Match to Flame 102

Jun 25, 2019

What had taken me to New York was a meeting between King Features and ABC television about turning the teen pregnancy story arc from Funky into an ABC Afterschool Special. ABC’s Afterschool Specials were geared to students and appeared in the hours just after school but before evening prime-time programming. They were very thoughtful productions that tackled issues facing young people, and the teen pregnancy story seemed perfect for that format. The meetings went well and two scripts were eventually produced, but, in the end, nothing ever came of it. Thus began my long extended courtship with Hollywood. Over the years my work has been optioned numerous times and the dance was always exciting and fun, but no one ever popped the question and said, “Let’s get married.” Other than the fact I was able to enjoy a small side-line cottage industry in collecting option checks, Funky and my other work have always managed to avoid being exploited or stained by Hollywood as if the strips had been Scotchgarded against the very possibility. I won’t ever know how Funky landing on the big or small screen would have changed things, but I do know that it left me totally free to follow my idiosyncratic urges as to what the work could aspire to be.

From The Complete Funky Winkerbean Volume Six

 

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