That's Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks and Martin Short in a "frame grab" from a TV special they did in the mid-90's. I think it was one of the funniest hours of television I've ever seen. I still quote it. Martin or "Marty" as he's known in "The Biz," was playing a character based on Bette Davis named "Mother Pearl." She was always wanting "puddin" for dessert. At one point, Phil asks her: "Oh, Mother Pearl; why do you insist on calling all desserts, "puddin'"? And her reply: "Cake, pie, Jell-O, flan...it's all PUDDIN' to me!" Why is that funny? I don't know. Comedy is such a personal thing. When I watched this, I knew Marty had been inspired by his encounter with Bette on The Tonight Show a few years prior. Let's take a look (it helps if you watch the whole thing):
Isn't it interesting that the once beloved Johnny Carson--the sacrosanct, hands-off, St. John of Carson--is now officially a dick in pop culture? Like a major one. I point you to Feud: Capote v. Swans and the new SNL movie. Oh well, that's show biz!
That appearance of Bette's was the infamous answer to the question she was asked about people she didn't enjoy working with. Here was her response:
That appearance of Bette's was the infamous answer to the question she was asked about people she didn't enjoy working with. Here was her response:
Now this is interesting. It is Carson who brings it up; asks the question--quite pointedly. This was unprecedented. No talk show host in 1988 was going to stir the shit about someone who was, at the time, still a pretty big star. It just didn't happen, particularly with Carson. Even Letterman wasn't that brazen. So why did he do it? Did Bette want him to ask so she could get in her digs and asked Carson to ask her in a pre-interview? Did Carson himself know the answer, have some kind of axe to grind with Dunaway, and knew the response he would get? He certainly doesn't try to change the subject, letting Bette talk at length about La Faye. My guess is that Dunaway at some point left Carson in a lurch and he was the one with the grudge. I guess we'll never know; but people still talk about this moment. And, interestingly, Jan Hooks does a killer impersonation of Dunaway in the Martin Short special. Here it is in its entirety. With the original commercials. There's a version without the commercials, but I think watching it with the commercials helps to put it in a cultural context; a contextual,--this is what the world was like in 1995--contextualism. After all, 1995 was nearly 30 years ago.
Well, it won't post. I think the commercial free version is still on Youtube. Here's the main title card:
Do yourself a favor and watch it.
I guess Marty's sitcom was cancelled before they even filled the first order of shows, so NBC owed him 90 minutes of airtime, thus, this special. I remember watching the sitcom. Everything that is right about this special is what was wrong with the sitcom. Marty just did not fly as a sitcom dad. And that's fine. That's not his wheelhouse. And here we are today with him in a hit show and it's a perfect fit. Ya live, ya learn.
So what does this have to do with me?
Well, I'll tell you.
I've been busying myself with not only this blog; but a telefilm script that is a spoof of Hallmark Christmas flicks. And that's fun, but perhaps it's not what I should really be concentrating on. What should I be concentrating on, you ask? Well, probably the next episode of my sitcom Paged, which is about ushers/tourguides (pages) at a big Hollywood studio. The next episode is where we meet more of the wacky roster of characters who our lead "Cooper Reilly" will be working with. Kind of an important episode. Perhaps even more important than the pilot, in this particular case. Anyways, three of the characters that were in the pilot are based on three real people I actually worked with when I was a temp. Two women and another guy and me. One of the women was Jennifer. She and I became friendly. We both lived in Burbank. We were both writers. The other woman was--and I think I'm recalling this correctly--an aspiring body-builder. I was pretty sure her name was "Ilka" and named her thusly in the script. The other guy was named John or something, so I called him Joe in the script. He was very nice. "Normal," as they say. He didn't have any kind of show biz aspirations, which a lot of the temps did. So, the other day I was going through this folder of old artwork that I'd tucked away somewhere and forgotten about. Inside was a piece of paper with some doodles on it. Four figures, only one of which I recognized as coming from my hand:
I guess Marty's sitcom was cancelled before they even filled the first order of shows, so NBC owed him 90 minutes of airtime, thus, this special. I remember watching the sitcom. Everything that is right about this special is what was wrong with the sitcom. Marty just did not fly as a sitcom dad. And that's fine. That's not his wheelhouse. And here we are today with him in a hit show and it's a perfect fit. Ya live, ya learn.
So what does this have to do with me?
Well, I'll tell you.
I've been busying myself with not only this blog; but a telefilm script that is a spoof of Hallmark Christmas flicks. And that's fun, but perhaps it's not what I should really be concentrating on. What should I be concentrating on, you ask? Well, probably the next episode of my sitcom Paged, which is about ushers/tourguides (pages) at a big Hollywood studio. The next episode is where we meet more of the wacky roster of characters who our lead "Cooper Reilly" will be working with. Kind of an important episode. Perhaps even more important than the pilot, in this particular case. Anyways, three of the characters that were in the pilot are based on three real people I actually worked with when I was a temp. Two women and another guy and me. One of the women was Jennifer. She and I became friendly. We both lived in Burbank. We were both writers. The other woman was--and I think I'm recalling this correctly--an aspiring body-builder. I was pretty sure her name was "Ilka" and named her thusly in the script. The other guy was named John or something, so I called him Joe in the script. He was very nice. "Normal," as they say. He didn't have any kind of show biz aspirations, which a lot of the temps did. So, the other day I was going through this folder of old artwork that I'd tucked away somewhere and forgotten about. Inside was a piece of paper with some doodles on it. Four figures, only one of which I recognized as coming from my hand:
I was usually very busy at the Glendale Loan File Vault. Busy, busy, busy! Busily doing everything but my actual job. I think one day I was drawing instead of checking loan files (and it seems to me that most people took out loans in order to acquire boats, of all things. That's what the notes were about at least half the time. Now I ask you, who the frig in Glendale. California needs a boat? Americans! Am right people?). So I'm drawing and I think Ilka nudged me and slid the blank paper under my nose and it said "draw me" as you can see above. So, I did:
A quick and crude little sketch, but I think I caught her essence. So then the "exquisite corpse" idea came up. So the papter was folded and the remainder of the quartet had to draw one another. I think Jennifer drew me:
I gotta say, essence captured!
Now, as to who drew Jennifer and Joe, I do not know. Here's Jennifer:
Now, as to who drew Jennifer and Joe, I do not know. Here's Jennifer:
This really looks nothing like Jennifer; however, it looks amazingly like Jan Hooks, I think.
And here is Joe. I love how whoever rendered him included his rolling chair.
And here is Joe. I love how whoever rendered him included his rolling chair.
Rolling chairs played a big part of life in that office, let me tell ya! We couldn't go a day without "The Flight Simulator."
I've mentioned before that Jennifer went on to become Martin Short's assistant. Whether it was for a long period or just for the NBC special, I do not know.
I often wonder how this came to be. Jennifer was like super-grounded and decidedly not silly. I guess opposites attract. I'm thinking if I had been hired as Marty's assistant I would've been actively trying to out silly him, which I'm guessing is exactly what he didn't/doesn't want in an assistant. (In the voice of Susan Hayward) "There's only room for one Marty Short on this set, Mr. Reidy and that's me baby, remember?!!? Now find me a Diet Coke--with ice this time!!!"
I guess this is a really looooooonnnnnggggg way of saying I gotta get back to my own sitcom. I'm thinking Marty would be perfect for the character of Gig Vidor, an old-school style producer who works on the lot and has a recurring role. In my mind, he's kind of a combination of Robert Evans and William Castle. Marty is great with that type "ting." Irving Cohen has his fans!
I guess this is a really looooooonnnnnggggg way of saying I gotta get back to my own sitcom. I'm thinking Marty would be perfect for the character of Gig Vidor, an old-school style producer who works on the lot and has a recurring role. In my mind, he's kind of a combination of Robert Evans and William Castle. Marty is great with that type "ting." Irving Cohen has his fans!
I hope I don't get anyone into trouble!
CFR 10/22/24
CFR 10/22/24
ADDENDUM:
You never know what might inspire someone. Who knew this Irving Cohen bit by Martin Short would've resonated enough for a couple of other humans to memorize it. But they did! Here's another version.
You never know what might inspire someone. Who knew this Irving Cohen bit by Martin Short would've resonated enough for a couple of other humans to memorize it. But they did! Here's another version.
Maybe this is the same guy. God love him, I love someone who commits!
And of course, here's the original:
And of course, here's the original:
Now that's a ting that's a good ting! Give it a bouncy "C"--and whatever the hell else you wanna put in there!
FIN
FIN