Monthly Archives: June 2019

Looking better that Sergio and I will be at Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC on Saturday and Sunday. And yes, I will go visit Thelma Lou. I didn't even call and tell her I wasn't coming. I'm optimistic enough to finish packing.

I've been up for a while seeing if there was any way to salvage the trip to Heroes Con. There might be, though it would mean missing the first day. If this matters to you at all, check back here in a little while. I might still get to see Thelma Lou…

Hey, remember how excited my buddy Sergio Aragonés and I were to be guests this weekend at the Heroes Con in Charlotte, North Carolina? Well, guess what? We're not going to be there.

We were all packed and ready to go when a few hours ago — at 9:22 PM our time — we were notified that our flight was canceled. Here — I'll show you the text message they sent…

Half an hour later, they notified us that they'd rebooked us on a flight so early in the morning that Sergio would have to leave for the airport about now, whereas I could get two hours sleep before I had to start out.  That flight would take us not to Charlotte but to another city far from North Carolina for a long layover…but that doesn't matter because there's no way we can get to that flight on time.

So then I spent an hour on the phone with a lady at American Airlines who really couldn't have cared less if we got to our destination…and I'm not kidding. She didn't care and it really took an hour. A couple times, she said, "Let me check on other flights" and then disappeared for 8-12 minutes.  I used one of those "on hold" intervals to check other airlines for other flights and there was nothing there that would work.

The flights she offered for today were all dreadful, unacceptable options and there were no flights whatsoever on Friday. The only reason she could give for our flight being canceled was "aircraft maintenance." She didn't say or know any more than that but I'm guessing it had something to do with this…

American Airlines announced Sunday that it will extend flight cancellations through Sept. 3 for Boeing's embattled 737 Max, a new passenger jet that has been out of commission for almost three months after its flight-control software played a role in two deadly crashes. The cancellations will affect approximately 115 flights per day, the airline said.

Our flight was on an Airbus A321 but obviously, American has a shortage of planes to go with their shortage of caring people on their reservations line. Whatever the cause, Sergio and I decided it was impossible to get there and we're pretty unhappy about that. We know there were folks who decided to make the journey to Heroes Con to see us. Well, him. There were people there we wanted to see, as well. And you know who I really feel sorry for? Their programming director — a great guy named Andrew Mansell, who now has to find other moderators for the eleven panels I was going to host.

And I feel bad that I won't be making the "side trip" I had planned for Monday. I had an Avis car booked in which to drive to Mt. Airy, a lovely (I hear) town an hour or two north of Charlotte but still in North Carolina. Mt. Airy was where Andy Griffith grew up and the town of Mayberry on The Andy Griffith Show was roughly modeled on Mt. Airy. In turn, Mt. Airy has since modeled some of itself on Mayberry…and that's also where the Andy Griffith Museum is.

I was going to spend most of Monday getting a tour of the city. Barney Fife's old girlfriend Thelma Lou was going to show me around and then I was going to take her to dinner. I'm not kidding about this.

I grew up in West L.A. In the house next door to ours lived Betty Lynn, a busy actress who did many things in her career but is best known for her years on the Griffith Show playing Thelma Lou. The Lynns and the Evaniers were very close and Betty was like an aunt to me — a wonderful, loving aunt and I adore her.

I haven't seen this lady since 2006 when she moved from L.A. to Mt. Airy where she is by far the biggest celebrity in town. When I wake up in the morning, I have to call her and tell her I'm not coming. I'll promise her that I will, though…very soon.

And I want to emphasize that our non-appearance there is not the fault of the convention or its organizers, who have been nothing but peachy to us. If they'll still have us, Sergio and I will make it to a Heroes Con soon…especially if there's another airline that can get us there. I still can't get over how indifferent that lady on the phone was.

I'm a fan of Billy Wilder's 1974 remake of the movie The Front Page, done this time with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.  Many of you will disagree with me when I say I prefer it to the 1931 version with Adolphe Menjou and Pat O'Brien, and I also prefer it to His Girl Friday, the 1940 remake with Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant.  (Well, you can't disagree that I prefer it over them but you might feel that no sane person would…)

I think Lemmon and Matthau are both sensational and I don't mind the changes in the original play that give Walter Burns (the character Matthau plays) a larger role.  I also think that, Carol Burnett aside, the casting of the other roles is spot-on.  Vincent Gardenia darn near does the impossible when he comes within scoring distance of stealing a Lemmon and Matthau movie from Lemmon and Matthau.

But it's one of those films that's never gotten its due.  It didn't fare well at the box office because, I think, it was just ill-timed for the marketplace.  Films in 1974 had to be a little less conventional, a bit edgier.  I remember taking a date to it at a theater in Westwood and after it, she told me that she thought at first it was an old movie and only realized it was new when Burnett came on the screen.

It's been available for some time on home video but it's about to get a fancy, much-deserved Blu-ray release which, I'm told, will look splendid and will serve the superb Art Direction better than ever.   The release will also contain the theatrical trailer and interviews with a couple of folks involved in the production, one of them being Austin Pendleton, who was also so good in it.  There's also an audio commentary by film historian Mike Schlesinger and me.  I had a bad cough the day we did this and I hope the sound editors cleaned most of it out. It might have been better if they'd cleaned me out.

It'll be out from the fine folks at Kino Lorber in August and you can advance order a copy here.  I will, of course, mention it again in August.

Here's a link to a pretty long podcast interview of David Letterman. His comments on Donald Trump are interesting. His comments on Jay Leno are, as usual, comments about himself. The story he tells about the attempts of Johnny Carson's close associates to position Dave to take over The Tonight Show and then oust Carson are somewhat different from the way Dave has told that story in the past. But he's still one of the most interesting "talkers" ever in show business. The interview is long but you may find it worth your time.

The song we were discussing earlier today from the Tony Awards was a parody of a tune in the current Broadway musical, Be More Chill. It's called "Michael in the Bathroom," Michael being one of the show's teenage characters who is groping to find his identity and acceptance in the world. This has become a not-uncommon theme lately on Broadway and especially Off-Broadway, where Be More Chill played to sell-out crowds before relocating to The Great White Way and the Lyceum Theater.

Joe Iconis, who wrote the musical, took to Twitter to say…

Just wanna set the record straight so there's no confusion: I had no idea a "Michael in the Bathroom" parody was happening on the Tony Awards. I heard that there was going to be some mention of the song but never imagined it would be so involved. The first time I heard the song was when I was sitting in the audience and I had nothing to do with the rewritten (and totally delightful) lyrics. (Sidenote – would love to know who actually wrote those lyrics. They rhymed! I appreciated that.) Our show is a little musical not based on a famous movie or a famous musical act and so national tv exposure is a huge deal for us. Hopefully folks who saw the parody last night will take it upon themselves to research what musical the song was actually from!

Just in case they don't, do me a favor and help spread the word that the song that was parodied on the Tonys is called "Michael In The Bathroom." It is performed in the show by the actor George Salazar whose gut-wrenching and brilliant performance is a good part of the reason that our cast album was streamed hundreds of million times before we ever got to Broadway. It was orchestrated by the genius Charlie Rosen (l think the track that was used last night was recorded especially for the broadcast but it was clearly based on Charlie's iconic arrangement!) It's from a musical that celebrates people who feel like misfits, losers, underdogs. That musical is called Be More Chill and it's currently playing at the Lyceum Theater on Broadway. Come see us this summer.

Apparently, James Corden received some criticism for not identifying the lineage of the song. He then tweeted…

Our song "James in the Bathroom" is a parody of an incredible Joe Iconis song from the musical @BeMoreChill. It's my favourite song of the season and here is the original.

…and he followed that with a link to the video of the song posted below here. Iconis responded, "James Corden. Classy man. Thanks, sir." Which is fine but neither we nor Mr. Iconis know who wrote those parody lyrics that he praised. Here's the clip with George Salazar as Michael…

From NPR…

Comedian Jon Stewart slammed members of the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday in a hearing on funding for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, saying it was "shameful" that more of them did not attend.

I'm sitting here trying to think of (a) any issue before us today which should prompt more immediate, non-partisan action and (b) of any professional entertainer who devotes more time and passion to "just doing the right thing" on an issue by which he or she can in no way profit. Jon Stewart doesn't even have any current project that might get a boost from the publicity he would get.

I suppose if I thought long and hard, I might come up with someone who could match him on (b) and there might be an issue that could match funding health care for 9/11 responders…but I don't see how you could beat it. Take nine minutes and watch a visibly-frustrated Jon Stewart address the committee with righteous anger, utter clarity and an eloquence that must be hard to achieve when you're that enraged and/or outraged…

He complained and complained that our NATO allies needed to spend more on defense weaponry…and now they're doing it and Trump's mad. Why? Because the whole idea was to get them to spend more with U.S. weapons makers and instead, they're buying from within their own countries. Fred Kaplan has more.

This was my favorite "bit" on the Tony Awards Sunday night. Let's watch it together and I'll tell you some of the things that go through my mind when I watch something like this…

First off, on a night when Radio City Music Hall was as packed as it ever is, they probably had to close off one of the men's rooms all evening for this…and find one where the camera could avoid mirrors. The sound in a tile-lined room can be a problem so I'm wondering if they had problems with that…or the lighting. They may have had to swap fixtures out.

The whole number is one continuous shot with one cutaway but there's that 360° pan in it. So there may have been just one cameraperson in the room with a steadi-cam and no stage manager or anyone else for most of it. If there was someone else, he or she had to be very fleet o' foot to stay behind the cameraperson during the 360. Then they snuck a second camera in so they could cut to the close-up of Neil Patrick Harris near the end. Or maybe the second cameraperson stayed behind the first one for the sweep pan.

The performers were all wearing RF mikes and earpieces so they could hear the music and any cues from the director. But based on the timing, I don't think they could hear the studio audience or Corden wouldn't have been talking over the big reaction for N.P.H.

The credits told us David Javerbaum and Tom Kitt wrote the opening number but didn't tell us who wrote this one. It might have been one or more of the seven people (including Corden) credited with "Special Material." Javerbaum, who has written many great songs for events like this, was in that list. He may have written the bathroom spot but if so, why credit him for the opening number and not for the other one?

Of all the segments in the show, this is one that could have been pre-recorded. That would have enabled them to do it a few times and pick the best one and it would have taken some pressure off Mr. Corden and the crew during the actual show. It would also have freed-up what may have been a much-needed men's room.

Usually, the reason to not pre-record something like this is so the performers can react to the live audience but they apparently couldn't hear them anyway. The producers probably felt they had to do it live because the theme of the show was to be "live" — although the King Kong segment was obviously recorded at another time.

Anyway, I thought it was a nice little number. They probably had to go to a lot of trouble to make it happen and I'm thinking that once upon a time, the available technology would have made it impossible. Corden's late night show goes to this much trouble often for one spot, usually a musical one. It's usually worth the effort.

The Programming Schedule in online for Heroes Con, which takes place this weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) in Charlotte, North Carolina. If you check it out, you'll see I'm hosting an awful lot of panels. If you're interested at all in how comic books are made or how they were made in the past, there will be several events of interest to you.

Please note that Heroes Con's "Quick Draw" has nothing to do with the event of the same name that Sergio, Scott Shaw! and I have been doing for decades at West Coast conventions. We won't be doing that there.

For more info on Heroes Con, check out the rest of the convention website. I'll be there all three days. I won't be at my table much but it's #1102, right between Sergio Aragonés and Stan Sakai. I'm bringing absolutely nothing to sell but I'm told several dealers will have copies of some of my books. I don't charge for autographs unless for some aberrant reason you want what I consider a lot of them. Four is a lot to me. And since I'm not selling, I don't mind if you want to just drop by and chat.

I enjoyed the Tony Awards. I'm kind of in awe of how hard James Corden works. Just in terms of how much time on The Late Late Show obviously goes into rehearsal and remotes, I suspect he's the hardest-working late night host ever. Add in the fact that he also does prime-time specials, shows like the Tony Awards and he did that The World's Best series…and the guy makes Steve Harvey look like a loafer. Corden's also really good at everything except not fawning too much over his guests.

Apparently, there is some concern on the 'net that now that Les Moonves is no longer at CBS, the Tonys may not be televised there. Before Moonves was in command, they almost seemed to be running the show under duress and cramming it into a too-short time slot and the show was forbidden to run even a minute over. Moonves was the guy who loved the event and let it run longer and at a loss. Each telecast, they always got a shot of him in the audience as a kind of "thank you."

There's a contract in place to keep the Tony Awards on CBS through 2026 but of course, there could come a point where someone in charge there would say, "Let's get out of that deal." TV networks have whole legal squadrons that specialize in weaseling out on deals.

Early reports say the ratings were notably down from last year…and last year, they weren't so hot. It may turn out to be the lowest-rated Tony telecast in some time. Also, some of the reviews this morning strike me as unfairly harsh. I would agree though with those who said it could have used more of its host and fewer presenters brought to the stage by the fine voiceover skills of Randi Thomas.

The concern may be unwarranted. We haven't heard anyone at CBS say that maybe it's time to re-examine the network's commitment to the Tony Awards. But someone's got to at least be thinking it…

By the way: I erred when I said I didn't see any of the nominated shows. Amber and I went to see Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations during its pre-Broadway Los Angeles engagement.

At the PaleyFest in L.A. last March, Stephen Colbert sat down for nice chat with Pete Holmes. Here are two bright men talking for an hour…

…and since I started watching non-live via DVR after watching John Oliver, I'm only at the 1:13 mark. I didn't see any of the nominated shows so I don't have any predictions or rooting interest…but I think Beetlejuice just won the competition for doing a scene from your show that sends people rushing to the Ticketmaster website to buy seats.

And I think it's kinda funny that on a broadcast designed to celebrate the joys of live TV, no one told the sound guy to make sure the right microphones are on when people are talking.

John Hall Baumann and Associates (that's who the e-mail said it was from) wrote to ask…

IMDb lists you having written "unknown episodes" of Pryor's Place. How many did you write? Of these, how many aired?. I have no recollection of this children's show. Is there a good reason for that?

In 1984, Sid and Marty Krofft and CBS persuaded Richard Pryor to do a live-action Saturday morning show for kids. Mr. Pryor, who then was near the peak of his movie stardom, had a powerful desire to do something to "give back" and make some effort to assist young folks with the struggles and lessons of life. Most of the episodes were based on Richard saying, "Let's do a show on so-and-so," and "so-and-so" was some topic where he felt he had something to say.

It turned out that while he did have something to say about each topic, it was only a sentence or three…so the rest of the half-hours were filled with comedy and dramatizations about the issue…and puppets. Yes, puppets. A young actor named Akili Prince played Richard as a kid and then Richard played several different characters in Little Richie's neighborhood.

There were many good things about doing a kids' show fronted by Richard Pryor, one obvious one being that it got attention that would not have been there with a lesser star. Another was that every star in show business wanted to appear on a show with Richard Pryor even if it meant working for scale. Among those folks were Robin Williams, Sammy Davis Jr., Rip Taylor, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Scatman Crothers, William Marshall, Lily Tomlin, Pat Morita and Henry Winkler.

One of the episodes that I wrote guest-starred Marla Gibbs, Willie Nelson, Ray Parker Jr. and John Ritter. We had a tiny problem with Mr. Ritter who wanted very much to do the show…until he got his script and discovered all his scenes were with Little Richie and not with Richard. A short scene had to be added — one which had nothing to do with the plot of that episode — so Ritter could play a second role and have some camera time with Pryor.

Downsides? Well, Richard was not the most reliable fellow in the world and he had an odd concern about being too funny. The episode with Ritter and the other guests was about Little Richie overcoming stage fright to appear in the school play, a production of Romeo and Juliet. I'd suggested Pryor might have some valuable advice to dispense to kids about having the courage to appear before an audience. It was only the foundation of his entire success in life.

When the idea was run past him (not by me), he sparked to it and I was given the go-ahead to write the script. In a key scene, it's just before opening night and Richie — dressed in full Romeo regalia — has a panic attack and runs from the auditorium. He flees to the alley where Bummer more or less lives. Bummer was a homeless guy, one of Pryor's recurring characters.

As written, Richie admits his cowardice and Bummer says, "You ain't a coward. You're one of the bravest cats I've ever seen." Richie asks what makes him think that and Bummer replies, "I sure wouldn't have the guts to walk around this neighborhood dressed like that." Everyone thought that was a funny line…even Pryor, who laughed and then insisted it be cut from the script.

I have had bizarre moments in my career but few as bizarre as standing in Richard Pryor's dressing room, listening as others (not me) argued for it and Pryor said, "It's too funny and I'm not doing this show to be too funny. I can be too funny on other shows. I'm doing this show to talk to kids and teach them something." I still don't quite understand that but he axed lines from other episodes for the same reason.

The other problem with Pryor was that he had a short attention span. As he was doing this show, he was simultaneously prepping a somewhat-autobiographical movie he'd direct called Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling. After taping six or so episodes of our series, he suddenly announced he wanted to devote full time to the movie and wouldn't do any more episodes of Pryor's Place until he'd finished the film. The contract with the network required that thirteen be delivered in just a few months from then.

Various folks explained, begged, pleaded, threatened, cajoled and otherwise — finally! — convinced him to come back and finish the thirteen in time. But he felt he'd said what he wanted to say to kids and so doing more was a dead issue. As it turned out, the ratings were good but not great…and even if they'd been through the proverbial roof, he wasn't doing any more.

The show was nominated for a bunch of Emmys but only won two — for Art Direction and Costume Design. Pryor and Tomlin were both up for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Program but were beaten by John Carradine. The writers (Lorne Frohman, Paul Mooney, S.S. Schweitzer and me) were beaten by Mister Rogers. And the Emmy for Outstanding Children's Series went, as it usually does, to Sesame Street.

The show went on the air on September 15, 1984. For some reason, Wikipedia and other online sources say it went off in December but it really left the CBS Saturday morning schedule the following June. Most or all of the episodes were available for a time on VHS but as far as I know, they've been seen nowhere else in this country. I have not received a residual check for it since the end of the Reagan Administration.

Finally, to answer your questions: I wrote two of them, both of which were filmed, both of which aired multiple times. I was not involved with the show's creation or development. It was created by my buddy Lorne Frohman and Sid and Marty Krofft. I was just called in to write what I wrote, primarily working with a very fine gent named Carl Kleinschmitt, who along with the whole Krofft team deserved a lot of credit for what was good about Pryor's Place.

I suspect the show hasn't gotten more attention because although I think a few of them are on YouTube, there's really been no place to see it for over thirty years. That's what happens to a lot of shows that only have thirteen episodes.

A recent profile/interview of John Cleese…