Written by | Nell Scovell |
Published | March 20, 2018 |
Publisher | Dey Street Books |
Pages | 336 |
ISBN | 978-0062473486 |
Just the Funny Parts...And a Few Hard Truths About Sneaking into the Hollywood Boys’ Club is a 2018 memoir by television writer Nell Scovell which the publisher calls "a juicy and scathingly funny insider look at how pop culture gets made."
Scovell details moments from her career of three decades in which she worked on The Simpsons, Murphy Brown, Late Night with David Letterman, NCIS, and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.
In the book's final chapter, Scovell shares a story from her time writing for The Muppets, specifically an episode she co-wrote with Steve Rudnick which aired as the twelfth episode, "A Tail of Two Piggies". Conceptualizing the story, Scovell approached Bill Barretta asking if Miss Piggy had a tail, and if it had ever been shown. She compares Piggy's moment in the episode to Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction at the 2004 Super Bowl and explained that what Piggy learned from the experience mirrored her own experience with being both a female and a writer. She also offers some insight into the collaboration process with Eric Jacobson, revealing an ad-lib added to the scene by the performer.