Bryant students will soon have the opportunity to learn about sitcom writing from one of TV’s most prolific writers, thanks to a generous donation. Don Reo, TV writer and producer of hit shows like Blossom, Everybody Hates Chris, and My Wife and Kids, recently donated a vast collection of scripts, notes, and other materials spanning his seven-decade career in Hollywood.
This summer, six boxes packed with papers arrived at Bryant, each containing a trove of materials from Reo’s prolific career. Pilot episodes written on typewriters for Crossroads, which later became The John Larroquette Show, were packed alongside scripts annotated with personal notes for Netflix’s The Ranch. Reo, who served as a Bryant Executive in Residence in Fall 2023 and Spring 2024, chose to donate the scripts after Bryant Trustee Frank Stasiowski ’75MBA introduced him to the university.
“I’m cramming for my finals,” Reo joked. “I reached a point where I need to divest myself of a lot of stuff from the past. I wanted to donate the materials to a place where a future student might look at them and be inspired.”
“These resources are invaluable for Bryant students,” says Chris Morse, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of the university’s Communication and Language Studies Department. “They provide an exclusive look into the inner workings of one of America’s greatest television minds, elevating the profile of the university as a destination for creative thinkers.”
Senior Lecturer of Communication and Language Studies Tom Zammarelli says the papers are an incredible teaching resource. The notes in the margins, edits, and rewrites are all integral parts of the creative process to which most people don’t have access.
"That’s the gift of reading someone else’s work: It inspires you.”
“Students will get to see what it takes to master your craft,” says Zammarelli, who plans to use the scripts in his “Advanced Digital Media” course, where students write, direct, and produce a TV short.
Zammarelli says that comparing first drafts to aired episodes provides critical insight into how shows are written and rewritten during the production process.
“There are so many pieces here that let you inside the writer’s mind,” Zammarelli notes. “Having the context is amazing.”
In addition to actors’ copies of scripts, some marked with editors’ notes, the boxes also contain handwritten drafts for the pilots of shows like Blossom and Everybody Hates Chris. These early drafts are the most exciting to come across Zammarelli says — and Reo agrees.
“I wrote everything by hand,” Reo states. “It’s more organic. You can feel and see the passion that I had in the early drafts that went on to be successful, or even those that didn’t. First drafts are like dreams. They’re perfect.”
As students sift through his work, Reo suggests that they take the time to discuss the pieces, act them out, and — especially for those who love to write — use them to spark new ideas.
“Students would get a sense of how it feels to create something that was previously blank paper,” he says. “If they’re interested in writing or the process of writing, they could, I believe, connect with my sense of creativity. That’s the gift of reading someone else’s work: It inspires you.”