Steven Peterman (actor, Square Pegs / writer Murphy Brown, Suddenly Susan)

Steven Peterman joined me to discuss a picture taken of him watching TV at 4; going to see Peter Pan in the theater; Milwaukee Braves; growing up and guesting on Happy Days; getting his first onstage laugh in 1966; English teacher him to try Ivy League colleges; getting into Harvard; Hasty Pudding, playing female ingenue and meeting Dustin Hoffman; being on Broadway shortly after graduation in The American Millionaire with Paul Sorvino; being to embarrassed to audition for The Lampoon; wife tells him to audition for The Magic Show; going to LA and guest starring on pilots for 240-Robert and Skag; Peter Gallagher; Ethel is an Elephant pilot in 1980 with Todd Susman and Liberty Godshall; John Astin; Ed Zwick; Gideon's Trumpet and The Paper Chase with John Houseman; Making the Grade; Jay Sandrich; a pilot called Fog; Square Pegs - would've been a regular in season 2; Greatest American Hero; doing Family Ties in a leg cast; trying to write with Nick Wyman, then teaming up with Gary Donzig; writing a spec Family Ties, then Remington Steele; getting hired on Murphy Brown; working with Buck Henry, Jay Thomas, and Colleen Dewhurst; winning an Emmy for "Jingle Hell, Jingle Hell, Jingle all the Way"; episodes inception and impact; writing Emmy nominated "Come Out, Come Out Whoever You Are" and bringing laughs to AIDS patients; doing two years of lead up to Murphy's pregnancy and having Dan Quayle just call it a choice; Murphy Brown v. George H.W. Bush; Rush Limbaugh gets script and reads it aloud; Mr. Casual Sex, SNL's parody; Corky Sherwood Forrest; Cheers was the only sitcom that should go 11 years; fazing out Avery and Robert Pastorelli; Barry Manilow guest starred; Paul Reubens was after, but the Garry Marshall character was created during their reign; Rodney Dangerfield guests onm Suddenly Susan; Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, and Rose Marie guest; Combat Radio