How to Avoid Comedy Burnout

TV writer Josh Lieb's biggest mistake was burning out when his star was on the rise; he never knew how quickly he would lose Hollywood momentum.

Question: What is a big mistake you've made in your career?
Josh Lieb: Yeah. No, I've made any number of mistakes. In my career, I think one thing you don't realize -- I had success early on, I obtained some rather exalted positions pretty quickly and entertainment, and I don't know if this is true in other fields but there's a quantity called heat and if people think you're the hot thing, then they are very eager to work with you but that she does dissipate and it dissipates quickly. Because I sort of jumped into the game with a great deal of heat, I thought I would have it eternally. Then I spent about five years with a show called News Radio and really burned myself out. There was no more exhausting show in the history of television and when I was done with it I said I was going to take a year off from TV and I'm going to -- I have some script ideas I want to write but I'm going to just keep away from that. Which was great psychologically but I did not realize how quickly Josh Lieb, young man on the rise could be 'oh yeah, that guy.' So I had to learn to strike while the iron is hot. And it's a lot tougher to get your name out there once you've let the heat dissipate.
Recorded on:  October 9, 2009