When alumna Laurie Parres broke out into the sitcom world, she knew writing for TV shows was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.
Parres most recently wrote for the Nickelodeon series “Wendall and Vinnie,” and other TV shows including “Spin City” and “Charmed.”
Parres recently found out the teen comedy show “Wendall and Vinnie,” which started in February, will not return next season.
“Even thought the show with Nickelodeon got canceled, those people were the funniest and most amazing people I have ever worked with,” Parres said.
Parres discovered her love for sitcom writing when she did an internship with the Mary Tyler Moore production company, named after the actress, while still in school and was then asked back for a full-time job.
“It was a like big frat house,” Parres said. “Everyone was putting inside jokes in scripts and it looked like fun. That was when I realized I wanted something in TV and I thought, ‘This is it: I’m a writer.’”
Parres graduated in 1986 with a degree in telecommunications because it was the best major offered for working with sitcoms or TV dramas. After flying to Los Angeles to work with the Mary Tyler Moore production company, she wanted to write more, so Parres went to graduate school for two years.
Once she finished graduate school, she got a job as a writer’s assistant for the TV show “The Golden Girls.”
Attending MSU was a great experience, Parres said.
“MSU awakened me,” she said. “I came away with lasting skills and insights.”
Parres now is focusing her attention on a business she recently started called Speeches Delivered , where she and a team of five other writers compose personalized toasts and speeches — everything from a groomsman’s toast to a birthday roast speech.
“My career is still evolving,” Parres said. “This is a cool time where you can do lots of different stuff and projects.”
Parres said she is excited about how the university constantly incorporates new things, such as the Media Sandbox in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences and MSU-run spring break trips, including one where MSU students were brought to her studio in LA for a tour and given information about her career.
Parres said she wants students to know that they have the knowledge real-world companies need.
“Students have so much access to things and need to take advantage of it,” Parres said. “Students have a world view that we don’t have and would love to tap in to.”
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