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I Like It Better When You're Funny: Working in Television and Other Precarious Adventures
Bestselling author, 60 Minutes II commentator, and world-champion raconteur Charles Grodin is back and better than ever in this revealing, opinionated, and delightful memoir about life, America, and cable TV.
In a thirty-five-year acting career that ranged from studying at the Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg to appearing in a box-office smash with a dog named Beethoven, Charles Grodin achieved the American dream. But at the peak of his career in the early 1990s, with a son entering first grade, he decided to give it all up so he could stay close to home. Years earlier, Johnny Carson had put him under exclusive contract as a guest on The Tonight Show. Now, he began a career in television with his own daily talk show on the cable channel CNBC. In I Like It Better When You’re Funny, we join him on a behind-the-scenes journey through the television industry. What he discovers there is more challenging, more startling, and funnier than he ever could have imagined.
In this wide-ranging memoir, Charles Grodin describes the life of a talk show host; his favorite and least favorite guests; the unspoken rules of working in television; and how this wild experience affected his views on America’s culture, government, and media. Along the way, he shares memorable stories and unfettered opinions about some of the industry’s renowned figures—Johnny Carson, Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh, Carol Burnett, Bill O’Reilly, and Don Imus, to name a few.
With candor and liberating humor, Charles Grodin proves once again that he is one of America’s most entertaining and insightful storytellers.
In a thirty-five-year acting career that ranged from studying at the Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg to appearing in a box-office smash with a dog named Beethoven, Charles Grodin achieved the American dream. But at the peak of his career in the early 1990s, with a son entering first grade, he decided to give it all up so he could stay close to home. Years earlier, Johnny Carson had put him under exclusive contract as a guest on The Tonight Show. Now, he began a career in television with his own daily talk show on the cable channel CNBC. In I Like It Better When You’re Funny, we join him on a behind-the-scenes journey through the television industry. What he discovers there is more challenging, more startling, and funnier than he ever could have imagined.
In this wide-ranging memoir, Charles Grodin describes the life of a talk show host; his favorite and least favorite guests; the unspoken rules of working in television; and how this wild experience affected his views on America’s culture, government, and media. Along the way, he shares memorable stories and unfettered opinions about some of the industry’s renowned figures—Johnny Carson, Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh, Carol Burnett, Bill O’Reilly, and Don Imus, to name a few.
With candor and liberating humor, Charles Grodin proves once again that he is one of America’s most entertaining and insightful storytellers.
- GenresHumorNonfiction
256 pages, Hardcover
Published May 21, 2002
39 people want to read
About the author
Charles Grodin
16 books15 followersCharles Grodin is an Emmy Award-winning American actor, comedian, author and former cable talk show host.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 14, 2007
I don't know what I was thinking.
August 2, 2022
Sometimes books just sit on your shelf for years--waiting for you to remember them. While watching the 2022 Oscars, what shocked me most was not Will Smith's slap-heard-'round-the-world...but seeing Charles Grodin's face and name on the "In Memoriam" tribute.
I bought this book when it came out (2002) while working at...of all places...Borders. Twenty years later and I'm now in a world long-missing Borders and one only recently missing Grodin.
I decided to pick it up.
It's a boon that his publisher allowed (helped?) him to write the thing in a way that clearly evoked his unique voice. It was nice to have him "talking in my ear." He writes extremely conversant. And I'm glad--in many ways--that I saved the book until now. It is *for sure* a Current-Events book mired in an early-Aughts mediascape. And, to be clear, those events have [mostly] gone the way of Borders. (One notable exception comes in the Epilogue--about 9/11. It's surprisingly prescient. And remains poignant. But I CRINGED whenever he talked glowingly about Roger Ailes.)
But it's an enjoyable book. This is about as close to a "beach read" that I get. And it was perfect for a couple chapters at a time by the pool. There's little heft; little to reflect upon. It's simply a nice and occasionally funny voice to have had in my ear this summer.
Grodin was both a wonderful actor and advocate for many causes--including the reformation of drug laws (ahead of his time). A great and varied career here explored in short vignettes.
I bought this book when it came out (2002) while working at...of all places...Borders. Twenty years later and I'm now in a world long-missing Borders and one only recently missing Grodin.
I decided to pick it up.
It's a boon that his publisher allowed (helped?) him to write the thing in a way that clearly evoked his unique voice. It was nice to have him "talking in my ear." He writes extremely conversant. And I'm glad--in many ways--that I saved the book until now. It is *for sure* a Current-Events book mired in an early-Aughts mediascape. And, to be clear, those events have [mostly] gone the way of Borders. (One notable exception comes in the Epilogue--about 9/11. It's surprisingly prescient. And remains poignant. But I CRINGED whenever he talked glowingly about Roger Ailes.)
But it's an enjoyable book. This is about as close to a "beach read" that I get. And it was perfect for a couple chapters at a time by the pool. There's little heft; little to reflect upon. It's simply a nice and occasionally funny voice to have had in my ear this summer.
Grodin was both a wonderful actor and advocate for many causes--including the reformation of drug laws (ahead of his time). A great and varied career here explored in short vignettes.
September 3, 2017
Will grant 2.5 stars. One in a series of memoirs by Grodin -- writing memoirs seems to be his new career. This one covers his post-movie years. Interesting but not incisive. I gave my copy away.
May 30, 2021
The exact same stories from another one of his books. I like him as an actor, not an author.
August 13, 2021
Charles Grodin is funny and likeable. I enjoyed his telling of some of the behind-the-scenes interchanges with celebrities.
March 1, 2017
Extremely easy read, occasionally interesting and entertaining. He speaks so highly of Jeff Zucker though it's ridiculous. I read this entirely on the bus to and from class and that was just fine.
March 25, 2008
It was an enjoyable book but I don't agree with some of his opinions. This book is special to me because Charles Grodin was speaking at a local library tp promote the book and I bought a copy from him at the book table and had him sign it. First time I ever did that.
November 29, 2008
If I could just write about my life and tell stories that I remembered, it would probably sound something like this. People just wouldn't know everyone who the stories were about. An interesting read, and a good insight into his opinions, but not much more.
September 10, 2007
Made me wish I'd watched his show on CNBC/MSNBC and on 60 minutes II
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews