Mandy left the show temporarily at one point during the run for another job. When he came back, he was a changed person. He was so much fun to work with and have around! I asked him about it and he said, “You know, I really thought that my talent was tied up in my being difficult; that if I reined in my personality, then I would lose my talent.”

He flashed thumbs-down. "Miss it, man. It sucks." I was crushed. Here I was, forty-two years old, divorced, childless, having given up all normal human pursuits to chase the dream of being a writer; now I've finally got my name on a big-time Hollywood production starring Linda Hamilton, and what happens? I'm a loser, a phony; my life is w