Jerry Stahl

Jerry Stahl (born 1953) is an American novelist and screenwriter, best known for his work on the television show ALF. He also wrote episodes for thirtysomething, Moonlighting, Twin Peaks and CSI, and co-wrote the screenplay of Bad Boys II.

His CSI episodes deal with transgressive topics and have been some of the most controversial but also gained some of the highest ratings. He introduced the dominatrix character Lady Heather who has appeared in a number of episodes, the first of which , "Slaves of Las Vegas", featured viewer discretion advisory warning, due to nudity and sexual content. Stahl has been criticised for his inaccurate portrayal of furries in "Fur and Loathing". However, while earlier episodes of CSI had been criticised for the treatment of transgender people, his episode "Ch-Ch-Changes" was highlighted as offering a sensitive portrayal of the topic. It also got the largest audience to date, 31.5 million, with his "King Baby" being the second most watched that season. That episode dealt with infantilism and the Parents Television Council declared it was the worst television show of the week.

Permanent Midnight, his autobiography, was adapted into a movie starring Ben Stiller, and Stahl also wrote a fictional autobiography of legendary movie comedian Roscoe Arbuckle called I, Fatty.

He has made cameo appearances in the films Permanent Midnight (as a Doctor) and Zoolander (as a reporter).

Stahl has appeared telling personal stories from his own life at Un-Cabaret and can be heard on the compilation album The Good, The Bad, and the Drugly

Works

Bibliography

• Love Without
• Permanent Midnight
• Perv: A Love Story
• Plainclothes Naked
• I, Fatty

Filmography

Film work includes:

• Bad Boys II (2003)
• Dr. Caligari (1989)

As Herbert W. Day:

• Nightdreams (1981)
• Cafe Flesh (1982)

TV work includes:

• ALF:
  • "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue?" (1986)
  • "La Cuckaracha" (1987)
  • "Mind Games" (1989)
• thirtysomething:
  • "Born to Be Mild" (1988)
  • "Politics" (1989)
• Moonlighting:
  • "Plastic Fantastic Lovers" (1989)
  • "Perfetc" (1989)
• Twin Peaks: "Laura's Secret Diary" (1990)
• Northern Exposure: "Soapy Sanderson" (1990)
• CSI:
  • "Justice is Served" (2001)
  • "Slaves of Las Vegas" (2001)
  • "Felonious Monk (2002)
  • "The Hunger Artist" (2002)
  • "Fur and Loathing" (2003)
  • "Getting Off" (2004)
  • "Ch-Ch-Changes" (2004)
  • "King Baby" (2005)
  • "Pirates of the Third Reich" (2006)
  • "Way To Go" (2006)

References

• Jerry Stahl at IMDb
• LA Weekly article
• New Angeles Monthly interview published June 29, 2007

External links

• Interview, July 12, 2007