And the Emmy Goes To...

The panhandle around Amarillo, Texas, was dry, rusty, boring and not the sort of place Brad Pope could fit in. This guy was a funny, creative kid who had dreams of working in the entertainment industry.

By age 12, Pope had his eyes set on moving to Los Angeles. It started with the movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. All the nice houses, interesting people and funny dialogue were mesmerizing.

After college, Pope decided to make his dream a reality and hit the road to California.

His first job was working as an intern for Black Entertainment Television, driving a 30-foot-long flatbed truck through Van Nuys. Nowhere near the studios.

Pope quickly realized that show business was temporary. He held different positions on and off for years. It took six years to find stable ground.

In 1997, Pope caught a break at age 27, when producer Jim Jones put together a show on Mad TV called “The Austin Stories.” Jones added Pope to the team to not only write for the show but to also act. This experience helped him gain another perspective on writing good characters. Soon Pope was writing a movie, “Highway to Oblivion,” and another TV show, “The Goode Family.”

Pope thought that working on these smaller cinema pieces may not catch much attention. However, that was proven incorrect with one phone call in 2010. Ellen DeGeneres noticed Pope’s work and told head writer Kevin Lehman to recruit him. Pope was in awe; he couldn’t believe someone as big as Ellen would go out of her way for him.

Every show, Pope arrived at the studio at 9 a.m. and worked until 7 p.m. He says there was a lot of conflict as staff would bump heads, resulting in many fights. The staff regularly yelled at each other and the bosses were fastidious with how the jokes were written. The tight structure, Pope admits, was overwhelming both mentally and emotionally.

Despite the long hours, high tensions and sleepless nights, Pope considers the experience an extraordinary accomplishment. He was part of Ellen’s team that received two Emmys in 2011—the Special Class Writing Award and the Outstanding Talk Show Entertainment Award.

However, Pope believed there was more to TV writing than a trophy.

“I didn’t last long on the show; it wasn’t a good fit for me,” Pope explained. “The writing, jokes for daytime TV, it wasn’t my forte.”

After one season, Pope left the “Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

Luckily, the breaks kept coming. Brad started working for another big-time show, “Beavis and Butthead,” as a video consultant.

He would watch hours of the show to come up with the perfect jokes. What was different from this animation series compared to other shows is that Pope would have to mimic the characters when pitching ideas.

Creator Mike Judge would bring Pope in a room to share jokes he had written in the voice of Beavis. If Judge was recording this, it meant the jokes would likely be used. No recording signaled the joke was a dud.

This gave Pope insight into which of his material created a fun interaction with the writers for the show.

“Beavis and Butthead” was a great fit. Pope said it was one of the most enjoyable experiences he has had as a writer. It was a relaxed environment where jokes among co-writers flew around the room. Working on “Beavis and Butthead” was a lot like the show itself, Pope said. It was about making each another laugh to create the best writing.

One memorable scene is from the episode “Drones,” where Beavis gets emotional about Katy Perry.

During the writing process, the song “Firework” played in the writing room and Pope got emotional listening to it. The writers replicated this real-life experience and incorporated this scene into this episode.

Although the show ended in 2011, Judge kept in touch. He seemed to appreciate Pope’s writing material and personality. If the opportunity presents itself, Judge told him, he’d love to work together again.

The next big break came five years later with a new TV show: “Lopez.” Pope would not only write for the show but also guest appear in a couple of episodes.

“I once messed up my lines and George yelled at me, then the next scene he messed up his lines; we both laughed it off after,” Pope recalled. “George respected me a great amount since I also came from a comedic background.”

George was the life of the party, Pope said, and always made it fun to work on the show. Unfortunately for Pope, the show only lasted two seasons.

Pope needed a steady paycheck and health insurance, so he applied at California State University, Dominguez Hills. In 2022 he was hired as a part-time lecturer for the Film, Television and Media (FTVM) Program.

Anyone in the entertainment field should express themselves and their creativity to the world, Pope preaches to his students. He encourages them to make videos, write dialogue and even act out the projects he assigns to make their experience with film-related content more exciting.

He still works in the entertainment industry and Judge did come calling. Currently, Pope is writing for the newest reboot of “Beavis and Butthead.”

While Pope hopes to keep writing for animation or any other show, he’s enjoying sharing his knowledge with students. And students, in turn, appreciate learning about the entertainment industry from a down-to-earth instructor.

“Pope is one of a kind, he shows a lot of empathy for us as young screenwriters as he uses a lot of what he’s learned from his own experiences to teach us the material,” said FTVM major Dylan Bertani. “The best thing is Pope is always himself every class, whether it’s playing music before class or wearing colorful clothes. He’s himself, which allows us to be ourselves as well.”