Coda.

I did a four hour interview at the Television Academy in Burbank for the Archives of TV Legends at EmmyTVLegends.org. last Friday.
I had already attempted to contact them after I had posted the first two installments of "Why I Am Not Babaloo Mandel."
I indicated that I wasn't treated fairly by Lowell Ganz in his interview there.
They responded to me very quickly and very positively, formally inviting me to have my own interview.
Thus, I knew, before I posted the third installment, that I would be doing this interview.
Perhaps it colored the rest of what I wrote in those articles.
The people at the Academy followed the entire eight segments of the articles on line, so they knew what they were getting into.
I was quite concerned, because I knew that this was for posterity, that I wasn't going to appear to be whining, or a crybaby.
I was consistently reassured that it didn't come off that way.
With their quite helpful input, it was determined that the interview would be roughly 80% about me, and 20% about my relationship with Lowell.
And that's about how it turned out.
And I'm glad.
I had a lot to say about things totally unrelated to that relationship.
I was cautioned going in not to quote Lowell's interview too often.
I would say that in four hours, which everyone seemed to think flew by, I quoted Lowell maybe three times.
My wife made me get a haircut for my otherwise unruly hair, and the Makeup Department added hair gel to it, and the result is that I think you'll all find me adorable.
There were things that I wrote in the essays that I did not say in the interview.
I did show some self-restraint.
But I got most of the main points across.
And they allowed me to allude to the blog articles for anyone who wanted to see and hear a more thorough examination of my relationship with Lowell.
The viewers would know how to find them.
The interviewers were always instructed, no matter who the guest was, to not laugh at anything the guest says.
I was told by the interviewer between hours of filming that she had to restrain herself in this regard many times.
But the guys working the camera and the mike, right behind her, were consistently cracking up.
I'd like to think that they were representative of the future viewers of this interview.
Beforehand, we were served some great bagels.
The kind I didn't think were available in Los Angeles.
So I was already in a really good mood before we started.
We got done, and I was thanked profusely.
I really felt like TV Royalty.
I think the interview will be posted no earlier than eight weeks from now.
Of course, I will let you all know when it is available for viewing online.

One more point that I didn't indicate in the interview or any of the blog entries:
I've indicated that I never saw Lowell write anything by himself.
This isn't quite completely true.
After our breakup, we had some very heated confrontations about it.
Most of them in person.
Once, it involved an exchange of letters.
In his letter to me, he used the phrase "As the co-creater of 'Joanie Loves Chachi'...."
"co-creater"
Not "co-creator"
I thought "Perfect!"
Particularly because it was THAT show in question.
So not only was there no evidence that he could write well by himself, there is also no evidence that he could SPELL by himself.
Oh...if there only was Spell Check in those days.
Nobody would have known.


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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 and Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.

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