Product Description

A sports-crazed kid from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Gary David Goldberg never imagined he’d end up in Hollywood, let alone make it big there. But as a twenty-five-year-old waiter in Greenwich Village he met Diana, the love of his life; followed her out to Northern California; then moved in and never moved out. He also, without realizing it, put himself on track to found UBU Productions (named after his beloved Labrador retriever) and become a successful creator of such family sitcoms as Family Ties, Brooklyn Bridge, and Spin City.*

In Sit, Ubu, Sit, award-winning writer/producer Goldberg tells the mostly upbeat, sometimes difficult, and frequently hilarious tale of his improbable career and the people who have filled it.

A love story and a rare behind-the-scenes look at the entertainment industry, Sit, Ubu, Sit proves that it is possible to be creative and successful while holding on to your integrity, your family, and your sense of humor.


*with Bill Lawrence

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53161 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-05
• Released on: 2008-02-05
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Goldberg, a TV scriptwriter and producer, fondly recalls his rocky, improbable route to Hollywood success, including the people who helped him along the way. Funny, dry and self-deprecating, Goldberg cuts swiftly through the years, from the mid-1950s growing up in a loving extended Jewish family in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, to his scruffy vagabonding in 1972 in Europe with his pregnant girlfriend, Diana, and their canny Labrador dog, Ubu. He sold his first scripts to TV shows in the 1970s, prompting his move from New York to California with Diana, who opened a day-care center. Goldberg took a class with scriptwriter Nate Monaster, who motivated him and helped submit his work to Los Angeles producers. Soon enough, Goldberg's scripts for the Bob Newhart Show, the Tony Randall Show and the MTM empire gave him the clout to start his own company, UBU (named for the beloved dog he eventually gave away, by the by), launching such pilots as Family Ties for the networks. Indeed, Goldberg's memoir is a kind of love letter to longtime partner Diana as well as to Michael J. Fox, with whom he later worked on Spin City. His professed guilt for making fistfuls of money while making people laugh renders this work effortlessly likable. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
“Very funny. Very touching . . . and not a lot of big words. Gary is many things: a great boss, a smart writer, a very good basketball player . . . and now an even better author.”
—George Clooney

“Sit, Ubu, Sit is a poignant, hilarious, humble book—but at its heart a true love story. I couldn’t put it down.”—Julia Louis-Dreyfus

“Gary David Goldberg has a heart the size of Brooklyn, and you’ll feel it beating on each and every page of this sweet, beautifully written love story.”
—Claire Cook, author of Must Love Dogs and Life’s a Beach

“Full of love and laughter . . . Reading Sit, Ubu, Sit is like the best walk in the park on the most beautiful day of the year with your best dog, friend, or lover. You never want the experience to end.”
—Pat Mitchell, President and CEO, The Paley Center for Media

“Funny, dry, and self-deprecating...A love letter to longtime partner Diana as well as Michael J. Fox....Effortlessly likable.”
—Publishers Weekly

About the Author
Founder of UBU Productions and creator of Family Ties, Brooklyn Bridge, and Spin City, GARY DAVID GOLDBERG now lives in Vermont.

Customer Reviews

Endlessly Charming
The thing that surprised me the most in this breezy, charming bio by Goldberg, who made Michael J Fox a star when he created 'Family Ties', is how choked up I got while reading it. It reads like those light, smart sit-coms you're watching and laughing hysterically at, and then suddenly something happens that's so touching, so human, you're welling up before you know it. A large portion of the book is, like so many have previously stated, a love letter to his wife, and it's nice to see Hollywood endings can come at the end of a romantic fairy tale.

Couldn't put this down!
What a refreshingly funny, sincere, and insightful read. I laughed out loud so many times I lost count. I loved the way he included just the right amounts of different aspects of his life, none dominating the story - his work in television, his adorable chocolate Lab Ubu, his friendships, and his heartwarming relationship with his wife Diana. It was simply delightful cover to cover. I read few books more than once; this will be one of them.

The best book I've read!!!
I've read sooooooo many books in my day, but this one has the charm, warmth and insight into Gary's humanity, that I couldn't put it down. Now what do I read????!!!! Please, Gary, write another one!!!