Non­fic­tion

Sit, Ubu, Sit: How I Went From Brook­lyn to Hol­ly­wood With the Same Woman, the Same Dog, and a Lot Less Hair

Gary David Goldberg
  • Review
By
David Cohen
– March 5, 2012

Gary David Goldberg’s auto­bi­og­ra­phy is gen­uine­ly wit­ty and gen­er­al­ly endear­ing. That’s true even if you don’t think the world of ​“Fam­i­ly Ties,” the hit 1980’s sit­u­a­tion com­e­dy for which the tele­vi­sion mogul is best known. 

This rags-to-rich­es tale is a dou­ble-bar­reled love sto­ry. One object of his affec­tion is his wife, Dr. Diana Mee­han (the Ubu of the title was their first dog), and the sec­ond is his friend, Michael J. Fox, whose comedic skills helped make Gold­berg a very rich man. 

In telling how he became one of the most suc­cess­ful tele­vi­sion pro­duc­ers ever, Gold­berg digs into a trea­sure trove of anec­dotes, many of which involve his extend­ed Jew­ish fam­i­ly. There’s no deny­ing he’s fun­ny, and his tale is also often very moving.

David Cohen is a senior edi­tor at Politi­co. He has been in the jour­nal­ism busi­ness since 1985 and wrote the book Rugged and Endur­ing: The Eagles, The Browns and 5 Years of Foot­ball. He resides in Rockville, MD.; his wife, Deb­o­rah Bod­in Cohen, writes Jew­ish children’s books.
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