What Makes Good TV Writers (and Execs), With David E. Kelley
The Town with Matthew Belloni
The Ringer
4.3 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 13 May 2026
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This episode of The Town is brought to you by Stars' Outlander. |
| 0:08.6 | Everything has led to this. |
| 0:10.3 | The final chapter of the time-traveling drama and cultural phenomenon starring Sam Hewain and Catriona Balfe is only on stars. |
| 0:18.2 | Vogue declares Outlander one of television's greatest love stories, |
| 0:21.7 | and the rap raves, Balf and Hewain, have perfected this on-screen relationship. |
| 0:26.3 | Industry voters can access all episodes at StarsFYC.com. |
| 0:31.9 | It is Wednesday, May 13th. Our guest today is maybe the most prolific and celebrated creator in the history of |
| 0:39.5 | television. Try to figure out how many shows David E. Kelly has worked on. It's kind of impossible. |
| 0:45.1 | Dozens and dozens across five decades now. After starting his career as a lawyer, he came to |
| 0:50.4 | prominence as a writer and executive producer on L.A LA law. He was running that show at age 33, |
| 0:55.6 | and he soon began creating his own shows. At the Emmys in 1999, he won the top prize for |
| 1:01.0 | outstanding comedy series and outstanding drama series for Allie McBeal and The Practice. That's the |
| 1:06.8 | first and still the only time that has ever happened. More recently, he's run Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers, Goliath. I love that one, although he says in our chat |
| 1:15.6 | that it wasn't a great experience, presumed innocent. And he's got a new show. Margot's got |
| 1:20.6 | money troubles, currently airing on Apple TV, which marks the first time he's worked with his |
| 1:25.3 | wife of more than 30 years in television, |
| 1:28.4 | Michelle Pfeiffer. |
| 1:34.4 | Today is David E. Kelly recorded live at Puck's Stories of the Season TV event in Hollywood last week. |
| 1:37.2 | From The Ringer and Puck, I'm Matt Bellany and this is The Town. |
| 1:46.9 | Before I asked, was there another David Kelly in the Writers Guild when you joined? |
| 1:47.6 | Was that the E? |
| 1:49.2 | Not that I'm aware of. |
... |
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