Jews On The OTN.

With the recent passing of Gary David Goldberg, it has brought to mind the paucity of shows about Jews in recent years.
Gary David Goldberg had a wonderful show some years back called "Brooklyn Bridge"
It was about a young Jewish boy, growing up in the late 1950's, in Brooklyn.
It was a soft comedy.
Very touching.
Marion Ross was in it as the Jewish grandmother.
She was wonderful, and she displayed her enormous versatility.
"Brooklyn Bridge" was a wonderful show, and deserves to be seen again, if only to honor Gary David Goldberg's memory.

The granddaddy, or grandmommy, of all TV shows about Jews was "The Goldbergs"
It starred Gertrude Berg as Molly Goldberg.
Gertrude Berg was a true auteur of early television.
She was in complete control of the show.
She wrote the shows.
She produced the shows.
She cast the shows.
She got into fights with the networks when necessary.
"The Goldbergs' was about as Jewish as a show can get.
I have seen many episodes, and it is almost the equivalent of what 'Amos 'n Andy was for blacks.
I thought it depicted Jewish men in a very bad light.
They were pretty much all depicted as weaklings.
Particularly compared to Molly.
I don't think it holds up very well.
But Gertrude Berg was a great actress and performer.
A lot of the humor was derived from her use of malaprops.
"The Goldbergs" would have trouble finding a mass audience today.
Ever since people started getting TV sets in Wyoming, the landscape changed.
When "The Goldbergs" was a hit, only people in New York had TV sets.
The same fate befell Sid Caesar.
When TV found it's way to the boondocks, Sid Caesar was slaughtered in the ratings by Lawrence Welk.

I'll also make one of the rare excursions into including one of my own shows.
"Busting Loose" was on CBS in 1977.
We shot 26 episodes.
22 were aired.
I don't even know if the unaired episodes were even edited and spliced together.
It was a show that was ORIGINALLY about Jews.
It was an attempt by CBS to rip off the movie "Next Stop Greenwich Village", which was certainly about Jews.
And the first 4 or 5 episodes of "Busting Loose" was about a young Jewish guy in his early twenties attempting to break away from his parents.
Then, the network folk, all Jews, got rather gunshy about selling Jews to the general public, and the kid's parents gradually faded from view.
And it became the equivalent of a gang comedy, a la "Happy Days"
The word "Jew" was never mentioned again, except indirectly, in that the lead character's last name was Markowitz.
We couldn't change his name in mid stream.
But it was a really funny hardball three-camera live audience show that REALLY deserved a longer life than it had.
Like Prime Time on the OTN.

Mark Rothman, CEO of the OTN.

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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 paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays", and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are 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.

******

Leonard Stern Week. Part 4.

Two more entries for today from Leonard Stern.

First, "The Governor And J.J."
"The Governor and J.J." was a series that was aired in the late 60's.
It was a pretty funny series.
But not that funny.
It starred Dan Dailey as the Governor of a Midwestern state, and Julie Sommars as his assistant.
I had a minor crush on Julie Sommars.
She went from that series to "Matlock", where of course, I never saw her.
Because that would have meant having to watch "Matlock"
That would have been unbearable.
So I missed out on Julie Sommars' later career.
A small price to pay.
Dan Dailey played it very reserved.
Unlike the affable showoff he played as a song and dance man in all those old Twentieth Century Fox Musicals.
I worked with Dan Dailey a couple of times.
He directed two episodes of "The Odd Couple"
They both involved dancing.
That's the way Garry Marshall thinks.
You do episodes about dancing, you get a director who was a dancer.
Not necessarily the best director available.
But it didn't really matter.
Because all the available sitcom directors were really no better than any other.
And Dan Dailey was rather reserved around the set.
"The Governor and J.J." was more than anything else, pleasant.
I'd like to see it again.
Mainly to see Julie Sommars in her prime, and in something good.

Next, "Run Buddy,Run"
This also could have been titled "Let's do a comedy ripoff of "The Fugitive"
Because that's what it was.
But I also remember it being funny.
It starred the great Jack Sheldon.
And he was certainly funny.
But that's not what made him great.
He was a great trumpet player and singer.
He was in Merv Griffin's band, and traded very funny banter with Merv for many years.
It's not easy trading funny banter with Merv Griffin.
But Jack Sheldon managed it with aplomb.
But I only have a vague memory of Jack Sheldon as an actor.
That's why I want to see "Run Buddy, Run", and put it on the OTN.

Mark Rothman, CEO of the OTN.

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

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 paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays", and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are 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.

******

Some Days, You Just Can't Win.

I'm postponing the rest of Leonard Stern week until next time.
Today is going to be some of that classic "Rothman does his major bellyaching"
If you like that sort of thing, keep reading.
If not, come back Thursday.

I don't usually watch ice hockey.
I don't usually like ice hockey.
I certainly usually don't bet on ice hockey.
But this was the Stanley Cup Finals, and I guess that meant something to me.
Enough that I did all of the above.
HD on a 60 inch screen makes it a lot easier to like ice hockey.
Because you can actually see the puck.
So I was genuinely looking forward to watching last night's sixth game of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Rooting for the Boston Bruins, the team I bet on for the series against the Chicago Blackhawks, to avoid being eliminated.
So at eight o'clock, I turn on my NBC HD station, where most people in America went to watch the contest.
But not in Detroit.
Detroit is one of those TV markets where you know you're out of town.
Local events often take precedence, even on network stations.
Even though Detroit is a hockey town.
Let me amend that.
Detroit is a hockey town when the Detroit Red Wings are involved.
When the Detroit Red Wings are not involved, Detroit is not a hockey town.
In this instance, the Detroit Red Wings were not involved.
So last night, the NBC affiliate decided to pre-empt the Stanley Cup Finals with the annual Henry Ford fireworks display.
For three and a half hours.
Who the hell can watch fireworks for three and a half hours?
Why the Henry Ford fireworks display is not held on July 4th is anybody's guess.
But it isn't.
It's held on June 24th.
Just early enough to louse up my viewing of the Stanley Cup Finals.
And oohh, did it louse it up.
At first, I had absolutely no idea where to find the hockey.
Then a streamer passed on the bottom of the screen, under the fireworks, telling me that the hockey was on one of the local channels.
Channel 38.
Detroit has a handful of local channels.
Channel 38 is the only one that does not have an HD version.
Some channels that aren't in in HD at least present their programming in letterbox format, making the screen wider than longer, and generally providing a clearer image.
Not channel 38.
They presented the boxy, higher than wide, blurry non HD image.
You had to squint hard to see the puck.
Then, in the middle of the second period, I got the brilliant idea to go to NBC Sports online to see if I could watch the game there.
Lo and behold, there it was.
In glorious HD.
The screen was much smaller, but I could still see the puck.
I was kicking myself for not thinking of it sooner.
Problem solved.
But only momentarily.
NBC Sports Online did this asinine thing called "Having a scoreboard just above the screen".
And the game was on ten second delay.
But that feshtunkenah scoreboard wasn't.
So I got to see goals register on the scoreboard before I got to see them get scored.
And there was nothing I could do about it.
Except to go back to Channel 38.
Sophie's Choice.
I stuck it out with the feshtunkeneh scoreboard, trying to avert my eyes, and failing.
Which was particularly painful when, with a minute and a half left in the game, and Boston clinging to a one goal lead, within the next thirty seconds, I saw the scoreboard registering a tying goal for Chicago, then seeing the goal scored, and then the scoreboard registering the go-ahead goal for Chicago, then watching them score the game and series winner.
Like I said.
Some days, you just can't win.

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

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 paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays", and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are 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.

******

Leonard Stern Week On The OTN. Part 2.

Two more entries from Leonard Stern for the OTN.
I watched an episode of each today.

"Diana"---A short-lived sitcom, 15 episodes, starring the to-die-for gorgeous Diana Rigg.
This was in 1973, when she was still to-die-for gorgeous.
I didn't watch or like "The Avengers"
And she wasn't decked out in leather here as she was there.
It seemed to be an active attempt to emulate the success of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"
It was shot on the same lot, at the same time, as "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"
Diana essentially played straight to a bunch of funny characters in an office situation.
But except for Richard B. Shull, who was hilarious, the rest of the "funny characters" just weren't all that funny.
And the writing didn't help make them any funnier.
It wasn't at all bad, it just wasn't wonderful.
But if you didn't like "The Avengers", this would be an excellent opportunity to catch Diana Rigg when she was still to-die-for gorgeous.

"The Good Guys"---This show was done in the late sixties.
42 episodes were made.
It starred Bob Denver and Herb Edelman as co-owners of a diner.
Certainly not a complicated premise
I remember watching it when it was on, and enjoying it.
But not nearly as much as I enjoyed the episode I watched today.
It had everything that great sitcoms had.
GREAT writing. The kind of writing that Garry Marshall used to describe as "verbal spins", i.e., turning the language inside out and upside down.
Garry often praised me for my use of verbal spins.
It also had GREAT physical comedy.
Physical comedy good enough to rival Lucy and Ethel and Laverne and Shirley on their best days.
I'd have to say that "The Good Guys" is far and away the most underrated show that would appear on the OTN.
And reason in itself that the OTN be formed.

Mark Rothman, CEO of the OTN.

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

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 paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays", and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are 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.

******

Leonard Stern Week On The OTN.

Leonard Stern was a great, and quite prolific comedy writer.
He was involved in such hits as "The Honeymooners" and "Get Smart"
I met him a few times.
Once, in his office, and several times on the studio lot.
He was always decked out in a distinguished three-piece suit.
I never recall any other comedy writer ever wearing a suit, much less a three-piece suit.
I'm told that he did that to intimidate people.
It certainly worked in my case.
But he turned out a tremendous output of quality work.
He also had about four, maybe five shows that have earned a place on the OTN.
That's why this is Leonard Stern Week on the OTN.
One post won't cover it.
I'll offer up a couple today.
First, "I'm Dickens, He's Fenster"
It debuted and departed in the early 1960s.
It was hilarious.
It brought to our attention John Astin and Marty Ingels in the title roles.
John Astin was much funnier here than on "The Addams Family", and on this show, he was basically playing straight for Marty Ingels.
Marty Ingels never had another series since then, but it had nothing to do with his talent, which was enormous.
It had much more to do with his emotional instability, which was enormous.
The series is out on DVD, and I highly recommend it.

The next series to be mentioned here is "He and She", which starred Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss.
It was smart, sophisticated, and wacky.
The wackiness provided primarily by Jack Cassidy, as an egocentric actor named Oscar North, who starred in the series "Jetman", based on the comic strip that Benjamin's character drew.
It was a pleasure to watch a married couple who respected each other, which is what we got here.
It's also nice to see that Benjamin's and Prentiss's marriage has survived so successfully after all these years.
Far more successfully that "He and She" did.

Mark Rothman, CEO of the OTN.

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

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 paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays", and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are 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.

******

Hacked.

My computer was hacked this morning, causing me to lose all my e-mails, all my sent e-mails, and all my contacts.
I have already fixed the problem for the future, so my e-mail address, macchus999@aol.com, is still intact.
And I have already received some e-mails from friends, telling me that not only have I been hacked, but that in "my" email to them, I am claiming that I am stranded in Africa, and need them to send me money.
I am not stranded in Africa, and do not need anyone to send me money.
I have lost my OTN list and my blog subject list.
I am attempting to reconstruct them.
If anyone out there would like to send me your contact information, I would be grateful to receive it.
This is particular shout out to Maureen Paraventi, whose e-mail exchanges with me were going to be the subject of today's post.
I hope you have saved them and can send them, Maureen.

So I'm busy trying to fix problems today.
I hope things will be back to normal by Thursday.

Welcome to the dark side of the modern age.

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

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 paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays", and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are 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.

Buddy Hackett On The OTN.

Only one entry today.
Last time, I indicated that "Life With Father" was the only sitcom that aired live in the fifties.
I was mistaken.
"Mr. Peepers" aired live.
As did another sitcom that I remember seeing when I was nine years old.
It was called "Stanley", and starred Buddy Hackett in 1956 on NBC.
I recalled it being hilarious then.
I have recently made a new friend, who is a collector of old TV shows, and we have been trading DVDs of very rare episodes of shows.
He just sent me three episodes of "Stanley"
They were at least as funny as I remember them being.
They made 26 of them.
Carol Burnett was Buddy's co-star, playing his girlfriend, Celia.
This was before she made any kind of a splash in show business.
I believe it was her first job.
And she had absolutely all of her shit together then.
Buddy Hackett was a wonderful comic actor.
Just as he was a wonderful standup comic.
Just as he was, as I'm given to understand, a completely miserable human being.
I have never heard anyone say anything nice about him personally.
But that doesn't disturb me, as it did about Danny Kaye.
Buddy Hackett never went out of his way to falsely convince anyone that he was a nice guy.
So it never mattered to me.
And he was hilarious.
As was Carol Burnett.
As was the show.
It was helmed by Max Liebman, who helmed "Your Show of Shows"
Sid Caesar's writers were very much in evidence.
Woody Allen was credited with writing two out of the three episodes I saw.
First rate writing, and first rate performing.
A rare combination.
My newfound friend has told me that he has the entire 26 episodes, and that I will have them soon.
You should all be so lucky.

Mark Rothman, CEO of the OTN.

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

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 paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays", and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are 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 Early Twentieth Century On The OTN.

Yes, the OTN is back, and will not go away for a little while, anyway.
Today, I will be offering up two shows that took place in the first half of the twentieth century.
I don't necessarily think that either of them are exemplary.
They were, rather, examples of "least objectionable programming".
But I will admit to having enjoyed them when they were on.
Enough to find a place for them on the OTN.
The first is "Life With Father".
It was a sitcom that ran from 1953 to 1955.
It was based on what was one of the longest running Broadway plays of all time.
It took place round the turn of the century.
What was somewhat rare about it was that it was aired live.
Throughout its entire run.
Oh, Jack Benny and Burns and Allen dabbled in live shows, but mostly they were on film.
"Life With Father" had a great deal of charm and energy.
And it was genuinely funny.
It starred Leon Ames and the priceless Lurene Tuttle.
The cast also included a very young Marion Ross as Nora, the maid.
Once, on the set of "Happy Days", I challenged Marion to come up with the theme music for "Life With Father"
She couldn't, and was floored when I did.
It would just be nice to see it again.

Today's other entry is "The Roaring Twenties"
Warner Brothers made a great movie in the late thirties called "The Roaring Twenties" with Cagney and Bogart.
This wasn't it.
This TV version they made starred such luminaries as Rex Reason and Donald May.
Draw that one on a graph.
But it also had Dorothy Provine as the Texas Guinan-style nightclub owner and performer, and she was terrific.
She seemed headed for stardom.
She didn't get there.
"The Roaring Twenties" was cut from the same piece of Warner Brothers cloth as "77 Sunset Strip", and half a dozen other copies of that.
Only with different locales.
This is the only one that went for a different time period.
It was quite entertaining, in a way that the others really weren't.
Mainly due to Ms. Provine.
Now that she is gone, I think she should be unearthed in some way.

See you next time,
Mark Rothman, CEO of the OTN.

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

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 paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays", and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are 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.

******

Report Card----The 2013 Tony Awards.

I usually don't do Report Cards on TV shows that have come and gone.
Jackie Gleason once said that functioning as a TV critic is like reporting an accident to an eyewitness.
But with the age of Tivo, there may still be many of you who have recorded it, but not watched it.
So my mission here is to save those people three hours of viewing time.
In terms of entertainment, this was the weakest Tony Awards show I have ever seen.
The opening number was promising.
It even included Mike Tyson.
Don't ask me why.
But that only served to hand Neil Patrick Harris a slew of lame Mike Tyson jokes during the course of the evening.


On to the scoring:

Is it interesting?

Only intermittently.
C-.

Compelling even?

In the way that seeing a train wreck is compelling.
D.

Is it controversial?

Tom Hanks losing, and the director of "Pippin" winning, and thanking everyone under the sun except Bob Fosse, who is responsible for the show still existing, was controversial. It took the producer, when they won for Best Revival at the very end of the evening, to invoke Fosse's name.
B.


Were the shows depicted seem worth your time?

Almost not at all. The key musicals, "Matilda" and "Kinky Boots", seemed like warmed over rock versions of hybrids of "Annie", "Newsies" and "Oliver" When they showed segments from the "old-fashioned" musicals, like "Annie" itself, "A Christmas Story", and "Cinderella", they made me actually want to see them. And I already saw "A Christmas Story" and didn't much care for it.
C-.

Is it well cast? Well played?, Well staged?

For the most part, although I am totally sick of Neil Patrick Harris. Seeing Jane Lynch as Miss Hannigan in "Annie" was a definite plus.
B+.

Is it too long? Too short?

With Tivo, nothing need be too long. But it was anyway.
C.

Is it predictable? Does it surprise you?

I am still shocked and offended when they start playing "Give My Regards To Broadway" during someone's acceptance speech. Cyndi Lauper and Cicely Tyson (How did Neil Patrick Harris miss the joke about how Cicely was Mike's mother?) gave the speeches of their lives, only to be intruded upon like that. So they wouldn't go overtime. Which the show did anyway.
F.

Do you think about it after you've seen it?

Yes. About how atrocious it was.
F.

Is it funny?

It tries. Oh how it tries. And it fails. Oh how it fails.
F.

Was it worth the no money it cost to see it?

We should have charged them.

Is it impressive ?

It was depressive.
F.

Overall grade: D-.

The only saving grace is that it spared me from seeing some of these shows next time I'm in New York

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

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 paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays", and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are 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.

******

Report Card----"On Your Toes"

This was my first experience attending a performance at City Center "Encores!"
They do this about four times a year.
They all run less than a week, so this review is fairly useless.
But it's really more about the "Encores!" experience than the show.
The show, and the experience were both wonderful.
The show is performed with about a forty-five piece orchestra behind them.
Otherwise, there is a semblance of a set. I didn't know going in whether the performers worked with scripts in hand, as they did in that concert version of "South Pacific"
It wouldn't seem likely, as "On Your Toes" is much more of a pure dance show.
And they didn't use scripts.
It is a first-rate Rodgers and Hart show.
Not as meaty as "Pal Joey"
Not as funny as "The Boys From Syracuse"
They are both better shows.
But this one is a dandy in its own way.

On to the scoring:

Is it interesting?

It dazzles you.
A+.

Compelling even?

The story is not that riveting.
B-.

Is it controversial?

No, and it doesn't need to be.
No Grade.

Is it a story worth telling?

The clash between serious and popular dance is pretty interesting.
A.

Is it good storytelling?

Considering how flimsy the story is, it's handled very well.
A.

Is it well written?

Book-wise, pretty good. Music and lyrics, spectacular.
A.

Is it well cast? Well played?, Well staged?

For the most part, it is done perfectly. But the part of the lead male dancer cries out for a star.
And there was a huge hole on the stage where there wasn't one.
C.

Is it too long? Too short?

The time flew by.
A+.

Is it believable? Do you care about the characters?

It's as believable and engrossing as a cardboard old-fashioned musical can be.
B+.


Is it predictable? Does it surprise you?

No, but it doesn't matter.
No Grade.

Do you think about it after you've seen it?

Yes. It has made me think about going to New York more often to see more "Encores!"
A+

Is it funny?

Often.
A.

Was it worth the fifty bucks it cost?

Absolutely.
A+.

Is it impressive ?

Stunning
A+.

Overall grade: A.

"Encores" is a labor of love. And since I can't be in labor, I can only be in love.

Enjoy the Tonys!

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

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 paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays", and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are 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.

******

Report Card----"The Nance"

I only had the opportunity to see two shows this past Broadway season, so naturally I made one of them the one Nathan Lane was starring in.
It was better than "The Addams Family"
But that's not saying a lot.
Nor does much more positive deserve to be said than that.
It was all about homosexuality and burlesque in the late 1930's.
I am a fan of burlesque, and it was performed very well.
I am not a fan of, nor an expert about, homosexuality.
So, as far as my limited knowledge will take me, it was not performed very well.
It was more graphic than I thought it needed it to be.
But Nathan Lane was superb, as always.

On to the scoring:

Is it interesting?

In its own rather perverse way.
B+.

Compelling even?

No. It was rather diffusely told.
C-.

Is it controversial?

It would have been, about twenty-five years ago.
The times have diminished its impact.
C.

Is it a story worth telling?

It's a fascinating theme. A homosexual pretending to be a "Pansy" on stage, as burlesque was dying because of such acts.
A.

Is it good storytelling?

No. This is the problem. It is unfocused and ramshackle. And unmotivated. Lane's character is a staunch conservative Republican. The Republicans then and now are the least likely to tolerate Lane's lifestyle, and what he does onstage. It's kind of like blue collar workers voting for Romney.
The difference is that Lane's character is supposed to be intelligent. And Republicans are mainly responsible for his downfall.
D.

Is it well written?

The dialogue is not uninteresting, and not the problem.
B+.

Is it well cast? Well played?, Well staged?

Pretty much.
B+.

Is it too long? Too short?

It runs about two hours and seems interminable. This is because the story rarely plows forward.
There is one extended scene where Lane works in drag on stage. It is perhaps the best scene in the play.
But it also symbolizes it. The play itself is a drag.
D+.

Is it believable? Do you care about the characters?

You believe, and you care. If you're homosexual, you probably believe and care a lot more.
A.

Is it predictable? Does it surprise you?

This is a tough one, because after a while, you really don't care where it's going.
C-.

Do you think about it after you've seen it?

Only about Nathan kissing another man openly on the lips. it's a tough image to get out of my mind.
C.

Is it funny?

The burlesque scenes are authentic and hilarious.
A+.

Was it worth the fifty bucks it cost?

Can't say that it was.
C-.

Is it impressive ?

I'll give them that one. It was a big try. With better construction, it could have been great.
A.

Overall grade: C+.

Nathan keeps acting, I'll keep coming.

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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 paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays", and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are 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.

******

Jean Stapleton: Some Thoughts.

I've mentioned several times here about how the actress Estelle Harris, who played George Costanza's mother on "Seinfeld", was the spitting image of my mother.
Perhaps more vocally than visually.
She was fairly close visually as well.
But Jean Stapleton was much closer visually.
And when "All In The Family" first came on, and she came on, with that dingbat voice of hers, all of my relatives were astounded by the resemblance to my mother.
The difference between Estelle Harris and Jean Stapleton was that what Jean Stapleton was doing on "All In The Family" was an affectation.
She didn't really talk like that.
In interviews, she sounded like a regular, intelligent person.
Intelligent enough to realize that when she was going to audition for Norman Lear, she'd have to "dingbat it up"
I've worked with Estelle Harris.
She is the genuine article.
She really talks like that.
This is not to imply that Estelle Harris is a dingbat.
Far from it.
It's simply how she really talks.

As an actress, Jean Stapleton was quite adept at shifting gears.
My first exposure to her work was when I saw the movie musical "Damn Yankees"
She was also in the Broadway version before that.
It was a small part, and she sang the reprise of "You Gotta Have Heart"
And she was in full dingbat mode.

My next exposure was the movie musical "Bells Are Ringing"
She was also in the Broadway version before that.
It was a larger part than in "Damn Yankees", but still relatively small.
Still a dingbat.

Shortly after that, I saw her on Broadway in "Funny Girl"
She played one of Fanny Brice's neighbors in her old neighborhood.
She had two songs.
Full-out dingbat.
She was not Kay Medford's understudy as Fanny's mother.
Someone else replaced her when Kay Medford left.
She made a very positive impression on me and just about everybody else in those three roles.

I've come to believe that a little of her went a long way.
And maybe that's why she was never promoted to Kay Medford's part.
Maybe they thought so too.

She wasn't used in the movie.
They brought in Mae Questel, who was the voice of Olive Oyl and Betty Boop.

Just coincidentally, this past Sunday night, Jean showed up in an episode of "Naked City" on MeTV.
They didn't show it as a tribute to her.
It had been scheduled to be aired before she died.
But there she was, in a drama, sounding like a human being.
I didn't even know she operated in that mode back then.
But she was smart enough to know that "Naked City" wasn't looking for a dingbat.

I'm sure she killed in the room when she read for Norman Lear.
But I don't think he has the slightest idea that a little of her went a long way.
I think that she was the fatal flaw in "All In The Family"
Her onscreen presence was way overextended, and she was consistently shrieking.
Maybe I'm swayed because she cut a little to close to the bone in resembling my mother.

The show has not aged well.
It was very good for its time, but was totally topical.
It was all about Nixon.
And nobody either remembers Nixon anymore, or gives a crap about Nixon any more.
So all it is now is loud, and shrieking, and dated.
This is the tone that was set for most of the shows from the Norman Lear empire.
Ms. Stapleton eventually opted out of the show, fearing that she would be typecast.
Of course she was, but it was by her own hand, and most likely what got her the gig in the first place.
Maybe she was just tired of the shrieking.
I know I was.
I was getting enough of it at home.

And she did successfully make the transition to character parts.
Much more subdued ones.
Where a lot of her went a long way.
For which we should all be grateful.

With the Tony Awards coming up, the next two posts will be Broadway Report Cards.

Then, back to the OTN.

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

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 paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.

******

Game Show Day On The OTN

There are a couple of game shows that I think are OTN worthy.
One was the side-splittingly funny "Dollar A Second".
It was done in the mid-1950's.
I don't know how many kinescopes of it have survived.
There is one episode of it on YouTube.
It was essentially one part "Beat The Clock", one part "Truth or Consequences", and, the part that made it side-splittingly funny, about five parts Jan Murray as the host.
The premise: as long as the contestant stays on the show, he or she wins a dollar a second.
The contestant stays on by answering funny questions in a funny way, such as being asked a question and answering with the answer to the previous question.
Comedy writers were obviously heavily employed.
If the contestant got the answer wrong, a penalty is enforced.
If the contestant loses the penalty, he or she is gone, and leaves with however much was accumulated.
There was also an "outside event"
If that occurs while the contestant is on, all money earned is lost.
The contestant can quit and keep the money at any time.
So it is a game of constant humor, and constant pressure.
What really made it work was Jan Murray.
You really need a comedian as the host.
Chuck Barris tried a remake pilot of "Dollar a Second", hosted by the high-larious Bob Eubanks.
It just laid there.
"The Price Is Right" got along just fine without a comedian hosting.
It didn't need Drew Carey.
"Family Feud" did just fine without a comedian hosting.
It didn't need Steve Harvey.
"Dollar A Second" would thrive today with either one of them hosting.
It should be brought back, if only for the OTN.

The other game show that I place in nomination is "Stump The Stars"
It was also known in earlier incarnations as "Pantomime Quiz"
Both were eternally hosted by the never funny Mike Stokey.
He was the Alex Trebek of his time, making the players feel stupid if they gave bad clues.
All the players were celebrities, and the game was simple "charades"
The charades that were acted out were gag sayings sent in by the home viewers, which added to the humor.
Watching someone acting out charades is very character revealing.
If you are basically intelligent and quick-witted, you are usually good at charades.
If you are basically not, then you are not.
Very revealing.
There are a handful of "Stump The Stars" and Pantomime Quizzes on YouTube.
I'd like to see them again, and don't see why they can't be revived.
Unfortunately, Mike Stokey can't be revived, because he's dead.

Until next time,

Mark Rothman, CEO of the OTN.

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

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 paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.

******