|
By
JIM HARWOOD
Universal
Television, Hollywood's leading supplier
of network tv series but not a studio
normally associated with comedy skeins,
has broken that identity barrier and has
made 23 development deals with the three
networks for the 1985-86
season.
Details
of the Valley lot's breakthrough in comedy
were disclosed by Craig Kellem, v.p. of
comedy development at U-TV since September
of 1981, and Barbara Romen, director of
comedy development, who joined U last
July.
Kellem,
who was director of development for 20th
Fox TV before joining U-TV, conceded that
when he first embarked on the comedy push
for the studio, general impression was
that U-TV was not a comedy operation and
there was a problem establishing
credibility in that area.
But
over the three-year span, 28 producers and
writers in comedy and the dramatic area
were signed and the approach has paid off
with a "realistic" relationship with the
networks, Kellem said.
Romen,
formerly an agent with Writers &
Artists Agency, commented Universal
found
|
dramatic
writers who are interested in the comedy
form and are utilizing their talents in
comedy. Also, the studio is not aiming
shows for a certain network timeslot, but
rather for various time periods at the
webs, she observed...
Kellem emphasized that from the outset
he sought to obtain the best possible
creative talent for projects, and feels
that objective has been achieved. U-TV
prexy Robert Harris has been "supportive"
of the entire program throughout, he
said.
U-TV has a "balanced" approach, not one
which is flashy, but one it feels is
consistent. "Not everything has to be a
breakthrough show," he remarked. "We found
dramatic writers interested in the comedy
form, and so we have utilized their
talents in half-hour and hour comedies,"
Romen observed.
Before his tenure with 20th TV and then U,
Kellem was involved with NBC's "Road
Show," based on his concept, and brought
Chi's Second City to Fox on an exclusive
basis. He was associate producer of
"Saturday Night Live" during its first
year on NBC, then was v.p. of producer
Lorne Michaels' production company. He
earlier headed the tv variety department
and was v.p. of CMA, now ICM.
(Excerpt from a longer front-page
article)
|
