“Trying to be funny while writing about Trump’s deadly serious threat to our democracy.”
That’s what nine-time Emmy Award-winning writer/producer Ed. Weinberger, known for his work on such legendary comedies as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi and The Cosby Show, saw as his biggest challenge in writing the just-released GOTCHA!, which takes readers inside an alternate Trump 2020 presidential campaign from March 5, 2020 to January 24, 2021.
Weinberger creates a chaotic world inhabited by America’s 45th President where cheating at golf is taken for granted; Fox anchors are valued advisors; and hydroxychloroquine is promoted as a COVID-19 cure.
GOTCHA! paints a picture of Trump’s private world as he meets with his re-election committee, has a hush-hush dinner with Laura Ingraham, makes an angry early-morning call to Don Jr., and asks Melania whether his bullet-proof vest makes him look fat. (Learn more in our review.)
The author recently took us inside the creation of GOTCHA!, talking about his motivation for the book, his favorite sections, and what it was like making the transition from TV to novel.
Q: What inspired you to write GOTCHA!?
A: In a word, Trump. Specifically, my indignation that we have a President subverting our democracy. And to paraphrase Orwell: “Every joke is a tiny revolution.”
Q: Your book is a satirical novel. Were you influenced by any other books, and if so, which ones?
A: Yes. The novel by the great Philip Roth called Our Gang. It’s a farcical yet fierce attack on Richard Nixon in which Nixon winds up in hell (literally) running to replace Satan as President. In the book, he’s known as Trick E. Dixon. It’s a book too long neglected. And even though Nixon himself may not be relevant, the legacy of hypocrisy, corruption and demagogy lives on in Trump and his Administration.
Q: What is the difference between writing comedy for TV and writing a novel?
A: Writing comedy for television is a collaborative experience. There are showrunners, staff, re-write sessions, and of course, actors — all of whom contribute to the finished product, and always under a hard and fast deadline. Writing a novel, you’re alone and can take as much time as you like, because nobody is waiting for it.
Q: Did you have fun writing GOTCHA!?
A: I never think of writing as fun. But in this case, yes. At least some of it — like the “pillow talk” between Donald Trump, Jr. and his girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle. I also enjoyed making up those get-well cards Trump got when recovering from COVID-19.
Q: Tell us about your favorite scene.
A: My favorite scene is the dinner date at the White House between Trump and Fox News’s Laura Ingraham where she promotes the drug hydroxychloroquine as a cure for COVID-19, which is fictional. What is fact is that by the time Trump, Ingraham and Fox News stopped hawking the drug, over 60,000 Americans had died from the disease.
Q: You had to invent a lot of Trump’s dialogue. Do you have a favorite line of his?
A: Yes. They come in the last debate when he’s asked about his vision for America and he answers: “I see an America where confederate flags no longer say Made in China. I see an America where drinking a $1,000 bottle of wine will be tax-deductible. I see an America where the military are withdrawn from Iraq and stationed in Portland, Oregon.”
Q: This is your first novel. Are there more on the way?
A: As the woman who had just given birth to triplets said, “Let me think about that.”
Q: What do you hope readers will take away from GOTCHA!?
A: If they read it before the election, I hope they’ll vote the President out of office. If they read it after the election, I hope it’s with a great sigh of relief.
GOTCHA! is available for purchase.
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About Ed. Weinberger:
Ed. Weinberger, who has written for such diverse comedians as Bob Hope, Richard Pryor and Johnny Carson, began his career in the early ’60s with Dick Gregory. He wrote and produced for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and co-created Taxi, Dear John and The Cosby Show. He also executive produced and created Amen, Sparks and Good News. Honors include three Golden Globe Awards, a Peabody and nine Emmy Awards. In 2000, Weinberger received The Writer’s Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award. He is the author of the one-man play A Man and His Prostate, which starred Ed Asner and toured nationally for five years. In 2017, he co-authored the book The Grouchy Historian: An Old-Time Lefty Defends Our Constitution Against Right-Wing Hypocrites and Nutjobs.
