msdemos leads off:
In all your experience, have you ever been personally involved in any memorably "shocking" episodes like that one.....or, if not, were you ever a part of any of the "VERY Special Episodes" that seemed to be a fad for a while (for instance, Michael J. Fox's (mostly) one man show Family Ties episode from 1987 entitled, "A, My Name Is Alex", that ran a full hour) ??
I would certainly say the POV episode of MASH qualifies. On CHEERS we killed off Eddie LeBec. On FRASIER we had the first return visit of Lilith and Sam Malone.
And on THE TORTELLIS we wrote the classic episode where… um... uh... I can’t recall what it was about at the moment but I know it was memorable.
From Gary Crant (and yes I saw what you did there):
It's never ceased to amaze me the number of intricate and varied sets that FRASIER used. Of course, most of the show took place in his condo or at the cafe or radio station, but it seems like almost every episode had a novel set location. Not really a question, just an observation.
Ok, it actually is a question. How in the hell did they pull that off? Both in terms of work and budget.
Each episode was budgeted for one additional (i.e. “swing”) set. And there was room on the stage to accommodate that.
Occasionally there would be episodes that didn’t require a swing set. The money allotted to those episodes could be used later.
So from time to time when you saw elaborate sets or weddings with large numbers of extras, that episode was offset by a “bottle” show where no outside sets were used.
The apartment, the radio station, and Cafe Nervosa were permanent sets. Actually, there were two Cafe Nervosas — one smaller to accommodate a large swing set if one was needed.
Brian asks:
Any stories about the actor William Hickey (pictured above) who played Carolton Blanchard on Wings? He was the recurring annoying old man that drove the gang crazy. And as if he wasn't enough torture, Gilbert Godfried appears as his nephew and he was even more annoying. Hilarious! I'm working my way through all the episodes on Hulu and enjoying them immensely.
The two things I remember is that Bill Hickey was truly hilarious, and I thought he was going to die at any moment. He was always so frail and his skin was whiter than paper, but God bless him, he delivered — hitting every line out of the park.
Those were fun episodes. I may go back and re-watch them… after I find a copy of THE TORTELLIS. What was our story about?
And finally, from Philly Cinephile:
I've noticed that people often expect those who work together in a movie or on a TV series to become lifelong friends, to the point that they often express outrage if an actor says that they're not in touch with their former costars. I find this odd because I tend to think that TV and film work is probably like any other job -- you have a good working relationship with someone, or you don't, and sometimes the working relationship develops into an outside friendship. Do you think this could be a result of people projecting the on-screen relationships onto the actors themselves, and do you find that people expect you to be in touch with everyone you've ever worked with?
People work together very intensely on TV or movie projects; often long hours in remote locations. There are a lot of accelerated relationships. You see that a lot in the theatre. There will be “showmances” as they’re called, and when the show closes they go their separate ways.
As for TV series, I liken it to high school. Everyone is close while experiencing it, and then when you graduate everyone goes their separate ways. You stay friends with some and others drift out of your life.
I remain friends with most actors I’ve worked with on series but see them only on occasion. I’m probably more in touch with writers I’ve worked with on series. But that’s only natural. When there was a CHEERS reunion a few years ago, actors sat at tables with each other and writers sat together at other tables.
What’s your Friday Question?
36 comments :
I just visited The Gallery Players web site and ,to my dismay,noticed that I just missed seeing your play, Time In A Box. It was available for streaming through last Sunday. The premise, the time capsule, would seem loaded with wonderful possibilities. Sorry that I missed it.
Every time I'm in a conversation and the city in New Mexico comes up, I get strange looks when I shout, "Las CROOOses?" Great episode, great series, great performance.
Bill Hickey was first known to me from an early-1970s public (pre-PBS) TV production called Between Time and Timbuktu, a sort of salad made from bits of Kurt Vonnegut Jr. stories and novels, with Hickey starring as the salad dressing. (Also featuring Bob & Ray in the framing story.)
Later I realized he was the guy in the bar in The Producers with whom Max and Leo sing "By the Light of the Silvery Moon" while the first act of "Springtime for Hitler" is playing across the street. By the time of Prizzi's Honor 20 years later, he was most accomplished at generating humor from his own decrepitude. (I never saw him in Wings.)
Who could forget the on location episode of Frasier, which was actually filmed in Seattle. I worked downtown at the time and actually saw a little of the filming.
Friday question - Who was the short, stocky actor that could always be seen on M*A*S*H, usually loading wounded onto (and off of)
the buses, as well as being seen during a lot of the surgery scenes. I cannot recall ever seeing him have any dialogue, or his name in the credits.
I thought the Tortellis was pretty funny but of course as it was it wasn't sustainable over the long term.
Ok, what was the THE TORTELLIS episode???
When Rob Reiner was on WTF with Marc Maron, Maron had just had Sally Struthers act in his own IFC show. He mentioned to her that he was going to be interviewing Reiner and Struthers was effusive with her praise of him. During the interview Maron expressed disappointment to Reiner that Reiner and Struthers didn't keep in touch.
If I remember correctly, the Tortellis episode was about how one character over heard a conversation, but not all of it, and mis-understood it. They became alarmed and started telling others about it, and like a telephone line experiment, by the time it got back to the person in the original conversation, it was completely convoluted, but hilarity ensued.
Once the mis-understand was discovered, they all lived happily ever after.
Question of your view.
You must have notice that the default on many streaming services is to skip credits. There's a simple click at the start to skip the opening. At the end, the viewer has to request to see the credits before it skips to the next episode or viewer choice.
In re William Hickey:
A very long-running career, dating back to early live TV in NYC.
Bill Hickey always looked far older than his actual age, which was a major factor in the parts he played (when he played the drunk in The Producers, he was only 40 years old).
As a New York actor, Bill Hickey made the rounds of the daytime soaps, often as sub-villains, rarely for as much as a week at a time.
By the way:
Do any DVD editions of The Producers contain the "deleted scenes"?
When NBC ran the movie in network prime time, they restored several scenes; it takes Max, Leo and Franz somewhat longer to blow up the theater in the extra footage - and Bill Hickey's drunk figures in this scene ...
Just askin', is all ...
As for cast members being actual friends, I think that people like myself who don't spend time on sets just buy into the "reality" in a show without realizing it. I know their dialog was written for them, that they are actors I can find in IMDB with other credits, but in TV shows we see the same faces and voices playing the same relationships, sometimes for years at a time. That their rapport with each other is fake seems unnatural somehow. If they weren't believable the show would fail. But they are believable, so we buy it without thinking.
Gottacook: Eternally grateful.
@Mike Doran
Amazingly, Hickey was only 69 when he died, considering he tended to play characters that seemed much older.
Also, when movies are shown on broadcast television, scenes are often added, either to replace other scenes that are cut or to fill up a broadcast window. I remember watching Caddyshack on WPIX11 and seeing scenes I never saw before.
And who can forget William Hickey as Uncle Lewis in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation". While lighting a cigar, he sets off a flash-fire on the Christmas tree.
Vonnegut was a Bob & Ray fan and wrote the foreward to a book of their radio scripts.
ScarletNumber, yeah, I remember when Fast Times at Ridgemont High was shown on broadcast channels, I was flabbergasted at the many outtakes that replaced many of the more risky scenes like Stacy's first sexual experience at a baseball dugout and, of course, Linda's removing her bikini top wet dream of Brad's!
Wow - The blog picture for my question. Thanks Ken, that made my day. I forgot about Bill Hickey in Christmas vacation.
In case you weren't joking about trying to recall the episode of THE TORTELLIS that you and David wrote, here it is, “His Girl Friday,” the thirteenth (and final) episode to be broadcast:
https://archive.org/details/The_Tortellis/S01E13+-+His+Girl+Friday.avi
Once again I accidentally erased my comments before I had the chance to post them. Oh well. Story of my life.
M.B.
William Hickey in Forget Paris:
https://youtu.be/FsKYNQTbSD4
It's Marc Maron's WTF Day on BKL! He says regularly that his romantic image of costars staying friends has been a hard dream to let go of, but a couple weeks ago Judd Hirsch said the cast of Taxi has had regular reunions, on zoom the last couple years, organized, to the surprise of no one who's seen her interviewed, by Marilu Henner (I mean that as a compliment, I'm a fan).
I believe it was on the Talking Sopranos podcast that I heard that William Hickey was an acting teacher with a devoted following in NYC in the time between The Producers and Prizzi's Honor. It's the kind of detail Imperioli knows and likes to hear about (me too).
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/taxi-turns-40-a-wild-ride-down-memory-lane-cast-creators-1139168/
I’m always happy to see someone else loving “Wings” 🤗🤗🤗🙌🙌🙌
Xmastime, I love Wings too.
Buffalo Wings, BBQ Wings, Lemon Pepper Wings...
;-)
I remember an episode of FAMILY in the 70's where the Quinn Cummings character was bullied in school and called a "dog." The actress must have been around 12 years old and I cringed when I watched the scene. Even though the actor is a "professional," I would think that a child may not be mature enough to ignore such a personal comment about their character's physicality. Have you even hesitated to write such a situation?
Back in the 1980s, I worked in a video store in the West Village and William Hickey would come in from time to time. I don't have any interesting anecdotes about him, other than that he was pleasant and it was always fun when he came in, simply because he was William Hickey and he had that voice.
Until I expanded the picture, I thought the guy in the white hair was Anderson Cooper.
Friday Question:
Of all the comic actors you've worked with, who do you think would be best as a President rallying their nation under attack?
On the subject of people who work together not being friends away from work...
I was surprised at the time that Greeny said on a podcast that he and Golic would probably not see each other again outside of the hallways of ESPN whenever their show ended. I mean they were opposites, but it seemed like they were friendly enough.
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Based on your humorous answers to our silly questions here, Kenny, I'm starting to think you may yet have a future with this comedy thing!!
However, SHOULD things eventually break for you son, remember these two things.......... ALWAYS stretch, and NEVER limit yourself !!
Oh......and when in Hollywood.....NEVER take candy from strangers.......or James Franco.....
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Spike de Beauvoir said...
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/taxi-turns-40-a-wild-ride-down-memory-lane-cast-creators-1139168/
Taxi was bumped for Too Close For Comfort.... Odds bodkins.
I don't remember the plot, but I really liked the Becker that ends with Becker at the window of the diner, "I knew it!"
friday question: on the cheers anniversary show, why'd you guys go with john mclaughlin to host? and... was the seating arrangement a big discussion? i can't imagine shelley long was psyched about being seated next to robin colcord and a charles brother.
@Anonymous
You're really surprised about Greeny and Golic? The whole raison d'etre of the show is that the two co-hosts wouldn't be friends in real life. Penn and Teller have both freely admitted that their partnership is strictly business, although they like each other at a superficial level.
@danny woodhead
At the time of the Cheers reunion* John McLaughlin was undergoing a bit of a career renaissance due to the popularity of the Dana Carvey impression on Saturday Night Live. In a similar vein, Inside The Actors Studio became much more popular due to the Will Ferrell impression of James Lipton.
*actually the 200th episode retrospective
"Death of a Cheerleader" was based on an actual even that happened at Miramonte High School in Orinda, CA. From Wikipedia:
In 1984, Kirsten Costas, a popular cheerleader and swim team member, was killed in a stabbing by classmate Bernadette Protti. They were the basis for an article in Rolling Stone magazine entitled "Death of a Cheerleader" and the TV movie A Friend to Die For starring Tori Spelling and Kellie Martin (later remade into Death of a Cheerleader in 2019). The television show Deadly Women aired an episode titled "Deadly Delinquents" which featured the Bernadette Protti and Kirsten Costas murder case.
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