Getting A Crap Taken On Me, From Two Separate Podcasts. Part One.

I pay a lot more attention to podcasts than to things I watch on TV.
Whenever I watch a sporting event, I usually multi-task by listening to a podcast and turning the sound off on the sporting event.
Or when Trump is on.
The ones I listen to are hosted by very funny comedians: Larry Miler, Gilbert Gottfried, Dom Irrera, Jake Johannsen, Judy Gold, Kevin Pollak, and
others.
They're all usually good for some big laughs as I get through the day.
I have worked with several of them.
On one occasion, Larry Miller mentioned that he appeared in one of my plays, and how good it was, and how much he enjoyed being in it.
It turns out that this has become the exception rather than the rule.
A few days ago, I was listening to Dom Irrera's podcast.
We'd seen him at the Comedy Store, where he killed, and not really knowing whether or not he could act, I had hired him to do three episodes of
"She's The Sheriff".
His agents put together what I recall being a ball-buster deal for him, although at the time, he had virtually no major TV exposure.
It was probably the first time he got an acting job without auditioning for it.
We created a character for him, not unlike Latka from "Taxi".
The hook was, not unlike what Andy Kaufman did when he transformed himself into his incredible Elvis impression, Dom's character "Jim" (pronounced "Heem!")
transformed himself into a hack American comic, a staple of his act.
The rest of the cast basically laid out for him.
He was terrific. The audience loved it.
I felt that out of the 22 episodes I was involved with, 18 were home runs.
And I thought that this was one of them.
After we taped that show, I hung out with Dom a little in Vegas, where he was appearing.
I took he and his then wife at the time to dinner there.
I'd chalked it up as a completely pleasant experience.
Cut to: 28 years later. I'm listening to his podcast.
And he begins bashing the entire experience.
"I did this show, "SHE's The Sheriff" like we needed to be told that it was a Lady Sheriff, yeah, show me how much you need to insult my intelligence,
and at the first table read, I looked around the room, and I couldn't believe how so many people could be so bad.
Then, a few years later, I did "Seinfeld". It was like night and day."

Well, if you thought the script was so bad, why didn't you say something?
Or did you just assume it was pointless?
Based on the deal he made, he certainly could have thrown his weight around.
Not a peep out of him.
The live audience was very supportive.
They laughed in all the right places.
That's all that matters.
To once again quote Billy Wilder, "Individually they're all idiots. Collectively they're a genius."
No, we were not "Seinfeld" Who was?
But we were a syndicated show that came on mid-season with no decent writing budget and I think I put together enough decent bodies to not ever have to feel ashamed.
And it was not stupid. Except for the 4 that didn't work. And that wasn't my fault.
What disturbs me more than anything was, as good as I can read an audience, that's how badly I can read people.
It took 28 years to realize that someone I really liked had no respect for me.
I'll still listen to his podcast, because he's still that funny.

Next time, another example of this.

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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".
They are all compilations of blog entries that have since been removed from the blog.
So this is the only way you can find them.
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne and 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@comcast.net

And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne and Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.

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