Steven Kampmann

Kampmann's career got serious traction in the writers' room. His work on WKRP in Cincinnati — the sharp, affectionate sitcom set inside a struggling Cincinnati radio station — put him in company with some of the best comedy writers working in late-'70s television, and the Emmy nomination in 1981 confirmed he belonged there (TMDB). That's not nothing. Emmy nominations for comedy writing in that era were genuinely competitive, and WKRP was punching above its ratings. The acting side of his résumé kicked into higher gear when he joined Newhart as Kirk Devane, the slightly unhinged owner of a local café — a role that ran through the show's first two seasons and gave Kampmann one of the more memorable recurring characters in early-'80s ensemble comedy (TMDB). He also turned up in The Rodney Dangerfield Show: It's Not Easy Bein' Me, L.A. Law, The Richest Cat in the World, Multiplicity, and Analyze That, a range that shows he wasn't precious about format or prestige (TMDB). On the screenplay side, Back to School (1986), The Couch Trip (1988), and Stealing Home (1988) represent a concentrated run of produced credits that most working screenwriters would envy — three features in roughly three years, across comedy and drama. Then, two decades later, Buzzkill (2008), which he wrote and directed himself. A film about a writer whose stolen script launches an accidental career. Kampmann wrote and directed it. Make of that what you will.