Being On The Same Page With Woody Allen.

I'm not talking about all things.
I don't think I'd marry someone who's more than thirty years my junior.
The jury is probably still out as to how creepy this is.
I'm confining my remarks to our mutual taste in movies.
Particularly those of Billy Wilder's.
There is an interview of Woody Allen on his Facebook page.
He talks extensively about the disparity between how well a movie does at the box office, and
how good it is.
With Billy Wilder, he singles out two films:
A 1951 movie called "Ace In The Hole".
It is spectacularly dramatic, containing maybe Kirk Douglas's greatest performance.
It must be seen.
Woody Allen essentially said "You can't do better than this".
And he's right.  You can't.
It is one of the great movies.  Perhaps Wilder's best.
And it completely tanked at the box office.
It tanked so badly that they attempted to re-release it under a different title: "The Big Carnival".
How often did that happen?  It didn't help.
It also did not garnish good reviews.  It was considered too sardonic, too mean-spirited.
I guess for 1951, maybe it was.
I first saw it in the early 60's.  It wasn't too mean-spirited for me.  It was just awesome.
Woody also singles out "Some Like It Hot", which did great at the box office.
A lot of people consider it the greatest comedy ever made.
It is very well-crafted.  Particularly the work of Ms. Monroe. 
She is capable of breaking your heart in it.
Only one problem:  It's not funny.
It never makes me laugh.
A lot of movies do make me laugh.
The greatest comedy ever made has to at least make me laugh at least once.
Hell, at least five times.
But this one, not once.
And Woody Allen agrees.
I've never expressed this out loud before, but Woody Allen has given me license to.
This is much akin to saying the emperor is naked, but at least now I feel free to say it.
More about Billy Wilder next time.

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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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The Podcast Aftermath.

I thought the podcast went very well, except for a few minor technical glitches.
We showed a couple of my unsold pilots, which are terrific, and a couple  of clips from my short-lived series, which I chose, and also loved. 
If you missed it, and want to see it, it will be on YouTube for about a week.
Then the host takes it down, and you have to pay to see it.
The YouTube link is   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv98I21Lcgo
It runs about 2 and a half hours, and I think it's worth your time.
Also, pretty soon, we will be uploading on YouTube my episodes of my series "Busting Loose"
and the short-lived "Ted Knight Show".
Along with the two pilots that aired last night.
These are all about 40 years old, and I think they hold up pretty well.
I will provide more information about this as it happens.
I talked about my two plays, which are now in the hands of Broadway Producers.
I am currently at their mercy.
It also provided me the opportunity to sell my novel, "I'm Not Garbo".
I've already gotten a nice response about that.
You are welcome to take me up on my offer there too.
I hope you do.

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

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.

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

Live Podcast Tomorrow,

Today is Tuesday.

Tomorrow, Wednesday,  I will be doing a live Podcast from 4pm to roughly 7pm, Pacific Time,

which translates to 5pm to 8pm, Mountain Time, 6pm to 9pm, Central Time, and 7pm to 10pm,

Eastern Time.

It's called Stu's Show, and can be found at Stusshow.com, or just Google it.

I've done the show twice before, the difference now is that the first two times, they were just audio  podcasts.  

This will be audio and visual.

This will be all about my career post-"Laverne and Shirley"

We will be airing a couple of my unsold pilots, which were at least as good as some that were sold, also some clips from sold shows that haven't been seen in about forty years.

These were shows that I also wrote the theme songs for.

If you like my work in general, I think you'll be highly entertained.

Also, of course, you'll get to take a gander at my adorable face.

There will also be several surprises along the way.

Enjoy!
You know, I still haven't figured out how to fix the boldface type problem.
It just seems to do what it wants.
Oh, well....

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

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.
IThe 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.

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

Getting Even Worse At Something I Used To Be Great At.

I've mentioned before that, prior to the internet, I used to be the world champion of death:

When someone famous died, how they died, and how old they were when they died.

I was very proud of this talent.

Then, the Internet came along and leveled the playing field.

With the touch of a finger, everyone else is as smart as me.

I certainly felt humbled, but after some minor licking of my wounds, I pretty much got over it.

But the Internet has now taken a further toll.

Along with my advancing age, and the lessening of value of this former "gift",

I now no longer remember as much as I used to.

In searching for a name I used to know all the details of, I now even flounder when I do a search.

I used to be a world-class crossword puzzle-doer.

Now, I can't do a New York Times puzzle without the aid of Wikipedia.

It's no longer a matter of who has the bigger dick, but rather a source of information.

Last week I had a clue "_____Cameron, from "Charlie's Angels"

I was never a fan, but I thought Kate Jackson? didn't fit.  Jaclyn Smith? Didn't fit.

It never even occurred to me that they made a movie out of it.

And Cameron Diaz was in it.

An entire generation of music has happened under my radar.  I'm clueless.

Welcome to hard times.

I can't even figure out how to get out of this bold typeface.

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

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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One More, Somewhat Rather Niggling, Report From Doctor Rothman, Tune Detective.

This one involves the song "Bloody Mary", from "South Pacific".
It involves the lyric that goes:
"Her skin is tender as DiMaggio's glove"
The problem is that, in every cast album I have found, and every production that I
have seen, the accent is consistently on the wrong "SYLABBLE".
It's always performed as "Her skin is tender a-a-s Dimaggio's glove".
Always two syllables on a-a-s.
And running "Dimaggio's" as closely as possible.
Isn't it a lot more natural to make "as" one syllable, and stretch
"Di-Maggio's" this way.
It scans just as well, and any baseball fan of that era would pronounce
Joltin' Joe's name that way.
The way it's done now is a pure unnecessary contrivance.
Obviously, Oscar Hammerstein was no baseball fan.
I'm sure Richard Rodgers was no help, and no baseball fan either.
"What ever you say, Oscar."
I said it was niggling, but it still bugs the hell out of me.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.

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

Yet Again, The Return Of Dr. Rothman, Tune Detective.

It's been a while.
I hope I've been missed.
Let me get right to it.
"Hello, Dolly!" has been a landmark musical.
It is wonderful on so many levels.
The score, in general, is gorgeous.
Jerry Herman is perhaps our greatest living melodist, and he outdoes himself with "Dolly".
Louis Armstrong's recording of the title song is perhaps the greatest recording of all time.
With the exception of Streisand's movie soundtrack, which was overblown, underblown, and let's face it, simply blows, there have been several cast albums that are more or less wonderful, and completely capture that which is wonderful about the show.
Thus, it is with great sadness that I must report that the new Bette Midler cast album recording  is eminently avoidable.
I have most often been a fan of Ms. Midler, but there is a fatal flaw in this recording.
All of her vocals are set in a key that is too low for her.
She does not allow herself to soar to the wonderful high notes that are there within her grasp.
Instead, she goes under them, as if afraid to approach them.
The effect is dismal.
Could it be that she has lost the upper end of her pipes?
Is that why she gives up Tuesday nights to Donna Murphy?
Also, the original orchestrations have been jettisoned for what seems to be those that are far more rinky-dink and shoddy in nature.
It's like they went out of their way to save money on instruments.
None of it is lush.
It demands lush.
The Original Cast Album, with Carol Channing, gets the most out of what can only be described as
an unusual voice.
It's easy to see how fistfights can break out about Channing's talent.
Some might call it an acquired taste.
Well, I've acquired it, and am utterly charmed by it.
Also, she has the best supporting cast on her recording.
David Burns as Vandergelder, Charles Nelson Reilly as Cornelius, and Eileen Brennan as Irene Malloy.
I just re-listened to it and it holds up great.  Loaded with charm and fun.
Pearl Bailey then did her all-black version, which at first I thought had no reason to live.
I thought it was complete fantasy that there were all those upscale blacks going to fancy restaurants in New York in the 1890s.
But there were, and they did.
So you are left with Pearl, probably the most talented performer, and easily the best singer to perform the role.
She infuses so much of her great personality, particularly in the title song, where she essentially kibitzes with the waiters, adding her usual asides.
Cab Calloway plays Vandergelder and it's on one level: to show how cute he can be.
He's not about playing his character.
Emily Yancy is wonderful as Irene Molloy, and sings great.
The others all sing great too but don't leave that much of a character impression.
Pearlie Mae more than makes up for it.
They made a cast album of Mary Martin's London company.
She's just fine, and never gets too cutesy.
Marilyn Lovell is an asset.
The rest of the cast is a bunch of foreigners who occasionally let their English accents slip.
But it's very pleasant.
The only production I actually saw was in the original Broadway production, when Ginger Rogers
took over for Channing.
I found her to be rather stiff, going through the motions.
But she did keep moving forward, and her skirts were so long that I couldn't see if she was wearing high heels.
That's at least better than working with Fred Astaire.
Back to Midler, David Hyde Pierce plays Vandergelder, and doesn't seem to add much.
They resurrected a song that was dropped from the original tryout.
A very trivial song called "A  Penny in My Pocket", which describes how Vandergelder acquired his wealth.  It was dropped because they realized that nobody gave a crap about that.
Also, this song is a more rhythmic, less jazzy version of Sinatra's "Learning The Blues".
You know---"The tables are empty, the dancefloor's deserted". That song.
Now that it's resurrected, there could be a successful lawsuit.
It's much closer to "Learnin' the Blues" than "Sunflower" was to "Hello Dolly".
And there, Jerry Herman settled out of court.
Okay, so you've been warned.
But who knows?  She certainly doesn't sing the hell out of this show, but maybe she acts the hell out of it.
At this point, she already has to play catch-up.  At these prices, that's a lot to ask for.

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