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Thursday, October 31, 2013

The End Of An Error. 6.

The rest of the SNL cast members who made some sort of impact and whom I had less than any use for (alphabetically, and subjectively):

1- Tracy Morgan.

A cross-pollination of Belushi and Eddie Murphy.
The worst of both.

2- Bobby Moynihan.

Being roly-poly and extroverted does not make you Belushi.

3- Eddie Murphy.

The first dangerous black man on SNL.
I saw him live in Vegas at his height.
Warmed over Cosby and Pryor.
Didn't make me laugh once.
Except for Buh' wheat on SNL.
Mister Robinson's Neighorhood was just creepy.
He appeared on an HBO comedy competition against four other comics.
He must have been about 20 at the time.
He finished fifth, and deserved to.
Rookie jitters?

4- Joe Piscopo.

If we weren't doing this alphabetically, when it came to wasting everybody's time, he would be King of the Hill,
Top of the Heap.
I've heard him bellyache that although he and Eddie Murphy came up at the same time, he never had the chance to become as big a star as Eddie Murphy.
He couldn't come close to being as big a star as GEORGE Murphy.

5- Charles Rocket.

Not Lorne's fault.
Jean Doumanian's attempt to resurrect Chevy Chase.
At least with Chevy, there was a glimmer of humor.

6- Maya Rudolph.

Literally as if Ellen Cleghorne and Nora Dunn were able to have a natural-born adult child.

7- Andy Samberg.

Sure looked like he SHOULD have been funny.
Looks can be deceiving.

8- Horatio Sanz.

As if he and Bobby Moynihan were twins separated at birth.

9- Molly Shannon.

Everything she did left me cold and/or nauseous.

10- Julia Sweeney.

A one-joke, one trick pony.
A Shetland pony at best.
They even made a movie about it.
It was released at 65 minutes.
Can you imagine the crap that was cut out of that picture?

11- Terry Sweeney.

Why didn't they just go out and get Jim Bailey?
He wasn't doing that much at the time, and he did a hell of a Judy Garland impression.

12- Kristen Wiig.

The female Joe Piscopo, with far more undeserved success.

How the hell did they miss out on Yakoff Smirnoff?

One more go-round next time, concentrating on really good people they had that they misused and let slip through their collective fingers.

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

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.

******

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

The End Of An Error. 5.

Once the original SNL cast was set, and people began to leave, the next forty years or so was spent in attempting to fill various niches left by the cast members who made major impressions.
This was usually difficult, if not impossible, to do.
But it was tried anyway.
And because of the void left, and because of original mistakes made to begin with, we have had people foisted on us, mainly by Lorne Michaels, but not exclusively, who need to be singled out.
I put most of the blame on management.
It's otherwise like putting the blame on a baseball player for making a bonehead play, like that pinch-runner for the Cardinals, who entered the game the other night to end the World Series game in St. Louis the other night by getting picked off of first base.
It was the manager who sent this nitwit in to run.
The nitwit can't help being a nitwit.
And all that Lorne had to do was not put them on in the first place.
And that's the way it was with the SNL cast members who stunk up the joint.
For the most part.
The rest of this is going to be subjective, (and some may surprise you) as I rattle off the names of those cast members who, at least to me, made a particularly rank impression.
I'll do about half of them today, and half next time, as there are that many of them.
In alphabetical order.
Because it's easier.

1- Jim Belushi.

Right. You can't replace John Belushi. No matter how hard and how often they tried.

2- Chevy Chase.

He always thought he was a laugh riot, and always thought the camera was there to be winked at. Including in his movies.

3- Ellen Cleghorne.

Four years of arrogantly never making me laugh.

4- Rachel Dratch.

I'm going to be merciful, and not comment.

5- Nora Dunn.

The bland, white version of Ellen Cleghorne.

6- Chris Elliot.

I never saw what Letterman saw in him. And SNL didn't even bother to look.

7- Chris Farley.

Another attempt at Belushi. He had the danger, and the suicidal tendencies.
But to me, never funny.

8- Tina Fey.

This one might spark some controversy, but if there was no Sarah Palin, she would have NEVER made me laugh. "30 Rock" was entirely made up of winking at the camera. Got the mostest out of the leastest since Chevy Chase.
There are parallels here.

9- Ana Gasteyer.

Nora Dunn's been gone for six years? We've got to get Ana Gasteyer!

10- Mary Gross.

She always seemed embarrassed to be there.

11- Victoria Jackson.

Couldn't stand her BEFORE I realized she was a Right Wing loon.

12- Chris Kattan.

I don't know if it was him so much, or the gay-bashing sketches they had him do.

13- Dennis Miller.

See Victoria Jackson.

And see you all 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 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.

******

Thursday, October 24, 2013

The End Of An Error. 4.

My friend Mark Evanier e-mailed me to inform me that Albert Brooks' Famous Comedians School didn't air on SNL, but rather on a show on PBS.
Since I have always had PBS, I guess that's where I saw it.
I will then happily replace that film with Brooks' hilarious short film about having heart surgery.
And now I'll move on to the rest of the list (in no particular order).


1- Steve Martin and Dan Ayckroyd as the foreigners. Two Wild and Crazy Guys, in constant pursuit of "Foxes".

Funny the first time. Never as funny again.

2-Steve Martin and Gilda dancing to "Dancing in the Dark".

Really funny originally. A work of art.
When they reran it upon Gilda's death, and Steve Martin cried while introducing it, it was one of television's great moments.

3- Bill Murray doing his Lounge singer providing lyrics for the theme to "Star Wars".

When I first saw it, I was so dumb that I actually thought "Star Wars" had lyrics that I didn't know about.
The lounge singer was always great.
How Lorne picked Chevy Chase over Bill Murray to begin with is one of the great mysteries.

4- Bill Hader's Vincent Price impression, and his character Vinnie Verderci.

Bill Hader is one of the great underappreciated talents.

5-The Widette Family.

Done early in the series, it was a family of people, all of whom had huge asses.
They did it a few times, and always made me laugh.
Perhaps because I actually knew a family like that.

6- Jon Lovitz's Master Thespian, done with John Lithgow.

Lovitz always killed me. Just as he always did as Tommy Flanaygan, the compulsive liar, who listed among his conquests Morgan Fairchild.

7- Eddie Murphy as Buh'wheat.

You'll probably be surprised to learn that this was the ONLY time Eddie Murphy ever made me laugh.

8- Dana Carvey as Bush 41 debating Jon Lovitz as Michael Dukakis, highlighted by Lovitz saying "I can't believe I'm losing to this guy."

9- Christopher Walken as "The Continental".

Seductively and sleazily, with a foreign accent, talking to the camera, which represented a woman, in his lavish apartment, continually saying inappropriate things, and getting nailed for it.
They did "The Continental" just about every time Walken was on.
And I couldn't get enough of it, or him.

10- Alec Baldwin as the French Teacher.

Insisting that each student speak French in exactly the same inflections that he used.
Truly inspired.

11- The Young Caucasians.

Early in the series.
Ray Charles was the host.
The sketch was a flashback to when a young white group did a cover recording of "Tell Me What'd I Say".
And Ray Charles had to witness it.
Or at least listen to it.
He was not pleased.
It came out, upbeat, with no blue notes, totally vanilla, as "What DID I Say?" by the "Young Caucasians".
Brilliant.

Next time, recalling some of the people Lorne Michaels foisted upon us for at least several years, some of whom America has fallen in love with, none of whom I have.

'Til then.....

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

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.

******

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

The End Of An Error. 3.

Well, the total is now up to nineteen (or so).
The number of times I laughed out loud over something I saw over the last forty years (or so) on "Saturday Night Live"
Be aware that this is purely subjective.
Here are some of them, in no particular order:

1-Samurai Deli.

One of a series of Belushi "Samurai" sketches.
Usually with Buck Henry playing straight for him.
Henry added to the laughter enormously.
I seriously doubt that it would have been as funny without him.
I think "Samurai Deli" was the first one.
And as usual, they beat the premise into the ground with subsequent sketches.

2- The Greek Diner.

The sketch that gave us "Chee-burgy, chee-burgy, chee-burgy, chee-burgy...."
Belushi really shined in that one.
Then, of course, they kept redoing the sketch, and it became diminishing returns.

3- Albert Brooks' Famous Comedians School.

He did a series of short films early on in the series, all good, but nothing as funny as the Famous Comedians School.
I had first seen it as an article in, I think, Esquire Magazine.
And it was hilarious there.
It translated very well to film, unfettered by Lorne's input.
Lorne seemed to know when not to get in people's way.
Especially if they weren't his underlings.

4- Negro Leaguers.

Billy Crystal and Christopher Guest in a short film where they portrayed two now ancient Negro League baseball players.
At least as impressive as it was funny.

5- The Joe Franklin Show.

Billy Crystal doing his devastating impression of Joe Franklin, with Christopher Guest doing his devastating impression of Alan Arkin, capturing all the inherent dopiness of the Joe Franklin Show.

6- Fernando's Hideaway.

Billy Crystal's hilarious, mostly improvised impression of Fernando Lamas, fracturing the language as he interviewed a guest.
A lot of people think that he broke this character in on SNL, but I remember him doing it on his own comedy hour on NBC a couple of years earlier.
I think he also did it with Johnny Carson before SNL.

7- Nathan Thurm and Mike Wallace.

Martin Short at his best, as the nervous and obviously guilty, with everything to hide, Nathan Thurm, and Harry Shearer doing his dead-on Mike Wallace impression in full interrogation mode.

8- Martin Short as Ed Grimley, when Howard Cosell guested and was made up to look just like Ed Grimley.

Howard was always a good sport.
Martin Short brought this character with him from SCTV.
This was one character that withstood the constant repetition.

These last five entries were all done in the 1984-85 season.
One that Lorne Michaels was not there for.
Lorne returned the next season.
And all of the great cast members from the 84-85 season, Billy Crystal, Harry Shearer, Martin Short, and Christopher Guest, promptly left.
It was the show's only great season, and Lorne Michaels had nothing to do with it.
If he was there at the time, he never would have hired those guys, because he couldn't control them, or treat them like indentured servants.
And if he did, none of them would have stood for it.

I'll get to the rest of my pleasant experiences with SNL 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 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.

******

Thursday, October 17, 2013

The End Of An Error. 2.

I think one of the major problems I've had with "Saturday Night Live" over the years has been the continuing looming presence of Lorne Michaels, the very public and private face of "SNL".
Aside from not thinking much of his taste in comedy, I've felt, and have certainly heard from others, that he has brought an overwhelming tenseness to the entire proceedings over the years.
There was an article in the New York Times recently, entitled "The God of "SNL" Will See You Now.", which sums up that tenseness from many who have worked on the show.
It has been well documented that he is one of those people who will keep a prospective cast applicant waiting in his outer office a good eight hours after his or her scheduled appointment.
If you know me well enough, you'll know that this is the kind of thing that engenders instant dislike in me.
But if Steve Martin, or Alec Baldwin showed up unannounced, they would be ushered right in.
The regular cast members are always treated like underlings, like trained seals, all fighting over whatever fish Lorne might throw at them.
He makes them competitive, fighting to get their own material used on the show that week, at the expense of the others.
Competition doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing, but the end result has mostly not resulted in wonderful work.
So there's a sense that the cast is always scared shitless in this environment.
He also has always maintained a caste system, dividing the cast into Regulars and, on a lesser rung, Featured Players.
You really have to feel bad for the Featured Players, because they know their place, and you know that they don't like their place.
They are basically people who are being "tried out".
And I don't particularly like the Featured Players.
This is a problem that has gone on for over twenty years with me.
Because each group of Featured Players are younger than the last group, some of whom went on to become regulars, and more of whom have simply disappeared from sight.
As a result, I only feel that much older when I see them.
I don't like feeling older when I see anybody.
It's another reason why I have finally owned up to having outgrown this show.
Another thing that Lorne Michaels has insisted on from the very beginning is that the entire show be done with the performers reading their lines off of cue cards.
Some performers do it better than others.
Some don't.
The end result is almost a total lack of spontaneity.
On Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows", everyone knew their lines.
And it always seemed spontaneous.
And sometimes they strayed from the script.
Same thing with Carol Burnett.
The only other shows that I can recall that relied on cue cards were the Bob Hope specials of the 1960's, where Hope relentlessly read off cue cards in sketches, and was terrible at it, and The Dean Martin Show, where everybody except Dean knew their lines, but Dean used cue cards.
But that was part of the joke.
And it worked.
By the end of last season, the only cast member that I had any use for was Bill Hader.
And I thought he was hilarious in everything he did.
Once I started watching the premiere episode this season, and saw the new group of Featured Players, and saw that Bill Hader was gone, I became the camel's back, and that was the straw that broke me.

Next time, I will recall the actual times that the show DID make me laugh out loud.
Since I used the number 14 the last time, I have thought of a handful more.
Until then....

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

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.

******

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

The End Of An Error.

It finally happened.
After almost forty years, I finally came to my senses.
Or at least what's left of my senses.
At long last, I voluntarily avoided watching, taping, or tivoing a new episode of "Saturday Night Live".
And I will continue along this path for the rest of my life.
I should have done this years ago.
Like, about forty years ago.
A few days ago, I made a concerted effort to list the times the show actually made me laugh out loud.
It came to about fourteen.
Fourteen in almost forty years.
That's w-a-a-a-y below the Mendoza Line.
For the uninformed, the Mendoza Line was named after Mario Mendoza, former major leaguer who was a good infielder with absolutely no ability to hit.
He must have been a good fielder, or they'd never keep him in the lineup.
He ended his career with a lifetime batting average of about .202.
That's w-a-a-a-y better than "Saturday Night Live" did.
Why did I stick with it so long?
I don't know.
I guess I always approached it with a sense of optimism.
Like the little boy who went to his room on his birthday and discovered that the floor was covered with shit.
And his reaction was ""It must be a pony!"
When it was on originally, I was about the same age as the first cast.
It seemed like the "hip" thing to do.
Back then, it was also hip to smoke.
I never smoked.
But I guess it had the same effect on me as nicotine would.

Belushi was certainly a compelling force of nature.
He accounts for two of the times I laughed out loud.
And how could you not love Gilda?
But the sketches never had endings.
Lorne Michaels seemed to pride himself on not remotely doing anything that Carol Burnett would do.
You know.
Like being w-a-a-a-y over the Mendoza Lne.
Like having endings for sketches.
And he kept recycling sketches that worked the first time.
And those that didn't.
That last group was really torture.
He's still doing parodies of game shows.
Usually "Jeopardy"
And it's always the same joke.
The contestants never know anything, much to the frustration of the emcee.
For almost forty years.
The only thing older than that joke is Don Pardo.
The show has always been so predictable that you know that the "Jeopardy" parody will come on in the first half-hour.
And the first musical number will be around midnight.
And "Weekend Update" will be on around 12:15.
And every sketch after "Weekend Update" will be weaker than those on before "Weekend Update"
And that the second musical number will be on at roughly 12:48.
And that the sketch following that will NEVER be remotely funny.
I can see that I'm going to be long-winded about this topic, and I'm already panting.
So we'll pick this up 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 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.

******

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Name That Tune.

There is a local restaurant that my wife and I frequent here in Michigan.
It is a bit swanky, and we frequent it when we are in a bit of a swanky mood.
The food there is consistently wonderful.
Maybe better than any other restaurant that we frequent.
Great bread.
Great Caesar Salad.
Great entrees.
Great desserts.
Great service.
My wife has always looked forward to going there.
I have always dreaded it.
In spite of the great bread, great Caesar Salad, great entrees, great desserts, and great service.
"What more can you ask for?" you ask?
Only one thing.
That they get rid of the omnipresent piano player who is ALWAYS there.
I have always made it a point to the headwaiter that we be seated as far away from the piano player as is humanly possible.
He usually complies, and this helps somewhat.
But sometimes he can't, and we are subjected to the worst piano playing this side of Ernest Borgnine's Fatso Jutson in "From Here To Eternity".
Actually, it's on the other side.
Fatso only played polkas.
The restaurant pianist played "dinner music".
"Cocktail music".
Music that required a much more delicate touch.
Do any of you recall the album "An Evening With Jonathan and Darlene Edwards"?
It was the alter egos of Jo Stafford and her husband Paul Weston.
They sang and played "Cocktail Music".
She deliberately sang off-key, and he accompanied her off the beat, with fumbly fingers.
It has always been as if this restaurant pianist took private lessons from Jonathan Edwards.
Except that the restaurant pianist wasn't accompanying anyone but himself.
He played popular tunes that he virtually dared anyone to guess what they were.
You couldn't possibly guess what they were in the first eight bars.
Or the first sixteen bars.
Having a much better musical ear than my wife, it usually fell to me to figure out what, in fact, the hell he was playing.
And there was a moment of triumph when I eventually DID figure out what he was playing.
So last time we were there, I turned it into a game.
A game of "Name That Tune".
I actually let it become part of the fun of the dining experience.
Of course, like most other restaurant pianists, he had CDs of his selections available for purchase.
I seriously considered buying one.
That way, we would have the "Name That Tune" home game to play whenever we wanted to.
I stopped myself.
I realized that I would never, ever play the "Name That Tune" home game.
I'd never want to.

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

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.

******

Thursday, October 3, 2013

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.


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

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.

******

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

An Announcement..

Greetings from Malibu, where my computer access is extremely limited, and will be for the next couple of days.
I just wanted to let you all know that last Friday, upon their invitation, the Television Academy gave me a four-hour interview of my own for their archives at EmmyTVlegends.org.
It will be posted in about eight weeks.
I will provide many details about this experience on Thursday.

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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.

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About Me

Hi. I am, according to my Wikipedia entry,(which I did not create) a noted television writer, playwright, screenwriter, and occasional actor. You can Google me or go to the IMDB to get my credits, and you can come here to get my opinions on things, which I'll try to express eloquently. Hopefully I'll succeed. You can also e-mail me at macchus999@aol.com. Perhaps my biggest claim to fame is being responsible, for about six months in 1975, while Head Writer for the "Happy Days" TV series, for Americans saying to each other "Sit on it."