Veteran comedy writer Nell Scovell on 30 years of being "the only woman in the room"

Writer Nell Scovell has worked for some of the best, most popular TV shows of the past 30 years. She wrote for David Letterman. She wrote for The Simpsons. She created the '90s show Sabrina the Teenage Witch. She wrote on NCIS. And at too many of those jobs, she was the only woman working in the writers’ room, countering Hollywood’s endless boys’ club. Scovell’s new memoir, Just the Funny Parts, is an excellent chronicle of her time in the TV trenches, as well as the times she’s branched out into writing books (she co-authored the massive bestseller Lean In with Sheryl Sandberg) and writing jokes for President Obama. Above all else, the book makes the argument that having more diversity in Hollywood writers' rooms will make movies and TV shows funnier.  Scovell joins Todd for a frank and funny conversation about all those famous shows she’s worked on, her push for better representation of women behind the scenes in Hollywood, and her best Simpsons memories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The entertainment industry is brimming with interesting people who are responsible for your favorite movies, TV shows, and more. Join Vox’s critic-at-large Emily VanDerWerff every Thursday as she speaks with the very well known, up-and-coming and need to know folks responsible for the most exciting projects in art, entertainment, and pop culture – diving deep into their influences, inspirations, and careers in a frank, uncensored fashion. The series finale aired in December 2018.