Evans enjoyed working on the show immensely but, “The producers valued me because they knew I was right for the show and the show was right for me. But it ruined me for a career in television.” He recalled the story of one of The Monkees secretaries coming into his office saying, “You’re laughing but you’re all alone in here.” His answer: “I’m a comedy writer. If it doesn’t make me laugh I’d better not hand it in.”
You Can Please Some of the People Some of the Time… None of the People All of the Time: A History of the Art of Adaptation in Movies like Dune, The Godfather, Harry Potter and More!
Dr. Rosanne Welch speaks on A History of the Art of Adaptation in Movies like Dune, The Godfather, Harry Potter and More! at the California State University, Fullerton Library
Part of the program series for Dune by Frank Herbert: A 50th Anniversary Celebration.
Gidget, in the 50’s, is a different story and I think this one is really sad. When you think of Gidget, if you thin of anything, you think of fluffy girl hanging out at the beach – cutesy, cutesy, cutesy. The crazy thing is, when this was first written — there’s an actual woman who is actually the maitre’d at Duke’s in Malibu right now in her 70’s and she is Gidget. Gidget is merely a nickname. it means girl-midget. So short girl. Petite girl and in her real life she grew up — her Dad, Fredrick Kohner, writer of early 50’s television shows — lived in Hollywood — and she would go to the beach every day and in a world where we overprotect our children today, I can’t even fathom that at 16 she would get in the family convertible, drive to the beach, stay all day without a cell phone or check-in time or any information, hang out with a bunch of 20-something surf dudes and learn how to surf in the ocean with no parent watching her. That was her actual life and the book is about how she strive to become as good a surfer as these men did, so that they would accept her not as a cute chick but as a surfer.
Dr. Rosanne Welch (RTVF) speaks on the craft of history of film adaptations from the controversy of the silent film Birth of a Nation (protested by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1915) to Breakfast at Tiffany’s (to which author Truman Capote famously said, “The only thing left from the book is the title”) to The Godfather . Naturally, the behemoth in adaptation – Harry Potter (which depended on the relationship created by adapter Steve Kloves and author J.K. Rowling) will be discussed, as will the subject of this month’s celebration: Dune.
Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2015 Time: 1:00pm – 2:00pm
About Dr. Rosanne Welch
Dr. Rosanne Welch is a professor in the Low Residency MFA in Screenwriting Program from Stephens College, California State University, Fullerton, Mount San Antonio Community College and Cal Poly Pomona. In 2007, she graduated with her Ph.D. in 20th Century U.S./Film History from Claremont Graduate University. She graduated with her M.A. in 20th Century United States History from California State University, Northridge in 2004.
Welch is also a television writer/producer with credits for Beverly Hills 90210 , CBS’s Emmy winning Picket Fences and Touched By An Angel . She also writes and hosts her own podcasts on 3rdPass.media, her first one titled “Mindful(I) Media with Dr. Rosanne Welch.”
I’m going to be part of the great project in Pomona where I will be speaking on “How Doctor Who Redefined Masculinity: A Study of the Doctors and their Male Companions.” If you’re in the area, please stop by, say “Hi!” and check out all the other great activities, panels and authors!
Don’t miss Dr. Rosanne Welch on Dr. Who!Dr. Rosanne Welch is a writer and university professor who teaches Humanities courses in the (IGE) Department at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; and screenwriting for two MFA in Screenwriting programs (Cal State, Fullerton and Stephens College).
In the Who-vian world she has published a chapter in “Torchwood Declassified: Investigating Mainstream Cult Television” (I.B.Tauris) an essay in “Doctor Who and Race: An Anthology.”
In January 2017 “Women in American History: A Social, Political, and Cultural Encyclopedia and Document Collection,” which she co-edited with her CalPoly Pomona colleague, Dr. Peg Lamphier, will be published by ABC-CLIO. In her previous life, Welch was a television writer/producer with credits that include “Beverly Hills 90210, Picket Fences and Touched by an Angel” and ABC NEWS/Nightline.
“1960s TV Censorship and The Monkees” gives a brief overview of where censorship standards were in the era – and how The Monkees pushed the envelope with its mentions of the Vietnam War – and Sunset Strip riots – and even with the outrageous storytelling behind “Frodis Caper”, the episode that celebrated the saving of an alien plant that very closely resembled a marijuana plant…
Writer Treva Silverman said the staff got away with such jokes because the network executives were just old enough not to understand any of the references. Presented at Stephens College MFA in Screenwriting classes on Friday, August 5, 2016
Transcript:
So I wanted to focus on a little TV history and a little bit on censorship. So, I’m looking at them and the whole part of their story that makes them interesting is that they got away with doing and saying things on television in the 1960’s that other people — like The Smother’s Brothers — were cancelled for saying. So, my question was, “How did they do that? What’s the story?” And part of it comes from having interviewed the writers and one of them said, “Network executives didn’t understand what we were saying. So we got by with a lot.” They were referencing marijuana and all these things that the older executives had no idea. So, I thought that was kind of funny. Now, I always talk about writers. I love The Monkees as actors, but these are the people whose words I fell in love with as a kid and these are the people who I met when I wrote the article. Dave Evans, he’s a marvelous, lovely guy. He had written for Bullwinkle and then he moved to The Monkees. Gerald Gardener had been a speech writer for Robert Kennedy when he ran for the senatorship in New York. He’d been friends with the Kennedy family and then he went into television — started on Get Smart and when the folks were putting together The Monkees they wanted hip, flip, new, young kids and the guys on Get Smart recommended him and his partner Dee Caruso. So I got to interview him. Fascinating guy.
Dr. Rosanne Welch is a professor in the Low Residency MFA in Screenwriting Program from Stephens College, California State University, Fullerton, Mount San Antonio Community College and Cal Poly Pomona. In 2007, she graduated with her Ph.D. in 20th Century U.S./Film History from Claremont Graduate University. She graduated with her M.A. in 20th Century United States History from California State University, Northridge in 2004.
Welch is also a television writer/producer with credits for Beverly Hills 90210 , CBS’s Emmy winning Picket Fences and Touched By An Angel . She also writes and hosts her own podcasts on 3rdPass.media, her first one titled “Mindful(I) Media with Dr. Rosanne Welch.”
Each writer came to the show through different channels and with different backgrounds. The writer with the most episodic credits, Gerald Gardner (22 of 58), came after working on the 1964 Robert Kennedy senatorial campaign. He served as head writer, who in today’s television parlance would be referred to as the show runner since he oversaw the development and rewrites of all the scripts each season.
This book signing at Book Soup was wonderful – good people, good conversation (before and after the signing). Just another example of the kind of quality positive people who have been drawn to The Monkees across generations – I even met a former head of publicity for ScreenGems who had some fun stories to tell.
Dr. Rosanne Welch is a professor in the Low Residency MFA in Screenwriting Program from Stephens College, California State University, Fullerton, Mount San Antonio Community College and Cal Poly Pomona. In 2007, she graduated with her Ph.D. in 20th Century U.S./Film History from Claremont Graduate University. She graduated with her M.A. in 20th Century United States History from California State University, Northridge in 2004.
Welch is also a television writer/producer with credits for Beverly Hills 90210 , CBS’s Emmy winning Picket Fences and Touched By An Angel . She also writes and hosts her own podcasts on 3rdPass.media, her first one titled “Mindful(I) Media with Dr. Rosanne Welch.”
![Critical Studies, Feminism and The Monkees from An Interview with Dr. Rosanne Welch, Author of “Why The Monkees Matter” on the Zilch Podcast [Audio]](https://rosannewelch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Zilch48-940x198.jpg)
![Adapting Gidget from A History of the Art of Adaptation [Video] (1:07)](https://rosannewelch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/adapt-18-gidget.jpeg)
![Monkees Writers from 1960’s TV Censorship and The Monkees with Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (1:15)](https://rosannewelch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/monkees-censorship-04-monkees-writers-1.jpeg)
![Why The Monkees Matter Book Signing – Book Soup, Hollywood, CA – September 19, 2016 [Video]](https://rosannewelch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/wmm-signing-book-soup.jpeg)