Monthly Archives: June 2014

Today, Stu Shostak welcomes a real writer to this program; not like that clown he had on last week. My pal Phoef Sutton got his start writing for Cheers — that's pretty impressive — and later worked for Newsradio, Boston Legal, The Naked Truth, Bob and many more. He's a smart, talented guy with much to say about those shows and the television business. Don't miss this one.

Stu's Show can be heard live (almost) every Wednesday at the Stu's Show website and you can listen for free there and then. Webcasts start at 4 PM Pacific Time, 7 PM Eastern and other times in other climes. They run a minimum of two hours and sometimes go to three or beyond. Then shortly after a show concludes, it's available for downloading from the Archives on that site. Downloads are a measly 99 cents each and you can get four for the price of three. It's the best deal in cyberspace apart from all the free porn.

Joe DeLillo speaks with some of David Letterman's former writers about his legacy.

My friend Tracy Abbott (herself, a former writer for Dave and also for Jay) sent me this article and asked what I thought of it. I was a huge fan of Dave on NBC, a lesser fan of his early CBS shows…and I've rarely watched him the last ten years or so. I thought he was great for a long time but I also think people tend to praise him for inventing a lot of things that others did before him…and also things for which his writers, including the ones interviewed for this article, deserve serious credit.

One reason Dave's early shows seemed so revolutionary is the unavailability of the talk show that Steve Allen did for the Westinghouse company from 1962 to 1964. If ever a program turned that format on its head, it was that one. Not only did you never know what was going to happen on it, it was obvious that Steve rarely knew. I have a strong belief that whenever someone next "reinvents" the talk show, they'll be doing something very much like what Mr. Allen did fifty years ago, especially the last months of that series.

Speaking of the uniqueness of Letterman in the article, Gerry Mulligan asks, "Who knew the name of Jack Paar's stage manager? Also, the whole idea of letting the home audience see the internal workings of the show — taking the camera into the green room, the control room, even the show's offices." That wasn't the modus operandi of Mr. Paar but Steverino did all that, including making his stage manager a character on the show.

The stage manager was named Johnny Wilson. If the producers thought an interview was getting dull, they sometimes sent Wilson out to hit Steve Allen with a pie that Steve didn't know was coming. No one on Letterman's staff would dare do anything Dave didn't know was coming. (This, by the way, is all my opinion. I didn't discuss this with Tracy.)

On one episode — and this was planned — Wilson hit Steve with a shaving cream pie. Then Steve pied him back. Then Wilson fled into the audience where every person had been supplied with a plastic raincoat and a couple of pies to throw at the stage manager and at each other. It was quite an amazing moment in television history.

I have heard that all or most episodes of this series still exist and that the Steve Allen estate is sitting on them, waiting for the right moment to market them. If this is so, I wish that right moment would come soon. You'd see an awful lot of things that Carson, Leno, Letterman and others later did…and an awful lot of things they would never in a billion years do, mostly involving putting the star on the spot to do something slightly dangerous. Or, scarier, to ad-lib.

Here's a 16 minute segment from that series featuring a then-unknown musician named Frank Zappa. The show had a much more leisurely pace than might feel right today but note how Steve was utterly unprepared for the spot. As was done often, the show's announcer, Johnny Jacobs, brought on the guest and introduced him, not only to the audience but to the host. Steve Allen apparently knew little about it before: No pre-interview, no questions or jokes on cards, etc. Today, that would all be planned out and even rehearsed…

Tucker Carlson seems out to prove he's everything Jon Stewart says he was…and less.

Here is a way-too-brief (and too focused on those who went on to stardom) oral history of The Groundlings, a wonderful improv troupe/school in Los Angeles. I spent a fair amount of time on the periphery of that organization. You couldn't really be a part of it if you were convinced you had no business being on a stage. But I admired everything about it and darn near everyone I ever saw perform there.

Tim Murphy runs down a list of conspiracy theories involving Hillary Clinton. It's hard to believe that even the spreaders of some of these theories believed they were true; just that they might be profitable.

Because of my trip outta town, I didn't watch the Tony Awards when they aired and haven't gotten around yet to viewing them via TiVo. I am told that they did not include the "In Memoriam" segment but instead decided to post it to YouTube. I'm sure there are some complaints being heard today about that.

Here it is. I was surprised to see Michael Filerman in there. Mike was a TV producer who moved on to Broadway. In his TV years, he bought an idea from the then-new team of Evanier and Palumbo and sold it to CBS. Then during the short span of time it took for us to write the pilot script, personnel at CBS changed a bit and the folks who liked our idea were replaced by folks who thought it reeked of a powerful odor…or something. Anyway, it went nowhere but Dennis and I were very grateful to Mike for his support. He went on to be one of the main folks behind Dallas and many other hit shows and earned eight Tony nominations with two wins (for The Gershwins' Porgy And Bess and The Norman Conquests).

So, yes, it is possible to have a career after hiring me. You'll see him in here along with other talented folks. And boy, there's a lot of stuff on this page today considering it's Mushroom Soup Monday…

Okay, this is worth writing about, even on a Mushroom Soup Monday. This morning about 10:15, there was some sort of encounter in El Sereno, an outlying area of Los Angeles and it resulted in a high-speed freeway chase. The cops were following a guy in a maroon car who was armed and deemed likely to use that weapon. The chase went on and on and by 11 AM, all the local stations were preempting regular programming and covering the chase from copters. It sounded like the news copters' biggest problem was not running into each other or the police choppers.

At this point, I would guess that the stations that have an 11 AM newscast figured it was a "hot" news story and that it was likely to be over during their newscasts so it would not interfere with regular programming. I would further the guess the other stations joined in for competitive reasons and also figured they'd only be ruining one or two soap operas for their audience.

Then the suspect bailed. With an assault rifle in hand, he fled the car and for the last few hours, he's been barricaded in a home in North Hollywood with around 78,000 police surrounding the area…and it's nearing 3 PM. The officers are apparently trying to wait the guy out and they're also refusing to discuss if they're in contact with the suspect and what they plan to do and they're asking the media not to reveal where officers have been deployed.

So you have a mob of reporters out there with nothing to report. Almost nothing has changed in three hours and I have to think that at TV stations across the area, they're asking, "Why did we start covering this?" Because what if the guy's in there for many, many hours? They could wait out there until the guy dies of old age. (They seem to have reason to believe he hasn't already just killed himself, which is what you might expect. Since I wrote the above paragraph, they seem to have announced that they are not in contact with the suspect.)

I'm watching this on Channel 2. Channel 2 is owned by the same folks who own Channel 9 and the two stations are broadcasting the exact same coverage. The last time this happened, I asked why they couldn't just go back to regular programming on Channel 2 and put up a little announcement that said that this news story was being covered over on Channel 9. That would serve the public interest better. No one would be unable to watch their reporting but those who'd prefer to watch Dr. Phil would get to do so.

Several folks in the industry wrote to explain it to me. FCC requires that broadcast stations air a certain amount of "public service" material and this kind of thing qualifies. Thus, the company that owns Channels 2 and 9 gets to fulfill those requirements for both channels without having to produce additional programming. It's silly because…

Oh! As I write this, they seem to have caught the guy…alive. The S.W.A.T. boys fired tear gas in, he came out and surrendered. All right. And now, the news reports are showing the footage of them firing the tear gas in a few moments ago. They didn't air it live in case the suspect was watching the news. Okay, it looks like this is over. I still don't understand why every channel has to cover something like this at once, especially when they don't know anything…

This time, I take Monday off from serious blogging (hey, there's an oxymoron) to tend to more pressing matters, unpacking and more sleep being among them. This doesn't mean I won't blog. Just means I'll put more things ahead of that than I usually do.

Before I submerge: Part of the time I was at the Phoenix Comicon, I was on the phone to the fine folks at Comic-Con International, planning out the thousands of panels I'm going to be hosting for them in only…let me do the math…44 days. Yikes. I will be moderating most of your old faves — Cartoon Voices, Quick Draw!, the annual Jack Kirby Tribute, That 70's Panel, Cover Story, etc. — and a few special event-type things. Announcements will be forthcoming.

If you have suggestions for panels, it's probably too late. If you want to give me suggestions about who should be on my panels, this is the time.

Also, I think I may have solved the mystery of my iPhone mysteriously operating in the middle of the night back at the hotel. It wasn't the alarm clock on the bedside table that did it but I think I know what it was. I'll tell you after a bit more research.

Okay, on to other things. I may be back later today and I may not.

Hello from Los Angeles. The trip home was uneventful except that I couldn't find anything in the airport to eat that didn't collide with my food allergies and wound up hiking all the way over from the C gates to the B gates to find something. The only option over there turned out to be a McDonald's but it was something. I asked them to make me a Quarter-Pounder without cheese and the lady who took the order acted like I'd ordered a tuna sandwich with no tuna.

Back at the Phoenix Comicon, it felt like a low-key Sunday — fewer people than Saturday and the ones who were there seemed worn out…or maybe it was just me. Despite getting ample hours of sack time, I was pretty tired by the time I hauled my luggage and myself away. Anyway, my thanks again to the management of that fine convention for inviting me and treating me — and all their guests, as far as I could tell — so well. I need sleep.

A fine tune for any day…

The Phoenix Comicon is a very well-run, very well-attended comic book convention where everyone seems to be having a very good time. The place was, as advertised, packed yesterday. I would imagine that the biggest complaint most attendees have is how long it sometimes takes to get anywhere due to the massive crowds. That is, in a way, a recommendation for the event. I have no idea what the final attendance figures will be but I'll bet the con organizers are very happy with them.

I did encounter one dealer who was less than delighted with his sales. I dunno what the guy was selling. Our conversation occurred at the Hyatt while waiting in line for the elevator and as I've learned, when a dealer bitches about insufficient business, that could mean the convention hasn't attracted enough people eager to spend money…or it could mean that that guy brought the wrong stuff to sell and/or has it way overpriced. In any case, this particular dealer's gripe was how many of the attendees were cosplayers in costume. Said he, "They just come to parade around and be seen and block the aisles and none of them ever buys anything. Hell, most of them don't even have wallets or pockets to put a wallet in."

I offer the above without comment.

I am not wild about the Phoenix Convention Center. It's confusingly laid-out and it seems like its designer didn't pay ample mind to the issue of crowd control. I can also imagine some cellular company someday doing a commercial in which they boast, "Our coverage is so good, there's actually a slim chance you could make or receive a call inside the Phoenix Convention Center!" Still, the folks behind this particular con did a fine job working with what they had to work with and they treated their guests pretty well.

Friday night, I went back to that revolving restaurant for dinner, this time with Len Wein, Chris Claremont, artist Todd Nauck and his lovely wife Dawn. Food was great, company was great and there was a terrific fireworks display over the adjacent baseball stadium. It was a bit odd to be watching fireworks from the 24th floor of a building, thereby putting us closer to them than usual. It was just like being in the opening of Love, American Style except that Charo wasn't there. As far as I know.

Last night, Len and I went with my friend Phil Geiger to a barbecue restaurant to eat barbecue-type food. Len told us he's getting unnerved to meet children who have been named after comic book characters he named. It was okay when it was Logan (as in Wolverine) but now he's coming across kids named Colossus. I told him to brace himself for the day when a young girl comes up to him and says, "My parents were big fans of your comics. My name is Swampthing O'Reilly!"

I just got back from a little room here in the hotel where they serve breakfast to their guests and I had nice conversations with Billy Tucci and Gini Koch. I'm going to post a video link to Eric Idle singing the only song he knows, pack, check my luggage and get over to the con. When next you hear from me, I will be back in my office in Los Angeles. I hope.

I use — and have been very happy with — an anti-virus software called Avast…and believe me, I went through a lot of them before I settled on that one. It's lightweight, it's non-intrusive, it catches no-no's that might otherwise infest my system…pretty good product. It has given me great peace of mind while using the Internet.

Just now, I had a question and I went to their online Support Forum to see if the answer might be there. What I found instead was a page with this at the top of it…

AVAST forum offline due to attack

The AVAST forum is currently offline and will remain so for a brief period. It was hacked over this past weekend and user nicknames, user names, email addresses and hashed (one-way encrypted) passwords were compromised. Even though the passwords were hashed, it could be possible for a sophisticated thief to derive many of the passwords. If you use the same password and user names to log into any other sites, please change those passwords immediately. Once our forum is back online, all users will be required to set new passwords as the compromised passwords will no longer work.

This issue only affects our community-support forum. No payment, license, or financial systems or other data were compromised.

I now have a little less peace of mind while using the Internet.

Hey, let's watch some Triple Plays…

Making sense of this whole Bowe Bergdahl deal is hard because the Republicans who are outraged about it and demanding investigations and hinting at impeachment are the same ones who get outraged and demand investigations and hint at impeachment when Obama eats a chicken salad sandwich. But it might help to read what Fred Kaplan has to say and also what William Saletan thinks. And Paul Rosenberg reminds us that Ronald Reagan not only negotiated with terrorists but did it to undermine U.S. policy and help himself get elected president. But at least he didn't eat a chicken salad sandwich while doing it.

The Phoenix Comicon is huge…not quite Comic-Con International huge but huge in the same sense that it's hard to get around because of crowds and you won't get to see half of what's there to see. Everyone's telling me tomorrow (Saturday) will be wall-to-wall people and in some parts of the hall, that's how it felt today.

It has a higher density of "cosplayers" (folks who come in costume) than any convention I've ever attended save for Pittsburgh's Anthrocon, which is a "furry" gathering — meaning people in animal suits. I'm not sure I fully understand the motive of cosplayers, especially when it involves making an elaborate and perhaps expensive costume and/or painting one's self an odd color. I'm not knocking them in any way and I often admire the handiwork and effort. I'm just not sure I get why they do it or how wide a variety of reasons there might be.

Well, I will knock the cosplayers in one way. Look, I know your outfit is great and you spent a lot of time on it…but it is possible, you know, to pose for photos without blocking aisles.

At every entrance to the con today, there were security folks inspecting bags and tagging prop weapons. Many folks bring swords and fake guns and spears…and some were barred but others were "okayed" with a little plastic tag. Isn't Arizona an "open carry" state? One of these days, there's going to be a con where it's be permissible to bring in a real, loaded rifle but you're forbidden to carry around a light-sabre.

I really like the trend at conventions to sell "home-made" items — stuffed toys, posters, prints, props, etc. There were some great funny stuffed toys in the hall today and some beautiful figurines. In earlier convention days, 95% of sellers were hawking old comic books, old movie posters, old fantasy novels, etc. There's still that but there are now so many people selling wonderful things that they, themselves, made.

My biggest complaint about the con so far? No cell phone coverage in the hall. I had to keep traipsing outside to stay in touch with the world…and it was a long walk to get there, plus it was 108° outside. Next time I come back here in this weather, I'm having one of those mist-sprayers installed in my pants. Otherwise, having a good time.