cd1515 starts us off.
Ken, how much bigger a deal we’re the Emmys in the Cheers/MASH days?
Did people working on those shows genuinely care?
As a viewer I’ve never cared and would have no idea who won what in what year. I suspect most of America agrees.
Look, if you’re nominated ANY year you care deeply. But in past decades Emmys had more meaning because a larger percentage of the viewing public knew the shows and had a rooting interest.
Also, an Emmy win could save a show from cancellation. CHEERS received a big bump in audience after it won the Emmy the first season.
Networks might also keep shows on the air that weren’t getting great ratings but were getting recognition. Having Emmy-winning shows on your network was a huge source of pride “back in the day.” Now it seems the broadcast networks have just given up in that regard.
Brian Phillips wonders:
Earlier in the blog, you mentioned that you and David Isaacs spoke to people that served during the Korean War to write stories for MASH. Did you or any of the writing staff interview any blind people for "Becker" storylines?
I don’t know if others did on BECKER, but I did not.
However, when David Isaacs and I were writing our first episode of MASH — the one where Hawkeye is temporarily blind — we did consult experts and even walked around with a blindfold to try to simulate the experience. That was scary on Beverly Glen.
From Janet:
Ken, your discussion about family sitcoms got me thinking about the old 70s series FAMILY.
It wasn't a sitcom, to be sure, but I was curious as to your thoughts.
I've been watching episodes on streaming, and to me, it just seemed terribly morose. There seemed to be precious little joy in that family. But maybe that's what was "edgy" in the mid 70s.
I didn’t watch it too often. It was a little sappy for my taste. But they filmed it on the 20th Century lot where we were doing MASH. So I would see Kristy McNichol and other cast members around the campus.
My one real FAMILY memory is being in the 20th commissary and there was little Quinn Cummings, who was probably 9 or 10 at the time, screaming at her agent near the host stand. Yikes.
And finally, from Philly Cinephile:
I've often noticed that people on TV shows clearly have no idea how to work with food. I'm obsessing over CHEERS these days and noticed that, when working with lemons, Ted Danson appears to be hollowing them out, rather than slicing, wedging, or zesting them. Eric McCormack on WILL & GRACE was often shown preparing food, but he clearly had no idea how to use a cheese grater or a Pyrex measuring cup. (I'm surprised that no one took a moment to teach him how to pick up the cup by the handle...) Do directors usually leave actors to their own devices when they work with food? Do shows ever use consultants to teach actors the correct way to work with it?
We generally don’t have chef consultants. Dealing with food is usually an excuse for actors to have some business — something they’re doing besides just standing like a statue while they deliver their lines. And most directors are way more interested in the text than the business.
That’s how I am as a director. My feeling is if the viewer is paying more attention to the cheese grater than the content of the scene I’m in big trouble.
What’s your Friday Question?
from By Ken Levine
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