Amazing Story of the Week

Sometimes those dreams really do come true -- and then they don't...


Suppose for a moment that you’re a screenwriter with a brand new episodic drama on a major network’s Fall lineup. You’d have every right to feel pretty good, right? And further suppose that you’ve also written (and sold) a screenplay that was subsequently made into a thirty million dollar feature film starring an actor who has been one of the bigger names in Hollywood over the past three decades – and the film is now edited, polished, and ready for release.

With such a lovely pair of Tinsel Town Dreams come true, you’d have to be deliriously happy, right?

But what if that television show was such a horrendous bomb that it was canceled after only two broadcasts? That’d be one serious bummer. And what if the big Hollywood name had, after appearing in your movie, proceeded to torch his reputation beyond all redemption in an extremely public manner -- which is to say, that human supernova happened to be one Melvin "Sugar-Tits" Gibson?

In that case, your life might come to resemble one of those grim, life-is-hopeless Eastern European cartoon so popular across the pond during the Cold War era.*

If that happened to me, I might be drinking heavily while fumbling for the number of one of those suicide prevention lines right about now. But Kyle Killen – who had the Hollywood world by the tail before this ginormous bucket of shit was dumped directly on his head – seems to be okay with it.

Hard to believe? Yeah, I know, but don’t take my word for it – do yourself a favor and tune in to the KCRW podcast of Kim Master’s illuminating interview with Kyle Killen on this week’s “The Business.”

Would that we could all be so sanguine and enjoy such a balanced sense of perspective in the face of disaster as young Mr. Killen. Something tells me he'll do very well in life.


* Very few of you are likely to have any idea what I'm talking about here, but trust me, those "cartoons" were depressing as hell...