Interview with: TV writer JEFF GREENSTEIN

Interview with: TV writer JEFF GREENSTEIN

Interview by: Natascha Scrivener

You've written for a lot of successful comedy shows, such as Will & Grace, Friends and Desperate Housewives. Do you have a favourite piece of dialog from any of your projects? If so, what is it?

I have a joke which got cut from my first Friends script which is probably my favorite joke I've ever written. I still plan to use it somewhere someday, so I ain't tellin'. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I realize that the jokes I treasure the most are invariably the ones that get cut. Not sure what that says about me.

How easy was it to go from working on one show to the next, with regard to the characters?

Easy. I don't jump onto a show unless I connect with the characters and feel I have something to contribute... although with Will & Grace it took me a while to learn that show's peculiar vernacular — e.g., what's an oxygen facial, what's a Manolo Blahnik, and why do all these men keep calling each other "she"?

How much of a say do you get/how much of a personal stamp are you able to put, on the episodes you write?

A lot. Again, I'm alway looking for the intersection of Me Avenue and Show I Work On Boulevard to be fairly bustling.

Who’s been your favorite character to write, major or minor? / What was your favourite show to write for and why?
Tough call. I guess Will & Grace, because every character was funny, every character was played by an actor of great skill and depth, and there were only four of them and two stories per episode so the staff went home pretty early.

What does it feel like when you watch the episodes that you have written? Do you ever feel like the scripts haven't been performed to their best potential or do you experience the opposite – that the actors bring more to it than you could have imagined?

With only a few exceptions, I always feel the show that resulted is the best possible version of the script I wrote, which I guess is a tribute to the extraordinary caliber of my collaborators over the years.

If you could write for any actor or actress, who would it be?

Katharine Hepburn.

What is your writing process like?
Excruciating and solitary. That said, once I'm rolling I work incredibly fast.

How does your writing process differ when writing with a team of writers?

It's a lot more fun and I suffer a lot less.

How did you get into writing for television?

The short answer is that I began writing scripts while waiting for my kickass directing career to begin. After a few mediocre screenplays, I discovered that TV scripts are shorter, an epiphany which resulted in the career you now have before you.

What makes a good comedy script?

It's about something.

Why do you think people are so fascinated with the TV industry...

Television writing is the best writing out there right now, bar none, no question about it. I would stack any episode of Breaking Bad against any dramatic movie, play or novel, and I'd put any episode of The Thick of It against any comedic movie, play or novel. Features mostly suck, actually....and why is it so hard for young writers to break into it?
The simple fact is that, as in any business, it's hard for young people to break in because so few of them are any good. 

How can a writer get their first job (not an internship) in television with no connections?

Write something attention-gettingly spectacular.

How did you get into the industry?
Pluck, luck, and about a dozen spec scripts.


What are the showrunners looking for when hiring a writer?

A point of view, the ability to play well with others, and general bonhomie.

What script writers, dead or alive, do you admire or draw inspiration from?

My inspiration comes from specific films rather than specific writers. Here are my favorite movies: L'Eclisse,The Palm Beach Story, All That Jazz, La Dolce Vita, Woman in the Dunes, Blow-Up, 2001: A Space Odyssey,Manhattan, A Woman is a Woman, All the President's Men, Sherman's March, Kings of the Road, and maybeSearching for Bobby Fischer. My all-time favorite episode of television is thirtysomething: "first day/last day," by Joseph Dougherty.


Why do some comedy shows grab the audience, and some don't? Is this purely down to good and bad writing?
Most of the time when a comedy flops it's either because 1) it's not funny, 2) we've seen it before, or 3) its appeal is too narrow. Usually 1 or 2.

Do you write to suit the actor, or find the actor to suit the writing?I never, ever have an actor in mind when I'm writing. I just tune into the character's radio station in my head and start transcribing. This is why casting terrifies me.


What are you working on at the moment?
Right now I'm directing a Desperate Housewives, writing for and producing Desperate Housewives, and incubating a couple pilots.

It's hard to imagine television without the situation comedy, perhaps the most intrinsically American form of comedy today. From I Love Lucy to Friends the genre has taken many twists and turns, going from one-camera to three-camera setups, from black and white to colour, filming stories that have touched us as much as amused us. What do you think it is about comedy that captures audiences attention and generates such a loyal and varied fanbase?Laughter, like decent sex, relieves tension.


Do you have to be funny to write comedy or can a good writer write any situation funny?You have to be funny.


What kind of person writes for comedies?A mildly unhappy one.

Writers often find that they have a few words which tend to repeat themselves. What are your three favourite words?"Actually," "little," "oh" and "just." That's four.

You've written three episodes for Friends, which ran for ten seasons. What does the team do to keep creativity alive for that long?They brilliantly stirred and re-stirred the cocktail, and gradually grew the characters into relationships — expected and unexpected — that held the audience's interest.

What do you think differentiates Friends from other sitcoms and comedy, What made it special in your mind? 
Six main characters + three stories per episode. Also, incredibly attractive leads.

Are there any other areas of writing (play, short film, feature film, novel) that you would like to dip your quill into?
The way forward for me is to write something I can direct.


Have you had the opportunity to work with a writer, actor, producer or other artist that you particularly admired or were a fan of from afar? Can you share your experience with us?
Will & Grace afforded me countless such opportunities. I will never forget talking European cinema with Sydney Pollack, or watching Gene Wilder get his first laugh from a live audience in 35 years, or swapping one-liners with John Cleese. It was an incredible gift. Oh, and during Dream On I got to talk about Motown with David Bowie. That was just ka-razee.


What advice would you give to an aspiring script writer?
Just f'ing write.

Thank you ever so much for allowing us to interview you, is there anything you would like to add?Do not let the tinge of bitterness which seeps into these recollections discourage you. I really am on the greatest ride a guy could ever have.