Wednesday, January 13, 2021
In 1953 a new sitcom premiered called TOPPER. It was based on the movie TOPPER (which was based on a book) about a stuffy buttoned-down banker haunted by two carefree ghosts. Cary Gran…
Linked From Ken Levine at 06:26PMTuesday, May 7, 2019
It say something about The Tony Awards that the nominations were announced a week ago today and I’m just addressing them now. Other than a five block radius in Manhattan I can’t imagin…
Linked From Ken Levine at 10:41PMWednesday, April 24, 2019
Thanks to loyal reader, Wendy Grossman for alerting me to this article in the Guardian about a study on laughter. Scientific studies on why we laugh are always dicey, but some nuggets in th…
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMTuesday, March 19, 2019
Talk about chutzpah!One way for playwrights to get their plays produced is to enter festivals. Numerous theatres around the world stage festivals and invite playwrights to enter their work…
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMThursday, February 28, 2019
After writing Oscar reviews for over 20 years, this year’s might have been my last. Nothing's written in stone and a lot will depend on how many people log on to the podcast. But the…
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMWednesday, February 27, 2019
There are readers who are hearing impaired or just don’t want to be bothered listening to a podcast (even mine) so I am posting the text of my Oscar review – although it’s much better …
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMTuesday, February 19, 2019
Scene from my ten-minute play, THE FUGITIVE with Penny Peyser & Andy GoldbergIt’s probably half urban legend, but the concept of Top 40 radio supposedly began when radio station owner …
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMTuesday, February 12, 2019
When I was in New York I saw the recent revival of MY FAIR LADY. It’s my all-time favorite musical. I just think the music is spectacular beyond belief. If a musical has one song that …
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMWednesday, January 16, 2019
Hello, this is Abraham Lincoln. Ken is letting me guest blog today. I asked if I could just lob in some random thoughts and he said sure. The difference between my White House and the c…
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMWednesday, January 2, 2019
I understand tickets were going for $2000 a pop. And people were saying it was a bargain. Bruce Springsteen was on Broadway. In a theatre that sat 975, which is somewhat more intimate th…
Linked From Ken Levine at 12:04PMMonday, December 31, 2018
On January 1st I posted my New Year's Resolutions. Let's see how well I did. Throw out my Miramax DVD's.They're gone. Sorry Harvey.Finally watch THIS IS US.Next year for sure.Get ALMO…
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMThursday, December 27, 2018
This is the week in LA and New York when movies that hope to be contenders for the Oscars must run in theaters. Being a member of the WGA and DGA, I’ve received a lot of screeners of the …
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMFriday, December 14, 2018
Take a break from Christmas shopping to check out some Friday Questions.MikeKPa starts us off.A lot of William Goldman's work was adaption. Have you ever done adaptations and did you find it…
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMTuesday, December 11, 2018
It seems like every twenty years or so someone remakes A STAR IS BORN. There was the original with Janet Gaynor in 1937, Judy Garland took the stage in 1954, and then Barbra Streisand in 1…
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMSaturday, December 8, 2018
Mike Nichol's & Elaine May were two improv performers in Chicago who really clicked. So much so that they became a comedy team. And a sensation! This was in the late '50…
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMTuesday, November 27, 2018
Ricky Jay passed away last weekend. He was... too young. I loved Ricky Jay but never knew him. My good friend Tracy Newman did and graciously offered to write her own perso…
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMThursday, November 22, 2018
In honor of Turkey Day, Ken spins one audio trainwreck after another. You’ll laugh till you cringe.Listen to the Hollywood & Levine podcast!HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY. …
Linked From Ken Levine at 12:04AMTuesday, November 20, 2018
And not just because I want him to direct one of my movies... or even say hello to me.Got a missive from reader "Laura" who asked:Ken, can you please give your opinion on what Steven Spielbe…
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMFriday, November 16, 2018
For me, if there’s a Mount Rushmore of screenwriters it’s Billy Wilder, Larry Gelbart, Neil Simon, and William Goldman. And now all four have passed. William Goldman died yesterday. …
Linked From Ken Levine at 01:30PMMonday, November 5, 2018
I haven’t done this in awhile, so what the hell? Again, thanks to everyone who answered the call last week and gave me your feedback. I got a very interesting suggestion from reader Janet…
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMThursday, October 25, 2018
It’s typical for a movie to take years to get made. Ken takes you through the saga of VOLUNTEERS, from the initial idea to all the studios, ups and downs, production, release, and ho…
Linked From Ken Levine at 12:02AMSunday, October 21, 2018
Tourism is always big in Los Angeles. Local residents on the Westside are used to seeing kids stand out on Sunset Blvd. selling maps to the stars’ homes. Hollywood locals take it fo…
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMMonday, October 15, 2018
Since a number of people who read my post yesterday asked about my brush with Jacqueline Onassis, I thought I would reprise a post I wrote on this a few years ago.Yes, I went to the theatre …
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMThursday, October 4, 2018
As a playwright, one of my main objectives is to see my plays produced. I have full-length, half-hour, and ten-minute plays. All comedies, some award winners. So in an attempt to make my …
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMSunday, September 30, 2018
I've posted this before, years ago, but it's one of my all-time favorites. Do you remember a comedian named Gallagher? His basic act was smashing watermelons. When …
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMSunday, September 23, 2018
Oh, the humanity! The heartbreak! Imagine if she had slept with a roadie. Or worse -- a writer.Let this be a cautionary tale. Never sleep with a celebrity until you'…
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMSaturday, September 15, 2018
TCM in tribute to Neil Simon played a number of his movies last night. A few years ago I hosted a month-long Neil Simon film festival on TCM. Although they didn't use my intros a…
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMWednesday, September 12, 2018
Lost in all the horrors of 9-11 is that I lost another dear friend who died on that date. Larry Gelbart in 2009. Were it not for 9-11 I might have saluted him every year on…
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMTuesday, September 4, 2018
Having a show on network televisionBeing on televisionRadioHaving a hit songBeing an NFL team in Los AngelesThe Rose BowlThe Polo LoungeAirline travelLibrary cardThe Universal TourMovie prem…
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMSaturday, September 1, 2018
This is another crazy story that happened along the way in our career. This was on a pilot rewrite.In 1976 there was a somewhat popular movie called MOTHER, JUGS, & SPEED about ambula…
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AMTuesday, August 28, 2018
scene from GOING GOING GONEI love writing plays. It’s liberating to write whatever I want, characters of any age, and no network executive insisting I make my antagonist more “likeable…
Linked From Ken Levine at 09:00AM 
