Passed through the writing rooms of friendship andA nanny from hellprogenitor of Spin City, Scrubs And Cougar Townscreenwriter Bill Lawrence is enjoying a thriving second career on Apple TV+ thanks to him Ted Lasso, Bad monkey And It shrinkswhose second season airs from Friday, October 16.
Enter Dr. Melfi from “The Sopranos” and Dr. Weston from “In Treatment,” psychologists are regular guests on the series. How did you come to write about this topic?
I grew up in a family where we didn’t talk about our emotions and came to psychotherapy quite late. I quickly became fascinated with the process and usually write about what I’m going through at the time I write. Often on television, psychologists are characters who are there to present, “expose” the plot of the show we are watching. Rather, I wanted to deconstruct their image to show their angry and clumsy side. from Scrubswhose hero is inspired by one of my best friends who is a cardiologist, I’m also interested in the lives of caregivers, which are complicated, bizarre, but often comical.
Pain is a common starting point in fiction such as “The Squeeze.” Is this the mother of all neuroses for you?
Not necessarily, though at my age (55 years old)I’m starting to lose people around me. I just know that in my family, we laugh to get through the drama. My father has a serious illness, my grandfather had Parkinson’s… We are never very far from death, illness, addiction… I could not survive without a modicum of humor, even dark humor. I’m often told that I deal with serious subjects in my sitcoms, but that’s how I experience them. I’m terrible at trying to write about subjects I don’t know!
You started your career in the heyday of mainstream TV series, what do you remember of those early years?
Nobody does a multi-camera sitcom in front of an audience anymore and I miss that. Spin Citythat I created, it was recorded in public and you would see people immediately reacting to the jokes. My kids are watching friendship And big bang theory, and they like it. I’m sure this format would still work today, but I know it’s outdated – which is still a bad way to decide what you should and shouldn’t DO. This nostalgia for the series network it is palpable in what I write today, and I think I have remained “populist”: I continue to write universal stories. That said, the streaming model was very interesting at first. Before, I was always commissioned for series that would appeal to all audiences and that is actually quite difficult. Cable and streaming have allowed more “niche” shows to emerge with smaller audiences.
You still have 55.51% of this article to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
