His career in Hollywood began as a writer/producer for The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game. He sold his first screenplay, Dick Tracy, to Universal, and his second, Goldie and the Boxer, to NBC. Under the banner of the company he formed with wife Stockard Channing, he went on to produce The Stockard Channing Show for CBS; Starmaker, a miniseries starring Rock Hudson and Melanie Griffith for NBC; A Gun in the House with Sally Struthers and Silent Victory: The Kitty O'Neil Story with Channing, both movies for CBS. Later, he served as writer-producer of the sitcom Everything's Relative, starring Jason Alexander, for Columbia and CBS; and writer/producer of The Heat, starring Billy Campbell, for MGM and CBS. He also wrote episodes for TV shows such as Hearts of the West, and Sweating Bullets. At various times, he was a feature screenwriter under contract to Disney, Warner Brothers, MGM and 20th Century Fox. In 2012, he co-wrote and co-produced a comedy pilot for Mexican TV, The MexicoCity Angels, about a Mexicanprofessional soccer team.
Writing
In 1992, Random House published his first novel, the Albie Marx mystery, Nice Guys Finish Dead. Two subsequent Albie Marx novels, The Big O and Murder Live At Five, were published by Carroll & Graf. Writing under the pseudonym "Smith and Doe" with co-author Philip Mittleman, he published three books of nonfiction with St. Martin's Press, among them the bestseller What Men Don't Want Women To Know. He is a member of the Writer's Guild of America, the Mystery Writers of America and the Author's Guild.
Third Age foundation
With his associate, Peter Brill, M.D., he co-founded The Third Age Foundation. The Third Age is defined as that period of life, which begins anywhere from ages 50 to 65, where people typically search for deeper meaning and fulfillment. The foundation has conducted seminars along with workshops and support groups teaching the principles of living creatively in the Third Age. The program is called "Unfinished Business", and highlights seven steps that lead to passion, purpose and joy. A book entitled Finding Your J Spot: JOY in Midlife and Beyond was published by Third Age Books in 2005. He taught creative writing courses at Antioch University Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara City College.