gravitate towards their shows: Steve Martin’s The George Burns Comedy Week, Charles In Charge, and I wrote on shows like Knightrider (giving them comedy stuff) and I was everyone’s back up if they had a pilot. I wrote pilots too.

When was the first time you can remember seeing your name appear on screen in the credits? Do you remember where you were when first saw it, and did you feel a certain way about it?

First credit I think was for the movie In The Mood which Bob Kosberg and I got a story by credit (we wrote the first draft).I saw the film at screening in Westwood and I was floored. Wait. That’s me! First TV credit was actually Fernwood Tonight for Norman Lear. Everyone who owned a hand wrote on that so the credits went on forever: but there I was! First sitcom was Charles in Charge. My son had just been born so I put his name in the show.

I have to say, I absolutely adored The Wayans Brothers during its reign. I know that the Wayans family was already well-established in the world of film and television, so it could have been a factor, but besides that, what inspired you make that show happen?

We got a call from Warren Littlefield who was then the president of NBC. He said he wanted us to create a blue collar Fresh Prince with them. Marlon was off the charts hilarious. Sean was more smooth and relaxed. To me they were a black Martin and Lewis. But their casting especially of John Witherspoon did not go over well there. They felt John was too much of a cartoon. So from there: The WB! We had three shows in a row: Fresh Prince, Sister, Sister, The Wayans.

We were fortunate enough to speak with Karyn Parsons about her love for The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, but what was your experience like in creating this fine program? And in your opinion, what made Fresh Prince unique in its own right?

I didn’t create it. The Borowitz team did: Susan and Andy. I came on after being on what was about to be that season’s hottest new comedy: The Royal Family with Redd Foxx…until Redd suddenly died on the set! Overnight we were cooked. Over. The show went on but by then we were on Fresh Prince. The show was a delight because everyone was so full of gratitude and appreciation. Will was a young genius. I had never seen anything like it. He was barely 19 when we came on. A kid. His mind was on fire. Karen was a willing clown. SWEET. They all were. Other than the original mom: and she got wished into the Cornfield because life was too short and she was making eveyrone but mostly Will VERY unhappy.

You have recently joined back up with your old My Two Dads and Mad About You pal, Paul Reiser with There’s… Johnny. How has it been to get back into writing with Paul? Is it like old times for you?

I met Paul 32 years ago and we have been laughing ever since. I have worked with two people who were exactly the way you hoped they’d be like: Paul and John Ritter (I did Hearts Afire with him). Paul is a genius and working with him on this, some 19 years after Mad About You was a revelation. I always felt that Paul was underappreciated. Helen got all the awards and attention, but behind the scenes it all began with Paul. I mean they were equal in weight and “ran” the ship together….but the world needs to know how great Paul is and this show is going to blow people away. It is NOT what people expect. It’s not a comedy. It’s not That 70’s Show with whacky Tonight Show clips. It’s about the seventies which were very powerful and VERY dark times. Jane Levy’s performance is breathtaking and Ian Nelson, the star, is going to melt a lot of hearts. We use the Tonight Show clips as a kind of Greek Chorus which shows how American felt…and acted at the time. No one plays Johnny, Ed or Doc. Or anyone famous. The illusion, like Larry Sanders, that it’s happening right then and there. David Gordon Green, another genius in my opinion, KILLED on this. It looks like a movie—and we had a barely one million an ep budget!

When you look back on your very successful career in the world of television writing and producing, what would you say you are most proud of?

That my kids are proud of me. That means the most. I am writing more now than I have in my entire life. I shoot comedy shorts every year for film festivals. Looking back every show was a life lesson: great people. I have a new play that is getting a full production in 2018. I’ve roped in Tony Danza who blew my mind in our show. What a talent and what a sweetheart! I tend to look back at my career and think: Wow: I got a weekly paycheck in Hollywood for 21 years! That’s a miracle.

What else does the future hold for you? Anything you would like to plug to our readers?

Like I said: next up: my play Grave Doubts: A new Comedy full of Plot Holes. Stay tuned for that. We have plans for casting that are really exciting. The TV director/wizard/theater director Assad Kelada is the guru behind the scenes.

HULU premiered our new show, There’s Johnny on November 14th. Seven episodes. It is going to shock people. It’s not a light, fluffy look back at the era. It comes packed with a genuine emotional wallop. Plus you get to see George Carlin, Don Rickles, Jack Benny, Jerry Lewis, Albert Brooks and on and on and on.

I also write every day on Huffington Post. Search David S. Simon and you can read my scathing pieces on Trump.

What was the last thing to make you smile?

Groundhog Day, the musical. Landing back in New York after being in LA for 8 months. Watching the Yankees without having to pay for MLB. Seeing my peeps. Every dog that I pass on the street. Thought: why don’t women come with tails? Then we’d know what they really feel about everything.

Check out the teaser trailer for There’s Johnny, available now on Hulu: