How I got to be a TCM host

Now that my TCM intros have begun airing, thought I’d share with you the process. A few quick points:

At least I didn’t look fat.

Yes, that’s my real hair color. I’ve never dyed my hair. No. Really.

Oops. They misspelled FRASIER, but that will be corrected for this Friday.

I think my best work Friday night was the outro to COME BLOW YOUR HORN, which aired at 2:00 AM in the East. Next week I hope to do my best work earlier.

So how did this come about? I had written a tribute piece to Neil Simon last May. He truly is one of my idols, and if you’re a young comedy writer you NEED to read and learn from his work. I guess some folks at TCM are fans of this blog because when they were looking for someone to host the film festival someone over there thought of me. Having been a screenwriter and playwright myself helped I’m sure, as did the fact that I called baseball games on TV and have been on camera (don’t tell anybody that it’s been quite a few years though). In any event, when they approached me I was thrilled and honored. This was probably early fall.

Do I actually know Neil Simon? Yes, and mostly no. I was at the 20th Century Fox commissary one day having lunch with Larry Gelbart and he walked in. He joined us for about ten minutes. But we really connected during those ten minutes. Or was it five? And then about ten/twelve years ago we both worked out at the same gym and I would see him every week. (I’ll pause while you do your jokes about writers going to a gym.) He was casting a play, I recommended one of the actors from ALMOST PERFECT, Matthew Letscher. He ended up going with Matt and was thrilled with the result (natch). So Neil was very grateful and we would chat from time to time.

I wonder if Neil watched any of the Friday Night Spotlight last Friday, saw me, and said, “Hey, that’s the schmuck from the gym!”  A guy can dream. 

TCM began assembling the films. They asked if I had any favorites I wanted included and I did. THE HEARTBREAK KID (original version -- the new version sucks). It wasn’t originally on their schedule but they procured it. Once the line-up was finalized they sent me DVD’s of all seventeen selected films. So I had my own Neil Simon festival in September.  (You should've stopped by.)  I reread his memoirs and tracked down facts about the various movies. I was also encouraged to offer personal reflections and anecdotes.

I then worked with a terrific TCM producer, Anne Wilson, and together we wrote the scripts for the intros and outros.

I tried to fill them with interesting facts, stories you might not have heard, a look into the creative process, an opinion or two, and you know me – some cheap laughs.

I was doing all of this while my play A OR B? was in rehearsals and previews at the Falcon Theatre so I was crafting the TCM wraparounds while rewriting the play each night. Oh, and writing the blog. It was a busy time. My Tetris scores suffered terribly.

The play’s run ended mid November and two days later I was on a plane to Atlanta to tape them.

TOMORROW: The actual taping.