Just the Funny Parts... and a Few Hard Truths About Sneaking into the Hollywood Boys’ Club

In this illuminating memoir, sitcom writer Scovell (Newhart, Murphy Brown, NCIS) details her career as a highly successful television writer over the last three decades, during which she was usually the only woman in the room. Scovell revised her ambition to become a serious journalist when she landed a job at the satirical Spy magazine in 1986, thereby launching her new career as a master of snark. Scovell’s first foray into television writing was a spec script for It’s Garry Shandling’s Show; the script was killed but it put her on Hollywood’s radar. During her tenure at Late Night with David Letterman, which she started in 1990, she worked well with the host, but nevertheless encountered a toxic, male-centric culture. After years of writing jokes and scripts for various shows, she created Sabrina the Teenage Witch. In the 20 years since, Scovell has repeatedly felt the sting of toiling in Los Angeles, “where rejection and failure are the bread and butter of this gluten-free, nondairy town,” and in an industry that continually looked for a cheaper, younger version of her. But in working with Sheryl Sandberg as the co-writer on Lean In, she was reminded of a timeless lesson: doing something that is meaningful to oneself might also have an impact on others. Scovell’s memoir is wonderfully entertaining and ultimately uplifting. (Mar.)

Correction: An earlier version of this review listed an incorrect month of publication.