Television Archives - carlkurlander.com

Saved By The Bell and NBC’S TNBC Line up

ckurlander — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 07:19:17 +0000

In the early 1990s, Carl’s agent told him Peter Engel, the exec producer of Saved By the Bell, had read a pilot had written for comedian Louie Anderson for NBC, and was offering Carl to come on as a writer/producer. At the time, it was still unusual for screenwriters to do TV, but Carl loved television and his agent assured him this silly show would probably only last another season and it would be a fun experience. Carl visited the set and met Peter as the cast was doing their Rockumentary episode about the Zack Attack and was hired on.

Shortly after, Saved By the Bell evolved into the College Years and Carl ended up working on Saved By the Bell: The New Class, which never quite captured the magic of the original. Carl did write a few memorable episodes. One the Homecoming King featured one of the first roles for West World and Enchanted star James Marsden, a drunk driving snowmobile episode which was a first role for Grounded for Life and Rules of Enchantment star Megyn Price, and a now famous episode where football coach Jim Harbaugh had a cameo playing Screech’s Cousin.

As described in this Wall Street Journal article, one of the new cast members Eric Little let catching a big pass on the football field go to his head, and the next game, he does a touchdown dance pre-maturely and becomes a laughing stock. Screech keeps offering to bring his “less popular” football playing cousin to talk with Eric, but the gang dismisses him, until his cousin shows up and turns out to be legendary football player and coach Jim Harbaugh.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=vuLo85T0g3U

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Hang Time

ckurlander — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 01:24:37 +0000

Hang Time was part of the Saved By the Bell franchise which was part of the T-NBC Saturday morning line up. It featured the adventures of a girl on a guy’s high school based team and had numerous cameo’s from legendary the NBA including Gary Peyton, Alonzo Mourning, and Grant Hill. But the most memorable guest appearance came during when an 18-year old NBA rookie by the name of Kobe Bryant appeared in an episode called “The Hustlers” where he helped the gang get the money back from some basketball con men. Carl served as Supervisor Producer of the series for several seasons.

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Malibu, CA

ckurlander — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 00:43:30 +0000

Peter Engel, the man behind “Saved by the Bell” called me into his office one day with this idea: “Malibu, CA.” Peter had me come up with a story based on two brothers who go to live with their father in Malibu when their mother movies to work abroad. A week later we were in the office of TV exec Dick Askin, and Peter was pitching what sounded like a cross between Saved by the Bell and Baywatch. We left with a 26 episode order and I was the showrunner.

While the T-NBC’s dominated Saturday morning for most of the 1990s, “Malibu, CA” was a bit more controversial.

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Reel Teens: Breaking the Stigma — A Mental Health Special

ckurlander — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 16:19:00 +0000

With one in four teens suffering from some form of mental health issue, this half hour teen-produced program that first air on Fox explores how a new generation of young people are talking about and working to tackle the stigma around mental illness.

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The Chair

ckurlander — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 16:19:00 +0000

Outstanding Achievement In Reality Programming– TV Critics Association

“A worthy successor to Project Greenlight…”

The Chair is flawless, riveting reality TV

–– Reality Blurred

‘The Chair’: TV Review, The Hollywood Reporter

Backed by a long line of co-producers, including Zachary Quinto, Starz’s first original unscripted series is an indie look at how indie films are made

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Land of Bridges. And, possibly, an indie film renaissance, if Zachary Quinto and the producers behind The Chair get their way. Created by Project Greenlight‘s Chris Moore, the Starz series pits two up-and-coming directors against one another. The two contestants are given the same script and the same location, but film separate movies that will emphasize their creative differences. The Pittsburgh location is key, though, not only because of Quinto’s connection to the city (it’s his birthplace, and he also graduated from Carnegie Mellon University) and tax credits, but because Chris Moore had some financial ties there that helped launch the series. As is emphasized early and often, that part is key.

As Co-Executive Producer of the series, Carl Kurlander help support and raise funds for Starz television’s first award-winning ten part docu-series, working closely with Good Will Hunting and Project Greenlight producer Chris Moore and Zack Quinto and his company Before the Door on the project.

This has been part of Kurlander’s ongoing mission to support regional talent and help Western Pennsylvania become a player in the entertainment industry, first articulated in his Post-Gazette editorial “Pittsburgh’s Next Industrial Revolution: Entertainment” and the short film “Pittsburgh: Hollywood’s Best Kept Secret.”

Click here Watch The Trailer

Watch episodes and the entire series on Starz and Amazon Prime.

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