I am in receipt of quite a few messages from people who loved the Caesar's Writers video which I linked to here the other day. Some of them have questions like…
Is that video the entire event? No. Some things were cut but not much.
What happened to Danny Simon?If you look carefully, you might be able to notice that Danny Simon disappears from the panel at some point. Mr. Simon was feeling and ill and without explanation, suddenly walked off the stage. His brother Neil followed to go check on him and after a few minutes, Neil returned but Danny did not. We later heard he was okay but he needed to go home. The folks who edited the show did some clever cutting and you may not have noticed Danny's departure.
Did these men really have the same respect for each other as it would appear in the video? I think so. All of them were men of considerable accomplishment, awards and wealth, although obviously some of them had more of those things than others. There was a subtle undercurrent of some past feuds or fights here and there but any of that was pretty much set aside while they were on stage and even before and after the event.
And finally: You say you were in the audience…are you visible in the video? Briefly, yes. Around 12:30 into the video, Mel Brooks introduces Howie Morris in the audience and Howie stands up and takes a bow. I was sitting next to Howie wearing a tan coat which, by coincidence, was the exact same color as the one Larry Gelbart was wearing. Larry said to me, "I see you got the memo about the dress code for tonight!"