Facebook Groups Have Kept Me Busy

I have not blogged in three years since I use my Facebook groups for posting my thoughts on entertainment. I created the groups Memories of The Rat Pack, 40+ Years of Saturday Night Live and Comedy in America. I am co-administrator for The Johnny Carson Fan Club and David Letterman fans. I really enjoy those groups and find that I learn so much from the posts of others. The Rat Pack group has grown at the fastest pace. The Carson group is my favorite. I am proud that among our members are many people who worked on the show, including a producer, a writer, a publicist, a stage manager and an audio engineer.

A New Era for Conan O'Brien

2019 marks a year of changes for 55-year-old late night host Conan O'Brien. He is now the "old man" of late night TV, working in the genre since 1993. 2019 will be his 26th year in late night. So, just another 4 years and he ties Johnny Carson's run, and with 7 more years he ties David Letterman. Starting on Tuesday, January 22, 2019, Conan's TBS late night show will be trimmed from 60 minutes down to 30 minutes. This change means that his "Basic Cable Band" will no longer be a part of the show. Conan now has a podcast, and he has been touring doing some live comedy shows with other comics. His "Conan without Borders" shows are on Netflix. These are remote segments from his shows where he has visited other countries. Conan is often at his comedic best when he is outside the confines of the studio. Six episodes are on Netflix and he visits Cuba, Korea, Italy, Israel, Mexico and Haiti. So, the enterprise that is Conan is revamping itself, taking a step in a new direction. “Since I inherited my Late Night show in 1993, TV has changed exponentially. I’d like to think I have evolved with many of these changes, but now it’s time to take the next leap. A half-hour show will give me the time to do a higher percentage of the comedy in, and out, of the studio that I love and that seems to resonate in this new digital world,” O’Brien said in a statement announcing the changes. “It’s still going to be me hosting a very silly show, but I want segments on my half-hour program to link to digital content, deepening the experience for my younger fans, and confusing my older ones.” Podcasts and online videos from You Tube have experienced a surge in popularity. So, Conan is changing with the times.

*Some information from https://celebrityaccess.com/2018/05/03/conan-obrien-trims-show-to-30-minutes-shifts-focus-to-live-comedy/

Book Review: Willing to be Lucky: Adventures in Life and Television by Andy Friendly

I had high hopes for this book after hearing Andy Friendly's interview on the Carson Podcast which you can listen to here.

The author of the book is the son of legendary CBS News executive Fred Friendly, who worked with Edward R. Murrow. Andy Friendly followed in his father's footsteps, also working behind-the-scenes in television. His book has anecdotes involving some of the biggest names in entertainment, such as Tom Snyder, Johnny Carson, Richard Pryor, Dick Cavett, Oprah Winfrey, Roseanne and others. Friendly has worked for King World Productions, CNBC and CBS. He helped to develop the program Entertainment Tonight. Being a big fan of Tom Snyder, I enjoyed his stories about working with him.

The book seemed disjointed, covering an odd assortment of topics, such as the author's favorite movies, musical artists and jokes. The book seemed a bit too self congratulatory, quoting memos and speeches where people had praised the author. The book is not bad, but not great either. I'd recommend the podcast over the book, especially for those who are fans of Tom Snyder since he had good insights into the legendary late night host.

"Traditional" Radio is in Big Trouble

Thanks to the internet and other technology, there are so many free and low cost options for audio entertainment these days. I look at how popular terrestrial radio used to be. These days, I wonder how many people listen to traditional radio. The numbers must be very low. There are countless free podcasts out there. Personally, I enjoy the Adam Carolla Podcast, Joe Rogan's Podcast and the Carson Podcast. The final one that I mentioned has interviews with people who appeared on Johnny Carson's show, or people who worked on the show. Johnny's show has been off for a generation, 1992 was his final show. But still, podcast host Mark Malkoff finds many people who were associated with the iconic late night show. The Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR is a free, entertaining option. Another option for audio entertainment is audible.com. One can find endless audio books through this site. It has a monthly charge, but it is a convenient service since it is portable since one can listen to books via phone. Sirius/XM radio is another excellent source of audio entertainment with music of every genre plus countless talk shows. Some radio stations are operating the right way, offering unique content with local talent rather than depending on syndicated, generic feeds for their programming. But, traditional radio will never have the power and influence that it used to.

The Platinum Age of Television

National Public Radio's Television critic David Bianculli has written an excellent, expansive book that is very detailed when it comes to looking at the history of Television. The Platinum Age of Television: From I Love Lucy to The Walking Dead, How TV Became Terrific examines all genres of TV, starting in the earliest days of the medium, the late-1940s/early 1950s. This is a long book. The audio version of it is 24 hours in length!

One of the most pivotal and influential shows from the early days of television was NBC's weekly sketch comedy show, Your Show of Shows (1950-54). Like Saturday Night Live, this was a weekly 90 minute comedy show that was broadcast live. Unlike SNL, no prompter of cue cards were there to help the stars to recall their lines. Key players in the show were Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris and more. Writers included Neil Simon and Mel Brooks.

The chapters in the book are broken down by TV genres, such as western, soap operas, miniseries, drama, medical, crime, comedy, and more. There are several chapters looking at different types of situation comedies, such as family comedies (The Cosby Show or Family Ties), work comedies (Cheers or Taxi), family/work comedies or "split-coms" as Bianculli called them (The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Andy Griffith Show), and comedies headed up by unmarried females (Murphy Brown, The Mary Tyler Moore Show).

The book has in-depth profiles of important people in TV such as Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Bob Newhart, Norman Lear, Carol Burnett, Louis CK, Larry Wilmore, James L. Brooks, Matt Groening and others.

Bianculli feels that the platinum age of television is from about 1998 until now. There are many more avenues for viewing TV, such as countless cable networks, Netflix, Hulu, You Tube, Amazon video, etc. Many times the best shows are not coming from ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox, but from HBO, FX, IFC, AMC and other fringe networks. Look at the abundance of outstanding TV shows that we have seen over the past 20 years or so: Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Portlandia, Louie, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Wire and many more. I think that at one point, there was a stigma against working in TV. Film stars looked down on TV stars. But that is not the case anymore. Some of the very best writing, acting and technical feats are coming from the small screen.

I liked how the chapters were organized, by TV genre. One can skip chapters with no loss in continuity. I skipped chapters on westerns and crime dramas since I do not like those type of shows. My only criticism is that there is no chapter looking at the rich history of late night TV, from pioneers like Steve Allen and Ernie Kovacs, to current stars like Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel.