Goldberg, Lee 1962- (Ian Ludlow)

PERSONAL:

Born 1962; married; children: one daughter.

CAREER:

Writer. Television scriptwriter and producer.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Edgar Award nominations for Best TV Episode, Mystery Writers of America, for Nero Wolfe and Likely Suspects.

WRITINGS:

(As Ian Ludlow) .357 Vigilante, Pinnacle Book (New York, NY), 1985.

(As Ian Ludlow) .357 Vigilante: Make Them Pay, Pinnacle Book (New York, NY), 1985.

(As Ian Ludlow) .357 Vigilante: White Wash, Pinnacle Book (New York, NY), 1986.

(As Ian Ludlow) .357 Vigilante: Killstorm, Pinnacle Book (New York, NY), 1986.

Unsold Television Pilots: 1955 through 1988 (nonfiction), McFarland & Company (Jefferson, NC), 1990.

Unsold TV Pilots: The Almost Complete Guide to Everything You Never Saw on TV, 1955-1990 (nonfiction), Carol Publications Group (Secaucus, NJ), 1991.

Television Series Revivals: Sequels or Remakes of Cancelled Shows (nonfiction), McFarland & Company (Jefferson, NC), 1993.

(With others) Science Fiction Filmmaking in the 1980s: Interviews with Actors, Directors, Producers, and Writers, McFarland & Company (Jefferson, NC), 1995.

The Dreamweavers: Interviews with Fantasy Filmmakers of the 1980s, McFarland & Company (Jefferson, NC), 1995.

My Gun Has Bullets (fiction), St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1995.

Beyond the Beyond (fiction), St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1997.

Successful Television Writing, John Wiley (Hoboken, NJ), 2003.

The Silent Partner, New American Library (New York, NY), 2003.

Walk (novel), Five Star (Waterville, ME), 2004.

Death Merchant (novel), Signet (New York, NY), 2004.

Shooting Script (novel), Signet (New York, NY), 2004.

Waking Nightmare (novel), Signet (New York, NY), 2005.

The Man with the Iron-on Badge (novel), Five Star (Waterville, ME), 2005.

The Past Tense, Signet (New York, NY), 2005.

The Double Life, New American Library (New York, NY), 2006.

The Dead Letter, Signet (New York, NY), 2006.

Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse, Signet (New York, NY), 2006.

Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii, Signet (New York, NY), 2006.

The Last Word, Signet (New York, NY), 2006.

Mr. Monk in Outer Space: A Novel, Obsidian (New York, NY), 2007.

Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants: A Novel, New American Library (New York, NY), 2007.

Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu, New American Library (New York, NY), 2007.

Diagnosis Murder: The Double Life, Thorndike Press (Waterville, ME), 2007.

Mr. Monk Goes to Germany, Obsidian (New York, NY), 2008.

TELEVISION

"Play It Again, Sammy," "Sleepless Dream," "If You Knew Sammy," Spenser: For Hire, American Broadcasting Co. (ABC), 1987-88.

"The Haunted Highway," The Highwayman, National Broadcasting Co. (NBC), 1988.

Murphy's Law, ABC, 1988.

(And executive story editor) "The Sky Is Falling," "Rookie School," "Armored Car," "We Need a Vacation," "The End," Baywatch, 1989-90.

(And story editor) "On Air," Hunter, NBC, 1989.

(And supervising producer) "Mystical Pizza," "Heart Attack," "Habeas Corpses," "Curiosity Killed the Kravitz," "Beyond the Beyond," She-Wolf of London, syndicated, 1990-91.

(And producer) "The Royal Flush," "Murder among Friends," Likely Suspects, Fox Broadcasting Co. (Fox), 1992-93.

(And supervising producer) "Death on the Line," "Diamond in the Rough," "Death Dive," "Caged Fury," "Haunted Lives," Cobra, syndicated, 1993-94.

(And supervising producer and executive producer) "Resurrection: Part 1," "Voices Carry," "Murder, My Suite," "Trash TV: Part 1," "Blood Ties," Diagnosis Murder, Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. (CBS), 1994-1999.

Little Shop of Horrors (pilot), USA Network, 1994.

(And supervising producer) Stick with Me, Kid, syndicated, 1995.

Flipper, PAX, 1995.

"The Hit Parade," "Goldilocks," The Cosby Mysteries, NBC, 1995.

"Prince of Wails," Sliders, Fox Broadcasting Co. (Fox), 1995.

"Boss," "Car Mechanic," Deadly Games, UPN, 1995.

"Smoke on the Water," "Chains of Command," "Resurrection," SeaQuest DSV, NBC, 1995.

Real Ghosts III, UPN, 1996.

Clueless in Seattle, USA Network, 1996.

Silhouette (pilot), CBS, 1996.

(And executive producer) The Chief (pilot), CBS, 1998.

(And executive producer) The Lottery Winners (based on the novel by Mary Higgins Clark), Lifetime, 1999.

(And executive producer) Whistlers, CBS, 1999.

(And executive producer) Hong Kong, CBS, 1999.

(And executive producer) "Sammo Blammo," "Freefall," "Final Conflict: Part 2," Martial Law, CBS, 1999-2000.

"Champagne for One: Part 1," "Prisoner's Base: Part 1," "Prisoner's Base: Part 2," "Murder Is Corny," "Poison a la Carte," Nero Wolfe, 2001-02.

"My Name Is Evil," The Nightmare Room, Kids' WB, 2002.

Ezekiel Flood (pilot), PAX, 2002.

Ella Clah (pilot), CBS, 2002.

Proof (pilot), Lifetime Network, 2003.

"Delusional," "Last Stop," "Domestic Bliss," "Puzzle Box," "John Doe," 1-800-Missing, 2003-05.

"Mr. Monk Goes to Mexico," "Mr. Monk Meets the Godfather," "Mr. Monk Can't See a Thing," Monk, USA Network, 2003-06.

(With Craig Cegielski; and executive producer) The Cleaner (pilot), NBC, 2004.

(And executive producer) The Best TV Shows That Never Were, ABC, 2004.

"Forget Me Not," Psych, USA Network, 2007.

OTHER

Fast Track: No Limits (movie), ProSieben Media AG, 2008.

Contributor of novels, under pseudonym Ian Ludlow, to men's adventure series ".357 Vigilante," published by Pinnacle. Author of scripts for Baywatch, SeaQuest, Spenser: For Hire, Cosby Mysteries, and other television series.

SIDELIGHTS:

Television scriptwriter and producer Lee Goldberg's novel My Gun Has Bullets relies on the author's intimate knowledge of behind-the-scenes Hollywood garnered from his years writing scripts for Baywatch and other popular television series. When Los Angeles police officer Charlie Willis pulls over the aging star of a beloved, long-running television series about a grandmotherly type who solves mysteries, accusing her of speeding, the actress shoots him in a blind rage. The network bribes Charlie with the starring role in a series of his own in exchange for his silence, but soon the dead bodies begin to mount as someone plants real bullets in Charlie's prop gun and he accidentally kills a fellow cast member. In the meantime, the production company that owns his show is taken over by the mob, which decides that one way to ensure good ratings is to kill off the competition. Charlie must perform some real detective work in order to keep his newfound career as a TV star alive.

Reviews of My Gun Has Bullets were mixed, with critics noting that Goldberg populates the story with broadly-drawn caricatures of such Hollywood stars as Angela Lansbury, whose mystery series garnered the highest ratings for its Sunday-night time slot for nearly a decade, and Bruce Willis, whose heroes have brought in hundreds of millions of dollars for the studios that hire him. However, the effectiveness of the resulting satire was questioned by some as too broadly drawn. "This brash satire of television fare is as empty as the idiocy it aims to prick," complained a reviewer for Publishers Weekly. Others were less difficult to please on this score. While Entertainment Weekly reviewer Gene Lyons admitted that it may be impossible to lampoon the world of television without "sinking to an unbelievable level of crassness," he also observed that "My Gun Has Bullets is apt to make you cackle like a sitcom laugh track." Booklist contributor Thomas Gaughan was also enthusiastic, calling My Gun Has Bullets "a very funny novel" that is "a pinch of Carl Hiaasen, a dash of Donald Westlake, and a heaping portion of avarice and inanity Hollywood style. It's boffo!"

Goldberg's next novel, Beyond the Beyond, drew rave reviews from another Publishers Weekly critic, who also expressed appreciation for the author's earlier novel: "As in his riotous … My Gun Has Bullets, TV writer/producer Goldberg … once again bites the hand that feeds him, laughing all the while." The title refers to a space adventure show that, much like the real-life television program Star Trek, failed during its network run only to become a huge success in syndication. When a British billionaire who runs a pornography empire launches a new television network, he decides to revive the Beyond the Beyond with a new cast. But those involved with the new series are soon targeted for a series of murders. Charlie Willis is again called in to work on the case, and his suspects include rabid fans, a flesh-eating Hollywood agent, and the actor who portrayed the starship captain in the original series. "Everyone betrays everyone, and most are mowed down like crabgrass in this lunatic send-up," stated the Publishers Weekly reviewer. "Goldberg knows the biz and has slapped his large, exotic cast of characters into scenes that read like transcripts of network development meetings." The reviewer further praised Goldberg's "spunk and inspired silliness." Benjamin Svetkey commented in Entertainment Weekly: "This sharp roman a clef goes where no Hollywood satire has gone before … smacking of a certain je ne sais Trek…. It's a stingingly funny novel."

Goldberg expanded his involvement in the hit cable series Monk into a series of novels (based on episodes he wrote himself) featuring the neurotic detective and his inimitable sidekicks. Beginning with Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse and continuing with Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii, Mr. Monk in Outer Space: A Novel, Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants: A Novel, Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu, and Mr. Monk Goes to Germany, Goldberg explores aspects of the characters and situations that do not necessarily feature in the television series. For instance, Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants deals with a situation established in the series when the actress playing the role of Sharona Fleming, Monk's former nurse who had become his assistant, left the role. Sharona was written out of the television series and replaced by a different actress, playing the role of Natalie Teeger, Monk's new assistant. The novel examines a clash between the two characters, who both serve the detective in different ways. In the book, stated a Kirkus Reviews contributor, Goldberg "enlightens viewers about the shift from sassy brunette assistant to perky blonde, but leaves plenty of other loose ends."

Accolades continued as the series progressed. "The Monk books just keep getting better," exclaimed another reviewer for the same Web page. "Better than the TV series? I won't fully commit to that, but the novels have what the show sometimes isn't even aiming for: well executed fair play whodunit mystery plots. The complex story, abundance of colorful characters and high body count in [Mr. Monk and the] Blue Flu may demand a little more concentration than the show or even the previous two books. It's too delightfully long and complex for an episode, but trimmed down it would make a great entry in the series, just as the first novel … did when it was adapted for the fifth season." "These characters," declared a writer for the Web site Reviewed by Liz, "bring their own baggage and add a tremendous amount of humor to this book—sometimes the laugh-out-loud variety." "Lee Goldberg once said, ‘I want to capture the feel of the series, but also I want these books to stand on their own. They're original novels. They're not based on episodes. So I want them to almost read as if they're the books the TV series is based on,’" explained a writer for the Monk Fun Page Web site. This reviewer also wrote: "I think that's what he's achieved with Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii." "The plotting is well done, intricate and exciting, but the novel also has the one element that defines the series, heart," opined a Monk Fun Page writer, speaking of Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse. "It's what makes the character of Adrian Monk admirable instead of laughable and what makes all the relationships ring true."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 1, 1995, Thomas Gaughan, review of My Gun Has Bullets, p. 1178.

Entertainment Weekly, March 31, 1995, Gene Lyons, review of My Gun Has Bullets, p. 57; April 25, 1997, Benjamin Svetkey, review of Beyond the Beyond, p. 65.

Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2007, review of Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants: A Novel.

Publishers Weekly, February 6, 1995, review of My Gun Has Bullets, p. 78; February 24, 1997, review of Beyond the Beyond, p. 65.

ONLINE

AllReaders.com,http://www.allreaders.com/ (March 18, 2008), Harriet Klausner, review of Diagnosis Murder.

Book Reviews from Bill Peschel,http://www.planetpeschel.com/ (March 18, 2008), Bill Peschel, review of The Double Life.

Lee Goldberg Home Page,http://www.leegoldberg.com (March 18, 2008).

Monk Fun Page,http://www.eviltwinltd.com/monk/ (March 18, 2008), reviews of Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants, Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu, Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii, and Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse.

Reviewed by Liz,http://reviewedbyliz.com/ (March 18, 2008), review of Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu.