Larry Gelbart (1928–2009)

Very clever script by Larry Gelbart, which dances around private eye cliches and Nathanael West-esque writerly angst without ever edging too far into predictability. Pretty much every character in it is a shit-heel, heroes and villains alike. Even Buddy Fidler, ostensibly the villain of the piece, knows his chosen medium and probably has better instincts about what works in a film than the hero, novelist turned screenwriter Stine.

Nice meta-plot where the story within the story is as show more interesting as the framing story, and vice versa. The ending, as with most musicals, is a bit facile, but I'm not complaining.

The score is great, and I'm excited about getting to work on it, playing Buddy. show less

Mastergate is no M*A*S*H, Larry Gelbert's Emmy Award-winning classic television series. Nor is it A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, the Tony Award-winning play for which Gelbert wrote the book.

Posited as a parodic version of what the Iran/Contra hearings should have been, Gelbert's Mastergate unveils a series of bad puns. So many possible targets! Pompous senators, slimy weapons contractors, self-righteous ideologues, introverted bureaucrats turned whistle-blowing heroes. show more Which is tragic, as this work features a star-filled cast: Ed Asner, Walter Mathau, Charles Durning. This could have been a contender instead of a barely tolerable pun-a-palooza. show less

Hijinks in an army hospital.

The first couple seasons are pure sitcom (relatively intelligent, socially conscious sitcom, but still sitcom in tone). But right from the start of season three, the show is suddenly taking its subject matter seriously - still comedy the vast majority of the time, but not afraid to go a long time without laughs when it's called for. (Not that anyone who hasn't been living under a rock for 35 years doesn't know that MASH is like that, but I was surprised to see how show more abrupt the change was.)

Concept: B
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: A
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: D

Enjoyment: B

GPA: 2.8/4 show less

Hijinks in an army hospital.

Wow - a sudden and drastic drop in quality. It maintains the tone of season five, which is great, but that's about all this season has going for it. It's rarely funny, and when it's serious it's never compelling. Also, it's turning into The Alan Alda Show. Although the episodes he wrote and directed in earlier seasons were some of the series' highlights, now he seems to just be doing it for the sake of having more screen time than everyone else. So, the big show more question is: will the show pick up again in season seven, or did it just run for 11 seasons because people were in the habit of watching it?

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: D

Enjoyment: C

GPA: 2.4/4 show less