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Author Topic: Nancy Meyers and Goodson Todman  (Read 8367 times)

pentellit

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Nancy Meyers and Goodson Todman
« on: April 13, 2009, 06:15:52 AM »
I have heard that mega-hit writer/director Nancy Meyers (Something's Gotta Give, Baby Boom, Father Of The Bride) got her start working at Goodson-Todman Productions back in the 70s.  Does anyone know if its true and if so, what did she do at GT?  Thanks!
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Matt Ottinger

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Nancy Meyers and Goodson Todman
« Reply #1 on: April 13, 2009, 10:13:20 AM »
According to several internet sources, Nancy Meyers worked on Price for a couple of the very early years (1972-74) as a production assistant before she started to sell sitcom scripts.  What her duties were exactly would be hard to say unless somebody was there and knew her. "Production Assistant" could cover any number of duties from the meaningful to the trivial (and usually the latter).

Still, I had never heard that about her before, thanks for bringing it up!
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chris319

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Nancy Meyers and Goodson Todman
« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2009, 11:34:10 AM »
It's possible her name appears on the credits of one or more of the shows in the DVD set, assuming they kept the 317s and the credits in. Perhaps someone who owns the DVD set could check for us?
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tpirfan28

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Nancy Meyers and Goodson Todman
« Reply #3 on: April 13, 2009, 11:40:21 AM »
Nancy Meyers appears as a Production Assistant (as well as Pamela Parker) on episode #0573D, VTR 8/27/73.
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chris319

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Nancy Meyers and Goodson Todman
« Reply #4 on: April 13, 2009, 11:46:01 AM »
Six minutes -- what took you so long?

What about Roger? He goes back that far.
« Last Edit: April 13, 2009, 11:46:35 AM by chris319 »
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tpirfan28

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Nancy Meyers and Goodson Todman
« Reply #5 on: April 13, 2009, 12:35:22 PM »
Just watched that particular episode last night and remembered it had a full credit roll.  And the disc was still in my DVD drive.

Anywho, Pamela Freeman, Heather Harwood, Roger Dobkowitz, Robert Lane, Karen Kelly, Barbara Hunter as "Program Staff".  Super generic title, isn't it?
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When you're at the grocery game and you hear the beep, think of all the fun you could have at "Crazy Rachel's Checkout Counter!"

Matt Ottinger

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Nancy Meyers and Goodson Todman
« Reply #6 on: April 13, 2009, 12:42:03 PM »
Digging into the depths of the internet, apparently her role was to be Girl Friday for Jay Wolpert himself, and then once she became successful many years later, she's the one he credits for jumpstarting his own screenwriting career.
« Last Edit: April 13, 2009, 12:42:15 PM by Matt Ottinger »
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SRIV94

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Nancy Meyers and Goodson Todman
« Reply #7 on: April 13, 2009, 12:43:57 PM »
[quote name=\'tpirfan28\' post=\'212998\' date=\'Apr 13 2009, 11:35 AM\']
Just watched that particular episode last night and remembered it had a full credit roll.  And the disc was still in my DVD drive.
[/quote]
Oh, come now.  You can admit you had it committed to memory as soon as it ran.  :)

/Originally.  In 1973.
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Doug
----------------------------------------
"When you see the crawl at the end of the show you will see a group of talented people who will all be moving over to other shows...the cameramen aren't are on that list, but they're not talented people."  John Davidson, TIME MACHINE (4/26/85)

pentellit

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Nancy Meyers and Goodson Todman
« Reply #8 on: April 13, 2009, 01:13:47 PM »
[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'213001\' date=\'Apr 13 2009, 09:42 AM\']
Digging into the depths of the internet, apparently her role was to be Girl Friday for Jay Wolpert himself, and then once she became successful many years later, she's the one he credits for jumpstarting his own screenwriting career.
[/quote]
Wow!  You guys are great!  Thanks for the info.
Turns out Nancy Meyers also used her former boss Jay Wolpert in her movie Father Of The Bride 2.  Wolpert plays the doctor who informs Steve Martin and Diane Keaton's characters that they are pregnant!
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chris319

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Nancy Meyers and Goodson Todman
« Reply #9 on: April 13, 2009, 02:40:55 PM »
Nice digging with that Wolpert interview.
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pentellit

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Nancy Meyers and Goodson Todman
« Reply #10 on: April 13, 2009, 02:56:19 PM »
[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'213023\' date=\'Apr 13 2009, 11:40 AM\']
Nice digging with that Wolpert interview.
[/quote]
In case you haven't seen this Jay interview from the WGA, here it is, with the WGA description.  He speaks on the difference between writing for film and writing for gameshows.

Jay Wolpert, a screenwriter (Count of Monte Cristo, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl) and former game show producer (The Price is Right), describes how he creates tension in his action scripts and explains why writing game shows might be more difficult than writing screenplays.
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=jay+...4&ct=title#
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chris319

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Nancy Meyers and Goodson Todman
« Reply #11 on: April 13, 2009, 04:57:06 PM »
Jay wasn't talking about writing game show material. Writing questions for game shows is exacting and tedious and generally must be done in great volume. He was talking about conceptualizing game show formats. The hardest part about the latter is not creating tension with sticks and carrots, it's coming up with a fresh idea which doesn't look like the umpeenth derivative of The $64,000 Question.

Jay deserves kudos for at least trying to break new ground with his game show formats, even if they haven't been as long-lived as Goodson's were.

If you've got a couple of hours to kill, highly recommended is Bob Stewart's oral history. Stewart created the format of The Price Is Right.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=TVLEGE...ery=bob+stewart

The order of the clips is jumbled on this page so you have to hunt to get the correct order.
« Last Edit: April 13, 2009, 04:59:27 PM by chris319 »
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tvrandywest

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Nancy Meyers and Goodson Todman
« Reply #12 on: April 13, 2009, 06:11:03 PM »
[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'213039\' date=\'Apr 13 2009, 01:57 PM\']
Jay wasn't talking about writing game show material. Writing questions for game shows is exacting and tedious and generally must be done in great volume. He was talking about conceptualizing game show formats. The hardest part about the latter is not creating tension with sticks and carrots, it's coming up with a fresh idea which doesn't look like the umpeenth derivative of The $64,000 Question...
[/quote]
The question writing is a bitch. Jay Wolpert gave me my first opportunity for a job in game shows when he asked that I "audition" by writing 100 questions for his game "Faker's Fortune" that he feared would be unsustainable. He said if only 10% of what I wrote was usable, he'd give me a job on the spot.

Well, was I suprised. The specific format (involving a "fake out") for the tricky multiple choice questions was far harder than I realized as he reviewed, one-by-one, my 100 submissions with me. What a learning experience! And Jay was right - it was unsustainable, and I crawled back into the ranks of his family of run-through contestants.

Great guy, and BRILLIANT! If anything, his concepts were "too hip for the room". But he and Frank Wayne left a legacy with their innovations for "Price".

Randy
tvrandywest.com
« Last Edit: April 13, 2009, 06:13:04 PM by tvrandywest »
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chris319

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Nancy Meyers and Goodson Todman
« Reply #13 on: April 13, 2009, 06:42:03 PM »
Watch any episode of Double Dare and ask yourself if housewives (the composition of the audience in 1976) would be able to play along with that kind of material.

I think they'd rather guess the prices of refrigerators.
« Last Edit: April 13, 2009, 06:42:26 PM by chris319 »
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Steve Gavazzi

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Nancy Meyers and Goodson Todman
« Reply #14 on: April 13, 2009, 08:09:22 PM »
[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'212995\' date=\'Apr 13 2009, 11:46 AM\']What about Roger? He goes back that far.[/quote]
I'm pretty certain Roger's name was in the credits from the beginning.
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