News

My thoughts this week are, as you might imagine, consumed with "Mad Men," and as I was getting lunch this afternoon, I started thinking about the many different copywriters who have worked under Don and/or Peggy over the years. This inevitably led me to try to rank them, and the next thing I knew, I was tweeting that ranking and a bunch of other non-essential ones. Then, after reading Twitter responses and seeing things I missed and/or ranked unfairly, I composed the following completely essential, not-at-all rushed or superficial list of annotated "Mad Men" rankings. Please commence to arguing in the comments, and feel free to rank other things either more important (Don pitches) or less (Ken Cosgrove pen names). Non-Don/Peggy copywriters ranked Ginsberg, Freddie, Smitty (and Kurt), Megan, Kinsey, Ted, Mathis, Danny, Ed, Joey... Lou Notes: Kinsey is probably suffering from recency bias, and I've forgotten...

The Sopranos was named the best-written show in television history by the Writers Guild of America, edging out an eclectic collection of some of the most beloved and admired series. Members of the Writers Guild of America, West (Wgaw) and the Writers Guild of America, East (Wgae) voted online for the 101 Best Written TV Series, with David Chase’s iconic “family” drama topping Seinfeld, The Twilight Zone, All in the Family, and M*A*S*H*.

“At their core, all of these wonderful series began with the words of the writers who created them and were sustained by the writers...

Comedy writer Coleman Jacoby has died. He was 95.

Jacoby passed away in New York last month after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Initially an artist, he began writing jokes after moving to the Big Apple and went on to pen comedy for Bob Hope and Fred Allen.

He worked extensively for Jackie Gleason and Art Carney with writing partner Arnie Rosen. He also contributed to The Phil Silvers Show.

Jacoby, who married twice, is survived by one daughter.