BARRY KEMP
FROM COACH TO COACH
I
t was just four years ago that Barry Kemp finally threw in the towel and
decided to relocate his household from Los Angeles to Montecito,
following a course taken by a procession of actors, writers, directors, and
producers who have permanently escaped Hollywood for our verdant village
by the ocean.
But this spring, he found himself heading back down to the studios all
over again.
Kemp – a television writer-producer who got his start as the first writer
hired on the much-lauded sitcom
Taxi
before creating and running his own
hit comedy series
Newhart
and then
Coach –
thought he was largely done
with the daily grind of TV work. But that was before NBC approached him to
come up with a way of reviving
Coach
, the 1989-97 series about Hayden Fox,
head instructor of a university football team who eats, sleeps, and breathes
the sport despite his partner’s missing passion for football, which proves
challenging to their relationship. The man’s commitment to family and friends
helps smooth things over.
It might seem like life imitating art, or perhaps an example of writing
what you know, but in Kemp’s case, his wife, Margaret, has not only always
been supportive of his work, she also spent years in the business as an actress. In fact, it was Margaret who gave Kemp the idea for his first script for
Taxi
in 1978, an episode about all the drivers – “Memories of Cab 804” – which was so well-received it turned into a two-parter.
Kemp was in his late 20s then, not far removed from his upbringing in Kansas, where his family watched such seminal sitcoms at
The Dick Van Dyke
Show
. Later, it was
All in the Family
that fueled his fire, and a spec script for the groundbreaking series that earned Kemp his opportunity at
Taxi
.
“It was a very fun but very intense environment,” Kemp recalls. “We worked really long hours, but it was always a lot of laughs too. Everything
about the show – from the creators to the incredible cast and directors – was first-class all the way. But everything was also a competition in one way or
another: to be smarter, better, think further ahead. They really challenged our thinking to get the best out of us.”
Kemp said he often found himself trying to surprise James Brooks (co-creator of the series) with a joke in an attempt to impress him. “But he was
always one step ahead.”
The competitive climate extended beyond the writing room, Kemp says.
“Even dinner on re-write night was a competition. Who could be most creative in what they order? It was exhausting. But it was about digging
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