Lena Dunham, Tina Fey, Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld, Louis C.K., Mindy Kaling: Notice any similarities? We do too. As creators and stars of television shows modeled after their own lives, today’s comedy heavyweights suggest there might be some truth to the old maxim: write what you know. Of course, television comedies that straddle the gap between fiction and autobiography have been around for a while (our favorites: The Dick Van Dyke Show, I Love Lucy, The Cosby Show). But in the past few decades and in recent years especially, an unusually high number of America’s best-loved and most syndicated shows have drawn heavily on the real life experiences of their creators. Below, we take a look at some different ways the writers of these shows have managed to turn personal foibles into comedic fodder.
Thursday, January 16, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announces this year’s Oscar nominations, and Buffer writers Amy Solomon and Zach Saldacher are as excited as can be. They were thrilled to prioritize Oscar betting above homework, so they have spent their valuable time compiling their nominee predictions. See their lists and reactions to each other’s predictions below.
What’s it like to be a student filmmaker at Princeton? This year, five members of the Class of 2014 are making a film for their senior thesis: Nick Ellis (Religion), Jun Kuromiya (Philosophy), Dayna Li (Politics), Christina Maida (Anthropology), and Brady Valashinas (Anthropology).Each ispursuing the film track within the Visual Arts certificate and will submit their film as part of their independent work requirement.
When it comes to glitz, glamour, and giant profits, there’s no question that the film industry is still Hollywood’s crown jewel. Movies bring worldwide acclaim and billions of dollars of box office returns; in an age of globalization and outsourcing, they have become the main American export to the world. Nonetheless, due in part to the rise of cable and the rigid corporatization of the major film studios, the television industry has recently made exceptional progress in shrinking the gap between the two media. We examine how TV has caught up with film and what the future holds for the two industries.
