Just the Funny Parts: ...And a Few Hard Truths about Sneaking into the Hollywood Boys' Club

by Nell Scovell, Sheryl Sandberg

Overview

You’ve almost certainly laughed at Scovell’s jokes—you just didn’t know it until now.

Just the Funny Parts is a juicy and scathingly funny insider look at how pop culture gets made. For more than thirty years, writer, producer and director Nell Scovell worked behind the scenes of iconic TV shows, including The Simpsons, Late Night with David Letterman, Murphy Brown, NCIS, The Muppets, and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, which she created and executive produced.  

In 2009, Scovell gave up her behind-the-scenes status when the David Letterman sex scandal broke. Only the second woman ever to write for his show, Scovell used the moment to publicly call out the lack of gender diversity in late-night TV writers’ rooms. “One of the boys” came out hard for “all of the girls.” Her criticisms fueled a cultural debate. Two years later, Scovell was collaborating with Sheryl Sandberg on speeches and later on Lean In, which resulted in a worldwide movement.

Now Scovell is opening up with this fun, honest, and often shocking account. Scovell knows what it’s like to put words in the mouths of President Barack Obama, Mark Harmon, Candice Bergen, Bob Newhart, Conan O’Brien, Alyssa Milano, and Kermit the Frog, among many others. Through her eyes, you’ll sit in the Simpson writers’ room… stand on the Oscar red carpet… pin a tail on Miss Piggy…bond with Star Trek’s Leonard Nimoy… and experience a Stephen King-like encounter with Stephen King.

Just the Funny Parts is a fast-paced account of a nerdy girl from New England who fought her way to the top of the highly-competitive, male-dominated entertainment field. The book delivers invaluable insights into the creative process and tricks for navigating a difficult workplace. It's part memoir, part how-to, and part survival story. Or, as Scovell puts it, “It’s like Unbroken, but funnier and with slightly less torture.”

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062473509
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	03/20/2018
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	NOOK Book
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	33,661
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Nell Scovell is a television writer, producer, and director, She collaborated with Sheryl Sandberg on the #1 New York Times bestseller Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. She is the creator of the television series Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and her TV writing credits include The Simpsons, Coach, Monk, Murphy Brown, Charmed, and NCIS. She has directed two movies for cable television and an episode of Awkward. She has contributed to SPY magazine, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and The New York Times.

She and her husband Colin Summers have two college-age sons. Despite Blue Oyster Cult’s well-reasoned arguments, she still fears the reaper.

Table of Contents

Foreword Sheryl Sandberg ix

Introduction 1

Stage 1 Who Is Nell Scovell?

Chapter 1 Every Character Needs a Backstory 11

Chapter 2 Sports and SPY 21

Chapter 3 The Setup 35

Chapter 4 The Big Twist 49

Chapter 5 The Payoff 67

Stage 2 Get Me Nell Scovell!

Chapter 6 The Simpsons: Fugu Me! 85

Chapter 7 Brush with Greatness: Working for Letterman 107

Chapter 8 The Meet Cute 121

Chapter 9 We're All Oompa Loompas 135

Chapter 10 So You Want to Run a TV Show 151

Stage 3 Get Me a Younger, Cheaper Nell Scovell!

Chapter 11 Poetry Is in the Doing 173

Chapter 12 The Ones That Got Away 189

Chapter 13 You Sexy Motherwriter 203

Chapter 14 The Decade-Long Roller-Coaster Ride 215

Stage 4 Who Is Nell Scovell?

Chapter 15 "Fame Whore" 233

Chapter 16 The One I'd Been Waiting For 249

Chapter 17 Lily Tomlin, the Kennedy Center … and a Surprise Guest 263

Chapter 18 Our Funny President 281

Chapter 19 Stage Five of a Hollywood Writer's Career 293

Job Timeline 305

Acknowledgments 309

Photo Credits 313

Permissions 315

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/01/2018
Comedy writer (Murphy Brown; The David Letterman Show) and producer Scovell's laugh-out-loud account of her struggles in the male-dominated world of TV is a worthy read. Harvard-educated and a former sports writer, Scovell shares credentials with the various men she meets on the job. But she quickly comes to realize that gender matters very much in the entertainment world. The story of her struggles and persistence, successes and failures will intrigue readers. What is most amazing about this book is the author's lack of bitterness and the honest way of telling stories, such as her leaving David Letterman's show because of her discomfort with the sexually charged atmosphere of the writers' rooms. The author relies on her amazing friends, such as Bonnie and Clyde director Arthur Penn, Sheryl Sandberg, and veteran comedy writer Irving Brecher, whose wisdom helps her cope with emergencies. VERDICT Scovell's compelling story of her life, leavened with much good humor, lets readers know the Hollywood world judged her often as a "woman writer" when she was seeking to be known as a writer, yet she never gives up. For all readers interested in Hollywood and how it works. [See Prepub Alert, 10/4/17.]—Amy Lewontin, Northeastern Univ. Lib., Boston

Library Journal

First things first. Just the Funny Parts is, like Nell Scovell herself, funny as hell. Laugh-out-loud chuckles, eye rolls, embarrassed (for Nell) giggles—it’s all there. But there’s a lot more, too. This is a smart, wise book about growing up, growing old(er), and most of all, what it means to be a woman in a man’s world. That’s no joke. (But it is, as I mentioned, funny.)

Jeffrey Toobin

Nell Scovell has finally written the book that everyone in the comedy world has been waiting for!  Besides being one of the funniest people I know, she has not just survived, but she has thrived. How the hell did she do it??  Crack it open and find out!

Bette Midler

Nell is an incredible writer, and this book is just as amazing as I would expect. I particularly liked page 213.

Samantha Bee

I’ve known for a while that Nell is an unusually talented and funny writer, but I had no idea just how much she shaped the TV that I’ve watched for decades—or how much bias she faced along the way. Despite that (and sometimes because of it), this book was a delight to read. It’s full of jokes that made me laugh and sharp analyses that made me think.

Adam Grant

This clear-eyed account of 30 years in a profoundly flawed industry is the funniest, most unflinching book I’ve read in a long time. I laughed out loud so many times. If you’ve ever watched TV, you should read this book. And if you’ve ever read a book, you should read this one, too.

John Oliver

This book is soooo good! Nell not only recalls her comedy writing career with wit but also transports us there to sit alongside her as witness. Just the Funny Parts could easily be called Just The Brave Parts.

Larry Wilmore

In Just the Funny Parts, Nell Scovell offers readers an unvarnished look into a writer’s life.  Through her unique lens, she bravely confronts some uncomfortable truths, and yet keeps you laughing the whole way through.

George Lucas

A smart, energetic, determined woman, someone who is always shooting for greater success and who really hates it when she fails at something.  A revealing and timely portrait of a professional writer and the industry in which she works.”                                                                               

Booklist

Get ready to laugh out loud as writer, producer, and director Nell Scovell takes you behind the scenes of your favorite comedic shows, including The Simpsons, Murphy Brown, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, and more in her hilarious and heartfelt memoir about making it in the male-dominated world of entertainment. Sharp and insightful, Just the Funny Parts is an wild romp through the world of TV that is as entertaining as it is inspiring.

Bustle

An honest and demystifying glimpse into the world of men (and some women) behind the comedy curtain. Like Liz Lemon, Scovell is a wry and relatively grounded observer of the soaring self-regard and bottomless neediness that characterizes the professionally funny.”

Slate

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