Robert Long is an American writer and television producer in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

. As a screenwriter and executive producer for the long-running television program ''

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 half-hour episodes across 11 seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association w ...

'', he received

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

and

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

nominations in 1992 and 1993. Long created the television show ''

George and Leo ''George and Leo'' is an American sitcom television series starring Bob Newhart and Judd Hirsch that aired on CBS from September 15, 1997 to March 16, 1998. Synopsis Newhart and Hirsch starred as the respective title characters, widely divergen ...

'', among others. In addition to his television work, Long is a

contributing editor A contributing editor is a newspaper, magazine or online job title that varies in its responsibilities. Often, but not always, a contributing editor is a "high-end" freelancer, consultant, or expert who has proven ability and has readership dr ...

for ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief ...

'', as well as a contributor to ''TIME'', ''

Newsweek International ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', and the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

''. He hosts the syndicated weekly radio commentary ''

Martini Shot In filmmaking and video production, a shot is a series of frames that runs for an uninterrupted period of time. Film shots are an essential aspect of a movie where angles, transitions and cuts are used to further express emotion, ideas and mo ...

'', and appears regularly on political commentary shows. In May 2010, he took part in launching a new center-right commentary site, Ricochet. Long received an award from the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Gu ...

, and is on the board of directors of ''The American Cinema Foundation'', a non-profit arts organization created to nurture and reward television and feature-film projects. His published works include ''Conversations with My Agent'' and ''Set Up, Joke, Set Up, Joke''.

Education

Long graduated from

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover, Massachusetts, Andover , stat ...

(1983) and

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

in 1987. After graduation, he studied for two years at the

UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (UCLA TFT), is one of the 12 schools within the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) located in Los Angeles, California. Its creation was groundbreaking in that it was the first time a leadi ...

, where he later served as an Adjunct Professor of screenwriting.

Television career

Long started his career as a screenwriter for the television show ''

'' in 1990, and became an executive producer for the show in 1992. During his tenure, the show won two

Emmys The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

and two

Golden Globes The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

. Long received

and

nominations in 1992 and 1993. After ''Cheers'' ended in 1993, Long formed a television production company with his ''Cheers'' collaborator and fellow Emmy nominee Dan Staley. Together, they created the television show ''

'', starring

Bob Newhart George Robert Newhart (born September 5, 1929) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery style. Newhart came to prominence in 1960 when his album of comedic monologues, ''The Button-Down Mi ...

and Judd Hirsch, for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. They also created '' Love & Money'' for CBS and '' Men, Women & Dogs'' for

The WB The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ...

. In addition to their show creation work, Long and his partner served as creative consultants on numerous shows. Long took over as show runner for

Kevin James Kevin George Knipfing (born April 26, 1965), better known by his stage name Kevin James, is an American comedian and actor. In television, James played Doug Heffernan on ''The King of Queens'' from 1998 to 2007, and receieved a Primetime Emmy ...

vehicle ''

Kevin Can Wait ''Kevin Can Wait'' is an American television sitcom starring Kevin James that aired on CBS from September 19, 2016, to May 7, 2018. The series was created by James, Rock Reuben, and Bruce Helford, and marked James' second starring role in a CBS ...

'' after Bruce Helford left the

show.

Political and social commentary

Beginning in 1993, Long wrote a fortnightly

political satire Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where s ...

column for ''

'' titled ''Letters from Al''. Written anonymously, the majority of these columns purported to be personal letters from Vice President

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic ...

to his friend "Rusty", an academic researcher living in a Brazilian

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

. The letters revealed insider information about government figures, as well as humorous speculation on their roles in public controversies. Occasionally the letters were from other political figures, such as George Bush and

Dick Morris Richard Samuel Morris (born November 28, 1948) is an American political author and commentator who previously worked as a pollster, political campaign consultant, and general political consultant. A friend and advisor to Bill Clinton during ...

, and on occasion the column purported to be the transcript of a police

wiretap Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...

. ''National Review'' maintained the author's anonymity throughout the

Clinton presidency Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over ...

, revealing Long's identity only after George Bush was inaugurated in 2001. Long is now a

for ''National Review'', where he writes the fortnightly column ''The Long View''. He comments on political and social topics, especially mass media and Hollywood politics. He is also a contributor to ''TIME'', ''

'', ''

'', and the ''

''. Long hosts the syndicated radio show ''

'', where he provides news and opinion on the

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, ...

, as well as interviews with notable subjects. Broadcast weekly, the show originates at Los Angeles

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

station

KCRW KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to program ...

. The show's title is a Hollywood term for the final scene of the day on a

film production Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, cast ...

set. In addition, Long regularly appears on political commentary shows.

Ricochet

In 2008, Long started a political news and commentary website, RobinsonandLong.com, in collaboration with Peter Robinson, author and former speechwriter for

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

. In 2010, Robinson and Long launched a new, more interactive website, Ricochet, featuring a news feed in the model of Facebook, Twitter, or

Tumblr Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to ...

. The site features approximately 40 contributors from conservative publications, such as ''National Review'' and ''The Weekly Standard'', who start conversation threads open to commentary and discussion. In order to encourage earnest and respectful discussion, only paying members of the site are allowed to comment, and a code of conduct is enforced.

Other work

Long is the author of two books. His first, ''Conversations with My Agent'', is a memoir of his early career. Published in 1998, it provides extensive advice for aspiring scriptwriters, and has become a "cult classic". His second book, ''Set Up, Joke, Set Up, Joke'', is a further memoir of his entertainment industry experiences, and was published in 2005. Long is mentioned and quoted extensively in the book ''The Sound of No Hands Clapping'' by Toby Young. Long serves on the board of directors of ''The American Cinema Foundation'', a "Los Angeles-based non-profit arts organization created to nurture and reward television and feature-film projects that promote democratic pluralism and inclusion." He is also president of the Board of Directors of the

Southern Foodways Alliance Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA) is an institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, dedicated to the documentation, study and exploration of the foodways of the American South. Member-funded, it stage ...

Associated television shows

* ''

'' (1990–1993) * ''

Pig Sty A sty or pigsty is a small-scale outdoor enclosure for raising domestic pigs as livestock. It is sometimes referred to as a hog pen, hog parlor, pigpen, pig parlor, or pig-cote, although pig pen may refer to pens confining pigs that are kep ...

'' (1995) * '' Good Company'' (1996) * ''

'' (1997–1998) * ''Love & Money'' (1999) * ''Men, Women & Dogs'' (2001–2002) * '' Sullivan & Son'' (2012–2014) * ''

'' (2016–2018)

Published works

* ''Conversations with My Agent'' (1998) * ''Set Up, Joke, Set Up, Joke'' (2005) *''Bigly: Donald Trump in Verse'' (2017)

Awards and nominations

* Nomination,

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

(1992) * Nomination,

(1993) * Nomination,

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

(1992) * Nomination,

(1993) *

Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility ...