tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post4325780539544472630..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: Who needs France when you can have Vegas?By Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-56329613207063984942014-09-21T10:47:03.695-07:002014-09-21T10:47:03.695-07:00Jason: Marilyn Sokol, perhaps, rather than Sobol?
...Jason: Marilyn Sokol, perhaps, rather than Sobol?<br /><br />Having seen them, what was your sense about why they failed?<br /><br />wg<br />(I've been meaning to pay a visit like that to the Paley Center.)Wendy M. Grossmanhttp://www.pelicancrossing.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-15068696215072654802014-09-20T11:36:43.424-07:002014-09-20T11:36:43.424-07:00Nothing to do with Las Vegas, but since is a slow ...Nothing to do with Las Vegas, but since is a slow day and since discussion of unsold pilots and "Failure Theater" crops up here regularly, thought I'd report on this. Last weekend, the Paley Center ran a program of unsold pilots from their collection. Here's what we saw:<br /><br />MAGGIE BROWN (1963) A vehicle for Ethel Merman as a saloon owner, with Susan Watson as her teenage daughter. Merman belts out two songs. Depending on how you feel about Ethel Merman, that was either a good reason to pick up the series, or the best reason in the world not to. CBS actually gave this two prime time airings, on two subsequent summer editions of VACATION PLAYHOUSE.<br /><br />THE CAROL CHANNING SHOW (1966) Carol moves to New York to break into show business. With Richard Deacon. More notable for the talent behind the camera: Desi Arnaz was producer-director, and Madelyn Davis and Bob Carroll Jr., who co-wrote I LOVE LUCY and the first two, decidedly superior, seasons of THE LUCY SHOW were creators-writers. Jerry Herman wrote the theme.<br /><br />THE LAUGH MAKERS (1962) Woody Allen wrote this one, about an improv troop in Greenwich Village. With Paul Hampton, Alan Alda, Sandy Baron, Louise Lasser, and Marilyn Sobol.<br /><br />WHERE'S EVERETT? (1966) Alan Alda's in this one, too. A more typical 1960s gimmick comedy about a family that finds an invisible alien baby on their doorstep, decides to adopt him, and names him Everett. MASH be damned. I'm sure there are many nights Alan Alda sits up late, alone with a glass of wine, brooding because WHERE'S EVERETT? didn't get picked up.<br /><br />THE SHAMEFUL SECRETS OF HASTINGS CORNERS (1969) A spoof of soap opera serials like PEYTON PLACE. Karen Black and Hal Linden were among the cast.<br /><br />MacLEISH AND THE RENTED KID (1975) Dick Van Dyke as a cartoonist raising a friend's eight-year-old son. Van Dyke was unhappy with the final result and talked ABC out of picking it up.<br /><br />Can any pilot truly be called a failure that managed to get a showing at the Paley Center decades later?<br /><br />Well, okay, maybe yeah, they can. :)Jasonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-54569635446711685142014-09-20T11:25:48.877-07:002014-09-20T11:25:48.877-07:00regarding the urinal music: "A gentleman is a...regarding the urinal music: "A gentleman is a man who can play the accordion, but chooses not."Scooter Schechtmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-83039216573635137482014-09-20T10:29:00.488-07:002014-09-20T10:29:00.488-07:00I am surprised you do not mention the breakfast bu...I am surprised you do not mention the breakfast buffet at the Paris (which I believe is actually called Paris, Paris). AFAIAA it's the best food deal in town: the earlier you go in the cheaper it is (and the shorter the lines), but you can stay as long as you want and there's everything from personally cooked crepes and a giant cheese board to various types of smoked fish and every kind of egg. In 2003, earlyish entry (before 11am, I think) got you all of that for something like $13.<br /><br />They held the anti-aging conference there because at that time hotel rooms were cheap because Vegas made its money from gamblers. Now it makes a lot of its money from conferences and they're not so cheap any more. You should look into the anti-aging folks. Some great wackiness in that movement.<br /><br />Also: What Canda said.<br /><br />wgWendy M. Grossmanhttp://www.pelicancrossing.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-61288516610483477072014-09-20T09:11:18.301-07:002014-09-20T09:11:18.301-07:00Thanks for now labeling old posts as such. They s...Thanks for now labeling old posts as such. They still read great, and show your writing has always been good.Candanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-52928423411248711922014-09-20T06:21:32.033-07:002014-09-20T06:21:32.033-07:00all of us either made a little money or broke even...<i>all of us either made a little money or broke even</i><br />Humblebrag.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06248182899977033579noreply@blogger.com