Ian Talks Comedy

Debra Frank joined me to discuss Sky King; wanting to be Mary Tyler Moore and he Girl from Uncle; being an extra in WUSA and meeting Paul Newman; dreaming of being in Perry Mason; being a tour guide at Universal; doin a Columbo impression on The Peoples Choice Awards; doing theatre and having a lot of downtime; writing a spec Rhoda script and a female Woody Allen film; being a stand in for Kathleen Quinlan and playing a leper in I Never Promised You a Rose Garden; being Louise Lasser's dialogue coach on Mary Hartman; being a typist for a write on the New Laugh In and befriending Robin Williams and Ivana Chubbuck; joining the Improv group Off the Wall; entering a TV writers contest; winning and being paired with Scott Rubenstein; creating and not getting credit for Family Ties; writing sitcoms; switching genres and partners; Carl Sautter; writing a Trapper John; The Motion Picture Home; pitching with Carl a black and white episode to "Crazy Like a Fox"; writing "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice"; Orson Welles; not creating the Dennis Dugan character; not knowing who a credited co-writer is; being nominated for an Emmy, but losing to St. Elsewhere; the controversial "North by North DiPesto"; Imogene Coca; Eva Marie Saint; meeting a new writing partner; getting a two picture deal, writing pilots and a Wonder Years; having two children; taking a three year break; getting a new partner, Steve Hayes and writing 13 made-for-TV movies; Muppets Wizard of Oz; writing songs for the Muppets and getting an Emmy; re-writing My Stepmother is an Alien with Richard Benjamin;

Jim Pankovits discussed with me his father teaching him the game; being a catcher made him know all parts of the game; Doug Rader; watching the Braves; playing and losing the Little League and College World Series; Ed Lynch; getting drafted and moving to second base; minor league travel horror story; getting called up; his first major league hit; the pitchers he went deep off of; facing Dwight Gooden, Orel Hershiser, Steve Carlton; catching Nolan Ryan; facing Fernando Valenzuela; playing for Hal Lanier and Yogi Berra and with Davey Lopes; the Astros clinching the 1986 NL West with a Mike Scott no-hitter; feeling good about his teams chances against the Mets; Lenny Dykstra PH AB didn't surprise him; Kerfeld regrets taunting Carter; Charlie Kerfeld gets caught eating ribs at a Mets BBQ during a game; why the 1980's were the last Golden Age of Baseball; teammates Ray Knight and Phil Garner; Hatchers HR in the 13th; his at bat; coming back in the 16th; post-game exhaustion; Andy Ashby; irregular playing time for rest of career; Minor League manager and coach known for getting tossed and winning; playing with the Red Sox in 1990 and taping their clubhouse celebration for Roger Clemens and Joe Morgan; playing in 1989 for the Dodgers in the minor leagues after spring training with the Pirates; watching a young Barry Bonds

Babs Greyhosky joined me to discuss her love of early sitcoms; her and her father watching The Rockford Files; always wanting to be a writer; having a family friend in Don Bellasario; wrote spec scripts as a substitute teacher; moved to LA and became a secretary for Battlestar Galactica writers; typed pilot of Magnum, PI; humor; first assignment; her name; memorable episodes; stories the king; Greatest American Hero asked to write wedding episode and another fan favorite; Bill Culp; how writing The A-Team was part of the Cannell factory; left before Peppard / Mr. T feud; Cannell v. Larson; Juanita Bartlett; Babs being the only female one hour executive producer in Hollywood; Riptide; people wrote to TV Guide to find out if she was a woman; added depth to Riptide; parodied its competition "Moonlighting" in its last episode; Stefanie Kramer; J.J. Starbuck; got George Clooney his SAG card; writing for Xena, Farscape, and Sheena; residuals; teaching at USC film school; teaching Fernando Kalife of Seven Days; becoming a therapist for veterans with PTSD; her selection of short stories, Hero Avenue; EMDR;

Doug Sivco discussed early kids TV; watching SNL in high school; going to Rutgers and being on the radio; trying out to be an NBC page; NBC Nightly News; Space Shuttle Columbia; Election 1980; literally bumping into to Ted Kennedy; Letterman morning show; getting the job at SNL; taking messages for the cast; remembering hosts Elliot Gould, Chevy Chase, and Rodney Dangerfield; Burt Reynolds saves his butt; getting his brother in almost every week; carrying out Mick Jagger; escorting out Deborah Harry; Gabe Kaplan being a jerk; last episode and after party; the new cast; hanging out with Eddie Murphy; Joe Piscopo, Charles Rocket, and Charlene Tilton; finding Cheap Trick's guitar in the green room; working at WNBC; leaving to do news in Alexandria, La.; going to Wilmington, NC and then Harrisburg, PA; the grind of local news; covering Penn State & Philly sports; bloopers; R. Budd Dwyer; went to work for Dean Witter; his current job; living in Cape Cod; community theater; meeting Gilbert Gottfried and being smitten by Linda Ronstadt and Jamie Lee Curtis

Aubrey Solomon and I discussed being born in Canada; not watching TV since the 1960's; going to USC; his movie, The Klutz; working on the tv show The Art of Film; working on the TV show That's Hollywood and using his thesis on 20th Century Fox; he and his partner Steve Greenberg are asked to write a spec script about MLK & JFK; it gets to Jack Klugman; they pitch him an episode he likes; they get hired and moved up to story editors in the same season because they worked fast; Klugman ran the show; Dr. Asten and Sgt. Brill; Marc Taylor; Jack Klugman's brother would find a medical story in the news and get story credit; the writers would watch 60 Minutes for ideas; creating Quincy; his first name; John Astin wanted Dr. Asten's name spelled differently; writing the pilot tv film for Buck Rogers; Lazarus Syndrome; the "Ounce of Prevention" episode of Quincy; Beyond Westworld; Lou Shaw; Frank Lupo; The Fall Guy; Half Nelson; having to write a Quincy without Jack Klugman and a Rockford Files without James Garner; watching Jack Klugman fire a director;

Larry Mollin joined me to talk black and white TV; going to Georgetown to study foreign service; going into acting in summer stock with Jeffrey Kramer and Marty Nadler; transferring to Ithaca College; going to Canada where they paid artists; touring Canada's schools and prisons; Santa Jaws leads to a three-album deal; being a roadie for Blood, Sweat & Tears; being friends with the Second City crew; Dan Aykroyd; getting heckled by and destroying Lorne Michaels; his CBC series "Workday"; Disaster land; accidentally setting his next show on fire; creating the Improv Olympics in Toronto; going to LA and getting a recurring role on Brothers and Sisters; writing a pilot for Max Baer Jr.; selling a story to Bret Maverick; being hired by The Devlin Connection; joining ChiPs for the last season; his episodes "Battle of the Bands" and "Rock, Devil Rock; guest stars Don Most, Susan Richardson, and Robert Trujillo of Metallica; John Astin not knowing what a music video was; going to Cutter to Houston and having to apologize to Alec Baldwin about a scene; loving to work on The New Gidget; getting hired to take 90210 to college and increase male demographic; believing in slowing down the romance; his episodes being considered the best by fans; getting fired for wanting to have The Spice Girls as guests; working with Milton Berle; writing for the WWE; his novels; his plays about the 1960's

Susan Lanier and I discuss MLB manager Hal Lanier; her song, "On the Way to Woodstock"; watching "The Miss America Pageant"; growing up in Dallas; being a DJ at 14; studying with Uta Hagen; acting in the film The Pickle Goes in the Middle; doing non-Union movies in NYC with Warhol and Putney Swope directed by Robert Downey, Sr.; going to LA and getting cast on Happy Days; not knowing the current stars; turning down an audition for SNL; Welcome Back Kotter; doing Night of the Iguana with Tennessee Williams; accidentally getting knocked out by Richard Chamberlain: Taryn Powers; Chloris Leachman; Over and Out; Pat Paulsen; Tony Orlando and Dawn Rainbow Hour; not liking doing con's;

Podcaster / author Jonathan Rosen joined me to discuss growing up watching TV with his family; being a teacher; not wanting to be in show business; being an author of children's author; writing a blog about nostalgia; meeting his co-host Ike Eisenman; his guest want list; landlines; Kim Richards; guests Paul Williams and Meeno Peluce; crushes Cher, Lisa Whelchel, Audrey Landers; leaving things off you want to talk about; musical guests; guests he wouldn't have; guests who pass away after you as them on; his goals in five years; hosting a panel; Podcastcon; Joe Rogan; when to bring up a guests most famous work; and future guests

Julie Larson discusses growing up in Geneva Illinois; Mike Royko; her dad being her greatest comedy influence; growing up in a crowded house; southern sitcoms on the 1960's; Rose Marie; moving to Chicago in 1980; taking classes at Second City; moving to L.A. in 1984; becoming a Comedy Store Player; meeting Colin Mochrie & Ryan Stiles; performing with them at night while working for a law firm in the day; being asked to do improv in an Irish festival; meeting the co-creator of Dharma & Greg there and getting a job offer; what saved her job; prefers joke & story shows; writing credit is given by Chuck Lorre based on his feel of contribution; leaving to go to The Drew Carey Show; doing improv with him; sketch episodes; stunt episodes; in charge when viewers had a chance to be guest stars; her father's last wish; her pilot, Washington Street; how everyone is worthy and can be funny; Barney Miller; Norman Lear; her backyard stage; Keb' Mo; Beverly Hillbillies; Don Knotts; Paul Dooley in Breaking Away; being a woman writer; Last Man Standing; being a strike captain; helping younger writers; making videos for Biden; my stand up; Bob Smith; advice for new writers