I read excerpts of Permanent Midnight and thought it was really powerful. I later read the whole book and found that even the parts I’d read earlier seemed weak. That book seems to have rehabilitated him to the point that he gets regular work – I see him listed as a technical advisor or scriptwriter in television credits. What does he bring to the table? Does every tv show need an ex-junkie helping out on the screenplay? Any explanation of his worth/usefulness would be, well, a surprise really.:rolleyes:
I don’t get your point. The man is a professional screenwriter. Why would his past drug use matter one way or the other?
Actually, what I was trying to say was that I wasn’t impressed with the writing in his book. I wondered if his screenwriting was any better (and I doubt that it is). His screenwriting credits include ALF, of which opinion would probably be divided.
I am surprised that one mediocre (IMHO) book could be the professional remaking of a writer. I wonder if anyone has any insight into the quality of his work.
Wasn’t “Alf” his show? Doesn’t that answer a lot of questions?
I think his psychological rehabilitation was his career rehabilitation–e.g., writing the confessional and staying clean made him employable again.
He also wrote on Northern Exposure and has writen for C.S.I.
I have not read the book but thought the movie of Permanent Midnight was mediocre. None of which says the man is devoid of talent. It seems to me he must be a pretty good T.V. writer who blew his career with drugs once and has gotten a second chance through sobriety.
Elvis,
See, this is pretty much what I was wondering about. And I can’t tell separate the writing (or technical advice, which is what his credit was on the CSI episode I saw) from the direction, performance, etc., so I have no idea if he is all that good. Plus I wondered if the folks currently hiring him are making him “their project” – trying to do a little good in Tinseltown.
11811
From reading his short stories and Permanent Midnight, I believe Stahl to be a talented writer. He’s just kind of had a bad run, with being addicted to smack and all.
It’s harder to judge how good of a television writer he’s been, as most television shows have a small fleet of writers. In Permanent Midnight, IIRC, Stahl laments that writers on a television show have one task: copying the writing of the person who wrote the pilot. So it’s hard to gauge how great a writer is from an episode or two of “Alf” or “thirtysomething” because they’re just trying to get paid and to not screw up the audience and their desire for continuity in the show.
On a related note, I saw a commercial for the new Will Smith movie Bad Boys II* and saw that Jerry Stahl was a screenwriter for the movie. So, regardless of his past, he’s still able to get relatively high profile work.
–greenphan
oh, wonderful use of coding greenphan. absolutely wonderful.
greenphan You are so right about the coding power of greenphan - and greenphan, it was great of you to notice the wreckless daring of using the * and ** tags together!
Seriously, I think Stahl is a pretty typical hack. It’s important to remember that although he had drug problems, Stahl has mostly been able to do the work he was supposed to do on time and for shows that, for one reason or another, made money. That’s worth a lot. He probably works well with other writers.
11811, I could have written the first two sentences of your OP myself; I had to check the screenname to be sure I hadn’t posted this and forgotten.
Loved the excerpts, couldn’t wait for the book, then returned it to the store after being unable to finish it. He just cannot tell a story.
Ah. So it’s not just me. Thanks, Rilch.