Tuccillo, Liz

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Tuccillo, Liz

PERSONAL: Female.

ADDRESSES: Home—New York, NY. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Simon Spotlight Publicity Department, Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

CAREER: Sex and the City, Home Box Office (HBO), executive story editor; actress in films, including Ed's Next Move, 1996.

WRITINGS:

Fair Fight (play), produced in New York, NY, 1996.

Joe Fearless: A Fan Dance (play), produced in New York, NY, 2000.

Cheyenne: A Transwestern (one-act play), produced in New York NY, 2002.

Sex and the City (television series), HBO, 2002–2004. (With Greg Behrendt) He's Just Not That into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys (self-help book), Simon Spotlight Entertainment (New York, NY), 2004.

(And producer) Related (television series), Warner Bros., 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Liz Tuccillo contributed to every episode in the final two years of the popular television series Sex and the City. As a playwright, she counts among her productions Joe Fearless: A Fan Dance, a play about the world of basketball and the fans who love the sport. Watching the game between the K9s and the Breakers is Jo Donnelly, who is so obsessed with his team's performance that he alienates his wife, Linda, as well as other family members and friends. Elias Stimac reviewed the play in Back Stage, commenting that it "features plenty of courtside action, along with many moments of hilarity and humanity."

In the play Cheyenne: A Transwestern, Tuccillo defies stereotypes. The parts of the outlaws, the sheriff, and a mysterious stranger patterned after a Clint Eastwood character are played by women, while men wearing cutoff shorts and boots play the objects of their affection and lust. Daily Variety critic Joel Hirschhorn commented that "when Tuccillo's lines have bite," the play "succeeds in making a broader comment about modern role reversal."

Tuccillo and Greg Behrendt, a comedian who serves as a consultant for Sex and the City, collaborated in writing He's Just Not That into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys, a book intended to help women recognize when a man is not really interested and when it is time to get out of a relationship. According to the authors, among the signs to look for are the man not treating you well, not wanting to marry or being married already, not wanting a physical relationship, not calling or returning calls, and not making dates in advance. In addition to noting that women often rationalize poor behavior or think they are expecting too much, the authors emphasize that every woman deserves a man who loves her and treats her lovingly.

The book includes workbook assignments and "Dear Greg" letters and replies that make the authors' points. Entertainment Weekly reviewer Clarissa Cruz wrote that the success of the book "lies in the snappy back-and-forth between its authors." Behrendt is married and the father of two daughters. Jane S. Drabkin commented in School Library Journal that the messages contained in the book "can't be learned too early." New Line Cinema plans to produce a film based on the book, with Tuccillo and Behrendt writing the adaptation.

Tuccillo is also a writer for the television series Related. The story focuses on the four Sorelli sisters, who live in New York, and their widowed father, who has found a new love. Variety critic Laura Fries described the show as "the love child of Friends and Sex and the City.