Kevin Kelton (2021 Interview with Better Audio)

Susan Silver joined me to discuss being a Sagittarius; watching Your Show of Shows; being born in Milwaukee and moving to Whitefish Bay; being rocked by her mother; Northwestern; UCLA with professor Francis Ford Coppola; working on Laugh In; writing for Love, American Style and Room 222; writing the Mary Tyler Moore episodes "A Friend in Need" & "Room 223"; writing the pilot to Maude; wearing hot pants and being in a TV guide article; The Couple Takes a Wife and similar Seinfeld episode; Bob Newhart show; her favorite TV movie that didn't go; her political affair; helping Bill Clinton; offered a job writing for NASA; working for the ADL; my grandmothers WWII story; being a UN observer for the Simon Wiesenthal Center; Bob Woodruff a funny person; Square Pegs; saying she's in the age bracket 50 to dead; dating past 50; no longer dyeing her hair; choking stories; Dr. Heimlich & Anson Williams; her "adopted" grandchildren; working with the FIDF; future of Israel; antisemitism; Hitlers Ascent and Trump; being afraid to walk in NYC with the Star of David; NY vs. LA; Donald Trump; Buddy Hackett vs. Don Rickles; her parents

Kevin and I discuss Face the Music; Fridays; Twilight Theater; Laugh Trax; No Soap, Radio; The Jeffersons; getting SNL; Eddie Murphy's showcase; getting stuff on his second show; Subliminal Advertising Sketch, Lie Detector Sketch; Chess Club Coach sketch; Trivial Pursuit sketch; being locked in Dick Ebersol's office to write Eddie Murphy's Christmas 1984 show; Christopher Guest Auctioneer Sketch, I Am Also the World, Prison Rape Sketch; Women in Prison tv show; Night Court and favorite episodes; Boy Meets World and the genius of Will Freidle; Townsend TV; Boogies Diner; Girlfriend Guy; BIFL; and what he's doing now.

Ross Shafer joined me to talk about watching Rusty Nails as a kid; flipping bikes, cars, houses, and businesses; college football; owning a stereo / pet store named Woofers and Tweeters; hamster drag racing; going to a comedy club when he had an ulcer; seeing there was a science there; trying it and getting good enough to win Showtimes Comedy Laugh Off; having a day job and not being able to move to LA; bombing on Alan Thicke's Canadian talk show; pitching Almost Live!; getting the show on the air on the fly; creating fame for little towns near Seattle; Louie, Louie campaign makes it a hit, but no one wants to syndicate; gets job to host Late Show but has to cancel remaining gigs; writers to Johnny Carson; Writer's Strike causes theme shows like TV reunions; Ozzy Osbourne; Hollywood Squares & Howard Stern; finding out Late Show is cancelled that morning; getting Match Game; memorable trip; Sally Struthers and Charles Nelson Reilly; Iraq War preempts show and ratings dive; began doing corporate gigs; his WOW versus POW theory; the book Love, Johnny by Mark Malkoff

Peter Lefcourt joined me to discuss listening to Jean Shepard, his first TV, joining the Peace Corps and going to Togo; living in Paris three months a year; coming back and teaching in the Dalton School; being a cab driver and studying dialogue; becoming a professor at Marlboro College in Vermont; wrote a TV movie that sold and didn't get made; writing pornography and turning a story into a TV movie with Barbara Eden and Barbara Feldon; early freelance jobs; Eight is Enough; Dick Van Patten and the ponies; Rivkin the Bounty Hunter TV movie; American Dream; Scarecrow & Mrs. King; pilot Bulba with Jeff Altman & Bill Hicks; Devlin Connection with Rock Hudson; Cagney & Lacey, his 1st episode "Jane Doe #37" nominated for Writer's Guild Award; wins Emmy in 1985; creating I Had Three Wives and casting Victor Garber; working on Our Family Honor; writing Monte Carlo for Joan Collins and George Hamilton; Studio 5B; writing his first novel The Deal, a harsh satire on the film industry; his second novel, The Dreyfus Affair, about a homosexual love story on an MLB team; optioned three times and now being looked at by Timothy Chalamet; Di & I a fictional love story between Princess Diana and a Jewish screenwriter; working on Due South with Paul Haggis; The Woody satirizing Bob Packwood; Abbreviating Ernie about rough sex that leads to death and dismemberment; his TV satire Beggars and Choosers he co-created with Brandon Tartikoff; Eleven Karens about a man who had relationships with 11 women named Karen; Manhattan Beach Project, a satire on reality TV; his love of dark humor

Marc Weingarten joined me to discuss putting color strips on a black and white TV, trying to watch TV with Orthodox Jewish parents; moving from NY to Miami to Israel to California; his first time on stage; learning how to be a standup; producing Count Basie's final album; getting a job at the Laff Stop; investing 1% in that club; hearing the Ice House was for sale and buying it with three partners for $67,000; history of the Ice House; Pat Paulsen; seeing green George Lopez; Gallagher; David Letterman; producing Rick Dees comedy shows and writing an opening for Rick to be funny; sold out 6000 seats in 10 days; doing sports with Sweet Dick Whittington; getting Rudy Tellez as his manager; being a writer on Into the Night when Brad Garrett hosted; producing the Super Bowl of Comedy; creating the Uproar comedy label; becoming a Grammy voter; memories of Richard Jeni, Jay Leno, Harry Anderson, Jay Johnson, Marcia Warfield, Robin Williams, Ben Powers, Howie Mandel; what makes the best comedians; Woody Allen; George Carlin's friendship and advice; Bill Cosby; being bumped by Rodney Dangerfield.

Rebecca Arthur Golden joined me to discuss her love of Lucille Ball; her current dogs; her beloved dog Emmy who was her dog on Perfect Strangers; being a born performer and always knowing she would be on TV; playing a stewardess; went to NYU; supported herself as a bank teller, then infiltrated high schools for a private eye; worked the Robert Durst case; being on Search for Tomorrow; getting a pilot Anything But Love with Vicki Lawrence and Marsha Warfield; couldn't get on Super Password but next year was the celebrity; Win, Lose or Draw and March Game; doing a Rodney Dangerfield special; getting Perfect Strangers; learning co-star Melanie Wilson's dad is Mr. Whipple; Bibibopka episode; doing an episode when Bronson couldn't be there; guesting on Johnny Carson, being scared and answering "the laundry" when asked what was next; Circus of the Stars; getting strep during rehearsals of trapeze and being scared on tape night; being on the last Battle of the Network Stars; ABC winning though cast was undersized; Cosell calling her race; winning the Tug O' War; improvising a scene in Scrooged with Bill Murray; leaving show business to raise a family; going back to do a short film and a play; working as a spokesperson for Cabi; charity work; being a class mom and making DVD's on school shows for all the parents.

Greg Evigan joined me to discuss writing the theme to My Two Dads; watching Honeymooners; piano lessons; high school bands; winning an Award for Hello Dolly in high school; being i Jesus Christ Superstar & Grease on Broadway and road; being cast in A Year at the Top with Paul Shaffer; All that Glitters; his memorable two-part One Day at a Time; BJ and the Bear not getting a DVD release; driving miles per episode; clapboard motivated Sam; finding out about the 7 Lady Truckers; Lady Truckers do Carson - he gets guest host; Masquerade; Kirstie Alley; participating in the BOTNS; being the 1988 captain; Howard Cosell; winning with Robert Conrad as captain; performing on and with Pink Lady; singing with Valerie Landsburg on Fame; performing My Two Dads theme on an episode; working with Davey Jones & Bobby Rydell; cliffhanger ending; Chuck Lorre = physical comedy; crazy 80s fashion; married 47 years; kids and grandkids around the world; daughter a humanitarian in Zimbabwe; son Jason, a Grammy winning songwriter - producer; doing three Aaron Spelling shows in three years; Pacific Palisades; working; with David Steinberg; doing General Hospital; writing classical music and performing with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Maggie Wheeler joined me to discuss 60's sitcoms; her parents not wanting her to pursue acting; her inspiration; Anna Deveare Smith; being 18 in the late 70's; Studio 54; MTV voice-overs; Rubinoos commercial; her audition for The New Show; her cheerleader characters; attempting to break dance with Penny Marshall and the Breakers; working with her idols; Lorne sends her audition tape to Rankin-Bass; hired on cartoons Silver Hawks& The Comic Strip to do most voices; Jonathan Kaufer casts her in Soup for One; Henry Jaglom hires her for New Years Day; her co-star is ex boyfriend, David Duchovny; wins Best Actress at a film festival; going on Johnny Carson; Dream On; becoming friends with Brian Benben, David Crane & Marta Kauffman; guesting in Emmy-winning Seinfeld ep "The Fix UP'; Larry David says Top 5 episode; Danger Theater; X-Files; being first one hired and first fired on Ellen; Janice's voice and laugh; writing her in 8 months pregnant in an episode; getting fired from Suddenly Susan; Janice's entrances were hidden; being second for wife on Everybody Does Raymond and being given a recurring role; Parent Trap; "Palestinian Chicken" episode of Curb; her recent double guest starring on Bob's Burgers

Brad Isaacs joined me to talk about the Dick Van Dyke Show; favorite episodes; writing a spec script for Taxi, handing it to Marilu Henner and her remembering twenty plus years later; sitcoms not talking down; Simpsons & Saul Bellow; mother could sing songs even though she hardly speak due to dementia; dropped out of high school and got a GED; goes to Vegas to be a pro gambler; watching DVD inspires him; gets a job on TBS series Safe at Home; leads to a freelance Head of the Class and a job at Webster; one Webster so bad guest actor Michael Richards walks off; freelance Duet; hired for Newharts last season; favorite episodes; Dan O'Shannon came up with shows ending; "Father Goose" episode with Henry Gibson; others being confused by which Newhart he worked on; getting hired at Roseanne; being asked to come up with a show for Tom Arnold; models it after DVD with Tom rarely seen; Roseanne wants more Tom Arnold, Brad quits; meeting Carl Reiner and getting forgiveness; writing to Bill Persky and getting a letter back from his 12 and 10 year old daughters; Ken Levine; meeting George McGovern on Newhart; Larry Sanders Show; Norm MacDonald story; rewriting Tommy Boy; adding Superstar and housekeeping among other things; NBC had high hopes for NewsRadio; shows were written by 4 writers; Dave Foley was young enough looking to me believable; episodes "Smoking" & "Big Day"; inspiring "Bitch Session"; quitting after a year; having the show down stairs "The John Larroquette Show" angry at them due to noise; not getting their due; working as a consultant on King of the Hill and Undeclared; writing 8 Crazy Nights and fighting with Sandler about poop jokes; creating Lovespring International, an improvised sitcom for Lifetime; Tarzana; A West Texas Children's Story

Chris Lemmon joined me and discussed how he knew his dad was a movie star; his films Going Undercover & Weekend Warriors; working with Lloyd Bridges; dreaming of Steely Dan; classical musicians were there first rock stars; wanting to make a movie about Robert Schumann; Billy Joel, Chevy Chase & Jeff Goldblum; his film debut in Airport '77; having one line in Seems Like Old Times and being remembered by Goldie Hawn when they did Swing Shift; his sitcom Brothers & Sisters, which was shot on the same set as King Kong; becoming friends with costar Randy Brooks; Mary Crosby; his film, COD; being a guest on the Tonight Show; subbing for Rick Dees and doing a sketch about a Haggis Wagon; That's Life largely improvised; Duet; taking his dad to tapings; his favorite episode, "I Never Played for My Father"; his book; his one man show playing his dad; Kevin Spacey's impression vs. his; SNL Star Wars sketch; Harvey Lembeck; playing a stalker; Alan Alda plays one in Whispers in the Dark; Lena's Holiday; Thunder in Paradise; Jack almost makes the cut at Pebble Beach but it's rained out; The Way You Look Tonight; his daughter Sydney on Broadway and son has a movie coming out; his children and golf; golf as a way to see what a person is truly like; his lung transplant and being greatful