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