Earle Hagen, who composed (and whistled) The Andy Griffith Show theme, has died. The accomplished composer also wrote the memorable Dick Van Dyke Show theme music and won an Emmy Award for I Spy.Earle Hagen was interviewed by TV's Biggest Hits author Jon Burlingame in 1997. His entire five hour interview can be viewed here.Interview description:Mr. Hagen described the pleasure of working with producers Sheldon Leonard and Danny Thomas, and creating the themes, as well as writing the music for: The Danny Thomas Show, The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, I Spy, and Mod Squad, to name a few.
Television legend Sheldon Leonard (1907-97) was one of the first people interviewed when the Archive of American Television began its pilot project in 1996.
Director Robert Butler was responsible for creating the look and feel for many classic television series in a career that spanned five decades. His full Archive of American Television interview is now available online, including detailed accounts of directing the first episodes of Batman, Moonlighting (pilot telefilm) and Hill Street Blues.Click here to access Robert Butler's entire five-hour interview.Interview description:Butler began by describing his early years breaking into the business as an usher at CBS. He described his experiences in various behind-the-scenes capacities on such classic “live” anthology series as Climax! and Playhouse 90. He described his first break in television directing on the comedy/drama series Hennesey. He detailed his many and varied assignments in series television in the 1960s on such series as The Detectives, Bonanza, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Dr. Kildare, Gunsmoke, The Defenders, The Fugitive, Hogan’s Heroes, The Twilight Zone, Batman, and Star Trek. Butler described his work in the 1970s on television movies (such as Columbo MOWs and James Dean) and feature films. He extensively described his groundbreaking work on the look of Hill Street Blues, for which he directed several of the initial episodes (including the pilot). He talked about his later work on such series as Remington Steele, Moonlighting (the telefilm pilot), Out on a Limb, Midnight Caller (which he also executive-produced), Sisters, and Lois & Clark. The interview was conducted by Stephen J. Abramson on January 14, 2004.
A recent book, Warm up the Snake: A Hollywood Memoir (The University of Michigan Press), recounts Archive interviewee John Rich's life in the trenches as one of television's premier directors and producers. Rich boldly recounts his work on many classic series (and episodes) including The Dick Van Dyke Show, Gilligan's Island, All in the Family and MacGyver as well as his longtime involvement in the Directors Guild of America. It's a humerous, no-holds-barred look behind the scenes at some of our favorite shows and also gives readers a glimpse into what makes a great director.
From Warm Up the Snake:During my days as an NBC stage manager, I witnessed plenty of foul-ups that no one could have invented. One day I was assigned to monitor the time and placement of a live commercial insert within a program, produced by an outside advertising agency. The program featured "Dunninger, the Mental Wizard," a see-all know-all "mentalist" act. As the NBC representative, I had little to do but sit in the control room behind the production team and observe the action with my notepad at the ready. The first two sales pitches went as planned, but as the program neared its end, the director became concerned that the time would run out before the final commercial. He instructed the stage manager to "give Dunninger a speed-up and signal we have one minute to go."The stage manager obeyed, but the mentalist's pace continued as before. The director called, "Give him 30 seconds!" No response. "Speed him up, we're not going to make it!" Pandemonium reigned as the performer talked right into the NBC systems cue, cutting off transmission. The last commercial was lost: disaster. I made my notes, and joined the angry mob as they boiled out of the control room and confronted a bewildered Dunninger. "W lost the last commercial: the agency men screamed. "Why didn't you take our cues?""What cues?" Dunninger asked."The three or four speed-ups, the one-minute, and the thirty-second cues we gave to the stage manager."Dunninger was irate. "Why don't you put the son of a bitch where I can see him? What do you think I am, a mind reader?"
'70s/'80s hit-maker Garry Marshall's 6-part Archive interview is now available online. Click here to access the entire interview.
"We created this character Fonzie who was originally called Arthur Masharelli, but M*A*S*H was the name of a show so the nickname Mash wouldn’t work so Bob Brunner, who was one of the writers came up with the name, Fonzarelli. We needed something we could have short[ened]. And that was "Fonzarelli" and we put him in and I had done, see a lot of times people don’t understand, you try something here it doesn’t work; you try it again over here. I played a character in Blansky’s Beauties. I acted. I played a guy who worked in the casino in Vegas, never spoke. Just wore dark glasses and walked around scaring everybody. So I said let’s do that again. We get a guy who don’t talk. It’s always scary when a guy doesn’t talk. So Arthur Fonzarelli was really written just to point, to do gestures and say very little. And I always remember, one of my favorite actors was Gary Cooper, who said mostly "yup" and became a gigantic star, which amazed me. So I said, he’ll say little."
The Archive celebrates the 100-year anniversary of Sheldon Leonard's birth today. Sheldon Leonard (1907-97) was one of the first people interviewed when the Archive of American Television began its pilot project in 1996.Although his interview is not yet online, here's a preview of part 3 ofSheldon's Leonard's Archive of American Television interview. In thisportion, Dick Van Dyke Show writer-producer Sam Denoff interviewsLeonard about The Dick Van Dyke Show and I Spy. PRESS THE PLAY ARROW IN THE PLAYER ABOVE TO WATCH THE SEGMENT NOW. Leonard was the executive producer of such classic television series as The Danny Thomas Show/Make Room for Daddy, The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and I Spy. He won two Emmy Awards— as director of Make Room for Daddy in 1961 and as producer of My World, and Welcome To It in 1970. In 1995 he was named an Honorary Life Member of the Directors Guild of America for his long-time services to the DGA as treasurer.Carl Reiner (Creator, The Dick Van Dyke Show) Sheldon was a great pedagogue, a great teacher. He had taught more people how to handle themselves as producers, writers, executives on television… everybody who ever came in Sheldon’s purview, they loved him because he was so good. If you talk to any of the people who ever worked with him, they’ll all have the same thing to say.Aaron Ruben (Producer-Director, The Andy Griffith Show)Sheldon Leonard was an actor, turned director, turned writer, turned producer, turned entrepreneur. He started on Broadway and appeared always as a gangster and in films… he was always a gangster because he talked out of the side of his mouth, even though he was very well educated and very articulate. Grant Tinker once said about Sheldon Leonard and the way he talked, he said he talks like a New Jersey longshoreman, using the words of William Buckley and it's true.Grant Tinker (Television Executive)Sheldon Leonard, who was a brilliant guy, instantly recognizable from playing sort of a Brooklyn tough guy in many movies and television shows, but off camera a very bright, creative director/writer. He didn’t actually sit at a typewriter and write but he contributed a great deal to the shows that he was involved with.Andy Griffith (Actor)I remember the first day [on The Andy Griffith Show]… Sheldon was a very bright astute man. The first day they shot with three cameras and the first day was always spent on the script. So that day I didn't have much to say at all. Artie Stander, Danny Thomas and Sheldon Leonard yelled at one another all day. I asked Sheldon if I could talk to him at the end of the day and he walked me to the gate. I said, if this is what television is, I don't think I can handle it. He said, "Andy, the, the star dictates what the attitude will be on the set. Danny likes to yell so we all yell [on The Danny Thomas Show]. If you don't want to yell, nobody will yell." That's the way it was.
Sheldon was a great pedagogue, a great teacher. He had taught more people how to handle themselves as producers, writers, executives on television… everybody who ever came in Sheldon’s purview, they loved him because he was so good. If you talk to any of the people who ever worked with him, they’ll all have the same thing to say.
Sheldon Leonard was an actor, turned director, turned writer, turned producer, turned entrepreneur. He started on Broadway and appeared always as a gangster and in films… he was always a gangster because he talked out of the side of his mouth, even though he was very well educated and very articulate. Grant Tinker once said about Sheldon Leonard and the way he talked, he said he talks like a New Jersey longshoreman, using the words of William Buckley and it's true.
Sheldon Leonard, who was a brilliant guy, instantly recognizable from playing sort of a Brooklyn tough guy in many movies and television shows, but off camera a very bright, creative director/writer. He didn’t actually sit at a typewriter and write but he contributed a great deal to the shows that he was involved with.
I remember the first day [on The Andy Griffith Show]… Sheldon was a very bright astute man. The first day they shot with three cameras and the first day was always spent on the script. So that day I didn't have much to say at all. Artie Stander, Danny Thomas and Sheldon Leonard yelled at one another all day. I asked Sheldon if I could talk to him at the end of the day and he walked me to the gate. I said, if this is what television is, I don't think I can handle it. He said, "Andy, the, the star dictates what the attitude will be on the set. Danny likes to yell so we all yell [on The Danny Thomas Show]. If you don't want to yell, nobody will yell." That's the way it was.
