Rob Long: Welcome to the Age of Blunder in Public Health, Foreign Policy, and…Hollywood

The former Cheers producer explains why the studios are failing, the writers and actors are missing the big picture, and creators fear their audience.

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Rob Long: Welcome to the Age of Blunder in Public Health, Foreign Policy, and…Hollywood

Today's episode is an audio version of The Reason Livestream, which takes place every Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern on Reason's YouTube channel.

The topic this week was the strikes by Hollywood writers and actors and the guest was Rob Long, whose long and storied career in the entertainment industry includes stints writing and show running for the classic sitcom Cheers, among many other things. He's also a longtime contributor to National Review, a columnist for Commentary, a co-creator of the online community and podcast platform Ricochet, and the host of the weekly radio commentary Martini Shot.

Zach Weissmueller and I talked with Long about how the studios and streaming platforms like Netflix brought most of their problems on themselves; whether fears of artificial intelligence taking over Hollywood are overblown (spoiler alert: they are); why studios and production companies refuse to create more mass-audience content like the Roseanne reboot and Top Gun: Maverick; and why Rob believes we are in what he calls an "age of blunder," where really smart people in charge make really terrible decisions on everything from COVID-19 to foreign policy to the creation and distribution of TV shows and movies.

Previous appearance:

• How Rob Long Went From Cheers to National Review to LSD

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Comments

[Vernon Depner]

really smart people in charge

Assumes facts not in evidence.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

I doubt the people responsible for creating and distributing modern, successful, mainstream American entertainments are much in the market for pointers from Rob Long, a disaffected clinger from the group that brings us and consumes the Left Behind series, Blue Bloods, Gutfeld!, drawling-twanging musicians, and televangelism.

[Vernon Depner]

The Left Behind series, Blue Bloods, Gutfeld!, drawling-twanging musicians, and televangelism ARE successful mainstream American entertainment, moron.

[But SkyNet is a Private Company]

Gutfeld! Is so much funnier than the late night counterparts it is sad

[creech]

Funnier, yes. Still not very funny.

[VULGAR MADMAN]

The world’s tallest midget is still the tallest midget.

[Kungpowderfinger]

The world’s tallest midget…

“Hey, I’m right here” - Gutfeld

[Charles Cauldron]

Rob Long is a centrist Hollywood producer and writer who’s worked in the industry for decades. Most conservatives think he’s a Bulwark RINO, and most progressives think he’s a MAGA alt-right Nazi because he’s been on Gutfeld. He’s always struck me as an incredibly honest and self-effacing person willing to show people the behind-the-scenes dealings in Hollywood in a way that many people don’t.

The fact that you’re accusing him of producing Left Behind and televangelism tells me that you might not be fully aware of the man’s portfolio. It tells me further you might not have listened to the entirety of the 90 minute interview Nick conducted. You might, in fact, have missed the entire substance of the conversation being had, and skipped right to the comments section to make a bunch of base-level, frankly moronic allegations based on your understanding that Rob Long = conservative and, therefore conservative = bad, so he’s probably a… televangelist, I guess? Or a country singer?

I don’t need to accuse you of being a moron or a troll, because you probably hear accusations like that so often it’s like the background thrum of city noise in the background. So I’ll just say you’re wasting literally everyone’s time and your life. It’s a fine interview conducted in good faith with an industry insider explaining a complicated issue, and the best you can do is not listen to it and accuse someone of being a country western star. You are a karmic pantload weighing down the ass of the internet.

[TheReEncogitationer]

Greetings, Charles! I see you too have been graced with Rev. Artie’s snooty, snotty, snarky, smarmy, nose-in-the-air, stick-up-the-ass, cape-flourishing disposition.

Pay him no heed except to point and laugh.
🙂
😉

[A Cynical Asshole]

…and why Rob believes we are in what he calls an “age of blunder,” where really smart people in charge make really terrible decisions on everything from COVID-19 to foreign policy to the creation and distribution of TV shows and movies.

Perhaps part of the problem is those “really smart people” aren’t actually all that smart? Highly educated, sure. Really smart? Not so much.

[Longtobefree]

I would hardly call taking over a national government in plain sight a blunder.
The more I learn about the elections and their follow up, the more I understand Italy in the 1930's.

[Bill Falcon]

Liberal art majors from Ivy League schools should not be allowed in hollywood or running US foreign policy

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

What's left? Coffee shop counter work and online influencer?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Huh, I guess SBF is going to jail after all.

[Bill Falcon]

His wealthy family/benefactors will find a judge to let him go. And Biden will pardon him before this is over...as Charles Barkley would say.."I guarrrrrrentee it"

[TheReEncogitationer]

I thought that was George Zimmer of Men's Warehouse who said that.

Then again, you wouldn't be favorably quoting one of (((Them))), would you?

[Bill Falcon]

A big problem in hollywood is the lack of diversity in new hires (and hence the future execs). Lots of kids graduate from film school from Ohio, Texas, Kentucky and so on who can't break into the industry. These are "fly over" America and would bring a needed diversity of thought which is much needed instead of the insufferable, virtue signaling, wokish hive mind of current Hollywood. The pipeline from NYC wealthy left-wing kids from Ivy League schools and family connections getting into the Studios is a major problem. Maybe the studios should walk the walk.

[Eeyore]

Public health is inherently centralized and will always fail for the same reason that socialism and communism will always fail. It assumes a top man is better at making decisions for everyone than letting everyone make their own decisions in a distributed manner. It can't succeed. It will always worsen our health. It will always cause the death of innocents.

[LaylaAustral]

S­t­a­r­t n­o­w e­a­r­n­i­n­g c­a­s­h e­v­e­r­y m­o­n­t­h o­n­l­i­n­e f­r­o­m h­o­m­e­. G­e­t­t­i­n­g p­a­i­d m­o­r­e t­h­a­n $­1­5­k b­y d­o­i­n­g a­n e­a­s­y j­o­b o­n­l­i­n­e­. ­I h­a­v­e m­a­d­e $­1­9­7­1­5 i­n l­a­s­t ­4 w­e­e­k­s f­r­o­m t­h­i­s j­o­b­. E­a­s­y t­o j­o­i­n a­n­d e­a­r­n­i­n­g f­r­o­m t­h­i­s a­r­e j­u­s­t a­w­e­s­o­m­e­. J­o­i­n t­h­i­s r­i­g­h­t n­o­w b­y f­o­l­l­o­w i­n­s­t­r­u­c­t­i­o­n­s h­e­r­e­.­.­.­.

Open This Website............>> https://www.dailypay7.com/

[Charles Cauldron]

I’m a working comedy writer of about 15 years. I’ve been following Rob’s thoughts on AI’s takeover of comedy writing for a few months now, on his Martini Shot podcast and elsewhere. He reiterates his stance here for Nick, and it’s essentially:

* The only people worried about AI taking over their writing jobs aren’t very good writers
* AI will most likely be used as a supplemental asset by “high-value writers” to help them write
* AI can’t write comedy
* Everybody needs to calm down

He even doubles down in this interview, saying “If AI had ever ONCE said a funny joke, THEN I’d be worried!”

The problem with Rob’s calm and reassuring stance is, as of August 4th, it’s been overtaken by events. I would have REALLY appreciated it if Nick had bothered to do a few Google searches before conducting this interview, because it reads like a time capsule from January.

The problem is Simon Rich’s August 4th TIME Magazine op-ed (https://time.com/6301288/the-ai-jokes-that-give-me-nightmares/). Rich is a former SNL head writer, a working screenwriter, and arguably one of the funniest working writers alive today. He IS one of Rob’s “high value writers,” and he refutes EVERY ONE of Rob’s points. Rich’s contentions:

* ChatGPT was PROGRAMMED to acquaint people with an unintimidating non-scary AI that wrote clumsily by design
* Rich has personally interacted with more advanced AI, and its joke-telling ability is eerily good
* Rich provides 20 great punchlines, all AI-generated
* Rich estimates a total redundancy of comedy writers in about five years
* Everybody should be terrified

This is not a tinfoil-hat Reddit troll. This is an industry peer of Rob’s, a highly-paid working industry veteran, stating in print that basically every argument Rob Long has made for six months is incorrect and ill-informed, and in fact we all need to be very afraid.

This article is all ANYONE IN COMEDY WRITING HAS TALKED ABOUT FOR A WEEK. So Nick gets comedy writer Rob Long on to talk about AI and comedy writing, and… it’s Rob’s canned talk points again.

I would have loved to have Rob read Rich’s op/ed and respond to it. They are poles apart in their dissection of the dangers of AI; is Rich overreacting? Or is Rob not possessed of all the facts? A great interview here, but what a missed opportunity in light of where the conversation’s moved onto.

[TheReEncogitationer]

Speaking of Cheers, here’s that one song that would nowadays definitely get that show either canceled or completely left on the cutting room floor, even though the full song never played on the show:

Cheers theme song – Where everybody knows your name – With lyrics--
David Portnoy
https://youtu.be/xTdIuMieTRU