For the first time in many weeks TCM is not showing a "Bowery Boys" movie this Saturday morning.
I find this emotionally disturbing.
I am, and have always been a major fan of the "Bowery Boys" saga.
I can't get enough of them.
From the late 30's, when they showed up as the very serious "Dead End Kids", usually in prison, with John Garfield, or Ronald Reagan,
or Cagney, through the early 40's when they were the lighter-hearted "East-Side Kids", usually fighting Nazis.
This is when they made the move from Warner Brothers where money was spent on their movies, to Monogram, where nobody spent money on anything.
The lack of ensuing production values meant nothing to me. And certainly not to them.
To me, they were all just as entertaining.
But the balance of their work began in 1947 when they became "The Bowery Boys", where cheapness reached rock-bottom.
Not that there was any difference in who they portrayed.
Leo Gorcey was always some variation of the group's leader.
Usually named Muggs (real name: Ethelbert McGuiness} or Slip (Real name: Francis Aloysius Mahoney)
See a pattern?
Slip, er, Muggs was a master of malapropism that would put Norm Crosby to shame.
No one was more damaged than Gorcey as the series went on.
He aged far worse than any of the others.
They schlepped in Gorcey's father to play Louie, the soda shoppe proprietor, probably to make Gorcey look younger.
But they were playing out-and-out comedy now, to a fare-thee-well.
Huntz Hall, the eternal clown, seemed to never age.
The others were all interchangeable.
I don't think that there was one instance in any of their films where Gorcey didn't hit Hall with his hat.
And it was always funny.
I know that a lot of people look down their noses at "The Bowery Boys"
And TCM certainly gives them a lot of imprimatur.
I really hope it doesn't stop.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Thursday, May 19, 2016
The Mysteries Of "Let's Rock"
Julius La Rosa died this week.
I was a big fan.
I thought he was a wonderful singer, who brought great musicianship and empathy to everything he did.
Never mind all that mishegoss that went on with Arthur Godfrey.
(And I'm giving you credit for remembering him).
Julie made only one actual feature film.
It was called "Let's Rock".
I had never heard of it until it showed up on TCM about two years ago.
La Rosa got top billing, just as rock 'n roll was starting to rear its ugly head.
This was 1958. La Rosa had long survived the Godfrey firing, and was thriving.
He was cast as a ballad singer whose manager was trying to show him that ballads are dead, and the only way to stay "with it" is to switch to rock and roll.
Second billed was Phyllis Newman as his girlfriend, which I could believe, and as an aspiring rock and roll songwriter, which I couldn't.
You know the way Phyllis Newman has a way with rock and roll lyrics. They're right up her alley.
I mean, who the hell is she, Carole King?
This premise was a very tough sell.
Interestingly, Julie and Phyllis sang roughly half a dozen traditional style "pop" songs, without a hint of rock and roll.
They were all written by Hal Hackady, whose name pretty much described his abilities.
But they were all rather harmless and pleasant.
The closest Julie came to doing rock and roll was doing about a chorus of "Rock Around The Clock".
He hated doing it, and I hated hearing it.
But the movie really served as a showcase for real rock and roll singers.
This was essentially an Alan Freed movie, without the smarm and the payola.
For the Alan Freed part, they got Wink Martindale, not at all smarmy.
Each getting a song, not interacting at all with the story, were Paul Anka, Danny and The Juniors, Roy Hamilton, Della Reese, and The Royal Teens (Who Wears Short Shorts? They wear Short Shorts!)
The story is resolved by Julie realizing he should stick to ballads.
All of this begs several questions:
Was there any other way this story could play out?
Why was this movie made?
Who did they think their audience was?
Julius La Rosa as first billed, this turns off the Alan Freed crowd.
They don't know what they're getting.
Why would they show up?
How did they get La Rosa to do this movie?
The story cuts a little too close to the bone.
La Rosa survived this situation in real life, but a lot of his contemporaries didn't.
Why would he want to call attention to himself in that manner?
Maybe because he played a character with a different name, his handlers, thinking he was a schmuck, managed to convince him that he wasn't playing himself.
The scenarios are almost endless.
Maybe it was simply a matter of money, or the lack of it.
"Let's Rock" must have been made on a budget of nickels.
Yet, it was all rather entertaining, fifty years later.
Back then, it was undoubtedly designed to be the lower half of a double bill.
A second feature. That's what they had back then.
It was probably a matter of nobody giving a fuck.
And Julie was probably delighted to star in a movie.
That's my best guess.
All I've got are guesses.
No answers.
Now that Julie's gone, we'll never really know.
I prefer it when life makes sense.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was a big fan.
I thought he was a wonderful singer, who brought great musicianship and empathy to everything he did.
Never mind all that mishegoss that went on with Arthur Godfrey.
(And I'm giving you credit for remembering him).
Julie made only one actual feature film.
It was called "Let's Rock".
I had never heard of it until it showed up on TCM about two years ago.
La Rosa got top billing, just as rock 'n roll was starting to rear its ugly head.
This was 1958. La Rosa had long survived the Godfrey firing, and was thriving.
He was cast as a ballad singer whose manager was trying to show him that ballads are dead, and the only way to stay "with it" is to switch to rock and roll.
Second billed was Phyllis Newman as his girlfriend, which I could believe, and as an aspiring rock and roll songwriter, which I couldn't.
You know the way Phyllis Newman has a way with rock and roll lyrics. They're right up her alley.
I mean, who the hell is she, Carole King?
This premise was a very tough sell.
Interestingly, Julie and Phyllis sang roughly half a dozen traditional style "pop" songs, without a hint of rock and roll.
They were all written by Hal Hackady, whose name pretty much described his abilities.
But they were all rather harmless and pleasant.
The closest Julie came to doing rock and roll was doing about a chorus of "Rock Around The Clock".
He hated doing it, and I hated hearing it.
But the movie really served as a showcase for real rock and roll singers.
This was essentially an Alan Freed movie, without the smarm and the payola.
For the Alan Freed part, they got Wink Martindale, not at all smarmy.
Each getting a song, not interacting at all with the story, were Paul Anka, Danny and The Juniors, Roy Hamilton, Della Reese, and The Royal Teens (Who Wears Short Shorts? They wear Short Shorts!)
The story is resolved by Julie realizing he should stick to ballads.
All of this begs several questions:
Was there any other way this story could play out?
Why was this movie made?
Who did they think their audience was?
Julius La Rosa as first billed, this turns off the Alan Freed crowd.
They don't know what they're getting.
Why would they show up?
How did they get La Rosa to do this movie?
The story cuts a little too close to the bone.
La Rosa survived this situation in real life, but a lot of his contemporaries didn't.
Why would he want to call attention to himself in that manner?
Maybe because he played a character with a different name, his handlers, thinking he was a schmuck, managed to convince him that he wasn't playing himself.
The scenarios are almost endless.
Maybe it was simply a matter of money, or the lack of it.
"Let's Rock" must have been made on a budget of nickels.
Yet, it was all rather entertaining, fifty years later.
Back then, it was undoubtedly designed to be the lower half of a double bill.
A second feature. That's what they had back then.
It was probably a matter of nobody giving a fuck.
And Julie was probably delighted to star in a movie.
That's my best guess.
All I've got are guesses.
No answers.
Now that Julie's gone, we'll never really know.
I prefer it when life makes sense.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, May 13, 2016
The Nature of the Talk Show Booking Order Beast.
I don't know how it is where you are,
but where I am I am bombarded with reruns
of The Johnny Carson show,
and The Dick Cavett show,
from when they originally aired.
I've noticed something unusual about both of them, compared to the way they do things today.
When you watch any of the talk shows today
whether its any one of the Jimmies,
or Stevens,
or James,
they all have something very much in common.
There is a pecking order to the guest list.
The biggest name for each show is invariably brought out first.
Or at least introduced first.
There must be nightly fist fights about who is the biggest star.
This is where agents make their money.
Back in the Carson/Cavett days, there was much more of a sense of randomness about it,
generally based on who the host thought would be the most entertaining.
The time allotment would be geared accordingly.
Orson Bean would get the first half hour.
Followed by someone huge like Burt Reynolds.
I had forgotten that that was the way things were.
I guess I had thought that they were also brought out based on the heft of their name.
There is a podcast on the Internet devoted to Johnny Carson where this young guy interviews all things Carson.
As a result he interviewed some of the talent bookers for Carson.
And they pretty much confirmed the notion that there was that element of randomness to it.
At least one time, though, there was a major exception.
On one particular evening on Johnny Carson, Dinah Shore was booked as the number one guest.
And Orson Welles was booked as the number two guest.
This did not sit well with Orson Welles, who, as it turns out, was prescient, way ahead of his time in terms of booking order.
And drank no wine before its time.
He told the booker in no uncertain terms that when he, Orson Welles, appeared on a talk show, he, Orson Welles, without exception, would be the number one guest.
So how would you, as the booker, like to be the one to tell Dinah Shore that she was being pushed back to number two in the guest booking order?
This booker passed the assignment over to the producer, Freddie de Cordova.
That's essentially what Freddie de Cordova was there for.
Dinah, of course, took it very graciously because she was a lady.
Imagine, if you will, if it was Yul Brynner rather than Dinah Shore.
Can you picture the fist fights that would have broken out?
The real irony here is that Yul Brynner and Orson Welles died on exactly the same day.
I wonder who got into heaven first, if, in fact, that is where they ended up?
That would have been too much for even Freddie de Cordova to handle.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
but where I am I am bombarded with reruns
of The Johnny Carson show,
and The Dick Cavett show,
from when they originally aired.
I've noticed something unusual about both of them, compared to the way they do things today.
When you watch any of the talk shows today
whether its any one of the Jimmies,
or Stevens,
or James,
they all have something very much in common.
There is a pecking order to the guest list.
The biggest name for each show is invariably brought out first.
Or at least introduced first.
There must be nightly fist fights about who is the biggest star.
This is where agents make their money.
Back in the Carson/Cavett days, there was much more of a sense of randomness about it,
generally based on who the host thought would be the most entertaining.
The time allotment would be geared accordingly.
Orson Bean would get the first half hour.
Followed by someone huge like Burt Reynolds.
I had forgotten that that was the way things were.
I guess I had thought that they were also brought out based on the heft of their name.
There is a podcast on the Internet devoted to Johnny Carson where this young guy interviews all things Carson.
As a result he interviewed some of the talent bookers for Carson.
And they pretty much confirmed the notion that there was that element of randomness to it.
At least one time, though, there was a major exception.
On one particular evening on Johnny Carson, Dinah Shore was booked as the number one guest.
And Orson Welles was booked as the number two guest.
This did not sit well with Orson Welles, who, as it turns out, was prescient, way ahead of his time in terms of booking order.
And drank no wine before its time.
He told the booker in no uncertain terms that when he, Orson Welles, appeared on a talk show, he, Orson Welles, without exception, would be the number one guest.
So how would you, as the booker, like to be the one to tell Dinah Shore that she was being pushed back to number two in the guest booking order?
This booker passed the assignment over to the producer, Freddie de Cordova.
That's essentially what Freddie de Cordova was there for.
Dinah, of course, took it very graciously because she was a lady.
Imagine, if you will, if it was Yul Brynner rather than Dinah Shore.
Can you picture the fist fights that would have broken out?
The real irony here is that Yul Brynner and Orson Welles died on exactly the same day.
I wonder who got into heaven first, if, in fact, that is where they ended up?
That would have been too much for even Freddie de Cordova to handle.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Buying New Shoes for the First Time in 24 Years.
Yes, that's right.
Up until two months ago I had not bought new shoes for 24 years.
It's not that I'm cheap, although Lord knows I am.
It's not that my shoes have gone out of style, which they haven't.
It's that 24 years ago I decided to go to Payless and buy 18 pairs of shoes.
Why would a person do such a thing? Well, in my case, it's because I can't buy shoes that have laces.
To put it quite simply, I cannot tie my shoes.
And I feel rather foolish attempting to tie my shoes in front of anybody, because it takes me a good half-hour to do it.
As Payless shoes are fairly durable, and cheap,and there are many varieties of Velcro shoes there, I thought, "Why don't I just take care of my shoe purchases for the rest of my life?"
So that is what I attempted to do.
Everything was going along swimmingly until a few months ago.
I was down to the last three pairs of shoes, but I was starting to develop trouble with my feet.
They had both gotten bigger.
And I thought to myself, "Well, there goes my lifetime achievement.
It ain't never gonna happen."
So my wife and I traipsed over to Payless.
It had been so many years since I was at Payless that I didn't realize that they had changed their signs, color scheme, their entire look.
The last time I visited Payless none of the employees there now had even been born.
I had other problems.
I used to wear an 11 triple-width, but now my right foot required a 13 triple-width and my left foot required a 12 triple-width.
With two different sized feet, I had to get a pair of size 13 and a pair of size 12.
Because you can't break up a set
And they only came in one color and one style.
Clodhopper. Black Clodhopper.
However, if you ordered by mail, you could get the white version.
Which is not nearly as Clodhopperish. I know because I ordered them.
But I still had to get two pairs.
I mentioned all of this to my sister, to see if this seemed unusual to her, and she regaled me with tales of her own growing feet.
Not too long ago she was a size 8.
A nice size foot for a nice size leg.
But recently, within a very short amount of time, her feet expanded to a size 9, then size 10, then size 10 1/2 wide.
I don't know how this blossoming has affected her but, she, herself refers to what she has as "clown's feet." She says she now has "clown's feet."
She says she wears "clown shoes."
I don't consider my shoes to be disproportionate to my overall leg.
Unlike her.
I guess I feel lucky that I was able to get so much use out of those size 11's.
So what if I now have to wear sizes 12 and 13?
I'm just glad they make them that big.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Up until two months ago I had not bought new shoes for 24 years.
It's not that I'm cheap, although Lord knows I am.
It's not that my shoes have gone out of style, which they haven't.
It's that 24 years ago I decided to go to Payless and buy 18 pairs of shoes.
Why would a person do such a thing? Well, in my case, it's because I can't buy shoes that have laces.
To put it quite simply, I cannot tie my shoes.
And I feel rather foolish attempting to tie my shoes in front of anybody, because it takes me a good half-hour to do it.
As Payless shoes are fairly durable, and cheap,and there are many varieties of Velcro shoes there, I thought, "Why don't I just take care of my shoe purchases for the rest of my life?"
So that is what I attempted to do.
Everything was going along swimmingly until a few months ago.
I was down to the last three pairs of shoes, but I was starting to develop trouble with my feet.
They had both gotten bigger.
And I thought to myself, "Well, there goes my lifetime achievement.
It ain't never gonna happen."
So my wife and I traipsed over to Payless.
It had been so many years since I was at Payless that I didn't realize that they had changed their signs, color scheme, their entire look.
The last time I visited Payless none of the employees there now had even been born.
I had other problems.
I used to wear an 11 triple-width, but now my right foot required a 13 triple-width and my left foot required a 12 triple-width.
With two different sized feet, I had to get a pair of size 13 and a pair of size 12.
Because you can't break up a set
And they only came in one color and one style.
Clodhopper. Black Clodhopper.
However, if you ordered by mail, you could get the white version.
Which is not nearly as Clodhopperish. I know because I ordered them.
But I still had to get two pairs.
I mentioned all of this to my sister, to see if this seemed unusual to her, and she regaled me with tales of her own growing feet.
Not too long ago she was a size 8.
A nice size foot for a nice size leg.
But recently, within a very short amount of time, her feet expanded to a size 9, then size 10, then size 10 1/2 wide.
I don't know how this blossoming has affected her but, she, herself refers to what she has as "clown's feet." She says she now has "clown's feet."
She says she wears "clown shoes."
I don't consider my shoes to be disproportionate to my overall leg.
Unlike her.
I guess I feel lucky that I was able to get so much use out of those size 11's.
So what if I now have to wear sizes 12 and 13?
I'm just glad they make them that big.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, May 2, 2016
Ron Howard's Wedding.
Ron Howard's marriage coincided with my working on Happy Days.
Hence, I was invited to the wedding mass and the reception.
This is something that would't have happened in a million years if I weren't working on Happy Days at that time.
A highlight for me was that just about everyone that Ron Howard worked with in show business were there.
Which, if you think about it, is quite a few people that you would know.
I am talking like, 1981.
So all the surviving members of the Andy Griffith cast were there, including good old Anj and Barney Fife.
Marian the Librarian was there; Ron Howard had played Shirley Jones' little brother in The Music Man.
Ron had done a series with Henry Fonda, and everyone in that show, including Henry, were there.
Of course all the members of the cast of Happy Days were there, which involved another Henry.
Oddly enough, at the time, Henry Winkler was far more popular.
So I got to see up close, Aunt Bee, Helen Crump, Howard Sprague, and Otis Campbell.
And, as at most Gentile weddings, there was not a lot of food, just a couple of celery sticks before the mass started.
So it was a lovely afternoon, and we all mingled outside waiting for the mass to start.
I guess we were all hoping there would be a big spread afterwards.
But it was clear from about 15 minutes into the mass that we were not getting the condensed version.
This was going to be the full-on high mass.
I happen to have been seated alongside Andy Griffith, who seemed to be losing his patience a little bit.
And, as it was clear that the mass was winding down and they were about to do the actual ceremony, Garry Marshall, who was sitting in front of me, turned back towards me and said,
"Everything up until here is a lift".
I think I need to explain what a lift is.
It is an editing term.
It means you don't need this.
It means everything up until this point can be taken out, can be "a lift".
I, of course, was hysterical.
Andy Griffith was hysterical.
And then there was no reception after that.
Meaning no food.
Then nobody was hysterical; just hungry.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hence, I was invited to the wedding mass and the reception.
This is something that would't have happened in a million years if I weren't working on Happy Days at that time.
A highlight for me was that just about everyone that Ron Howard worked with in show business were there.
Which, if you think about it, is quite a few people that you would know.
I am talking like, 1981.
So all the surviving members of the Andy Griffith cast were there, including good old Anj and Barney Fife.
Marian the Librarian was there; Ron Howard had played Shirley Jones' little brother in The Music Man.
Ron had done a series with Henry Fonda, and everyone in that show, including Henry, were there.
Of course all the members of the cast of Happy Days were there, which involved another Henry.
Oddly enough, at the time, Henry Winkler was far more popular.
So I got to see up close, Aunt Bee, Helen Crump, Howard Sprague, and Otis Campbell.
And, as at most Gentile weddings, there was not a lot of food, just a couple of celery sticks before the mass started.
So it was a lovely afternoon, and we all mingled outside waiting for the mass to start.
I guess we were all hoping there would be a big spread afterwards.
But it was clear from about 15 minutes into the mass that we were not getting the condensed version.
This was going to be the full-on high mass.
I happen to have been seated alongside Andy Griffith, who seemed to be losing his patience a little bit.
And, as it was clear that the mass was winding down and they were about to do the actual ceremony, Garry Marshall, who was sitting in front of me, turned back towards me and said,
"Everything up until here is a lift".
I think I need to explain what a lift is.
It is an editing term.
It means you don't need this.
It means everything up until this point can be taken out, can be "a lift".
I, of course, was hysterical.
Andy Griffith was hysterical.
And then there was no reception after that.
Meaning no food.
Then nobody was hysterical; just hungry.
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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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