It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time..., Bruce Vilanch
It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time..., Bruce Vilanch
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It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time
The Worst TV Shows in History and Other Things I Wrote

Author: Bruce Vilanch

Narrator: Bruce Vilanch

Unabridged: 5 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/04/2025

Synopsis

Bruce Vilanch is known as a go-to comedy writer for award shows, sitcoms, and top-heavy variety specials, but he has also been responsible for quite a few of the worst shows ever put on television—legendarily bad productions.Some of his work lives in infamy—The Star Wars Holiday Special, The Paul Lynde Halloween Special, Rob Lowe dancing with Snow White at the Oscars, and The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. How did these ever seem like a good idea?Well, everyone has screwed up a few times, or had their work screwed up by others. It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time is a lifetime reflection of what Vilanch has experienced, learned, forgotten, dismissed, and embraced in decades of working in show business, specifically the south forty acres known as comedy. It involves very famous people and people who were not very famous but should have been.And it explains to the person in the audience who says to himself, once he has gotten his jaw off the floor, “’How did this ever get made?”Don’t we all want to know?

About Bruce Vilanch

Bruce Vilanch is an actor (occasionally an actress), writer (occasionally a rewriter), and comedian (occasionally for money, often for causes). He has coauthored twenty-five Academy Award spectacles, winning two writing Emmys in the process, and has been nominated for seven more. In addition to the Oscars, he has cowritten many Tonys, Emmys, Grammys, People’s Choice, American Comedy Awards, TV Land Awards, SAG Awards, and a ton of other pageants, roasts, tributes, and various trumped-up reasons for people to strut a red carpet.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Barbara on April 12, 2025

4.5 stars Bruce Vilanch (b. 1947) is an award-winning American comedy writer, songwriter, and actor. Bruce Vilanch Vilanch is perhaps best known for his four year stretch on Hollywood Squares, but his career encompasses much more. Vilanch wrote for the Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, and Tonys; starred as Emma......more

Goodreads review by Martin on January 10, 2025

IPG/Chicago Review Press provided an early galley for review. As a child of the 70's, I grew up in the twilight of the variety show era. Back when we only had three networks, if something special was airing I would know about it (and not just because I had a subscription to TV Guide). So, I remember......more

Goodreads review by Bill on February 08, 2025

DNF I debated whether to even review this, since I never DNF a book and this is not my usual type of reading material. But after reading new, more thoughtful, biographies of Al Jolson, Johnny Carson and Lorne Michaels, I seemed to be on an old Hollywood/showbiz kick and downloaded this on a lark afte......more

Goodreads review by Ammon on January 31, 2025

If you were a fan of Hollywood Squares during its 1998–2002 run, you probably remember Bruce Villanch. He was usually in the square adjacent to Whoopi Goldberg, and resembled a large Muppet or a real-life, bearded H.R. Pufnstuff (fitting, given his work with Pufnstuf creators Sid & Marty Krofft). Ev......more

Goodreads review by Shane on May 05, 2025

Absolutely essential reading it you love old Hollywood and old schlock. Bruce Vilanch was present for a lot of notorious bombs and has really great stories to tell about them, filled with good sidebars into movie history and funny bits regarding them. A very entertaining read and I’d love for him to......more

Quotes

“An entertaining, often hilarious behind-the-scenes look at working in show business.” Library Journal

“If you’re a fellow pop-culture dumpster diver, it won’t matter whether you read or hear Bruce Vilanch’s stories. You’ll just be glad to have found them in the muck.” Washington Post

“Serves as a reminder that even the most outrageous misfires can become cultural touchstones and that sometimes the best ideas really do start as bad ones.” The Advocate

“Flops pepper his pages, most of them in the variety vein, and not all of them his fault…There’s nice dish along the way on the likes of Paul Lynde, Betty White, and his own ’70s-era cohort of TV folks before and behind the camera. A well-written treat for fans of show-biz gossip.” Kirkus Reviews

“Longtime television writer and comedian Bruce Vilanch narrates his wry, sardonic, whimsical, and perhaps too detailed examination of some of the greatest disasters in his TV writing career. His delivery is well articulated, understandable, enthusiastic, and varied…Listeners will likely have fun with this novelty effort.” AudioFile

“It’s hilarious! He’s finally coming clean and owning up to his part in creating some of the worst television of the twentieth century, and that’s saying a lot. There’s no one like him!” Bette Midler, actress

“Bruce is the name, the man, the person, who steadied the Oscars for a hundred years. The go-to genius we all relied on.” Steve Martin, actor

“Turns out that all those TV specials I watched as a kid—the ones that not only delighted me but made me wince, groan, and squirm with embarrassment—had Bruce Vilanch’s name on them. And he lived!” Jane Lynch, actress

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