Pioneer Women. 3.

Here are some more.
Each, in my mind, funnier and more pioneerish than Phyllis Diller.

Totie Fields:

I've had extensive encounters over the years with Totie Fields.
I found her to be very much the genuine article.
She was what you saw.
Her act was basically an extension of her personality.
Phyllis Diller's wasn't.
You knew nothing about Phyllis Diller from what you saw on stage.
I was once at a gathering of comedians.
Contemporaries of hers.
She did not open her mouth the entire evening.
She was like a sponge. Listening, and drinking it all in.
This was surprising, and certainly not the Phyllis Diller I knew.

Totie Fields, on the other hand, was always who you expected her to be.
Brash, loud, warm, attention-getting, and most of all, funny.
Maybe she wasn't as much of a pure one-liner stand-up as Phyllis Diller.
But she was genuine.
And genuinely self-deprecating.
She had a lot to work with in this in this regard.
She was short, fat, dumpy-looking, and not particularly feminine.
Her act consisted of a lot of special material, because she sang well.
And she mostly told stories.
Very funny stories, that were funnier because of the way she told them.
She was kind of a short, fat, dumpy, Jewish version of Danny Thomas.
(That's right. Danny Thomas WASN'T Jewish.)
I always looked forward to seeing her on TV.
For one reason: She always made me laugh.
In a way that Phyllis Diller did not.

Kaye Ballard:

Kaye Ballard was perhaps the direct antecedent to Carol Burnett and Dorothy
Loudon. And,to some extent, Totie Fields.
Kaye Ballard was around, working clubs and stage a good seven or eight years
before any of the others I've mentioned so far.
Very musical. A great singer.
Very brash, very sophisticated.
Don't judge her work by what she did on "The Mothers-In-Law"
She was pretty funny in that too, but it really only showed one side of her.
There's some really good YouTube stuff of Kaye Ballard's cabaret act.
She does a tribute to E.Y. Harburg, the great lyricist, and is accompanied on
the piano and vocally by the late Arthur Siegel, who was extremely gifted and wrote some wonderful songs his own self.
Kaye Ballard was often a riot.
Phyllis Diller was never a riot.


Betty Hutton:

Betty Hutton, you ask?
Every generation or so, someone from a younger generation will ask someone from
an older generation "What was the deal with (fill in the blank)? Why on earth was
this person a star?"
In my case, it was me asking this to my father about Betty Hutton.
I think it was right after I saw "The Greatest Show On Earth", certainly the worst
movie to ever win the Oscar for Best Picture.
And it contained the worst performance by someone who was considered a star,
Betty Hutton.
My father's response was "I don't know....she was peppy."
I wasn't buying.
Then, I saw the movie "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek".
It immediately became my favorite movie, and Betty Hutton was terrific in it.
And wasn't even particularly peppy.
It was the difference of having Preston Sturges rather than Cecil B. DeMille direct
you. One was an actor's director, one was not.
Betty Hutton's movie career then crashed, and she played nightclubs, Vegas, and
the stage. She did a lot of special material.
I've seen some of it on YouTube.
A lot of it was pretty peppy.
And I'm sure she talked to the audience between numbers.
She was around earlier than any of the previous ones mentioned, so she was
certainly more of a pioneer, and with hard evidence to back it up, genuinely
funnier than Phyllis Diller.

A few more miles to go before I sleep.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperback, "Mark Rothman's Essays" is still available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings remaining, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.

******

Pioneer Women. 2.

So let's begin exploring other possible aspirants to the title of Chief Pioneer of
Women's Stand-up Comedy, thought in many circles to be held by Phyllis Diller.

Let's start way up there with Carol Burnett.

Carol Burnett has claimed to be highly influenced by Lucille Ball.
In all fairness, Lucy was really a comedic actress. A great one, but she never
did stand-up. If she ever appeared in a nightclub, in was as Lucy Ricardo,
trying to break into her husband's act.
So you can't really count her.
But Carol Burnett was actually discovered when she started appearing in nightclubs,
at around the same time Phyllis Diller did. What got her on the Ed Sullivan Show was
a piece of special material that was written for her called "I Made A Fool Of Myself
Over John Foster Dulles" (a noted statesman of the time)
"Special Material" is a term that is going to become a staple of what I am writing
about here, because most of the women mentioned engaged heavily in it.
I'm essentially talking about the Comedy Song.
Now, nowhere in any history book that I've ever read is the use of special material
considered to be a lower form. If anything, it should be considered a higher form.
Because you have to be able to sing it well.
I never saw Carol Burnett do her nightclub act, but I'll bet she did more than special material.
She had to at least bridge her numbers by talking to the audience.
While standing up.
Thus, she did stand-up.
This led to a steady gig on "The Garry Moore Show", where she displayed
an awesome ability to excel at sketches.
Carol Burnett was way funnier than Phyllis Diller.

Dorothy Loudon:

When Carol Burnett left "The Garry Moore Show", she was replaced by a great
comedienne, Dorothy Loudon.
She was also recruited from nightclubs.
There is about a half-hour's worth of her on YouTube (audio only), headlining the
Bon Soir in New York, in 1961.
This was while Carol Burnett was toiling on "The Garry Moore Show"
In many circles, she was considered Carol Burnett's
caddy. But she was a lot more than that.
And she did far more stand-up than did Carol on the show, and certainly in her nightclub act.
She used a lot of special material, but did her own brand of very eccentric humor
when not singing.
She was a hoot.
Then she went on to star on Broadway, most notably as Miss Hannigan in "Annie".
I saw her in that.
She was a hoot.
The same kind of hoot.
She replaced Angela Lansbury in "Sweeny Todd" on Broadway.
Some evidence of this exists on YouTube.
Some scenes and songs, shot by someone with a hand-held camera in the audience,
captured what she did there.
She was a hoot.
A very similar hoot.
Dorothy Loudon was way, way funnier than Phyllis Diller.
She should have been asked to replace Carol Channing in "Dolly".

I'll just offer up one more today. I see I have a long, long way to Tipperary,
so I'll save the others for more postings.

Jean Carroll:

I only mention her because she was really in on the ground floor of the type of
comedy that Phyllis Diller did.
She did countless appearances on Sullivan, and did just jokes.
Jokes about married life.
She was solid, funnny, and very low key.
She was probably the closest thing that Phyllis Diller could call an influence.
But she really didn't burn up the screen.
There was nothing at all garish about Jean Carroll.
She was Everywoman.
A Jewish, middle-aged from-Long Island-Everywoman, but an Everywoman
nonetheless.
She was a comforting presence.
Something Phyllis Diller never strove to be.
Yet, she was at least marginally funnier than Phyllis Diller.

More next time.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperback, "Mark Rothman's Essays" is still available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings remaining, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.

******

Pioneer Women.

This article, or series of articles, it's too early to tell, is colored by, and predicated by the fact that
A) I never, ever found Phyllis Diller to be funny.
Not in the least bit.
and
B) Everybody and his uncle has been writing lately about how she has been
God's gift to comedy, and a pioneer, a trailblazer for other female comics to follow in her footsteps.

Phyllis was a pioneer in only one respect that I can think of.
She showed that you can make a good living doing Bob Hope-style one liners, as snidely as he did, with a major
soupcon of self-deprecation.
And when Bob Hope started making movies with Phyllis Diller, it was a low point for both of them.
No one ever remotely approached the level of self-deprecation that she did.
And the garish, freakish outfits that she wore only made it worse.
I believe that there is a corrolation between how grotesque you make yourself look,
and how funny you have to be to make up for it.
So I think she started out with one hand tied behind her back.
Phyllis Diller only seriously influenced Joan Rivers, who was a far better stand-up
comic, I think to a large extent because she didn't go grotesque, and Kathy Griffin,
who was a natural disciple of Joan Rivers.
Also far better at stand-up than Phyllis Diller.
Phyllis Diller also did this thing that I've occasionally seen comics do, dating all the way back to Sam Levenson.
She laughed at her own jokes.
Raucously. as if cuing the audience that this was when they were supposed to laugh. I've always found this to be reprehensible.

This has led me to discussions with friends, who oddly enough agreed with me, and caused us to try to determine
who was the actual pioneer of womens stand-up comedy,
or at least, who had more of a right to claim the title than Phyllis Diller.

It immediately led me to an extensive discussion about Martha Raye.
Martha Raye was this gloriously talented clown, who sang great, and also indulged
in some minor deprecation, because she had the realization that she was not a raving beauty.
She had her own variety show in the fifties, which caused her to have to talk to the audience, so at least in a sense,
she was dealing with stand-up.
The only thing that tied Martha Raye and Phyllis Diller together was that they both
replaced Carol Channing on Broadway in "Hello,Dolly!"
I would have loved to see Martha Raye do it. I couldn't imagine sitting through Phyllis Diller doing it.
There is a wonderful clip that can be found on YouTube of Martha Raye singing the
old lady's song in a production of "Pippin" It's glorious.
Martha Raye is a much more suitable candidate to be Daniel Boone than Phyllis Diller.

This is definitely spreading out into more than one chapter, so I will continue next
time with more potential pretenders to the throne, and eventually, one who in my eyes, actually ascended to it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperback, "Mark Rothman's Essays" is still available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings remaining, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.

******

Into The Valley Of Death.

With all my fiddling around with music lately, I have ignored all of the celebrity
death that has been going on around me lately.
I have tried to only write about celebrity deaths when I felt I had something to add to the discussions.
There are bloggers out there who begin references to celebrity deaths with "I didn't know this person,
and don't really have much to say about them, but I will anyway."
Because of the number of recent deaths, several of which fall into that category,
I'm going to join those other bloggers ranks.
But I'm going to try to get it done in one fell swoop.
With maybe one or two pithy sentences about each.

Here goes:

Tony Scott, the director of "Top Gun", who jumped to his death off of a Los
Angeles bridge----There have been conflicting reports about why he did it, and
whether or not he was diagnosed with brain cancer.
When Louis Armstrong was asked by by a mutual friend what was the
matter with someone they both knew who had just died,
Louis was reported to have said "Man, when you daid, everything's
the matter witcha"
This mostly applies here.

Marvin Hamlisch----There has been an almost personal connection between Marvin
and me. We went to the same college. No, not Juilliard. Queens College in New
York City. People have told me that I resembled him. I considered this an insult.
He was a great composer, and represented that last surviving member of the creative
team for "A Chorus Line".
Unless you consider all those dancers who poured their hearts into those tape recorders to for the story for the show,
and never received a nickel in royalties.
Some of them have also died, and most of their careers have died.

Joan Roberts---She also represented the end of an era. She was the last surviving
member of the original cast of "Oklahoma!", just barely beating out Celeste Holm for that distinction.
Joan Roberts played the ingenue, Laurey, and really didn't do a heckuva lot after that.

William Windom---A very good and very successful actor. That's all I've got.

Phyllis Thaxter---One of those actresses who showed up on all sorts of 50's
dramatic series. I don't think I'd recognize her by name if I fell over her.
The most interesting thing I could write about her is that she was married to
perhaps the meanest man in show business, James Aubrey.
He ran CBS with an iron fist, and was known as "The Smiling Cobra."
He seemed to derive pleasure from causing others pain
At a network event celebrating the new season, in I believe 1964, he went up
to Garry Moore, generally regarded as one of the nicest people in show business,
and with a huge smile on his face, announced to Garry that he was cancelling his show.
Garry, momentarily trying to determine why he was invited in the first place,
quickly realized it was to be humiliated by Aubrey.
Garry then turned on a dime, exited the room, and pretty much exited show business.

Phyllis Diller----I'll have a lot more to say about Phyllis Diller next time, but
I've had a chance to ruminate about what other bloggers have written about her,
essenially putting her on the pedestal of being THE pioneer for women doing stand-up
comedy. I don't think she deserves to be up there, and I'll go into my reasons
then. Suffice it to say, I think that there are many more contenders for the
pedestal than she was.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperback, "Mark Rothman's Essays" is still available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings remaining, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.

******

The Top Five.

Okay. Here we go.

Most of these are no-brainers, except maybe a couple, which are, in fact, brainers.

#5. "Mr. Lucky"

I told you Mancini would be represented here.
A dazzling song, and a dazzling arrangement for a not so dazzling show.
The show was very watchable, and Ross Martin was wonderful on it, but they got
a guy to play Mr. Lucky whose only qualification for the role was that he looked
a helluva lot like Cary Grant.
He certainly didn't act like him.
The song had a far longer shelf-life than the show.

#4. "Open End. A/K/A "The David Susskind Show."

Whenever David Susskind produced anything, it absolutely reeked with class.
This was the case with the theme for "Open End"
It took me a while to track down the source for it's theme.
It turned out that its composer was Robert Farnon, who was considered the
Leroy Anderson of Canada. The theme can be found on a CD called "Canadian
Impressions". The theme itself is the first cut on the CD, called "Gateway
to the West" I thought it might have been from a movie that Susskind produced,
but I was mistaken. This was a brainer.

#3. "The Dick Powell Theater"

Probably the most exciting and innovative use of opening titles ever, using still
photo clips of action from the show, to the rhythm of the music.
Some of this music originated a few years earlier on "Richard Diamond, Private Detective",
also owned by Powell's company.
So at least some of it was already in the library.
But then the Powell theme swelled orchestrally into something magnificent,
and it was what was used for the closing credits.

#2. "Route 66"

It was a virtual toss-up for number 1 and number 2. "Route 66" was a great show,
and Nelson Riddle's theme for it was groundbreaking, inspiring, and made this very young New Yorker,
who had never left the Tri-State area, want to see what else was out there.
And it didn't have to be in a Corvette.

#1. "Playhouse 90"

The song itself, the orchestration, the way it was used to present the show, and the composer, Alex North, were unmatched.
The release of the song, the middle part, was also astounding.
I really can't say enough about it.

So there you have it.

Now, you can all feel free to call me on the carpet for the ones you think I wrongfully left out.
I look forward to defending myself.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperback, "Mark Rothman's Essays" is still available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings remaining, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.

******

The Top Ten. Unveiling #'s 10 Through 6.

Okay folks, here we go.
Numbers ten through six,
Next time we'll do Five through One, and we'll be finished.
And then you can berate me for all the ones I've left out.

Drumroll please:

#10. "M Squad"

Count Basie's contribution to TV Themery. And was it exciting.
It made this fourteen year old want to be a cop and chase bad guys,
just like Lee Marvin did. I subsequently grew out of it.

#9. "Mike Hammer"

No, not the remake with Stacy Keach. The original, with Darren Mcgavin.
The show was very similar to M Squad in style and pace.
But the music was it's own animal.
It was kind of a knockoff of "Harlem Nocturne" which I thought
was an improvement on it.
You could just picture some down-on-his-luck trumpet
player keeping his neighbors awake in his third floor one-room flat, at two in the morning, wailing away on the theme.
When it was revived with Stacey Keach, they actually used a very on-the-nose
version of "Harlem Nocturne" that was completely devoid of character and style.

#8. "Victory At Sea"

Richard Rodgers' glorious, virtually symphonic capturing of naval battles in
World War 2. There may have been better documentaries about World War 2, but none of them came close to matching the music.
One of the themes went on to be a song used in one of Rodgers musicals,
"Me and Juliet" as "No Other Love Have I"
Perry Como had a hit record with it.

#7. "Rawhide"

A great song, performed by one of the greats, Frankie Laine.
I suppose it was a second cousin to "Mule Train", but if that's the worst thing you can say, there are still no visible flies on it.

#6. "The Jeffersons"

From Norman Lear, the same man who gave us the theme for Maude, arguably the
worst theme of all time, was one of the best.
They recreated Sunday morning going-to-church gospel, and it was rousing and catchy, and almost made me want to watch the show.
But not quite.
But don't blame that on the theme.
Blame it on the godawful writing, acting, and loudness in general.

The Top Five, next time.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperback, "Mark Rothman's Essays" is still available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings remaining, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.


******

The Top Six Honorables.

We're getting to the point where we can get numeric, so I will number these from
#6 down to #1. Some of you might think that some of these should be in anyone's
Top Ten, and there were some gut-wrenching decisions along the way.
But these are all better than what has come before, and in my mind at least,
there are ten that are better.
So here we go.

#6. "Bus Stop"

A marvelous lush theme song. Far better than the show deserved. It certainly had more substance than the show did.

#5. "The West Wing"

Majestic like almost nothing else. With just about as much substance as the
show had.

#4. "My Three Sons"

Frank DeVol's wonderfully creative use of "Chopsticks". I always tuned in to see
it. Then the theme ended, and I watched something else.

#3. "The American Experience"

The PBS documentary series. The theme has since deteriorated. But it's original incarnation was glorious, in the same way that "The West Wing" was.

#2. "Peter Gunn"

A lot of you probably think this is an easy top ten choice. It put Henry Mancini
on the map, and was certainly was impressive. But there was another Mancini theme that that I liked better, and will be in my Top Ten. So he will be represented.

#1. "Then Came Bronson"

Very reminiscent of another "open road" series theme, and almost as good.

We'll do numbers 10 to 5 of the Top Ten next time.
Again, please don't anticipate me in the comments section. But you can feel free to discuss these choices.

Next time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperback, "Mark Rothman's Essays" is still available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings remaining, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.


******

The Next To Last Batch Of Honorables.

This, of course means that next time will be the last of the Honorables, and we
will proceed directly to the Top Ten.

Continuing on, in descending order, getting stronger as we go:

"The Red Buttons Show"

Not everybody, even just a couple of years younger than me, remembers that
Red Buttons hosted his own variety show in
Prime Time in the early to mid 50's.
I remember seeing it when I was seven, and really enjoying it.
It's virtually impossible to find this theme on the internet.
For the cognoscenti, The "Ho Ho song", a.k.a. "Strange Things are Happening" appeared to be his theme song.
And he certainly opened with it every week.
But it wasn't his theme song.
For those of you not familiar with the "Ho Ho song, A.K.A. "Strange things are Happening", there are several examples of it on YouTube.
I remember hearing the theme music for the Red Buttons Show when I was seven, and it was great.
It was kind of an instrumental version of "Ho Ho", but had enough individuality to
be it's own entity.
It stayed lodged in the recesses of my brain until I was in New York a few years ago and went to the Museum of Broadcasting.
The musical theme for the ending was the one I remembered when I was seven.
It was great.
It was served up in a minor key,and totally captured what was good about the Red Buttons show.
At some point, I will have a lot more to say about Red Buttons.
Probably at least a two-parter.

"The Virginian"

One of those majestic western themes that I really appreciated just before I changed
the channel.

"Married With Children"

Sinatra singing "Love and Marriage"? Hard to beat it. And they gave it a nice
ironic twist.
The song was actually written for Sinatra to sing in a Musical version of "Our Town"
on TV in 1955. With such other notable singers as Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint.

"The Trials of O'Brien"

Peter Falk, pre-rumpled, already breaking in his Columbo character. This time as
a lawyer. It had a great jazzy theme, that broke into a solid lush instrumental in midstream. Delightful.

"FDR"

A one season documentary shown on ABC in the sixties. FDR voice was done by
Charlton Heston. The show was illuminating, and the theme music was inspiring and gorgeous. Composed by my personal favorite, Alex North.

The last batch of Honorables will appear next time, then as advertised, it's on to the Top Ten.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperback, "Mark Rothman's Essays" is still available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings remaining, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.


******

Yet Even More Honorables.

I don't know what it is when I put together these lists, but my hit numbers and
e-mail and blog responses increase dramatically. I guess I've tapped into a fairly rich vein.

Onward:

"The Jackie Gleason Show"

The original variety show, where they opened with a wailing, bombastic version of
"Melancholy Serenade".
It perfectly suited it's bombastic host, and got you in the mood to see the June Taylor Dancers.
This is not to be confused with the theme of "The Honeymooners."
Both were accompanied visually by fireworks.
Much more suitable for the variety show.
Totally out of place for "The Honeymooners", which did not make the list.

"Captain Kangaroo"

Nothing bombastic here. It was the ultimate in serenity.
Extremely classy and well done.
To this day, when I pick up my keys, and even slightly rattle them, my mind goes
right to the "Captain Kangaroo" theme dong.
Loved the Captain.

"I've Got A Secret"

The original theme, which was Leroy Anderson's "Plink, Plank, Plunk", and consisted
of violinists plucking at their instruments in a very charming way.
How tasteful for anyone to do anything by Leroy Anderson.
He was most well-known for his composition of "Sleigh Ride",
the Christmas perennial.
More will be heard from Leroy Anderson before I'm through.

"The Early Show, The Late Show, and The Late,Late Show"

These may have only aired in New York on WCBS-TV. I'm not sure.
They all used Leroy Anderson's "The Syncopated Clock"
I told you more would be heard from Leroy Anderson.

"Hennessey"

An early 60's low-key sitcom, nearly totally forgotten today.
It was very well done.
Jackie Cooper played a navy doctor.
It had a touch of realism that was rare for it's time.
The theme music was a jazz version of "The Sailor's Hornpipe".
Very catchy, and very effective.

More next time.

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My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperback, "Mark Rothman's Essays" is still available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings remaining, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.


******

More Honorable Yet.

Continuing on:

"Naked City"

The original theme. Yeah, there were two of them. Both, I think by Billy May.
I know the original one was. It was recorded with lyrics by some singer as
"Somewhere In The Night", and was a bit of a hit. On the show, it was an
instrumental, with a wailing trumpet lead, probably Billy's. It was really lush,
and evocative of New York.

"Naked City"

The replacement theme. I think it was also by Billy May. Not as lush. More
muted horns, but equally evocative of New York. It's pretty much a tossup between the two themes,
and I don't know why they changed in mid-stream.
Both suited the tag line "There are eight million stories in the Naked City.
This has been one of them." equally well.
By the way, I have it on good authority that the actor who uttered that line was
a man named Lawrence Dobkin.
Now, who else is going to tell you this kind of stuff?

"The Thin Man"

The original theme. A bouncy, sophisticated, "Aren't Nick and Nora a charming
couple." sort of theme.

"The Thin Man"

The replacement theme. Again, pretty much a tossup. I think the change came
about because they acquired a car sponsor. So a jazzier, movement-oriented theme
was summoned up. I believe the sponsor was Plymouth. And you know how those sophisticated New Yorkers liked to tool around town in their Plymouths, with the big tailfins and everything.

Mr. Novak"

An uplifting, upbeat piece of music, describing high school as a place, when I was
in fact IN high school, as a place you wanted to be. And there was an air of importance about it.
This preceded metal detectors and places like Columbine.
It was a different time, wasn't it?
It was also a very good show.

"The Practice"

No, not the legal series that evolved into "Boston Legal". I don't remember what either of those two themes sounded like.
I'm referring to the sitcom starring Danny Thomas as a crusty old doctor who made sure he had time for his patients above all else.
A very underrated series. One that should have had a longer life.
The theme music evoked everything that was charming about the show.

More next time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperback, "Mark Rothman's Essays" is still available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings remaining, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.


******
Posted

More Honorables.

Today's Honorable Mentions for the Best TV Theme Songs of All Time.
More honorable in mind than the first three I mentioned last time, and as we descend on this page,
more and more honorable.

"Peyton Place"

Very similar to the theme of the movie, with a very lush orchestration.
I'm a sucker for lush.

"Hollywood and the Stars"

A documentary series that NBC ran on Monday nights in prime time in the sixties.
It was hosted by Joseph Cotten, and had majestic theme music. The only afterlife it has had is as the play-on music that
Paul Shaffer provides for Martin Short whenever he appears on Letterman.
As it plays, Short can be counted on to say "Thanks for remembering!"

"Happy Days" when they had Bill Haley and the Comets singing "Rock around
the Clock"

What's better than that? Certainly not what replaced it.

"Bonanza"

Whatever you thought of the show, you had to love that theme music.

"The Bill Dana Show"

A sitcom where he played Jose Jimenez as an elveator boy in a swanky hotel.
Great supporting cast. Don Adams, where he broke in a version of "Maxwell Smart,
Gary Crosby, and Jonathan Harris, pre-"Lost In Space", where he played the prissy hotel manager.
The theme music was full out elaborate, terrific, authentic sounding Mariachi music.
Composed by that great Mexican Mariachi composer, Irving Szathmary (actually Dana's
Hungarian Jewish brother). Proving once again that Jews can do anything.

More next time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store. Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperback, "Mark Rothman's Essays" is still available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings remaining, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.


******

Beginning The Honorables.

First, let me mention that the my entire reading of my Laverne and Shirley Movie
screenplay is now up on YouTube.
It is divided into eight parts.
I'm quite gratified by the initial e-mail response I have received from
those of you who have been following it since it started going up.
If you keep at it, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
I have an odd reaction to anything I have written but haven't seen in a while:
I completely forget that I have written it.
I know other writers who experience that.
So I watched the reading on YouTube in it's entirety, and it made me laugh
all over again, mostly because I had forgotten what I had written.
And I always was a very good audience for myself to begin with.
I'd love to hear any further reactions you have to it.

Okay. We will now begin with a rather limited beginning to the Honorable Mention list for Best TV series theme songs of all times.
They will appear, as did the previous list of worsts, in descending order, from least honorable to most each day.
Each succeeding day will have better themes that deserve honorable mentions than the previous day.
Again, in descending order, until we reach the top ten.
And remember at all times that all of these choices are subjective.
I've so far compiled a list of 35 TV themes that I think are worthy of bringing up.
25 Honorables, then the Top Ten.
Here are the first three Honorables:

"The Defenders"

One of the truly lost shows. It never shows up anywhere these days.
There is no DVD collection of it.
It was an important show.
It reeked of importance.
It won all sorts of Emmys in it's day, which was the early sixties.
I was a teenager.
It was on Saturday nights, usually when I was babysitting.
The music reeked of importance, too.
When it came on the screen, it gave me goosebumps.

"Ben Casey"

The music accompanied a very exciting opening.
The camera was placed to give you the point of view of a patient on an operating
table, as it is being quickly wheeled to the operating room..
We see overhead lights zipping by.
The music gives you the urgency of getting this guy you)into surgery.
The composer is David Raksin, also a great film composer. He wrote the song
"Laura" and the theme music for that movie.
He was one of the greats.

"The Rebel"

For only one reason. The title song was sung by Johnny Cash.
Until I saw "The Rebel", I had never heard of Johnny Cash.
I didn't know if he ever did anything else but sing the title song of "The Rebel".
It bowled me over.
And I found out that he did other things.

More next time.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store. Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperback, "Mark Rothman's Essays" is still available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings remaining, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got YouTube.


******

The Top Ten TV Best Theme Songs Of All Time.

As advertised, I am going to take on a list of the Top Ten Greatest TV Series Theme Songs of All Time.
The response to the Top Ten Worst TV Series of All Time was quite enthusiastic.
So this seemed a natural follow-up.
I'm fairly certain it won't be nearly as funny as the Top Ten Worst list.
It's a lot easier to be funny about something bad than something good.
I think there were far more really good ones than bad ones, so the Honorable Mention
list will probably be somewhat longer than the Dishonorable Mention list was.
I don't think it will be so much about humor, although most of the time I can't help myself.
It will most-likely be more in the way of a public service.
My mentioning these theme songs will hopefully cause you to seek them out, either
on YouTube (when you are not watching me read my Laverne and Shirley screenplay)
or on websites devoted to TV theme songs.
And you'll be exposed to some really gorgeous music.
That was my primary criteria. To share rhapsodic feelings I had watching these
shows.
Sometimes just for the theme music.
It's why, if having to choose between having to go deaf or having to go blind,
I'd choose blind in a New York minute.
At this point of my life, I've pretty much seen all there is to see.
If I need to read something, there are always audiobooks.
But if I thought I'd never have the opportunity to hear really wonderful music
they way it was meant to be heard, I'd be a really sad guy.

Some of these choices are based on how well they set up the series itself, or
how much they enhanced the series.
Taste is also a factor.
Mine, and the person who chose the music to begin with.

Some of the choices are based on who sang the vocals, if they were in fact vocals.
There were some artists whom I'd never heard before they sang these theme songs.
And as a result, I became a fan of these people for life.

I think you'll find it interesting, and I'll begin the Honorable Mention list next time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store. Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperback, "Mark Rothman's Essays" is still available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings remaining, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got You've got my reading of my Laverne and Shirley movie up there on YouTube.


******