Writing for Friends was no joke
Time|September 04, 2023
EVER SINCE I RETIRED FROM TELEVISION WRITING AT the ripe age of 38, people have asked me, "Why would you quit such a cool career?" It's impossible to answer this question over cocktail-party conversation. Where would I even begin? There were the grueling hours, the egotistical bosses, the dysfunction-there's everything the Writers Guild of America is currently fighting against with their ongoing strike, and the issues have only gotten more complex since I left in 2008.
PATTY LIN
Writing for Friends was no joke

My disillusionment had begun at my very first writing job but was momentarily staved off by a positive experience at Freaks and Geeks. Then came Friends. When my agent told me the Friends team wanted to meet with me, I was stunned. It was America's most popular sitcom-and I had been writing for only two years. But somehow, after a grueling, eight-person interview, I got the job.

MY FIRST DAY, in July 2000, was a nerve-racking blur. The staff had 14 writers, which was large, but this show had a big budget and high expectations. Five of the writers were women. I was the only minority. (NBC had just launched a diversity program, and the network was making efforts to hire more writers of color. On principle, I support affirmative-action policies. But in practice? It's a major mindf-ck. You can't tell if they want you for your talent or your race.) The creators, Marta Kauffman and David Crane, took us all to an Italian restaurant for the "annual welcome lunch," which had the forced feeling of Thanksgiving dinner with relatives you don't like. In all of my fears about the new job, I never predicted the writing staff would be so cliquey. They reminded me of the rich kids in my high school who drove brand-new convertibles.

Each 12-hour day started in a giant conference room. At 10 a.m. people would trickle in, then we'd break into two teams to work on separate episodes. David would always lead one room and Marta the other. I was scared of them both, for different reasons. David, an impossible-to-please workaholic, was always looking for a better line or joke. Marta had a booming voice and would rest her bare feet on the table while we worked. Our chitchat was always tense.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 04, 2023 من Time.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 04, 2023 من Time.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من TIME مشاهدة الكل
A Filmmaker's Quest to Unmask Bitcoin's Creator - Who is Bitcoin's founder, Satoshi Nakamoto? the question has perplexed and excited cryptocurrency fans ever since Bitcoin was created by someone with that username in 2009.
Time

A Filmmaker's Quest to Unmask Bitcoin's Creator - Who is Bitcoin's founder, Satoshi Nakamoto? the question has perplexed and excited cryptocurrency fans ever since Bitcoin was created by someone with that username in 2009.

Who is Bitcoin’s founder, Satoshi Nakamoto? the question has perplexed and excited cryptocurrency fans ever since Bitcoin was created by someone with that username in 2009.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 11, 2024
Unmasking prediabetes - Type 2 diabetes doesn't always arrive with a bang. It can develop slowly but eventually result in marked side effects like extreme thirst and hunger, frequent urination, blurry vision, tingling sensations, and fatigue.
Time

Unmasking prediabetes - Type 2 diabetes doesn't always arrive with a bang. It can develop slowly but eventually result in marked side effects like extreme thirst and hunger, frequent urination, blurry vision, tingling sensations, and fatigue.

Type 2 diabetes doesn’t always arrive with a bang. It can develop slowly but eventually result in marked side effects like extreme thirst and hunger, frequent urination, blurry vision, tingling sensations, and fatigue.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 11, 2024
Animals understand death too - In 2018, field researchers in Uganda came across an unusual sight: a female chimpanzee carrying an infant she had recently given birth to that was affected by albinism, an extremely uncommon condition in this species that gives their fur a striking white color.
Time

Animals understand death too - In 2018, field researchers in Uganda came across an unusual sight: a female chimpanzee carrying an infant she had recently given birth to that was affected by albinism, an extremely uncommon condition in this species that gives their fur a striking white color.

In 2018, field researchers in Uganda came across an unusual sight: a female chimpanzee carrying an infant she had recently given birth to that was affected by albinism, an extremely uncommon condition in this species that gives their fur a striking white color.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 11, 2024
The Petro State - Colombia's first leftist leader wants to end oil
Time

The Petro State - Colombia's first leftist leader wants to end oil

Last year, Colombian president Gustavo Petro watched in dismay as a political and economic crisis unfolded on the other side of his country’s eastern border. Global powers had imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s oil exports after the country’s autocratic leader, Nicolás Maduro, allegedly A his re-election. As hyperinflation fueled turmoil, millions of refugees poured into Colombia to escape.

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 11, 2024
Fortress Democracy - Despite efforts at home and abroad to undermine faith in U.S. elections, this year's vote is set to be the most secure and reliable ever. Thank new laws, fail-safes, and courageous election officials
Time

Fortress Democracy - Despite efforts at home and abroad to undermine faith in U.S. elections, this year's vote is set to be the most secure and reliable ever. Thank new laws, fail-safes, and courageous election officials

Despite efforts at home and abroad to undermine faith in U.S. elections, this year’s vote is set to be the most secure and reliable ever. Thank new laws, fail-safes, and courageous election officials

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 11, 2024
The Beauty of Being Alone - There's a lot of fear around spending time alone. Alone time can make people itchy with boredom.
Time

The Beauty of Being Alone - There's a lot of fear around spending time alone. Alone time can make people itchy with boredom.

Recent articles and studies warn us about the dangers of loneliness—one 2017 study by Julianne Holt- Lunstad at BYU’s Social Connection and Health Lab claims loneliness is as bad as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. In 2023, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy published an advisory all about the epidemic of loneliness in America. It details the genuine risks of chronic loneliness, such as increased rates of anxiety and depression, as well as dementia in older adults

time-read
3 mins  |
November 11, 2024
What is 'American Malaria' and Are You at Risk? - Few things will leave you feeling quite so icky as returning from a jaunt outside and finding a tick clinging to your skin
Time

What is 'American Malaria' and Are You at Risk? - Few things will leave you feeling quite so icky as returning from a jaunt outside and finding a tick clinging to your skin

Babesiosis, is causing particular concern. The disease is colloquially known as “American malaria,” partly because of its widening spread and partly because of its clinical profile. Like malaria, it can lead to headache, fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, altered mental state, anemia, low blood pressure, respiratory distress, and more.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 11, 2024
A strip-club fairy tale with a generous heart
Time

A strip-club fairy tale with a generous heart

THERE ARE FEW FILMMAKERS AS OPENHEARTED, as stone-soup inventive, as Sean Baker.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 11, 2024
Fanfare for the gentle man
Time

Fanfare for the gentle man

IN WE LIVE IN TIME, THE ROMANTIC drama whose slow October rollout has swept up moviegoers in a tidal wave of tears, Andrew Garfield plays a divorced man who finds love in a hopeless place.

time-read
5 mins  |
November 11, 2024
On fathers, and the limits of forgiveness
Time

On fathers, and the limits of forgiveness

IN 2016, TITUS KAPHAR MADE THE Jerome Project, a short documentary in which he confronts how his father’s abuse and drug use harmed his childhood.

time-read
6 mins  |
November 11, 2024