Laughing Matters: On Writing M*A*S*H Tootsie, Oh, God!, and a Few Other Funny Things

by Larry Gelbart

Larry Gelbart is the comic genius who developed M*A*S*H for TV, one of the longest-running, most beloved series in history; he was a much-admired member of that memorable gaggle of writers who worked for Sid Caesar, which also included Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Woody Allen, and Neil Simon; and he's written successful movies like Tootsie and Oh, God!, smash hits for Broadway, including A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and City of Angels, TV comedy-dramas like Barbarians at the Gate and Weapons of Mass Distraction, and more.
        His book now adds to the fun. Part memoir, part sampler, part love letter, Gelbart tells of writing radio comedy at age sixteen for Danny Thomas--and later for Bob Hope, Jack Paar, and Red Buttons; he offers behind-the-set stories about Milton Berle, George C. Scott, and George Burns, "Klinger" and "Radar" and "Father Mulcahy"; and he lets us know about the places he's lived and how he's lived and what he's learned while doing so.
        Not everything is played for laughs. Some of Laughing Matters is serious--Gelbart is a wit, not a gag writer, and he cares deeply about writing. Some is touching--for instance, his account of the last days of M*A*S*H. His sketches of comedy performers and writers are "elegant," said Publishers Weekly in an early review, his sense of form original.
        He's won Emmys, Tonys, and Peabody awards, he's twice been nominated for an Academy Award, and now, in print, he may well win your heart.
        A lot of funny things happened on the way to this book--and you'll be hugely entertained.

Genres: Memoir, Biography, Humor, Tv, Nonfiction, Comedy, Writing

276 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Larry Simon Gelbart was an American comedy writer and dramatist.

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Larry Gelbart, the man who brought M*A*S*H to TV likes word play (just like me). His intentional flipping of metaphors required a slower reading pace to really appreciate his virtuosity.
This is not so much a memoir of his career as it is essays about his many writing assignments. (I didn't remember that he wrote Tootsie and the movie for Oh, God!.
Many of the names dropped in this book made me feel really old because I remember them (and I don't think many will nowadays) like Danny Thomas, Bob Hope, Sid Caesar, and Jack Benny.
A delightful saunter with memories - especially the M*A*S*H ones.

[Mediaman · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you think this is a memoir of a great TV and Broadway writer or a behind-the-scenes look at his major productions, think again. This is a pretty big disaster. A mish-M*A*S*H (pardon the pun) of magazine-length articles, some which were previously published elsewhere. None of them are satisfying and Gelbart short-changes everything he worked on, at the same time constantly bragging about his brilliance and success.

The structure of the book is bizarre--it's not organized in any real order beyond a few opening pages about his childhood, then right into short chapters about his projects, not in chronological order. For some odd reason the "editor" inserts notes before each short section from Gelbart.

M*A*S*H appears near the front of the book but it tells the reader almost nothing about the creation or production of the show. It's way too short and filled with errors, Gelbart's braggadocio gone wrong. He loves to take credit for all sorts of TV "firsts" that are not firsts at all. He actually makes this claim on page 37: "M*A*S*H is the only successful one-camera show that television has ever produced." This is a 1998 book and I can think of dozens if not hundreds of hit one-camera TV shows from the first 50 years of the medium.

Such is the tone of this book--that he is self-described brilliant with words and even admits that writers have great ego and self-promotion. Yet the poorly-written text shows he is not as talented as he claims. He might be quick with a joke for Bob Hope but putting something like this down on paper without a team of collaborators leaves him lost.

He has many errors in the book, making misstatements and false claims. Don't trust what you read here. It looks like he didn't do any basic research and just wrote off the top of his head with little editing.

There are a few good stories but not many. Very late in the book he starts to discuss the interesting story of how Funny Thing got to Broadway, then in the middle of it just stops. Like most everything in this book, it's incomplete and frustrating.

Even the cover is misleading. There are 25 photos but many of the people in them are barely mentioned in the book. We get no insight into most of those he worked with nor the shows he helped create. Instead it's filled with editor's notes, excerpts from his scripts, a speech he gave, and articles he wrote for other publications, all tossed together without order, humor, or satisfaction. A big flop and nothing to laugh about.

[Joy H.]

You can see and hear Larry Gelbart tell the story in his own words about how MASH got started on TV and how the show was cast, etc., at:
http://www.emmytvlegends.org/intervie...
I think it's in Part 4 of the clips there. He gives lots of details.

[Ethan Nahté · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writer Larry Gelbart's Laughing Matters is not an autobiography, although the stories relate to the various stages of his life and writing career. Gelbart got lucky, starting out writing for Sid Caesar as a teen, and moving on to the likes of Bob Hope, George Burns and many other greats. He began in the Age of Radio, worked his way into films and the new medium of television, and had success with the theater, as well, co-writing one of the stage's longest running shows A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Other credits include his work developing M.A.S.H. for TV, the films Oh, God! and Tootsie.

But the book is much more than that. Gelbart gives insight to how the entertainment system works. He talks about several legendary and iconic people (actors/comedians and other writers especially) and what it was like to work with them. Several people are placed on a pedestal because Gelbart seemingly truly admired them. He doesn't blow smoke up their ass, but he gives credit where credit is due. There are even segments of the book that are dedicated to just the people he worked with, talking about their career vs. his own, which is why Laughing Matters is like a career overview written in a humorous manner than an autobiography.

Gelbart is also not afraid to tell the truth or his opinion about those actors, writers and especially producers, directors or agents that were a royal pain to work with. He tells of being disgruntled about the way Hollywood works and how (back in 1998) he was sick and tired of the industry relying on sequels and remakes because it was a safe bet versus creating something new. He also mentions how stale TV had become due, in part, to most the Writer's Guild being out of work because studios hired a team of writers, instead of freelancers, to work on their programs, pushing out the same ol'-same ol' show after show, season after season. So the things a lot of people gripe about now re: TV & film is still true today.

Gelbart loves words and it is quite noticeable in his writing. He also loves a good double entendre, puns and so forth. Many times, any reader familiar with Alan Alda's character of Hawkeye (M.A.S.H.) may find themselves hearing his voice in Gelbart's words as he goes on a roll about whatever is irking him. To me, it makes the book all that more entertaining and well worth the read.

[Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Larry Gelbart is a very talented comedic writer. He wrote for Danny Thomas on the radio and for Bob Hope on his USO tours. He was also in the writer's room at Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows in the 50's along with Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Carl Reiner, Selma Diamond among others. Gelbart also wrote several movies such as Tootsie as well as Broadway plays. But the real reason I read this is Gelbart is the co-creator of MASH and writer for it's first four seasons. MASH is and always will be my favorite show, nothing else is even close but it's difficult to find written histories of the show such as ones that exist for Seinfeld and SNL. I enjoyed reading about the development process for the show, how it was cast, and how they've been able to maintain the style of the show over many years and multiple cast changes.
I'll be honest I skimmed a fair amount of this book but there's lots of good radio and television history and of course the MASH parts. Recommended for those interested in entertainment history.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've ever read on the business of writing. Larry Gelbart was a master and had quite a life - having huge success on TV, film AND Broadway. Gelbart shares so many fascinating stories about dealing with the various executives (and their inane notes) one has to deal with in film and TV - he also shares the ups and downs of his career. But Gelbart wrote so many amazing things - from the book to the classic musical A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM to the TV version of MASH to OH, GOD to one of the many writers that helped make the great comedy TOOTSIE. Highly recommended.

[Victoria & David Williams · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a mess.
Larry Gelbert has written movies, plays, and TV scripts and written many of them well (MASH, Tootsie, A Funny Happened On The Way to The Forum, etc ) but memoir is not his forte.
To put it mildly.
It's tempting to blame the editor, who not only has assembled an incoherent disorganized scrapbook of occasional pieces and reminiscences but who also regularly intrudes his uninteresting opinions. However Gelbert himself comes across as someone more interested in clever wordplay than telling an entertaining tale.
Read Mel Brooks. Read Carl Reiner. Read Zero Mostel.
Don't waste your time with Larry Gelbert.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this from thrift books mainly because I wanted to read all about his adventures in the creation of the movie tootsie. But as it turned out he only talks about that for about three or 4 pages. Still it was a pretty interesting read, Larry was clearly a very talented writer of comedy and worked with some amazing people.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Larry Gelbart, who brought the series M*A*S*H to television, relates his career in show business, the movies and TV Series he was involved in and the people he worked with. I liked it but parts of it dragged on.

[Chad Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful visit with a great new friend.

[tyRonE hArDing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only read the chapter about creating Mash. Interesting but not very informative.

[Lisa]

This excerpt inspired me to add the book to my reading list:
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?stor...

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dull, fawning, choppy, and dated.

[Surreysmum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gelbart is a word-lover's joy to read, just as his scripts for MASH were a joy to hear. He can twist a phrase to expose double and triple entendres in ways that make your head spin (or, more likely, provoke a laugh of delight).

Call it a memoir if you like - this book is actually a smorgasbord of past writing - excerpts from scripts, articles, you name it - mixed in with reflections on the writing process and three roughly chronological surveys by Gelbart of his life/work in three arenas: TV, film, and stage. His editor, Sam Vaughan, is present throughout (in bold type), linking together the book in places where the subject matter jumps abruptly. Here, as in all his other ventures, Gelbart is a collaborationist (I stole that insight from the editor's introduction).

Gelbart's an out-and-out writer (as opposed to writer-actors, writer-directors, writer-producers, etc.) and he returns many times, but always wittily, to the classic writer's lament about how everyone else always interferes and 'improves' his work. He details his failed projects with as much relish as his famous successes (MASH, Tootsie, Oh God). He's capable of being blunt about people he found difficult to work with (Dustin Hoffman springs to mind) but I never got the sense of a really mean streak. It's as if he's aware that his verbal weapons are so superior that he doesn't wield them at full force. But see his deliberately wordy, deliberately circuitous, deliberately diction-impaired satire on the American political system, Mastergate, for a real sense of the anger that could lie underneath the words. Apparently, he couldn't get a production mounted in Washington. "Too political." But really - well let me quote him, since no-one could say it better. "Subtitled A Play on Words, its aim was not to point out political corruption - tantamount to trying to get a patent on the wetness in water - but rather to dramatize, not through satire but through ridicule, the breakdown in communications in public life. Speeches have become speech. The more we're told, the less we know."

Look at him speaking about his movement from film to theatre:

My taste in entertainment - more like an insatiable hunger - had been developed over an endless string of Saturday afternoons, mesmerized by one silver screen after another. After I had seen Holliday and Douglas performing as the leads in Kanin's play, and later watched countless other movies, the movies suddenly felt like so many trailers for the real thing, for the living thing - the theater. One picture may indeed be worth a thousand words but, by my emotional arithmetic, one play can be worth a thousand pictures.

I picked that paragraph more or less at random. If you love writing, or love the history of American comedy, read this book

[Carole Prior · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely hilarious and moving account of the role that 'luck' as well as hard work plays in being in the right place at the right time with the right people in order to get original ideas picked up and parlayed into 'on air' time. His ability to 'hone in' on specific dialogue that will click in delivery as well as click in with an assortment of producers/directors/actors/comedian/shows etc is like riding a roller coaster of fun. Gelbart was writing comedy with an edge and a 'message' which had to be as much for the time period as well as for those chameleon like producers etc. ..and all in a 'tongue in cheek' manner. His story telling leaves you laughing so hard you can't get a breath. Honestly, I keep it by my bed just to pick up and reread those most hilarious sections and for anyone who likes to peek behind the scenes at what it takes to get a 'SHOW ON THE ROAD' will LOVE LOVE LOVE this SATURATION with FUN!