Mel Shavelson

Writer / Director

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

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About

About this interview

In his four-and-a-half hour Archive interview, Mel Shavelson (1917-2007) talks about starting out as a press agent with Milt Josefsberg in 1938. He moved to Los Angeles the following year, with Mr. Josefsberg, to write for the radio show "The Pepsodent Bob Hope Show." In 1947, he wrote for the first commercial television program ever broadcast west of the Mississippi, for Paramount's experimental station W6XYZ that became KTLA. In 1953, he created the sitcom Make Room For Daddy. Mr. Shavelson also discusses the critically acclaimed series My World and Welcome To It, which he also created. He reminisces about writing for several years of the Academy Awards broadcasts. He also talks about the Writers Guild of America, for which he served as president. He speaks about writing and directing the following television movies: The Legend of Valentino, The Great Houdini, and Ike. Karen Herman conducted the interview in Los Angeles, CA on April 6, 1999.

"If you are an original and if you can write, you can't stop it. A real writer always writes. And it's the loneliest and the toughest."

Highlights

Mel Shavelson on writing The Danny Thomas Show

06:51

Mel Shavelson on creating My World ... and Welcome to It

13:13

Mel Shavelson on his TV movie The Great Houdini

07:56

Mel Shavelson on working with Lucille Ball on the feature film Yours, Mine and Ours

04:54

Full Interview

Chapter 1

On his early life and influences; on and on being part of a minstrel show in high school, and on racial breakthroughs in television; on movies he watched growing up

On writing around NBC standards and practices for Bob Hope; on the kind of writing he did when he was younger, and on getting into writing comedy; on getting a job writing jokes for newspaper columns in 1937

Chapter 2

On working with Milt Josefsberg, and on how he came to be a writer for Bob Hope; on writing for Bob Hope's radio show; on the format of Bob Hope's radio show

On writing the various segments of Bob Hope's radio show, and on working with Judy Garland; on how Bob Hope tested his material for his radio show, and on Hope's comedic style

On Bob Hope acting in movies, and on doing his radio show for the soldiers during World War II; on Bob Hope's traveling around the world entertaining soldiers during World War II;on Bob Hope bringing his radio show to Vaudeville, and on Hope's celebrity

Chapter 3

On how Bob Hope treated his writers, and on what he learned as a writer for Hope; on Bob Hope doing jokes about Senator Joseph McCarthy; on censorship on Bob Hope's radio show

On Bob Hope entertaining the troops in Vietnam, and on the politics of the time; on the early development of television, and of color television, and on writing an early experimental broadcast with Bob Hope

On finding the topics for Bob Hope's jokes, and on Hope's "jokes vault"; on leaving Bob Hope's radio show

Chapter 4

On writing feature films for Bob Hope, and how he came to write for Danny Thomas; on writing The Danny Thomas Show; on helping to shape The Danny Thomas Show

On how Danny Thomas took to television on The Danny Thomas Show; on the writing process of The Danny Thomas Show, and on the writers of the show; on the network relationship with The Danny Thomas Show

Chapter 5

On his experience with the Hollywood Blacklist, and on the societal impact of television; on how the television industry has changed since he started; on directing the Bob Hope feature film "The Seven Little Foys"

On his style of directing; on writing material for Academy Awards telecasts

Chapter 6

On the relationship between movies studios and networks in the '50s; on the growth of television; on a directors strike

On creating My World and Welcome to It

Chapter 7

On his affiliation with the WGA; on writers strikes

On his duties as president of the WGA; on serving three terms as president of the WGA, and the WGA Foundation; on the WGA's relationship with other entertainment guilds and on the writing he did for Ike: The War Years

Chapter 8

On his work on the miniseries Ike; on his TV movie The Great Houdini

On directing features, including "Houseboat"; on advice to aspiring writers: on how he'd like to be remembered

Chapter 9

On some of the people he worked with in his career including Milt Josefsberg, Sy Rose, Al Schwartz, Sheldon Leonard, Lucille Ball, Jack Rose; on his family

Shows

Academy Awards, The

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Mel Shavelson on writing material for The Academy Awards telecasts hosted by Bob Hope

06:13

Bob Hope Specials

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Writer Mel Shavelson on Bob Hope entertaining the troops during the Vietnam War

04:40

Danny Thomas Show, The aka Make Room for Daddy

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Mel Shavelson on writing The Danny Thomas Show