FROM SOUTHFIELD
from page 29
Palladino and [her husband] Daniel
Palladino, who also are writers."
Work on the 60-minute weekly
show is different from the half-hour
situation-comedy routine, Bill said.
"Half-hours are more of a group-
the City, Good Morning, Miami,
writing format, and
Platypus Man, Dream On
because it's done like
and The Carol Burnett
- 2 a play, you go each
Show.
day to rehearsal and
Although Bill hadn't seen
g then do rewrites. The
Stan since school and the-
one-hour is done like
ater-camp days, he was
a movie: You go off
aware of his friend's career.
and write the script
"I remember seeing his
and then get revision
name on the Roseanne
notes from the execu-
credits. And we have an
tive producer. It's shot
astonishing number of
out of order, so you
people in common," said
don't revise as you
Bill.
go.''
In addition to his
Actress Rose Abdoo
Sherman-Palladino,
work on Roseanne,
Bill
said,
"is the primary
Stan's resume lists
reason I took this job.
many well-known
"I've watched the series
tides, including
from the beginning and
Wanda at Large,
have been entranced by the
Grease Reunion,
writing. Real and smart. It's
Something Wilder,
so far above what you usual-
Hooperman, The
ly find on television."
Golden Girls, George
And it's also extra work,
Burns Comedy Week,
he said. Extra but gratifying.
The Jetsons and The
"We do a 73-page script for
Brady Bunch Movie.
an hour show instead of the
Production designer
usual
55-page because of the
Rachel Kamerman
Reconnecting
increased speech
patterns," Bill
While at Roseanne, Stan met
explained. Lorelai
Amy Sherman-Palladino, a
and her daughter,
Jewish writer/producer on that
also named Lorelai
show. In time, she would
and called Rory,
approach Warner Bros. with her
speak quickly. "Part
idea for a series about a single
of their personali-
woman who, at 16, becomes a
ties," he said.
mom whose baby grows up to be
"In the years I
her best friend.
spent on sitcoms, I
The series' two women — the
had those three-
now 32-year-old mother and her
sided proscenium
16-year-old daughter — are the
Production designer
sets. Here, we have
"Gilmore Girls," and the imagi-
Ron Zate
all of the back lot and
native show's literate accounts of
block after block with
the Gilmores' lives float on a
stores
that
are
continuous
sets.
lagoon of alluring romantic sensuality.
"Luke's
Diner,
for
example.
You can
Stan decided to join Sherman-
have someone walk in and order food
Palladino's new group this past
and the set is practical inside and out.
September at the start of the show's
Really cool.
fifth season.
Meanwhile, Bill, looking for his next
situation following the end of the
The Southfield Five
Dharma 6- Greg series, was invited to
Speaking
of cool, what are the chances
meet Sherman-Palladino and was
that five students who went to
offered the position of co-executive
Southfield schools at the same time
producer.
would be found years later working
"I showed up for my first day at
together on the same national televi-
Gilmore Girls, and Stan walked in. I
sion show?
was really surprised. He knew I was
Bill Prady and Stan Zimmerman can
there because I'd been hired first.
"We're two of five writers. And there
FROM SOUTHFIELD on page 34
are two executive producers: Sherman-
Clinton; Here Come the Munsters;
scripts for Star Trek: Voyager, The
Cosby Show and Married ... with
Children; and writer/producer posi-
tions on Dharma Greg, Caroline in
Reality Bite
Southfield native Stan Zimmerman brings his
talents to a new reality show on Bravo.
LYNNE KONSTANTIN
Contributing Arts Editor
S
film starring Lindsay Lohan, and
Burning Love, a Priscilla Presley-pro-
duced Broadway musical.
tan Zimmerman clearly
remembers his bar mitzvah,
On Camera
some years back, at Temple
"It
makes such a big difference hav-
Beth El in Bloomfield Township. "It
ing
someone believe in you, and that
was on Friday the 13th, my birthday,
was
my parents," says Zimmerman.
and my Torah portion was Noah's
"My mother worked so hard to get
Ark. In the middle of my bar mitz-
me into NYU,
vah, my voice
and I learned a
changed," he
t.", strong work ethic
says. "I cleared
from them.
my voice and
But I think
then I was a
there's
something
man. And Leo
that's
instilled
by
.
1
3
Knight cap-
Jewish parents,
tured it all.
the belief that
After that, peo-
you are going to
ple stopped
succeed, no ques-
calling me Mrs.
tion about it. I
Zimmerman
worked
hard to
on the phone."
get
where
I am.
Sound like a
But I've also let
sitcom?
myself have fun."
Perhaps some-
Having gained
day. The
the respect of his
Southfield
peers with his
High School
work
in the vari-
graduate has
ously
nuanced
settled into his
genres
of acting,
recently reno-
writing, casting,
vated
Stan Zimmerman on the "Gilmore Girls" producing and
Hollywood
set
with pal Bill Prady
more,
Hills home —
Zimmerman
via childhood
was
recently
tapped
by
Sean Hayes
summers at the Bloomfield Hills
to
appear
on-camera
Grace)
(
Will
&
Cranbrook Theatre School (where,
as
co-show
runner/executive
produc-
grateful to those who gave him his
er for Situation: Comedy.
start, he eventually returned to
A reality series about the making
teach); Temple Beth El productions;
of a sitcom pilot, the show is co-
a bachelor's degree from New York
executive produced by Hayes and
University's drama program; a stint
dancing behind Rudolph Nureyev in Todd Milliner and premiered on
Bravo on July 26 (check local listings
the New York Joffrey Ballet ("I
for
repeats throughout the week).
would pretend that the audience's
The twist: Producers called for
`Bravos' were for me"); and working
pilot scripts from the general public,
for a New York casting director.
who bombarded them with more
While still in his early 20s,
than 10,000 submissions. Each was
Zimmerman, along with writing
read; the pool was narrowed down to
partner James Berg, cut his comedy-
10 scriptwriters, who were flown to
writing teeth writing for 1980s tele-
Los
Angeles, where they pitched
and
vision gems such as Golden Girls
their
pilots to producers at NBC.
Recent
projects
include
Roseanne.
writing for the quick-witted Gilmore
Girls (see accompanying story) as
REALITY BITE on page 35
well as Fashionistas, an upcoming