About Our Guest:
MICHAEL J. WEITHORN is an award-winning writer, producer and director. He co-created and served as Executive Producer on the hit TV show, “King of Queens” from 1998-2007. Prior to that, he created and was Executive Producer on the Fox sitcom, “Nevin Stacey”, which ran for two seasons from 1995-1997. He also created, with Ralph Farquar, “South Central”, an educative/dramatic half-hour, which aired to great acclaim, on Fox in the Spring of 1994, served as Creative & Executive Producer on the Fox sitcom, “True Colors from 1990-1992, and was creator and Executive Producer of the ABC series, “The Pursuit of Happiness” in 1987.
Michael’s free-lance credentials include multiple sketches on the “Tracey Ullman Show”, an episode on “The Wonder Years”, and an episode on “Cheers”. From 1982-1986, he wrote and produced the hit NBC series, “Family Ties” and received three Emmy Awards for this. He also received Emmy Awards for the “Tracey Ullman Show” and a Writer’s Guild Award for
“Cheers”. More recently, he co-created the animated web series, “Baxter & McGuire” for Comedy Central’s, “Motherlode”, and was nominated for an internet Emmy Award in 2007. In 2010, Weithorn wrote and directed the Indie feature, “A Little Help”. In Summer 2011, after winning Best Feature in several notable film festivals, he went on to direct and co-produce with Rob Benedict, the short film, “The Side-Kick”. Michael was a Consulting Producer for the ABC series, “The Goldbergs” and wrote some episodes as well, and in 2014 and 2015, he produced the Fox comedy series, “Weird Loners”.
He is a native of Queens, N.Y., where he earned a B.A. in Political Science from Strathmore College in 1978 and taught history at Brentwood School in Los Angeles, CA., three years before breaking into the field of comedy writing. Michael also teaches comedy writing at the university-level at Columbia University Master’s Program in Screen Writing and has done so since 2015. His other accomplishments include comedy writing seminars in the Film and Media Studies Program at Strathmore College, where he is an alumni, and he also teaches seminars through an organization created to assist formally-incarcerated individuals about the Entertainment Industry as well as at high schools.
He is passionately devoted to bringing comedy into peoples’ lives and ‘sniffing out’ the very relatable absurdities—the paradoxes, contradictions and conflicts that exist within the real lives of ordinary people.
Time Stamps
00:07:26 – 00:13:12 Advise about what would be most helpful to new writers.
00:15:24 – 00:24:30 The nature of humor and its trespass into areas where sensitivities exist—a necessity, or there cannot be comedy. Being ‘offended’, and navigating through conflict via comedy.
00:24:30 – 00:30:00 1980’s – 2007, the golden age for writers on shows. Creators sharing in profits from shows going into syndication and residuals. The change that has occurred with ‘streaming’ and lack of compensation to creators. Corporate profits and the change from 25-30 years ago.
00:31:10 – 00:39:00 Writer’s workshops within prisons.
00:39:00 – 00:51:00 Public School System and indoctrination of the individual to fulfill societal roles. Bullying and lack of safety in school settings.
00:54:10 – 01:05:22 Advise to people interested in writing that feel blocked. Finding your authentic self and voice. The positive aspects of the internet and many individual voices being heard. Bringing humor, intelligence and personal emotional reality and perspective to writing and to the world at large.
