Just the Funny Parts: ... And a Few Hard Truths About Sneaking Into the Hollywood Boys' Club

by Nell Scovell, Sheryl Sandberg (Foreword)

You’ve almost certainly laughed at Scovell’s jokes—you just didn’t know it until now.

Just the Funny Parts is a juicy and scathingly funny insider look at how pop culture gets made. For more than thirty years, writer, producer and director Nell Scovell worked behind the scenes of iconic TV shows, including The Simpsons, Late Night with David Letterman, Murphy Brown, NCIS, The Muppets, and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, which she created and executive produced.  

In 2009, Scovell gave up her behind-the-scenes status when the David Letterman sex scandal broke. Only the second woman ever to write for his show, Scovell used the moment to publicly call out the lack of gender diversity in late-night TV writers’ rooms. “One of the boys” came out hard for “all of the girls.” Her criticisms fueled a cultural debate. Two years later, Scovell was collaborating with Sheryl Sandberg on speeches and later on Lean In, which resulted in a worldwide movement.

Now Scovell is opening up with this fun, honest, and often shocking account. Scovell knows what it’s like to put words in the mouths of President Barack Obama, Mark Harmon, Candice Bergen, Bob Newhart, Conan O’Brien, Alyssa Milano, and Kermit the Frog, among many others. Through her eyes, you’ll sit in the Simpson writers’ room… stand on the Oscar red carpet… pin a tail on Miss Piggy…bond with Star Trek’s Leonard Nimoy… and experience a Stephen King-like encounter with Stephen King.

Just the Funny Parts is a fast-paced account of a nerdy girl from New England who fought her way to the top of the highly-competitive, male-dominated entertainment field. The book delivers invaluable insights into the creative process and tricks for navigating a difficult workplace. It's part memoir, part how-to, and part survival story. Or, as Scovell puts it, “It’s like Unbroken, but funnier and with slightly less torture.”

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Humor, Audiobook, Biography, Comedy, Feminism

316 pages, Hardcover

First published March 20, 2018

About the author

Nell Scovell is a television and magazine writer, producer and director. She is the creator of the television series 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch', which aired on ABC and The WB from 1996 until 2003.

Reviews

[GoldGato · Rating 4 out of 5]

When people conclude that it must be "soooo much fun" to work on The Muppets, it's like assuming the Oompa Loompas love every minute working at Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. To outsiders, it's all chocolate waterfalls and funny songs. But late at night, someone's got to clean up after all those nut-testing squirrels. And let's just say the nuts are high in fiber.

Nell Scovell hits the mark throughout this fun and spot-on inside look at Hollywood...from a female writer's point-of-view. She has written primarily for American television shows and it's her experiences which she relates here, especially working in what remains a male dominated hierarchy. She breaks the chapters into:

Who Is Nell Scovell?
Here we learn about the author, her background, and her first forays into the industry. It is in this section that she gets into the ugly part of being a sole female writer on a show where the head writer (hint: he also had several country music hits and still performs today) forced himself on her. For anyone who has followed the #MeToo campaign, this is a very disturbing part of the book. And for anyone who has ever worked in Hollywood, one that still remains prevalent today.

Get Me Nell Scovell!
Now she is established and starts getting job offers. Here, she becomes, briefly, part of the David Letterman Show, where she was, again, a sole female writer. Perhaps this explains why I never cottoned to Letterman (or Leno for that matter) as the talk show program was a basic white-male frat house. It's not a good view and Letterman's dalliances with female personnel are yucky. Kudos to Scovell for focusing on professionalism rather than blind ambition. This chapter is also where she hits on another part of the book I like, which is explaining how a good workplace, not just Hollywood, should provide opportunities for all. Specifically, she calls out the virtues of a great leader:

1. Understands the mission better than anyone in the room and can communicate it.
2. Is the hardest working person in the room.
3. Is the most generous person in the room, not just with compensation, but also with praise and credit.
4. Allows dissent and even invites it.
5. Listens and learns.

Yes, I'd call that leadership and an instructional guide to making any place more inclusive.

Get Me A Younger, Cheaper Nell Scovell
Now she starts a long rollercoaster ride, as she has become good enough to get the sole female writer positions, which means the bosses are always looking for someone who can do the same thing for less money. She also focuses on the jobs that got away, again a very instructional look at what it takes to freelance.

Who Is Nell Scovell?
Still getting work but having to work harder to get it, Scovell is at that age in Hollywood where women get moved to the wayside while men still prosper. More mature, she gets to write some of the jokes for President Obama. Yes, if you laughed at some of his self-mocking asides, that was probably Scovell's writing.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It came into my hands inadvertently, as I walked into the Rancho Mirage library and was handed a copy and directed into the room where she was speaking. Some days are just fortuitous. She was flat-out hilarious and treated everyone in the room with respect, even signing our books, which surprised me. I worked in Hollywood and most big-shot women there are Queen Bees, but not Scovell. Very relatable.

This is also a good book for anyone wanting to teach their young daughters about the workplace (not just Hollywood). For instance, learning to be wary about predatory men and how keeping your values can be far more important than moving ahead, is something one doesn't hear or read about much. Scovell also does a quite terrific job in explaining how a writer works, focusing on People, Process, and Product. Again, this can be transferred to any workplace in any industry. Very well done.

Still, there's a difference between allowing people to share personal information and forcing them to.

Finally, I just liked her character. When she marries, it's not a sensationalized mass gathering, but a quiet private affair. She points out the importance of collaboration, comparing it to canoeing. A solid citizen who happens to write some very funny stuff.

Book Season = Summer (guffaws by the pool)

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never heard of Nell Scovell, who's a writer, producer and director, but somehow this book was brought to my attention and I'm glad it was. She's a talented writer who worked on some of my favorite TV shows. She's also a Democrat so we have that in common. It's a very interesting memoir.

I like her attitude - "I expect nothing, hope for something, and am delighted when my efforts are rewarded."

I recommend this book!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

For more than thirty years, writer, producer and director Nell Scovell worked behind the scenes of iconic TV shows, including The Simpsons, Late Night with David Letterman, Murphy Brown, NCIS, The Muppets, and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, which she created and executive produced.

Nell Scovell provides a fun inside look at Hollywood...from a female writer's point-of-view.

If you are curious about the inside workings of television, or even some of those funny speeches given by politicians (written by her) this might be a memoir you will enjoy.

[Michelle Ruiz Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not since Bossypants have I loved and laughed over a memoir so much. This book was my heaven: a hilariously funny and frank look at writing and creativity and celebrities and TV and, lest we forget, fighting sexism in the workplace. Nell Scovell was and is a pioneer for women in Hollywood and, now, rightfully will go down as a feminist hero for co-writing Lean In. She’s self-deprecating and genius and doesn’t spare herself (while also dishing about Dave Letterman) in her memories of her awesome career. Nell is one of the greats.

[Terri Naughton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I generally like show-biz memoirs, but this one was a bit too show-bizzy for me. I guess it doesn't help that the shows the author was involved with are not ones that I tend to watch. A lot of name-dropping; not a lot of substance.

[Anita Pomerantz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scovell provides the reader with some "inside baseball" on how challenging it is to break into comedic writing in Hollywood, especially if you are a woman. She has a long resume, so definitely has some interesting anecdotes, and she didn't shy away from naming names. But overall, I expected that as a comedy writer, the book would be wittier than it was. It also trots out the various complaints that feminists have been stating repeatedly for years, and so that component doesn't seem incredibly fresh. Interestingly, she collaborated on Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead which I have not read, but was a huge bestseller. All in all, I enjoyed this peek into what it is to be a writer for the screen, but I guess I expected more from a person who makes their living writing comedy.

[Marjorie Ingall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, tightly written, sharp. And very funny. It's less a memoir than a class by the most charismatic professor you had in college, about comedy writing AND about the barriers faced by women in comedy writing. Scovell was Sheryl Sandberg's co-author (I've been a co-author; guess what, it means that Scovell wrote the book) on Lean In, and to me this was a better read on the same topic, writ small rather than sweeping. Some people criticized Lean In for being classist, victim-blame-y, and clueless about race. I think that's too much of a generalization...but there is there there. In telling her own story, Scovell evades these problems. She illustrates so many of the lessons Lean In was trying to teach, but because they're about HER (and, btw, she owns her own history of classism and failures in finding/hiring writers of color), they feel immediate and vivid and not theoretical. And not victim-blame-y, because Scovell is our protagonist and we immediately feel we get her and like her. Also, there are lots of old Jewish man jokes, which I love, because zaydes! And aw JEEZ the blows to Scovell's ego that she just keeps getting up from! And her guts in NAMING NAMES of sexist, gropey, dimwitted fuckwads!

Upshot: So instructive and helpful to me as a non-fiction book writer. (And damn, I gotta toughen up.)

[Tommy Van Norman · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Both Nell and I look forward to the day when there are no 'female writers'—just writers. We share an unshakeable belief that having an equal number of men and women sitting at the table where decisions are made will make this world fairer and better. It will also make the world funnier."

“Wish I could shake younger me and tell her, ‘If you are the only girl in the room it doesn’t mean you’re better. It means something is wrong.’”

I'll be honest - I didn't know who Nell Scovell was until I saw this book recommend by John Oliver (Last Week Tonight). As a fan of TV and movies, as well as comedy, I was intrigued. This memoir has so many layers. It's about the experiences of a female writer working in Hollywood and the barriers she faced. It's a call for equity in media, but in all fields and for all identities. Nell made me laugh a lot, but she also inspired me and helped me realize how I can be a better leader and continue the fight for equity. Nell also gave a glimpse into the writing room and what it means to be a producer or a director. While I didn't know who she was, I knew a lot of her works. Need a laugh or want to feel inspired or motivated? Read this book.

[Kristīne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who is Nell Scovell?

Autore atklāj 4 komiķu stadijas -

1. Kas ir ...?
2. Dodiet man ...!
3. Dodiet man jaunāku, krutāku ...!
4. Kas ir ...?

Sāku lasīt grāmatu, neko nezinot par šo autori - komēdiju/TV/kino scenāristi un cita starpā līdzautori slavenajai Šerilas Sandbergas Lean In grāmatai. Autore is strādājusi pie Deivida Letermana, Simpsoniem, radījusi pirmo TV adaptāciju par raganu Sabrinu, u.c. mazāk zināmām izklaides industrijas avantūrām.

Grāmata varbūt neattaisnoja savu nosaukumu, un nerunāja tikai par smieklīgajām vietiņām, patiesībā puse grāmatas ir padomi jaunajiem scenāristiem, režisoriem, visiem visiem, kas grib iemēģināt roku kā komiķi, TV darboņi, autori.
Grāmatu caurstrāvo autores pieredze mizogīnās darba vietās, kur viņa ļoti bieži ir bijusi vienīgā sieviete džeku kolektīvā, ar visām no tā izrietošajām sekām, un nevajag uzreiz seksa skandālus, lai šīs darba vietas kategorizētu kā briesmīgas, pietiek ar maziem komentāriem, stereotipiem. Autore aktīvi cīnās par iekļaujošāku scenāristu atlasi Late Night šovos, lai jokus šiem šovmeņiem nerakstītu tikai baltie vīrieši.

Noteikti labs lasāmais, ja interesē ASV šovbiza aizkulises, darba dinamika, un sapnis strādāt TV. Ātri vien nokurinās vēlmi, īpaši, ja esi sieviete. Bet kā autore iesāk grāmatu, what doesn't kill you, let's you regroup and retaliate.

[Juliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was recommended this book and I'm glad I read it! It was an interesting look into the life of Nell Scovell and how she's dealt with looking for success in Hollywood. I liked that she didn't hold anything back in terms of what went on behind the scenes of certain shows she worked on and the struggles she dealt with. It was nice to hear about the creation of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and how she pushed to keep both aunts kindhearted people. Hearing everything she has to say about David Letterman makes me like him less. I appreciate that she's openly democrat and talks about how much she hates the current 'president'. Having her bring up jokes that weren't used in certain speeches, shows, or lists was a great touch that I enjoyed. Definitely a great insight to what is generally seen as a boy's club.

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scovell's origin story (essentially the first part of the book) is fun to read. Origin stories naturally have plot points and tension, and they answer intriguing questions. How did the protagonist acquire her superpower (in this case, humor)? How did she become the superhero we know and love (in this case, an established TV writer)?

But then Scovell continues chronicling her life in Hollywood, detailing how the system is stacked against women. And while I'm sure she's right, and while I agree that this is completely unjust, this portion of the memoir lacked the narrative pull and humor of preceding sections. Had I been Scovell's editor, I would have advised her to utilize her superpower and to use her wit eviscerate the boy's club in a way that few others could.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have another hero! A hilarious, moving, fascinating memoir by a very smart, funny, resilient, and generous person.
After a quick tour of her childhood, the author takes us through her accomplished career as a writer, director, showrunner, and producer in journalism, movies, and TV - she has worked in just about every genre, with the one common thread being that her work has been funny everywhere she went.
At the same time, this is a frank and sometimes scathingly angry history of the misogynistic culture she and other women in entertainment have had to survive and struggle through. It left me both ashamed at the ugliness of some of my fellow humans - mostly men - and deeply impressed by the contrasting generosity and goodness of others, some men and many but not all women.
As a therapist I was taught that humor is the healthiest of the many coping mechanisms our species has evolved, and I can attest to that based on the role it played in my own family's awful and at times ridiculous tribulations.
BTW, a few years back I read and wrote a Goodreads review of Overcoming Autism, the memoir this author's sister, Claire LaZebnik, wrote about her family's experience with her son's autism. All I can say is that this is one strong, gifted family.

[Amy Allen · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you like to read insider name dropping memoirs about late 20th century TV, this is the book for you. I don't think I realized that's what it was going to be. I thought it would be more thoughtful. I actually quit reading it about 70% through it, as I found myself dreading opening my Kindle. As soon as I stopped reading it and began reading a novel, my happiness returned.
So, I may be cheating on my book count. I'll do better, I promise.

[Lee Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Behind-the-scenes television gossip combined with feminist words of encouragement. Nell Scovell worked at Spy magazine, on "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," and many other pop culture favorites of mine. This memoir is a good read for fans of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

I only wish I knew the names behind the blind items!

[Christal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for pretty much all working women, even if you're not in Hollywood.

[Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A look into the job of writing for the entertainment biz. Nell has written TV shows, Presidential speeches, movie scripts, you name it, many years.
I picked up the book when I found out she wrote for Late Night With Dave Letterman. She left after about 5 months. She wrote a magazine article about Dave and that show focusing on the fact they didn’t hire many female writers. (None of the talk shows did).

(Dave would admit many years later, not reading that article, until many years later)

This book has a lot of behind the scenes in writers rooms that I found fascinating. It also had at least one SA incident while she was working on The Smothers Brother’s Show.

I found the info insightful but a bit preachy near the end, or I’d already gotten the point over and over about how women get shorted in many ways over their male coworkers. I got the point. I knew some of this since my mother in the 1960s was fighting the good-ole-boys at General Electric. She was one of the first to break that glass ceiling. (Secretary to Contract Negotiator.)

All-in-all a great read, with lots of humor! (Of course)
Nell has a talent, that’s for sure, and she wants to help up-and-coming talent succeed.

[Jenn G · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

It's very eye opening to read about a woman working in Hollywood as a writer. I liked the audiobook as well (even thought it wasn't narrated by the author)

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

a sobering, truthful look at the very real barriers to entry for women looking to write comedy. who would wanna do that to herself? haha anyways

no but really, nell scovell is such a canny, perceptive writer, and funny as hell

[Jessica Woodbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Nell Scovell and I don't share much of a sense of humor, so this isn't an all-out rave though I suspect it would be if we were more similar that way. But after reading Scovell's book I feel like I know a lot more about how Writers' Rooms work and (depressingly) how happily those rooms have clung to absolute bare minimum diversity for as long as they could.

Most of Scovell's time pre-dates our current Prestige TV era, and I know a lot has gotten better but... also Hollywood. Scovell is light and personable, and the book is easy to breeze through even if it gives you the occasional rage headache. Scovell is particularly well known for being more outspoken about how heavily male the world of television is (she was a co-writer on Sheryl Sandberg's LEAN IN thanks to that reputation) and she has brought some real receipts with her. It's impossible to avoid the misogyny all around her, but you do get a lot of fun behind the scenes TV stuff. Scovell seems to want this to be a kind of guidebook and she provides a lot of things she's learned to help newer writers along the way. But you don't have to be a huge TV buff to find this interesting and to find Scovell very personable.

[Kathleen Garber · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book because I thought it would be cool to read a memoir from a tv/movie writer. Unfortunately it wasn’t as funny as I’d hoped. In fact I didn’t laugh once. I try not to be negative but I can’t pretend it was hilarious because it wasn’t. That said, just because I didn’t find it funny doesn’t mean someone else wouldn’t. Everyone has a different sense of humour.

The book covers how hard it is to be a woman in the TV writing industry. I can’t even imagine how hard it must be, especially years ago. I hope it’s at least gotten better. It was interesting read how she wrote for such a wide range of characters and people such as Barack Obama and Kermit the Frog. I mean who else can say that but a comedy writer?

I enjoyed the parts where she was talking about episodes of shows or movies that I’ve actually seen. It’s definitely more interesting when you recognize what she is talking about.

[Ruthie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I began reading this book thinking it would be a fun read with some juicy gossip. It was that, and so much more! This book is about chasing dreams, changing course, failing- and moving forward, finding your voice and many more career and life lessons. It shows the value of mentors and friends. It offers a look into he process of pitching, writing, re-writing, show running and directing in show biz. It let's the reader know how it feels to be the only woman in the male-centric world of TV and movies. It is funny, frank and inspiring.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adored this book by Nell Scovell, creator of the Sabrina the Teenage Witch TV show, among many other things. I loved following the ascent of her career and was careful not to google because I didn't want to know what happened next. (Although we know from the start she co-authored Lean In with Sheryl Sandberg). Well-written and funny. My only complaint is that I listened to it in audio format and I wish she'd been the one to narrate.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be perfectly honest, exhausting. She has a lot of insecurities and she needs to keep proving herself and sharing jokes that never made it onto television and making excuses. There’s obviously major gender inequality in all industries and she shouldn’t think that her experience is unique. A book about comedy writing does not make for enticing reading.

[M. Langlinais · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who worked (very briefly) in "the industry," I very much enjoyed this book. Not laugh-out-loud funny but certainly insightful. Recommended for those curious to hear how things work in Hollywood--especially for women.

[Davina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting insider look at how comedy is written, although it was more of a straight faced memoir than I was expecting. Scovell shares some bits of her comedy writing, but the telling itself was pretty straightforward, bordering on a bit boring.

[Gretchen Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sabrina the Teenage Witch was my first televised obsession. My first ship, my first style idol, my first time trying to rearrange plans so I didn't have to miss an episode of my favorite show. (That really happened, by the way. My parents made me go to my uncle's house for dinner anyway and I was furious at them for, like, a week.) I didn't realize this at the time, but Nell Scovell was the creator behind my tweenage love. She's also worked on Murphy Brown and The Muppets and Warehouse 13 and a hundred other things. She is, in short, #goals.
Scovell tells the story of her career in a frank and obviously hilarious narrative. She doesn't shy away from the really awful parts of a Hollywood career, whether that be busting your ass for an assignment that gets passed on, or the very real fact of sexual harassment and discrimination that is still ragingly present. But the allure of getting your words on screen and having an audience laugh at a joke you wrote...that, too, is very real.
I could have read an entire other book about her life just because I'm so interested in the insider baseball aspects of TV. I loved it when Nell wrote about motherhood and her ambitions and the process of working on Lean In with Sheryl Sandberg. Read this if you're interested in show biz and/or how to work in an industry dominated by dudes. (Seriously, so many dudes.)

[thefourthvine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this book genuinely unsure who its audience was. I tell you one thing, though: I'm not in it.

Basically, this book offers four things:

1. Some "how I broke into the entertainment industry" advice from a Harvard-educated Boomer. In other words, this advice definitely has only historical value, and even then mostly as context for how extremely easy Boomers have had things. I do not need more context for this. I am already fully aware.

2. A career recap. I mean. This was kind of interesting, I guess? But it did sort of feel like I got stuck next to Scovell at a cocktail party.

3. Some jokes that were cut from various scripts and speeches. All I'm saying is: sometimes there is a reason things were cut. Sometimes we don't need to share the contents of our editing room floor.

4. A lot of thoughts about the struggles of women in the workplace generally and in the entertainment industry specifically. I know, Nell. I know. (And this section suffers from the same problem Lean In did. It clearly outlines how the problem is systemic and there is no individual response that can address it, and then it suggests individual solutions anyway.)

None of this was quite my thing, in other words, but that would have been fine with me if the memoir had actually lived up to its title. Alas, it isn't funny. It's not even all that lighthearted. It's just a somewhat disorganized memoir that is presumably interesting to someone, but I can't quite figure out who.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just the Funny Parts: … and a Few Hard Truths about Sneaking Into the Hollywood Boy’s Club

I Picked Up This Book Because: Someone close to me aspires to be a TV writer so I thought I’d see what she was signing up for.

The Story:

Part memoir, part advice column, part real facts about Hollywood Nell takes us on a recounting of her career from “Who is Nell Scovell” to “Who is Nell Scovell”. This book is well written and pulls not punches about the sexism, racism and other flaws of a career in Hollywood. Nell had a lot to say on the subject. Sometime a bit too much. At the end when she was listing unused jokes I felt like it was more filler than anything useful. All together it was eye opening. I had no idea how short a writer's career could be. It’s definitely not a field for the faint of heart.

The Random Thoughts:



The Score Card:



3.5 Stars

[Randee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This memoir by a semi-successful writer of comedy, television shows and speeches was interesting. However, she got jobs on a number of extremely successful and/or notable shows and in many, many cases she quit after one season or even sooner. Getting a writing gig on Letterman, which many would consider the apex of comedy writing, she quit, she says, after only 3 months. The reader is left with the nagging thought that she is a quitter or there is more to these tales than she is telling. Especially considering how often she mentions how tough show biz is for a woman to crack, I could not understand why she would quit a show like, 'Sabrina, the Teenage Witch' which she was both running and writing episodes. The list is long of projects she left and there is not much detail on why she decided to walk away. Nonetheless, it is an interesting summary of the life of someone trying to succeed in a tough business. I won this book at my local library through a reading program and I'm glad that they give away prizes that are off the beaten track.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars.

I usually only read memoirs/biographies of people I either admire a great deal, or am intensely curious about. I'm not one to pick up a random bio of someone I'm vaguely familiar with just for kicks.

I chose to read this title because of Nell's brief association with David Letterman. Happily, she also worked for other performers I like a lot, like The Smothers Brothers and Bob Newhart. She also had some famous friends and/or collaborators I was interested in, like Penn Jillette, and Joel Hodgson. And she wrote 3 scripts for one of my favorite detective shows of all time, Monk.

Aside from those associations with people I admire, I enjoyed the parts that delved into the nuts and bolts of writing comedy for television the most. Who knew that titles like “Associate Executive Producer” actually mean “writer”?

If you enjoy Hollywood-behind-the-scenes stories from a feminist perspective, you will likely enjoy the book.