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Merrill Markoe

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Merrill Markoe
Born (1948-08-13) August 13, 1948 (age 76)
OccupationAuthor, screenwriter
Alma mater
Notable worksLate Night with David Letterman
PartnerDavid Letterman (1978–1988)
Andy Prieboy (2004-present)
Website
www.merrillmarkoe.com

Merrill Markoe (born August 13, 1948)[citation needed] is an American author, television writer, and occasional standup comedian.

Early life

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Markoe was born in New York City.[2] Her family moved several times including stays in Miami and San Francisco.[3] She attended UC Berkeley, receiving a B.A. in art in 1970 and an M.A. in 1972. Her first job after leaving the university was teaching art at the University of Southern California.[1]

Career

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After auditing scriptwriting classes and doing research for the head writer of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Markoe was hired as writer for the 1977 revival of Laugh-In, joining a team that included Robin Williams.[1] In 1978, she was part of the cast of Mary Tyler Moore's first attempt at a variety show, the eponymous Mary, along with future boyfriend David Letterman.[2] In 1980, Markoe was the head writer for The David Letterman Show, a short-lived live NBC morning show whose writing team was recognized with a Daytime Emmy Award.[citation needed]

Markoe shared in three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series for her work on Late Night with David Letterman, for which she was the original head writer.[4][5] She engineered most of the original concepts and architecture for the ground-breaking late-night talk show and created the segment "Stupid Pet Tricks",[6] as well as "Stupid Human Tricks" and "Viewer Mail". Many of the ideas behind the remote segments outside the studio came from Markoe, who also won a Writers Guild award for her writing/performing work on HBO's Not Necessarily the News.[4]

She has also written for television shows such as Newhart, Sex and the City, and Moonlighting.[7] She appeared on-camera as a lifestyle reporter at KCOP-TV in Los Angeles, then for Michael Moore's NBC show TV Nation, and worked on other magazine shows such as Lifetime Magazine. In the early 1990s she wrote and directed a number of HBO and Cinemax comedy specials. She appeared in two episodes of Space Ghost Coast to Coast from 1997 to 1998 as the unwilling subject of the eponymous late night talk show host's affections.

In 2005, Markoe was a regular panelist on Animal Planet's Who Gets the Dog? She has had a number of columns and written for many periodicals, including Rolling Stone, Time, New York Woman, New Woman, U.S. News & World Report, Us, People, Esquire, The Huffington Post, Glamour, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, Real Simple, etc. She appears in episode 2 of Friends as irritable museum curator Marsha and can be seen in the movie EDtv as a panelist, as well as in the cast of The Aristocrats.

In 2020, she was awarded the Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement by the Writers Guild of America.

Filmography

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As an actress

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1982–1985 Late Night with David Letterman Various roles 3 episodes
1994 Dream On Waitress Episode: "Where There's Smoke, You're Fired"
Friends Marsha Episode: "The One with the Sonogram at the End"
1997 Duckman Skip Spike Bergenstock Voice; Episode: "With Friends Like These"
1998 Mike Hammer, Private Eye Dr. Sylvia Episode: "Dump the Creep"
1999 Edtv Panel Member Feature film
Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist Merrill Episode: "Snow Day"
2000 Suddenly Susan Miss Saunders Episode: "Stock Tip"
2025 Hacks Meryl Markoe Episode: "I Love LA"

As a Writer

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Year Title Notes Ref.
1977–1978 Laugh-In 6 episodes
1978 Mary Episode: "Pilot"
1980 The David Letterman Show 2 episodes
1981–1982 Open All Night 3 episodes
1982 Making the Grade Episode: "Guess Who's Coming to Class?"
1982–1986 Late Night with David Letterman 123 episodes
1983 Buffalo Bill Episode: "Mrs. Buffalo Bill?"
1984 Shaping Up Episode: "Defusing the Muse"
1985 Sara 2 episodes
The Best Times Episode: "The Narc"
David Letterman's Holiday Film Festival Television special
George Burns Comedy Week Episode: "The Borrowing"
1986 Mary Episode: "The Death Threat"
1987 It's Garry Shandling's Show Episode: "It's Garry Shandling's Christmas Show"
1987–1988 Newhart 2 episodes
1988 Cinemax Comedy Experiment Episode: "Merrill Markoe's Guide to Glamorous Living"
1989 Moonlighting Episode: "When Girls Collide"
1989–1990 Not Necessarily the News 9 episodes
1999 Sex and the City Episode: "The Fuck Buddy"

Personal life

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She and David Letterman were involved romantically from 1978 to 1988,[6] after which Markoe moved to California to continue her writing career. She wrote about the relationship several years later in essays in the book Cool, Calm, and Contentious, giving him the pseudonym "Bobby".[3]

Markoe lives in Malibu with musician Andy Prieboy and four dogs.[3]

Awards and nominations

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Year Association Category Project Result Ref.
1984 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series Late Night with David Letterman (episode: "312") Won [8]
Late Night with David Letterman (episode: "285") Nominated
Late Night with David Letterman (episode: "291") Nominated
1985 Late Night with David Letterman (episode: "Late Night in Los Angeles") Nominated [9]
Late Night with David Letterman (episode: "The Late Night Morning Show") Nominated
1986 Late Night with David Letterman (episode: "4th Anniversary Special") Won [10]
1989 Writers Guild of America Award Variety - Musical Not Necessarily the News Won
2020 Laurel Award Paddy Chayefsky Award Television Writing Achievement Won [11]

Bibliography

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Novels

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  • It's My F---ing Birthday (2002)
  • The Psycho Ex Game: A Novel (with Andy Prieboy) (2004)
  • Walking in Circles Before Lying Down: A Novel (2006)
  • Nose Down, Eyes Up: A Novel (2008)

Nonfiction

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  • Late Night with David Letterman: The Book (with David Letterman) (1985)
  • Merrill Markoe's Guide to Love (1997)
  • We Saw Scenery: The Early Diaries of Merrill Markoe (2020)

Essay collections

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  • What the Dogs Have Taught Me: And Other Amazing Things I've Learned (1992)
  • How to Be Hap-Hap-Happy Like Me! (1994)
  • Cool, Calm & Contentious (2011)

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Still revolting, after all these years". University of California, Berkeley. 14 September 2005. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
  2. ^ a b Markoe, Merrill. "Markoe on Markoe". merrillmarkoe.com. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  3. ^ a b c Walder, Joyce (26 October 2011). "Merrill Markoe on Puppets and Monkey Portraits". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  4. ^ a b Awards for Merrill Markoe at IMDb
  5. ^ "Awards Search". Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  6. ^ a b Amelia Weiss (1992-06-01). "Pet Tricks". Time Magazine. Archived from the original on April 8, 2008. A review of What the Dogs Have Taught Me
  7. ^ Bello, Grace. "Merrill Markoe, Patron Saint of Women in TV Comedy Writing". The Hairpin. Archived from the original on March 22, 2023.
  8. ^ "Nominees / Winners 1984". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  9. ^ "Nominees / Winners 1985". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  10. ^ "Nominees / Winners 1986". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  11. ^ Press Release. "Television Comedy Writer Merrill Markoe to Receive WGAW'S 2020 Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement". wga.org. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
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