Debut BOOK Out Now
YOUR GUIDE TO WRITING TELEVISION COMEDY
by AWARD-WINNING WRITER KEN ESTIN
Ken Estin is an Emmy and Writers Guild Award-winning writer and producer behind some of the most iconic projects in television and film comedy. He began his career with a Taxi episode that won a Writers Guild Award, and he became Taxi's showrunner two years later, earning his first Emmy at 28. He later ran Cheers and created The Tracey Ullman Show, winning two more Emmys and helping develop the animated shorts that became The Simpsons.
Ken rewrote and restructured the film that became the blockbuster Beverly Hills Cop. He created seven pilots for Disney, Paramount, Universal, Fox, NBC, and ABC, five of which became primetime series, and ran several award-winning shows, earning 11 Emmy nominations (3 wins) and 9 Writers Guild nominations (2 wins).
He taught TV writing for a decade at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. His comedy writing book is recommended by UCLA and USC faculty. Ken has appeared in documentaries about The Simpsons and sitcom history, been featured in books about Taxi, Cheers, and classic TV comedies, and guest-hosted acclaimed show business podcasts.
“Don’t pursue a TV writing career without this book.”
— Ken Levine, Emmy-winning Writer & International Playwright
“Ken's book reads like one of his classic television episodes that is smart, to the point, funny and innately human.”
— David Isaacs, Emmy-winning Writer & USC Professor
“This is my favorite book about writing for television.”
— Richard Sakai, President of Gracie Films & Executive Producer of The Simpsons
“Ken is one of the best TV writers and his book explains why. It lays out writing essentials in comprehensive and entertaining ways.”
— Phil Kellard, Writer & Producer & UCLA Professor
“I love this amazing book! Ken is a brilliant writer and teacher.”
— Marilu Henner, Actor & Author & Producer
About The Author
Ken Estin began his career as a freelance writer whose first professional script was a Taxi episode that
earned him a Writers Guild Award. Ken became the showrunner (head writer-producer) of Taxi two years later and won his first Emmy when he was twenty-eight. After Taxi, Ken became the showrunner of Cheers, and ran the series until leaving to create and run The Tracey Ullman Show, which earned Ken two more Emmys. He developed short animation segments for the show with Matt Groening, whose vignettes evolved into a spinoff series, The Simpsons, which became television’s longest running, most profitable comedy. Ken took a brief hiatus from TV to transform a troubled Sylvester Stallone dramedy project into Eddie Murphy's comedy blockbuster, the first Beverly Hills Cop movie. Ken created seven network pilots, five of which became prime time series. He ran several award-winning series, earning him eleven Emmy nominations, three wins, and nine Writers Guild Award nominations, two wins. He created and taught television writing courses for over a decade at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco before irresistible ventures brought him back to LA. Ken appeared as a guest on several podcasts and co-hosted a couple. He also appeared in TV documentaries about sitcoms and The Simpsons. He is included in three books in print about Taxi, Cheers, and top ten all-time best comedy series. Ken sent his manuscript to two professors, one at UCLA and one at USC. Both decided to recommend the book for students in their writing programs.
