Michael starts us off.
Recently saw an old PETTICOAT JUNCTION episode where it was obvious they were using a stand-in in some scenes for the brunette daughter where spent entire scene without speaking and with back to camera or with hands covering side of face as walked past camera. Googling confirmed this was done in a few episodes. Couple questions: 1) Have you ever had to resort to this on any of your shows. 2) Growing up in the sixties, did you ever watch the show just for the daughters and, if so, did you prefer the blonde, brunette, or red head?
When Shelley Long was pregnant in season 3 we had to find ingenious ways of hiding that fact since we didn't want Diane to be in a "motherly way." You’ll notice she holds a tray in front of her, and in one case we had her trapped in the floor -- so the usual hiding techniques.
I did occasionally watch PETTICOAT JUNCTION, and it must’ve been to ogle the girls because the show itself was seriously stupid. I can't tell you one memorable thing about that show except wondering why, in the opening titles, the girls bathed in the town's water supply.
But back then (the Stone Age) we just had three networks so I must’ve watched hundreds of hours of utter crap. I did draw the line at THE FLYING NUN however. Some of you will doubtless comment that it was a great show, but I don't feel cheated not having watched it.
From CheersFanFromBoston:
You and David Isaacs are listed as co-producer for Cheers in season one and then while you wrote more episodes, it looks like you weren't on staff any longer. What happened? Why did you leave the staff?
We left to create our own shows but did come back. We were Creative Consultants and wrote 40 episodes. But we were non-exclusive and were able to work on other shows, pilots, and primarily movies as well. We had a feature career at that time.
Daniel wonders:
Do you think that the characters in "Frasier" knew that they were funny? They often made objectively witty remarks that someone of their intelligence would recognize as witty or funny. But did the writers feel that the characters were that self-aware in-story?
This was always a fine line to walk, but I would say this. If a character intentionally said something witty usually it was recognized.
For the most part, however, the characters did not know they were in a comedy. The laughs come from attitudes and character, not “jokes” per se.
And finally, from Snow Too Soon:
What can you share about the musical talents of the M*A*S*H cast? I always felt sorry for Gary Burghoff and William Christopher, who had to be great musicians to sound that bad (especially Radar with the trumpet).
The cast only sang only on rare occasions. But many of them could sing. Alan had been in Broadway musicals. Gary was in the original YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN. I’m assuming everyone else could carry a tune as well. They were all so talented.
It was such a joy that pretty much anything we dreamed up they could do. Of course, now I wish we had them perform an opera. How did we miss that?
What’s your Friday Question?
from By Ken Levine
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