Welcome to a new Wildcard Wednesday! This week, we’re paying tribute to the one-of-a-kind Norman Lear, who just celebrated his 99th birthday on July 27!
In honor of this gifted and influential televisionary, I’m sharing — with subscribers who comment below to alert me of their educational, non-commercial interest — access to the pilot script for Guess Who Died, a single-cam comedy written with Peter Tolan (Murphy Brown, The Larry Sanders Show, Rescue Me) that follows the residents of a Palm Springs retirement community. It was produced for NBC’s 2018-’19 season with a great cast that included Hector Elizondo, Holland Taylor, and Christopher Lloyd, but it was not ordered to series. (That same year, FOX went ahead with a similar project from Charlie Day called The Cool Kids.) Now, this isn’t some lost gem — although the early character work is sharp, The Cool Kids’ opener is probably funnier, for there’s some ham-fisted lip service to contemporary relevance here, and then the last two acts get bogged down by labored story beats — but it’s generally well-written and a joy to read, proof that even in his late 90s, Lear’s still got it. Here’s a sample.
Happy 99th, Mr. Lear!
Come back next week for another Wildcard! And stay tuned Tuesday for more sitcom fun!
I’d like to read this. Thanks!
Hi, Jon! Thanks for reading and commenting.
I have emailed you at your yahoo address.
I’d love to read Norman Lear’s script for Guess Who Died. Thanks so much for the offer.
Hi, Kim! Thanks for reading and commenting.
I have emailed you at your stokesvideo address.
I would love to read this. Thank you!
Hi, Nat! Thanks for reading and commenting.
I have emailed you at your yahoo address.
Please send me the script for “Guess Who Died,” where my interest is educational and non-commercial. I love reading scripts! Thank you.
Hi, Alan! Thanks for reading and commenting.
I have emailed you at your supportourcreatives address.
Wow, that’s pretty cool that Norman tried to get another series going as he was almost 100 (I really hope he makes it). This pilot sound pretty cool and it would have been great to see Christopher Lloyd return to a sitcom. I can’t wait to read it. Thank you.
Hi, Tony! Thanks for reading and commenting.
I have emailed you at your sbcglobal address.
Hi Jackson
I would like to see the scipt of Norman Lear. I met him once and it was so interesting to talk to him about his work.
Thank you.
Donna
Hi, Donna! Thanks for reading and commenting.
I have emailed you at your cs address.