Overview of The Town interview with David E. Kelley
In this live conversation recorded at Puck’s Stories of the Season TV event, Matt Belloni talks with David E. Kelley about his decades-long career as one of television’s most prolific creators. Kelley reflects on his writing process, the evolution from broadcast TV to streaming, how executives have changed, why he still prefers to stay behind the scenes, and what drew him to his new Apple TV+ series Margo’s Got Money Troubles—which also marks the first time he has worked with his wife, Michelle Pfeiffer, on a television project.
Key Themes and Takeaways
1. Kelley still leads with writing first
- He says he’s most comfortable “at my desk writing and hiding behind the characters.”
- He remains highly hands-on with:
- dialogue
- tone
- rhythm and cadence
- But he delegates most other crafts to specialists, from wardrobe to cinematography.
2. His biggest creative lesson: trust the audience
- Kelley says Stephen Bochco taught him to “respect the audience.”
- His approach has stayed consistent:
- don’t dumb things down
- assume viewers are smart and ahead of the story
- write upward, not down to the audience
3. Broadcast TV demanded speed and discipline
- During the L.A. Law, Ally McBeal, and The Practice era, he was often working on multiple shows at once.
- He recalls writing more than 50 scripts in some years.
- Broadcast’s weekly pace forced fast, efficient storytelling and left little room for improvisation or extensive rewrites.
4. Streaming has more flexibility, but also more interference
- Kelley likes the freedom of being a “free agent” rather than locked into a single studio.
- He says the best setup is matching a passionate creator with a buyer who truly wants that project.
- But he’s also candid that streamers and platforms can be more involved in the creative process than old-school broadcast networks:
- more notes
- more cut reviews
- more “meddling,” as he puts it
5. He sees a cultural shift in TV executives
- Kelley contrasts older studio/network relationships with today’s platform culture.
- In the past, executives were focused on helping make something great and deliver it on time.
- Now, he feels some buyers want to shape the creative product more directly, even down to “picking out the seasoning” in the kitchen.
Notable Career Stories
The Emmy night that made history
- Kelley won Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Drama Series in the same year for:
- Ally McBeal
- The Practice
- He describes the night as surreal, especially because The Practice beat The Sopranos, which was widely expected to win.
The memorable Kathy Bates moment on Picket Fences
- Kelley tells a story about Kathy Baker (likely Kathy Bates was the intended reference in the broader context, though the transcript mentions Kathy Baker) strongly objecting to a scene involving discipline of a child.
- He asked her to try it anyway.
- The scene worked, and she reportedly won an Emmy for it.
A regret: Harry’s Law
- Kelley says he has little regret overall, but he does wish Harry’s Law had been allowed to continue.
- He notes how much the business has changed:
- a show can be considered a hit today with numbers that would have been disappointing in broadcast’s old ratings system
About Margo’s Got Money Troubles
Why he and Michelle Pfeiffer finally teamed up
- The book by Rufi Thorpe attracted both Kelley and Pfeiffer.
- Kelley says he immediately thought of Pfeiffer for the role of Cheyenne.
- Their careers historically ran in different lanes:
- Pfeiffer in film
- Kelley in television
- Once TV and film careers began overlapping more, this became the right time to collaborate.
Handling the OnlyFans material
- The story includes OnlyFans, which Kelley says he would have found daunting without the book’s strong foundation.
- He credits co-writer Eva Anderson with handling much of the OnlyFans-specific material because he considers himself “a bit of a prude.”
- He says the show avoids exploitation by grounding the subject in character and emotional truth.
Views on AI, Law, and Writing
AI
- Kelley says he has used AI for research, but not yet to generate dialogue or scenes.
- He’s skeptical that AI can replace strong writing.
- His bigger concern is the people leading AI development, whom he sees as ethically dubious and overly focused on profit.
Why lawyers make good TV writers
- Kelley argues that lawyers tend to be strong TV writers because they’re trained in:
- word economy
- efficient argument
- tight storytelling
- He says legal training teaches you to get to the point quickly—an essential skill in television.
What He’s Watching Now
- Kelley says he’s currently watching:
- Stanley Cup hockey
- strong character-driven television
- He was especially impressed by Adolescence, calling it almost distracting in how well made it was.
- He admired the craft so much that the one-shot filmmaking initially pulled him out of the story before he settled into it.
Bottom Line
This interview is a sharp look at how David E. Kelley still thinks about television: script-first, character-first, and audience-respecting. He is reflective but not nostalgic, appreciative of the freedoms of streaming but skeptical of the way modern executives get involved, and still deeply energized by the work itself. His core message is simple: hire great people, trust the writing, and don’t get in the way of a good story.