Producer and screenwriter Richard Gurman spoke about his new book “Married… With Children vs. the World.”
He also discussed the perennial relevance of the popular sitcom “Married… With Children,” and being a part of the digital age.
Gurman’s book deals with the inside stories of the shock-com that launched Fox and completely changed TV comedy. The iconic cast of “Married… With Children” includes Ed O’Neill, Katey Sagal, Christina Applegate, David Faustino, and Amanda Bearse, among others.
Idea for the book
On the concept for this book, he said, “When I looked back on my long career as a sitcom writer, ‘Married… With Children’ stood out as the most provocative, interesting and fun experience I had in the industry.”
“Then, when I looked at the current landscape of television comedy, I saw that ‘Married… With Children’ was not only still popular but had been pivotal in the evolution of modern television comedy, especially since some of the key actors from ‘Married… With Children,’ were still active and popular in the current scene,” he said.
“This intersection of personal experience and cultural impact made me feel like there was an audience who would enjoy the funny and volatile inside story of this groundbreaking show so I wrote a proposal, got an agent and found a publisher who wanted to make it,” he elaborated.
Lessons learned from writing this book
On the lessons learned from writing this book, Gurman remarked, “The main thing the book taught me about myself was how to execute a very different type of writing.”
“Working on a television series is largely a collaborative experience,” he admitted. “Writing a book is a very independent experience and I had to rely on my own instincts much more of the time.”
“I had to personally evaluate whether or not what I found relevant and fascinating would have the same value and interest to my audience. A lot of incidents, observations and events which I took for granted and put in my first draft didn’t meet that test when I looked back on them,” he said.
“This forced me to either give these incidents and anecdotes more context or abandon them altogether. On the flip side, certain details that I originally took for granted and didn’t feel necessary to include turned out to be key points in the story when I looked at them from a different angle,” he added.
The digital age
On being an author in the digital age, Gurman explained, “Being part of the digital age is extraordinary and very useful for writing a book.”
“In my research, I had instant internet access to any and all episodes for reference material. I could play my favorite moments over and over for insight (and also much needed distraction),” he said.
“I was also able to use digital links to pull up quotes from the actors, media experts and fans, though I did most of the interviews myself… also digitally,” he added.
The perennial relevance of ‘Married… With Children’
Regarding the perennial relevance of “Married… With Children,” he shared, “I think the characters and the situations, though often greatly exaggerated, are very relatable.”
Gurman continued, “Even though technology has permeated our lives a lot more since the show was first aired, people still have many of the same core emotional issues with their bosses, their customers, their peers, their spouses, their kids and the institutions that we are forced to deal with that the show took on in its unique way.”
“The characters are extremely well drawn and, even if some of the references are specific to the time, they are still funny,” he noted.
“It has also become a template for some other edgy shows that are still popular and fans can see and feel that connection as they watch these contemporary shows,” he added.
Advice for young and aspiring filmmakers and authors
For young and aspiring filmmakers and authors, he said, “Drawing from my own experience breaking in to the business and the experience of those who I have helped break in, I would immerse myself in a genre that I was passionate about.”
“Then, I would write sample scripts using the guidelines of that genre in a way that was familiar enough to the reader (potential boss) to show you could deliver work in that genre but, at the same time, original enough so that you would stand out amongst everyone else who was doing the same thing,” he explained.
“That is another reason why ‘Married… With Children’ was so successful – it followed the structure of the familiar sitcom genre, which drew the audience in, but then it pushed the boundaries far beyond the typical show, which surprised the audience and brought them back to see it again and again,” he added.
Future plans
On his future plans, he revealed, “I plan to write more books and produce more documentary films, all in the popular culture vein.”
Success
On his definition of success, he said, “I have had a variety of successes and they all mean different things to me. Working on such popular shows as ‘Happy Days’ and ‘Laverne and Shirley,’ at the beginning of my career made me feel that I knew how to reach a wide audience for a sustained period of time. ‘Married… With Children’ gave me confidence that I could break the rules and still reach a large audience.
“Producing the documentaries ‘This is Bob Hope’ and ‘The Happy Days of Garry Marshall’ made me feel that I could step outside the script-writing world and still reach a large audience in the popular culture world,” he said.
“Writing the book, ‘Married… With Children Vs. the World’ was about creating a legacy for the show that meant so much to me and so many viewers,” he acknowledged.
“Putting a ribbon around all of these projects, my ultimate measure of success is the extent to which they made and will continue to make people laugh and escape the demands of their daily lives,” he said.
Closing thoughts on his new book
For readers and fans, Gurman stated, “If there is one thing I would like readers to get out of ‘Married… With Children vs. The World,’ it is how alternately hard and rewarding it is to buck the system and still have a success.”
“The story of the series is not just about having a dream, as creators Ron Leavitt and Michael Moye did when they conceived the show, but having the courage (and skill) to keep that dream alive as it went through a system that, although it was seeking change, still presented tremendous obstacles for how radical the change of Married was,” he elaborated.
“It would have been easy to abandon that dream and make the show more mainstream but there is no way it would have been the groundbreaking success it turned out to be,” he concluded.
His book “Married… With Children vs. the World” is available on Amazon by clicking here.
