I know you're all in suspense so let me put your minds at ease: Yes, Carolyn and I got into the Carl Reiner Tribute last evening at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. So did a lot of folks who had a very good time. A few advertised guests did not show. Mel Brooks is suffering from, Carl explained, a "chip" in his hip that is causing much pain. Rob Reiner has walking pneumonia. And Ann Morgan Guilbert was not present for reasons that went unexplained. On the other hand, Lily Tomlin (who had not been advertised) participated and there was another surprise guest at the end who some probably thought came close to making up for those absences.
Rather than explain what went on, I'm going to show you. We have here a video of what I believe is the entire event. It runs two hours and twenty minutes and it goes in and out of sync throughout but not so much as to ruin its watchability. A few of the clips that were shown in the theater, such as a montage of scenes from Reiner-directed movies, have been replaced with excerpts from other Academy interviews, presumably due to a rights problem. But otherwise, it's all there except, of course, you won't quite feel the sensation of fun and love that filled the room.
If you don't have time to watch the whole thing, you might enjoy a video that Steve Martin sent in to be shown at the event. It starts around 45 minutes in and got huge laughs, though the audience reaction is not heard on it during this video. You might also enjoy the section about The Dick Van Dyke Show which starts around an hour and 20 minutes in. But pretty much the entire thing is worth watching once things get started. I'll write more about it later today…
