A group called Cinefamily operates the Silent Movie Theater up on Fairfax in Los Angeles. I spent many years of my life in that building back when it offered naught but silents. Nowadays, Cinefamily offers all kinds of cinematic delights, usually for one or two nights at a time and they've started a new thing called TV Tuesdays. Every now and then on a Tuesday, they're going to run obscure television programs and when possible, have in folks who worked on them for accompanying interviews.
My friend Kliph Nesteroff, who does such wonderful conversations with old comedians on his blog, is involved in the programming. Last Tuesday night, he hosted a Tribute to George Schlatter, the prolific TV producer who gave us, among many other programs, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, The Judy Garland Show and Real People. (For some reason, there was no mention of Real People all evening…) I took as my date Sergio Aragonés, who appeared on several Schlatter programs including the 1977 revival of Laugh-In.
George and Sergio spent a lot of time hugging and promising to get together again soon, and George kept telling everyone within earshot that he'd introduced Sergio to the woman he [Sergio] had married. (That's true. Sergio and Charlene met when she was a dancer on an unsold Schlatter pilot and Sergio was its Art Director.) The event was packed with so many people who'd worked with George that I told him, "I think I'm the only person here tonight you never hired."
George is still sharp and still funny…though Kliph, who did a great job with the on-stage discussion, had to steer him through a couple of his better anecdotes. We all especially enjoyed the one about how George was producing a special on location in New York and a man dropped dead on the spot where they had to shoot. They weren't allowed to move the body until the coroner arrived so trumpeter Al Hirt had to stand over it and play his number while George made sure the corpse wasn't in any of the camera shots. Thereafter whenever Hirt worked for Schlatter, his contract specified he would not have to perform around dead bodies.
Schlatter talked about getting fired from The Judy Garland Show. He talked about battling network censors on Laugh-In. He talked about producing a TV show called Turn-On that still holds the distinction of being the fastest network cancellation of all time. It was a long conversation but it barely scratched the surface of all the man has done. They ran brief clips from a couple of shows and longer, slightly abridged versions of two specials he did. One was Soul with Redd Foxx, Slappy White, Nipsey Russell, George Kirby and others engaged in a black version of Laugh-In. The other was TCB, the first TV special featuring Diana Ross and the Supremes, along with other Motown artists.
The event then spilled out to the sidewalk outside and George stayed around for a time signing things and talking to everyone. What a great evening. Good work, Kliph.