Nov 9, 2019
Episode 17 was recorded in the conference room of the Hollywood Standard in Los Angeles.
The episode begins with Jerry doing a reading from his story Twighlight of the Stooges. What follows is a fun discussion that includes such subjects as sex, drugs, rent boys, Alf, CSI, Yankee Doodles, Hustler Magazine and the problems with having children.
Jerry is quoted as saying about his family "Our family business was shame". Writing provided an escape. Inspired by figures like Hubert Selby Jr, Terry Southern, and Hunter S. Thompson, Stahl cut his teeth freelancing for the Village Voice, but earned his living in pornography. In the early 1980s, he was on staff at Larry Flynt’s Hustler.
He would go on to become a writer for the TV series ALF, Thirty Something, and Moonlighting. Permanent Midnight, his 1995 memoir, was adapted by Stahl into a 1998 film of the same name starring Ben Stiller. The film raised Stahl's profile and set the stage for his ongoing work in film. He wrote the screenplay for Bad Boys II, which starred Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. His novels Perv: A Love Story and Plainclothes Naked enjoyed success. I, Fatty, a fictional autobiography of legendary movie comedian Roscoe Arbuckle received favorable reviews. Johnny Depp has optioned the film rights for I, Fatty.
Stahl wrote for CSI, where he is credited for introducing the dominatrix character Lady Heather who has appeared in a number of episodes, the first of which, "Slaves of Las Vegas", featured a viewer discretion advisory warning, due to nudity and sexual content. This past year Jerry was nominated for an Emmy for his writing on HBO's Escape at Dannemora.