 She then became a reporter for the "Los Angeles Daily Journal".During this period, she also began working as a freelance writer in television.Her early script-writing work included five episodes of "M*A*S*H" – of which one episode, "Hot Lips and Empty Arms," written with Mary Kay Place, was nominated for an Emmy Award – as well as scripts for "Rhoda", the television version of "Paper Moon", and the original pilot for "One Day at a Time".