Night Court
The Last Great Ride
December 07, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Brandon Tartikoff saw the best of times and the worst of times during his reign as NBC’s uberprogrammer.
The best of times -- Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, Night Court, Cheers, The Cosby Show, St. Elsewhere, Family Ties, Miami Vice, Crime Story, Hunter, Late Night with David Letterman.
The worst of times -- Manimal, Misfits of Science, Supertrain, Lewis & Clark, Hull High, Pink Lady, Gavilan, Nightingales, The Nutt House, Partners in Crime.
Tartikoff was a rare television executive in that the general public knew his name. He was a guest host on Saturday Night Live. He appeared as himself in an episode of Night Court.
Tartikoff passed away in 1997. Fortunately, he recorded his life story in his 1992 autobiography, The Last Great Ride with Charles Leerhsen.
Tartikoff explains the television business as if he was talking to you informally at the kitchen table, the corner bar, or the airport terminal. And he’s fiercely honest about the realities of ratings, missed opportunities, and severe pressure in television’s executive suites.
The Last Great Ride unveils terrific television stories through the eyes of a baby boomer who possessed extraordinary passion, talent, and drive.
Tartikoff tells the details of how NBC cast Michael J. Fox instead of Matthew Broderick for the role of Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties, how William Devane lost the role of Sam Malone during his audition for Cheers, and how The Cosby Show helped rebuild NBC.
We also learn the turning points in Tartikoff’s career and personal life, including his battle with Hodgkins Disease. Ultimately, he lost the battle. But his constant strive to win under pressure in his personal life matched the same desire in his professional life.
Consequently, NBC’s peacock rose like a phoenix with newfound success in the 1980’s.
Indeed, when Brandon Tartikoff was at the helm, NBC’s shows, stations, and viewers enjoyed a great ride.
david@davidkrell.com
Brandon Tartikoff saw the best of times and the worst of times during his reign as NBC’s uberprogrammer.
The best of times -- Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, Night Court, Cheers, The Cosby Show, St. Elsewhere, Family Ties, Miami Vice, Crime Story, Hunter, Late Night with David Letterman.
The worst of times -- Manimal, Misfits of Science, Supertrain, Lewis & Clark, Hull High, Pink Lady, Gavilan, Nightingales, The Nutt House, Partners in Crime.
Tartikoff was a rare television executive in that the general public knew his name. He was a guest host on Saturday Night Live. He appeared as himself in an episode of Night Court.
Tartikoff passed away in 1997. Fortunately, he recorded his life story in his 1992 autobiography, The Last Great Ride with Charles Leerhsen.
Tartikoff explains the television business as if he was talking to you informally at the kitchen table, the corner bar, or the airport terminal. And he’s fiercely honest about the realities of ratings, missed opportunities, and severe pressure in television’s executive suites.
The Last Great Ride unveils terrific television stories through the eyes of a baby boomer who possessed extraordinary passion, talent, and drive.
Tartikoff tells the details of how NBC cast Michael J. Fox instead of Matthew Broderick for the role of Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties, how William Devane lost the role of Sam Malone during his audition for Cheers, and how The Cosby Show helped rebuild NBC.
We also learn the turning points in Tartikoff’s career and personal life, including his battle with Hodgkins Disease. Ultimately, he lost the battle. But his constant strive to win under pressure in his personal life matched the same desire in his professional life.
Consequently, NBC’s peacock rose like a phoenix with newfound success in the 1980’s.
Indeed, when Brandon Tartikoff was at the helm, NBC’s shows, stations, and viewers enjoyed a great ride.
ER
November 25, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
An emergency room in a Chicago hospital.
A multi-racial cast.
Humor covering up the pain of working in a trauma situation.
Sounds like ER.
It is ER. But it’s not the one that immediately comes to mind.
Not the one that debuted in 1994.
Not the one that was a cornerstone of NBC’s Thursday night lineup for fifteen years.
This ER lasted only one season.
It was a sitcom based on a 1982 play. It was a nicely written, nicely acted, nicely produced show that aired on CBS during the 1984-85 season.
Elliott Gould plays Dr. Howard Sheinfeld, a twice divorced doctor who moonlights at Clark Street Hospital’s Emergency Room to pay his alimony bills. With Gould’s veteran comedy instincts, ER seems like a good idea for a sitcom. And it was, particularly in hindsight considering
the show’s talent, star power, and ensemble performances.
Conchatta Ferrell plays veteran nurse Thor. She later appeared on L.A. Law as entertainment attorney Susan Bloom. Currently, she stars as Berta, the wisecracking maid on Two and a Half Men.
Mary McDonnell took over the role of Dr. Eve Sheridan, Sheinfeld’s boss and potential love interest. Five years after ER, McDonnell captured America’s attention in Dances With Wolves. Marcia Strassman, Julie Kotter in Welcome Back, Kotter, plays Sheridan in the ER pilot.
Pamela Adlon plays Jenny Sheinfeld, the daughter of Dr. Sheinfeld. She voiced Bobby Hill on the long-running cartoon series King of the Hill.
Before he found fame, accolades, and notoriety as Larry David’s alter ego on Seinfeld -- George Costanza -- Jason Alexander played hospital administrator Harold Stickley on ER.
Lynne Moody plays young, love-seeking, good-natured nurse Julie Williams. In a bit of inspired crossover casting, Sherman Helmsley brought his George Jefferson character to ER as Julie’s uncle in a guest appearance.
Luis Avalos plays Dr. Tomas Esquivel. Avalos is probably best known to Generation Xers from The Electric Company.
And, of course, George Clooney. He appears on both ER shows. In the sitcom, he is Ace -- a heart-throbbing, pulse pounding, personality plus paramedic with rock and roll dreams. The name of his band is The Body Fluids.
Ace’s nickname reinforces his reputation as a ladies man -- My Place Ace. Coincidentally, Tomas reminisces about his younger days with a corresponding nickname -- Mi Casa Tomasa.
Like Night Court, Barney Miller, or Taxi, ER revolved around the workplace. But the potential romance between Sheinfeld and Sheridan, the wonderful acting and writing, and the quirky patients who populated the emergency room at Clark Street Hospital were not enough to keep ER from flatlining.
ER holds a special significance for me. In one episode, a guest character named Dr. Krell makes an appearance. Dr. Sheinfeld remarks on the name. He says, If I wasn’t a Sheinfeld, I’d like to be a Krell.
david@davidkrell.com
An emergency room in a Chicago hospital.
A multi-racial cast.
Humor covering up the pain of working in a trauma situation.
Sounds like ER.
It is ER. But it’s not the one that immediately comes to mind.
Not the one that debuted in 1994.
Not the one that was a cornerstone of NBC’s Thursday night lineup for fifteen years.
This ER lasted only one season.
It was a sitcom based on a 1982 play. It was a nicely written, nicely acted, nicely produced show that aired on CBS during the 1984-85 season.
Elliott Gould plays Dr. Howard Sheinfeld, a twice divorced doctor who moonlights at Clark Street Hospital’s Emergency Room to pay his alimony bills. With Gould’s veteran comedy instincts, ER seems like a good idea for a sitcom. And it was, particularly in hindsight considering
the show’s talent, star power, and ensemble performances.
Conchatta Ferrell plays veteran nurse Thor. She later appeared on L.A. Law as entertainment attorney Susan Bloom. Currently, she stars as Berta, the wisecracking maid on Two and a Half Men.
Mary McDonnell took over the role of Dr. Eve Sheridan, Sheinfeld’s boss and potential love interest. Five years after ER, McDonnell captured America’s attention in Dances With Wolves. Marcia Strassman, Julie Kotter in Welcome Back, Kotter, plays Sheridan in the ER pilot.
Pamela Adlon plays Jenny Sheinfeld, the daughter of Dr. Sheinfeld. She voiced Bobby Hill on the long-running cartoon series King of the Hill.
Before he found fame, accolades, and notoriety as Larry David’s alter ego on Seinfeld -- George Costanza -- Jason Alexander played hospital administrator Harold Stickley on ER.
Lynne Moody plays young, love-seeking, good-natured nurse Julie Williams. In a bit of inspired crossover casting, Sherman Helmsley brought his George Jefferson character to ER as Julie’s uncle in a guest appearance.
Luis Avalos plays Dr. Tomas Esquivel. Avalos is probably best known to Generation Xers from The Electric Company.
And, of course, George Clooney. He appears on both ER shows. In the sitcom, he is Ace -- a heart-throbbing, pulse pounding, personality plus paramedic with rock and roll dreams. The name of his band is The Body Fluids.
Ace’s nickname reinforces his reputation as a ladies man -- My Place Ace. Coincidentally, Tomas reminisces about his younger days with a corresponding nickname -- Mi Casa Tomasa.
Like Night Court, Barney Miller, or Taxi, ER revolved around the workplace. But the potential romance between Sheinfeld and Sheridan, the wonderful acting and writing, and the quirky patients who populated the emergency room at Clark Street Hospital were not enough to keep ER from flatlining.
ER holds a special significance for me. In one episode, a guest character named Dr. Krell makes an appearance. Dr. Sheinfeld remarks on the name. He says, If I wasn’t a Sheinfeld, I’d like to be a Krell.
Baa Baa Black Sheep
September 30, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
After the United States pulled out of the Vietnam War in 1975, a war-weary country looked back to a simpler time for war heroes.
The Flying Misfits was a television pilot based on Baa Baa Black Sheep, the autobiography of World War II Marine pilot ace Greg “Pappy” Boyington.
Bruce Gamble wrote two authoritative books about Boyington and his pilots -- Black Sheep Squadron and Black Sheep One: The Life of Gregory “Pappy” Boyington.
Gamble’s comprehensive research details the story of the real-life heroes of the VMF 214 squadron.
Known as the ‘black sheep,’ these pilots were the champions of the World War II Pacific Theatre.
In one chapter, Gamble nicely explains the genesis of The Flying Misfits and the subsequent television series Baa Baa Black Sheep, also known as Black Sheep Squadron.
Frank Price was the head of Universal Television in 1975.
He commissioned Stephen J. Cannell to write the script for Flying Misfits.
The tv auteur behind The A-Team, Hardcastle & McCormick, and The Rockford Files admitted that he took some pretty good liberties.
NBC aired The Flying Misfits in 1976 and picked up the series loosely based on Boyington and the VMF 214 pilots.
The liberties that Cannell mentioned are evident and sometimes necessary in writing a television series based on real people and real events.
Indeed, the premise of the show seems like The Dirty Dozen meets World War II Marine pilots.
In fact, pilots of VMF 214 were not misfits or screwballs.
They were fine pilots with sharp senses, killer instincts, and rare skills.
Their ability to confront, engage, and defeat the Japanese in the Pacific Theater was a key element to the Allies victory in World War II.
But the creative powers looked at the bigger picture -- the relationships, respect, and regard between Boyington and his men.
In Black Sheep One, Gamble quotes Robert Conrad, the tough guy actor who portrays Boyington.
His feeling about the show was that if the producers wanted to embellish it, if they wanted to Hollywood it, that was fine with him. Poignant moments between the commanding officer and his pilots were important to him. How his character related and played that part. Esprit de corps was very important to him. Anything that was fictionalized didn’t bother Boyington.
Inspired by the success of Charlie’s Angels, Price looked for sex appeal to attract more viewers. Four nurses known as Pappy’s Lambs became fixtures in the show’s later episodes.
Baa Baa Black Sheep left the airwaves in 1978. But the show about masters of the air laid the groundwork for a tremendous television legacy.
John Larroquette plays Lt. Bob Anderson. He later won several Emmys as Assistant District Attorney Dan Fielding on Night Court.
Larry Manetti plays Lt. Bobby Boyle. He later moved to a Hawaii setting as Rick Wright -- friend, confidante, and information feeder to Thomas Magnum, Hawaii’s favorite private investigator, on Magnum, p.i.
And Donald Bellisario, a former Marine Corps sergeant, wrote and produced for Baa Baa Black Sheep. He became one of television’s most successful creators -- Magnum, p.i., JAG, Airwolf, NCIS, and Quantum Leap.
It might not have been true to detail.
It might not have been exact to history.
And it might not always have been recognizable to the actual participants and witnesses.
But Baa Baa Black Sheep deserves recognition as a show that honored the spirit of the Marine Corps.
david@davidkrell.com
After the United States pulled out of the Vietnam War in 1975, a war-weary country looked back to a simpler time for war heroes.
The Flying Misfits was a television pilot based on Baa Baa Black Sheep, the autobiography of World War II Marine pilot ace Greg “Pappy” Boyington.
Bruce Gamble wrote two authoritative books about Boyington and his pilots -- Black Sheep Squadron and Black Sheep One: The Life of Gregory “Pappy” Boyington.
Gamble’s comprehensive research details the story of the real-life heroes of the VMF 214 squadron.
Known as the ‘black sheep,’ these pilots were the champions of the World War II Pacific Theatre.
In one chapter, Gamble nicely explains the genesis of The Flying Misfits and the subsequent television series Baa Baa Black Sheep, also known as Black Sheep Squadron.
Frank Price was the head of Universal Television in 1975.
He commissioned Stephen J. Cannell to write the script for Flying Misfits.
The tv auteur behind The A-Team, Hardcastle & McCormick, and The Rockford Files admitted that he took some pretty good liberties.
NBC aired The Flying Misfits in 1976 and picked up the series loosely based on Boyington and the VMF 214 pilots.
The liberties that Cannell mentioned are evident and sometimes necessary in writing a television series based on real people and real events.
Indeed, the premise of the show seems like The Dirty Dozen meets World War II Marine pilots.
In fact, pilots of VMF 214 were not misfits or screwballs.
They were fine pilots with sharp senses, killer instincts, and rare skills.
Their ability to confront, engage, and defeat the Japanese in the Pacific Theater was a key element to the Allies victory in World War II.
But the creative powers looked at the bigger picture -- the relationships, respect, and regard between Boyington and his men.
In Black Sheep One, Gamble quotes Robert Conrad, the tough guy actor who portrays Boyington.
His feeling about the show was that if the producers wanted to embellish it, if they wanted to Hollywood it, that was fine with him. Poignant moments between the commanding officer and his pilots were important to him. How his character related and played that part. Esprit de corps was very important to him. Anything that was fictionalized didn’t bother Boyington.
Inspired by the success of Charlie’s Angels, Price looked for sex appeal to attract more viewers. Four nurses known as Pappy’s Lambs became fixtures in the show’s later episodes.
Baa Baa Black Sheep left the airwaves in 1978. But the show about masters of the air laid the groundwork for a tremendous television legacy.
John Larroquette plays Lt. Bob Anderson. He later won several Emmys as Assistant District Attorney Dan Fielding on Night Court.
Larry Manetti plays Lt. Bobby Boyle. He later moved to a Hawaii setting as Rick Wright -- friend, confidante, and information feeder to Thomas Magnum, Hawaii’s favorite private investigator, on Magnum, p.i.
And Donald Bellisario, a former Marine Corps sergeant, wrote and produced for Baa Baa Black Sheep. He became one of television’s most successful creators -- Magnum, p.i., JAG, Airwolf, NCIS, and Quantum Leap.
It might not have been true to detail.
It might not have been exact to history.
And it might not always have been recognizable to the actual participants and witnesses.
But Baa Baa Black Sheep deserves recognition as a show that honored the spirit of the Marine Corps.