Diane English

Show Creator / Producer

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

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About

About this interview

In her two-and-a-half-hour interview, Diane English discusses her upbringing in Buffalo, NY where she first worked as an English and drama teacher before moving to New York City to pursue a career in playwriting. She describes how she instead landed her first industry job at public television station WNET, and began writing for the small screen --penning PBS' first television movie, The Lathe of Heaven. English outlines her first forays into half-hour comedies as a writer for Foley Square and My Sister Sam, and speaks at length on the creation and production of her hit series, Murphy Brown. She divulges which actress she asked to play "Murphy Brown" before Candice Bergen won the role, and sheds light on the infamous debate on single motherhood sparked by Vice President Dan Quayle. She chronicles the formation of her production company, Shukovsky/English, with husband Joel Shukovsky, and details her film and television work (The Women, Love & War, Ink) after Murphy Brown went off the air. Jenni Matz conducted the interview in a joint venture with the American Comedy Archives at Emerson College on February 8, 2007 in North Hollywood, CA.

All views expressed by interviewees are theirs alone and not necessarily those of the Television Academy.

"I think I'm always trying to walk that tightrope between comedy and drama. I think you can't have one without the other. I try to keep my writing as grounded in reality as possible, try to keep one foot in the dramatic world and one foot in the comedy world, because I think they really enhance each other. It's tough to do. It requires perfect pitch sometimes, and I don't always have it, obviously, but that's what I try to do, and I think it has made my work a little different from other people's."

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Diane English

Highlights

Diane English on casting Candice Bergen for Murphy Brown

02:56

Diane English on the believable character of "Murphy Brown" and doing research with Dan Rather and Diane Sawyer

00:48

On the legacy of Murphy Brown

On her writing process

01:07

On the luckiest moment of her career

01:34

Full Interview

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Chapter 1

On her childhood and early influences; on her talent for writing

On her college theater teacher and mentor and moving to New York in 1971

On working in New York Public Radio at WNET Channel 13; on Theater in America and The Television Laboratory

On her TV column for Vogue

Chapter 2

On leaving public television and rewriting TV movie The Lathe of Heaven for PBS

On moving to Los Angeles and writing movies of the week including Her Life as a Man

On writing for CBS sitcom Foley Square

On writing for My Sister Sam

On creating Murphy Brown

Chapter 3

On who she wanted in a writer's room; on her producing partner/husband Joel Shukovsky and his role helping to cast Murphy Brown

On casting Candice Bergen as "Murphy Brown;" on her love for actors

On the characters of Murphy Brown

On the pilot of Murphy Brown; on the music in the opening sequence

On the focus groups for and audience of Murphy Brown

On the strong, believable character of "Murphy Brown"

Chapter 4

On the cast of Murphy Brown

On references to Dan Quayle on Murphy Brow n; on the character "Murphy Brown" becoming a single mother

On "Murphy Brown" battling cancer and making a serious situation humorous

On her favorite episodes and scenes; on the final episode of Murphy Brown

Chapter 5

On Candice Bergen and the character "Murphy Brown"

On the legacy of Murphy Brown

On Love & War, Double Rush and Living in Captivity

On changes in network television over the years; on working in different forms of media

On advice to aspiring writers; on her voice as a writer

On winning her first Emmy; on her current projects - The F Word, Forty-Nine and Change, The Women

On future goals; on Ink

On how she'd like to be remembered

Shows

Double Rush

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Diane English on creating the show Double Rush starring Robert Pastorelli, David Arquette and D.L. Hughley