Rob Long

Last updated

Rob Long
Born
Robert Long

(1965-06-08) June 8, 1965 (age 58)
Maryland, U.S.
Education Yale University (BA)
University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation(s)Screenwriter, producer, author
Years active1990–present

Robert Long (born June 8, 1965) is an American writer and television producer in Hollywood. As a screenwriter and executive producer for the long-running television program Cheers , he received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations in 1992 and 1993. [1] Long created the television show George and Leo , among others. Long received an award from the Writers Guild of America.

Contents

In addition to his television work, Long is a contributing editor for National Review , as well as a contributor to publications like TIME , Newsweek International , The Wall Street Journal , and radio host. In May 2010, he took part in launching a new center-right commentary site, Ricochet. [2]

Education

Long graduated from Phillips Academy in 1983 [3] and Yale University in 1987. After graduation, he studied for two years at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, where he later served as an Adjunct Professor of screenwriting [4]

Television career

Long started his career as a screenwriter for the television show Cheers in 1990, and became an executive producer for the show in 1992. During his tenure, the show won two Emmys and two Golden Globes. Long received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations in 1992 and 1993. [1]

After Cheers ended in 1993, Long formed a television production company with his Cheers collaborator and fellow Emmy nominee Dan Staley. Together, they created the television show George and Leo , starring Bob Newhart and Judd Hirsch, for CBS. They also created Love & Money for CBS and Men, Women & Dogs for The WB. [5] In addition to their show creation work, Long and his partner served as creative consultants on numerous shows. [4] Long took over as show runner for Kevin James vehicle Kevin Can Wait after Bruce Helford left the CBS show. [6]

Political and social commentary

Beginning in 1993, Long wrote a fortnightly political satire column for National Review titled Letters from Al. Written anonymously, the majority of these columns purported to be personal letters from Vice President Al Gore to his friend "Rusty", an academic researcher living in a Brazilian rainforest. The letters revealed insider information about government figures, as well as humorous speculation on their roles in public controversies. Occasionally the letters were from other political figures, such as George Bush and Dick Morris, and on occasion the column purported to be the transcript of a police wiretap. National Review maintained the author's anonymity throughout the Clinton presidency, revealing Long's identity only after George Bush was inaugurated in 2001. [ citation needed ]

Long is now a contributing editor for National Review, where he writes the fortnightly column The Long View. He comments on political and social topics, especially mass media and Hollywood politics. He is also a contributor to TIME, [7] [8] Newsweek International , The Wall Street Journal , and the Los Angeles Times . [4]

Long hosts the syndicated radio show Martini Shot , where he provides news and opinion on the film industry, as well as interviews with notable subjects. Broadcast weekly, the show originates at Los Angeles NPR station KCRW. [9] The show's title is a Hollywood term for the final scene of the day on a film production set. In addition, Long regularly appears on political commentary shows. [4]

Ricochet

In 2008, Long started a political news and commentary website, RobinsonandLong.com, in collaboration with Peter Robinson, author and former speechwriter for Ronald Reagan. In 2010, Robinson and Long launched a new, more interactive website, Ricochet, featuring a news feed in the model of Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr. [2] The site features approximately 40 contributors from conservative publications, such as National Review and The Weekly Standard, who start conversation threads open to commentary and discussion. In order to encourage earnest and respectful discussion, only paying members of the site are allowed to comment, and a code of conduct is enforced. [10]

Other work

Long is the author of two books. His first, Conversations with My Agent, is a memoir of his early career. Published in 1998, it provides extensive advice for aspiring scriptwriters, and has become a "cult classic". [9] His second book, Set Up, Joke, Set Up, Joke, is a further memoir of his entertainment industry experiences, and was published in 2005. [11]

Long is mentioned and quoted extensively in the book The Sound of No Hands Clapping by Toby Young. [12]

Long serves on the board of directors of The American Cinema Foundation, a "Los Angeles-based non-profit arts organization created to nurture and reward television and feature-film projects that promote democratic pluralism and inclusion." [13] His published works include Conversations with My Agent and Set Up, Joke, Set Up, Joke. [13] He is also president of the Board of Directors of the Southern Foodways Alliance. [14]

Associated television shows

Published works

Awards and nominations

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Cheers</i> American television sitcom (1982–1993)

Cheers is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 episodes across eleven seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association with Paramount Network Television and was created by the team of James Burrows and Glen and Les Charles. The show is set in the titular bar in Boston, where a group of locals meet to drink, relax, socialize, and escape from their day to day issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelsey Grammer</span> American actor (born 1955)

Allen Kelsey Grammer is an American actor. He gained fame for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom Cheers (1984–1993) and its spin-off Frasier. At more than 20 years on-air, this is one of the longest-running roles played by a single live-action actor in television history. He has received numerous accolades including a total of six Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Tony Award. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ted Danson</span> American actor (born 1947)

Edward BridgeDanson III is an American actor. He achieved stardom playing the lead character Sam Malone on the NBC sitcom Cheers, for which he received two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. He was nominated for more Emmy Awards for roles in the legal drama Damages (2007–2010) and the NBC dramedy The Good Place (2016–2020). He was awarded a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame in 1999.

<i>Northern Exposure</i> American comedy-drama television series

Northern Exposure is an American comedy-drama television series about the eccentric residents of a fictional small town in Alaska, that ran on CBS from July 12, 1990, to July 26, 1995, with a total of 110 episodes. It received 57 award nominations during its six-season run and won 27, including the 1992 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, two additional Primetime Emmy Awards, four Creative Arts Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirstie Alley</span> American actress (1951–2022)

Kirstie Louise Alley was an American actress. Her breakthrough role was as Rebecca Howe in the NBC sitcom Cheers (1987–1993), for which she received an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe in 1991. From 1997 to 2000, she starred as the lead in the sitcom Veronica's Closet, earning additional Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. On film, she played Mollie Jensen in Look Who's Talking (1989) and its two sequels, Look Who's Talking Too (1990) and Look Who's Talking Now (1993).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhea Perlman</span> American actress (born 1948)

Rhea Jo Perlman is an American actress. She is well-known for playing head waitress Carla Tortelli in the sitcom Cheers (1982–1993). Over the course of 11 seasons, Perlman was nominated for ten Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress, winning 4, and was nominated for a record six Golden Globe Awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series. She has also appeared in films, including Canadian Bacon (1995), Matilda (1996), The Sessions (2012), Poms (2019), and Barbie (2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shelley Long</span> American actress and comedian (born 1949)

Shelley Long is an American actress, singer, and comedian. For her role as Diane Chambers on the hit sitcom Cheers, Long received five Emmy nominations, winning in 1983 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She also won two Golden Globe Awards for the role. Long reprised her role as Diane Chambers in three episodes of the spin-off Frasier, for which she received an additional guest star Emmy nomination. In 2009, she began playing the recurring role of Dede Pritchet on the ABC comedy series Modern Family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KCRW</span> Public radio station in Santa Monica, California

KCRW is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programming from NPR and other affiliates. A network of repeaters and broadcast translators, as well as internet radio, allows the station to serve the Greater Los Angeles area and other communities in Southern California. The station's main transmitter is located in Los Angeles's Laurel Canyon district and broadcasts in the HD radio format. It is one of two full NPR members in the Los Angeles area; Pasadena-based KPCC is the other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melissa Leo</span> American actress (born 1960)

Melissa Chessington Leo is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and two Critics' Choice Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Emerson</span> American actor (born 1954)

Michael Emerson is an American actor who is best known for his roles as Benjamin Linus on Lost (2006–2010) and as Harold Finch in the CBS series Person of Interest (2011–2016). Other prominent roles include Zep Hindle in the horror film Saw (2004) and the recurring role of Cayden James on Arrow (2017–2018). He currently stars as Dr. Leland Townsend in the Paramount+ thriller series Evil (2019–present).

<i>Seinfeld</i> season 2 Season of television series

Season two of Seinfeld, an American television series created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, began airing on January 23, 1991, on NBC.

"Give Me a Ring Sometime" is the pilot episode and the first episode of the first season of the American situation comedy Cheers. Written by Glen and Les Charles and directed by James Burrows, the episode first aired September 30, 1982, on NBC in the contiguous United States and on October 14, 1982 in Alaska. The pilot episode introduces the characters at the Cheers bar in Boston: employees Sam Malone, Diane Chambers, Coach Ernie Pantusso, and Carla Tortelli; and regular customers Norm Peterson and Cliff Clavin. In this episode, Diane, brought in by her fiancé, meets the employees and patrons of the bar. When she realizes that her fiancé has left her alone in the bar, Diane accepts Sam's offer to be the bar's waitress to start over.

<i>Fleabag</i> British black comedy television series

Fleabag is a British comedy-drama television series created and written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, based on her one-woman show first performed in 2013 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It was originally produced by Two Brothers Pictures for digital channel BBC Three in a co-production agreement with Amazon Studios. Waller-Bridge stars as the title character, a free-spirited but angry and confused single young woman in London. Sian Clifford stars as Fleabag's sister Claire, while Andrew Scott joined the cast in the second series as 'The Priest'. The protagonist frequently breaks the fourth wall to provide exposition, internal monologues, and a running commentary to the audience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan O'Shannon</span> American screenwriter

Dan O'Shannon is an American television writer and producer who has worked on shows such as Newhart, Cheers, and Frasier. He was an executive producer of the ABC show Modern Family, but left the show at the conclusion of season five to accept a development deal at CBS TV Studios. He grew up in Euclid and Painesville, Ohio, graduating from Riverside High School in Painesville Township.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diane Chambers</span> Fictional character in the series Cheers

Diane Chambers is a fictional character in the American television situation comedy show Cheers, portrayed by Shelley Long and created by Glen and Les Charles. After her fiancé Sumner Sloan abandons her in the Cheers bar in the pilot episode, Diane works as a bar waitress. She has an on-off relationship with the womanizing bartender Sam Malone and a one-year relationship with Frasier Crane, who later becomes a main character of the series and Frasier. When Long left the series during the fifth season, the producers wrote her character out. After that, they added her permanent replacement Rebecca Howe, a businesswoman played by Kirstie Alley, in the sixth season. Shelley Long made a special guest appearance as Diane in the series finale, as well as in Frasier as a one-time figment of Frasier's imagination, and as the actual Diane in the crossover episode "The Show Where Diane Comes Back".

<i>Cheers</i> season 1 Season of television series

The first season of the American television sitcom series Cheers premiered on September 30, 1982, and concluded on March 31, 1983. It consisted of 22 episodes, each running approximately 25 minutes at length. The show was created and produced by director James Burrows and writers Glen and Les Charles, who previously worked on Taxi, another sitcom. Cheers was produced by Charles Burrows Charles Productions in association with Paramount Television. The concept and production design of the show were inspired by a public house in Boston, the Bull & Finch, which is now called Cheers Beacon Hill.

<i>Cheers</i> season 2 Season of television series

The second season of Cheers, an American situation comedy television series, originally aired on NBC in the United States between September 29, 1983, and May 10, 1984, with 22 episodes. The show was created by director James Burrows and writers Glen and Les Charles and was produced by Charles Burrows Charles Productions in association with Paramount Television. The second season has been released on DVD as a four-disc set.

<i>Cheers</i> season 8 Season of television series

The eighth season of Cheers, an American television sitcom, originally aired on NBC in the United States between September 21, 1989, and May 3, 1990. The show was created by director James Burrows and writers Glen and Les Charles under production team Charles Burrows Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">77th Golden Globe Awards</span> 2020 film and television awards ceremony

The 77th Golden Globe Awards honored the best in film and American television of 2019, as chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Produced by Dick Clark Productions and the HFPA, the ceremony was broadcast live on January 5, 2020, from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California beginning at 5:00 p.m. PST / 8:00 p.m. EST. The ceremony aired live on NBC in the United States. Ricky Gervais hosted the ceremony for the fifth and "final" time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sitcoms in the United States</span> Broadcast genre; recurring cast comedy

Situation comedies, or sitcoms, have long been a popular genre of comedy in the US, initially on radio in the 1920s, and then on television beginning in the 1940s. A sitcom is defined as a television series featuring a recurring cast of characters in various successive comedic situations.

References

  1. 1 2 "Advanced Primetime Awards Search". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  2. 1 2 "Can Ricochet Make Conservatism Fun Again?". The Atlantic. May 15, 2010. Retrieved June 23, 2010.
  3. ↑ "Notable Alumni of Phillips Academy" (PDF). Notable Alumni. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 . "Rob Long". The Huffington Post. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  5. ↑ "Rob Long at IMDB". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  6. ↑ "'Kevin Can Wait' Showrunner Bruce Helford Exits CBS Comedy Series, Rob Long Will Replace Him" . Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  7. ↑ Long, Rob (November 1, 2012). "Grand Old Pessimism: Oh, No! We're Gonna Win!". TIME magazine. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
  8. ↑ Long, Rob (September 24, 2012). "An Awkward Strike". TIME magazine. Archived from the original on September 14, 2012. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
  9. 1 2 "KCRW – Martini Shot". KCRW (Radio station). Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  10. ↑ "FAQ". Ricochet.com. Retrieved June 23, 2010.
  11. ↑ Frank Cottrell Boyce (November 26, 2005). "The Joke's on You". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  12. ↑ Young, Toby (September 1, 2008). The Sound of No Hands Clapping: A Memoir. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press. ASIN   B000GYZWV2.
  13. 1 2 "About the ACF". American Cinema Foundation. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  14. ↑ "The SFA Take: State of the Cornbread Nation #SFA16 | Southern Foodways Alliance - Southern Foodways Alliance". January 23, 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.