Merrill Markoe (born August 13, 1948) is an American author, television writer, and occasional standup comedian.

Early life

Markoe was born in New York City. Her family moved several times including stays in Miami and San Francisco. She attended

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

, receiving a B.A. in art in 1970 and an M.A. in 1972. Her first job after leaving the university was teaching art at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

Career

After auditing scriptwriting classes and doing research for the head writer of '' Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'', Markoe was hired as writer for the 1977 revival of ''

Laugh-In ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for six seasons from January 22, 1968, to July 23, 1973, on the NBC television network. The show, hosted by come ...

'', joining a team that included

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedie ...

. In 1978, she was part of the cast of Mary Tyler Moore's first attempt at a variety show, the eponymous '' Mary'', along with future boyfriend

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer, and auto racing team owner. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of ''Late N ...

. In 1980, Markoe was the head writer for '' The David Letterman Show'', a short-lived live NBC morning show whose writing team was recognized with a

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...

. Markoe shared in three

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. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

s for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series for her work on ''

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the first installment of the '' Late Night''. Hosted by David Letterman, it aired from February1, 1982 to June 25, 1993, and was replaced by ...

'', for which she was the original head writer. She engineered most of the original concepts and architecture for the ground-breaking late-night talk show and created the segment "Stupid Pet Tricks", A review of ''What the Dogs Have Taught Me'' as well as "Stupid Human Tricks" and "Viewer Mail". Many of the ideas behind the remote segments outside the studio came from Markoe, who also won a Writers Guild award for her writing/performing work on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

's '' Not Necessarily the News''. She has also written for television shows such as ''

Newhart ''Newhart'' is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from October 25, 1982, to May 21, 1990, with a total of 184 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons. The series stars Bob Newhart and Mary Frann as an author and his wife, respe ...

'', ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...

'', and '' Moonlighting''. She appeared on-camera as a lifestyle reporter at KCOP-TV in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, then for

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut ...

's NBC show '' TV Nation'', and worked on other magazine shows such as '' Lifetime Magazine''. In the early 1990s she wrote and directed a number of HBO and

Cinemax Cinemax is an American pay television network owned by Home Box Office, Inc., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched on August 1, 1980, as a "maxi-pay" service to complement the offerings of its sister premium network, HBO (Home Box ...

comedy specials. She appeared in two episodes of ''

Space Ghost Coast to Coast ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' is an American live-action/ adult animated hybrid television series created by Mike Lazzo for Cartoon Network and first broadcast in 1994. It takes the form of a surreal parody of talk shows, hosted by a reimagi ...

'' from 1997 to 1998 as the unwilling subject of the eponymous late night talk show host's affections. In 2005, Markoe was a regular panelist on

Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel focusing on the animal kingdom owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1 ...

's ''Who Gets the Dog?'' She has had a number of columns and written for many periodicals, including ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', '' New York Woman'', ''

New Woman The New Woman was a feminist ideal that emerged in the late 19th century and had a profound influence well into the 20th century. In 1894, writer Sarah Grand (1854–1943) used the term "new woman" in an influential article to refer to indepe ...

'', '' U.S. News & World Report'', '' Us'', ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'', ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'', '' Glamour'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

The Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper in the U.S. and the larges ...

'', ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...

'', '' Real Simple'', etc. She appears in episode 2 of ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

'' as irritable museum curator Marsha and can be seen in the movie ''

EDtv ''EDtv'' is a 1999 American satirical comedy film directed by Ron Howard. An adaptation of the Quebecois film '' Louis 19, King of the Airwaves (Louis 19, le roi des ondes)'' (1994), it stars Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman, Woody Harrels ...

'' as a panelist, as well as in the cast of '' The Aristocrats''. In 2020, she was awarded the Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement by the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is the name of two American labor unions representing writers in film, television, radio, and online media: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is headquartered in New York City and is affiliated wit ...

Filmography

As an actress

As a Writer

Personal life

She and David Letterman were involved romantically from 1978 to 1988, after which Markoe moved to California to continue her writing career. She wrote about the relationship several years later in essays in the book ''Cool, Calm, and Contentious'', giving him the pseudonym "Bobby". Markoe lives in Malibu with musician

Andy Prieboy Andy Prieboy (born April 17, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, and author. He was lead singer of the band Wall of Voodoo from 1983 to 1988. Later, he produced solo albums, musicals, and a novel. Life and career Prieboy was born in Los ...

and four dogs.

Awards and nominations

Bibliography

Novels

* ''It's My F---ing Birthday'' (2002) * ''The Psycho Ex Game: A Novel'' (with

) (2004) * ''Walking in Circles Before Lying Down: A Novel'' (2006) * ''Nose Down, Eyes Up: A Novel'' (2008)

Nonfiction

* ''Late Night with David Letterman: The Book'' (with

) (1985) * ''Merrill Markoe's Guide to Love'' (1997) * ''We Saw Scenery: The Early Diaries of Merrill Markoe (2020)''

Essay collections

* ''What the Dogs Have Taught Me: And Other Amazing Things I've Learned'' (1992) * ''How to Be Hap-Hap-Happy Like Me!'' (1994) * ''Cool, Calm & Contentious'' (2011)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Markoe, Merrill 1948 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American columnists American humorists Screenwriters from California American women novelists Primetime Emmy Award winners University of California, Berkeley alumni Writers Guild of America Award winners American women screenwriters University of Southern California faculty American women columnists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers American women humorists American women non-fiction writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American women academics 20th-century American screenwriters 21st-century American screenwriters American women comedians American stand-up comedians Comedians from New York City