LIVE THIS FRIDAY: From Comedy Central to Courtroom Noir - Art Bell’s Wild Ride Into Fiction.
The WCCS - Season 16 episode 01.
This Friday night, we’re peeling back the curtain on a television icon turned thriller novelist in a conversation you won’t want to miss.
Art Bell, the creator of Comedy Central, the former President of Court TV, and now the author of a gripping new noir thriller What She’s Hiding, joins us live and unfiltered on The Writing Community Chat Show.
📺 Who is Art Bell?
You’ve probably laughed at a show on Comedy Central thanks to this man. As a TV executive, Art Bell helped launch one of the most iconic comedy brands in history, shaping the future of satirical entertainment. Then he shifted gears and ran Court TV, overseeing gavel-to-gavel courtroom drama and hard-hitting true crime productions that had audiences hooked.
But that was just the beginning.
Now, with his newest reinvention, Art has turned his sharp eye for drama and story into page-turning fiction. His memoir, Constant Comedy: How I Started Comedy Central and Lost My Sense of Humor, became a 2020 Best Book Awards finalist — and now he’s back, this time with his first novel: a razor-edged thriller that channels the darkness and dysfunction he witnessed in real-life courtrooms.
🖤 What She’s Hiding. A Modern-Day Noir You’ll Devour.
Fans of Harlan Coben and Laura Dave, this one's screaming your name.
When hotshot Manhattan lawyer Henry Gladstone is confronted by the ex-wife he hasn't seen since their explosive divorce, his first reaction is to brush her off. But when she claims their lives are in danger unless he hands over $250,000, and his apartment is mysteriously ransacked, Henry's drawn into a dangerous spiral of lies, mobsters, and long-buried secrets.
It’s a noir-tinged legal thriller packed with pace, tension, and a surprising emotional punch. Think The Lincoln Lawyermeets Gone Girl... but with Bell’s own courtroom-hardened twist.
🎤 What You’ll Hear on Friday:
The inside story behind Comedy Central's birth, and how Art almost lost his mind (and job) trying to make people laugh.
Why he pivoted from comedy to true crime… and then into fictional suspense.
How What She’s Hiding draws on his real-world experience with courtroom drama and media manipulation.
His advice for writers transitioning genres or mediums, and why storytelling always wins.
A behind-the-scenes look at what it’s really like to run a national television network (hint: it involves chaos, pitch meetings, and occasionally, lawsuits).
💡 Why This Matters
Our paid Substack members are keeping this show, and now our CIC social enterprise — alive and thriving. You’re helping us support emerging authors, create writing resources, fund online workshops, and push for better mental health support in the creative community.
So this isn’t just a live interview. It’s part of something bigger, and you’re part of that movement.
🔴 HOW TO WATCH
🗓 Friday at 8PM (UK)
📍 Only on our Substack live stream for paid members
📚 Come for the thriller, stay for the story behind the story.
🎟 Not yet a paid member? You can upgrade today and get instant access to this live show and everything else we’ve got planned. It’s less than the cost of a coffee a month, and goes a lot further.
Art Bell’s life has been anything but ordinary. This Friday, he tells us why.
We’ll see you there.
—
CJ & Chris
The Writing Community Chat Show
WATCH THE LIVE SHOW BELOW THIS LINE - FRIDAY, 8PM UK TIME.
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