Les Charles

In the twenty-minute solo portion of his interview, Les Charles talks about his early years growing up near Las Vegas. He recalls the first time he saw television and his early jobs working in a bar and as a substitute teacher. He also recounts becoming writing partners with his brother, Glen Charles. 

In the three-hour joint portion of their interview, Glen and Les Charles talk about their television writing career. They discuss selling their first script (to M*A*S*H) and breaking into staff writing at MTM Productions, where they worked as writer-producers on Phyllis and the final season of The Bob Newhart Show. They recall other writing assignments on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Betty White Show, and detail working with the cast and crew of the hit series, Taxi. The pair talk about both writing and producing the ABC run of Taxi (the show would run a final season on NBC) and chronicle the creation of the series Cheers (with James Burrows). They outline their roles as producers and later executive producers of the show, discuss cast changes, and recall memorable episodes from the show's eleven-year run. Gary Rutkowski conducted the interviews on December 8, 2003 in Los Angeles, CA.