5 Card Stud, an independent, low budget feature... I'm very proud of this little gem... available on Netflix..shot in the San Fernando Valley and Montebello and on the golf course where Tiger Woods learned to play. Check it out if you can.
Between stints producing the Prism Awards, I directed one episode ("Willa Jumps") of this clever little Disney Chanel series. The kids were great. The schedule was challenging. And the series was cancelled before I could get free do another.
As producer, writer (with Mort Walker) and voice director, I pretty much controlled everything about this charming little CBS special, now available on DVD in combination with Hagar, The Horrible (also voice-directed by me) and Betty Boop. These shows are worth seeing. They were produced and aired just before ongoing animated series became serious network fare. The score of Beetle, done by Todd Hayen, is one of my favorites, scored-to-picture like a classic comedy film.
My most important live-action work to date. This story, The Parsley Garden, written in 1943, was suggested to me by my uncle, William Saroyan, when I was a program executive at ABC in the late 70's. He thought it would make a fine short film for kids. I agreed. ABC at the time did not, but in 1992, eleven years after his death, they did. The project has a spiritual energy all its own, which I attribute to my uncle's spirit. It was presented the Outstanding Directing Emmy in its category. I think many, many William Saroyan stories would work for television, and I am forever committed trying to get them made.
My favorite animated work. A children's classic imbued with the good will and benign loving spirit of Jim Henson, who consulted in its birth and then set us free to make the shows, with an occasional suggestion and a lot of praise. Hopefully, the original shows, now controlled by Disney will be back on the air soon. You can find numerous bootleg clips and musical numbers on You Tube. Enjoy. I had so much fun directing these actors every week, and we always took most of a day to do one half-hour show, reaching for the tiniest nuance in the vocal intonations. I will be uploading a video montage shot during the recording of one of the shows. Come back to see that. In the meantime here is the first episode I wrote at Jim's suggestion and it turned out to be his favorite to that time. We had hoped to utilize clips from Monty Python's Holy Grail, but the film has so many investing entities we could not trace the rights, and had to settle for these lesser clips. But the final result is still quite satisfying. And yes, that is me personifying the magic flute.
A show based upon a very popular T-shirt line from Seattle, proving that anything is possible. This show was one of the most hysterical to record in the studio because all of the actors were such superb improv guys and gals, encouraged by me always. Much of what they did, however, was way too much for Saturday morning children's fare. This poor show had six different time slots in seven weeks. I don't think it ever had a chance of finding an audience because the audience couldn't find IT. I did hear that it became a cult hit in Scotland and Spain, of all places. FYI, the voice of the little yellow dog, Tweek, is me.
In case you got hooked on the story or the idiocy, here's part two. By the end you may find yourself wanting to move to Scotland or Spain.
There were two half hour prime time specials in the Blondie package, about a year apart. Blondie was played by Loni Anderson, who took to the animation process like a fish to water, or some more sensual metaphor. I thought we did a good job of fulfilling the vocal expectations of the 1980's viewing audience. If I can find a clip, I will post it here.
Dungeons and Dragons was my first major responsibility as VP of Marvel under President David DePatie as president and he gave me a wide berth to do whatever I thought I could to make the show a hit and surprise CBS. The first thing I thought of was to cast known prime time voices from family hour shows as the three male leads. I called old friend, Willie Aames, recent acquaintance Donny Most from Happy Days (Ralph Malph.) Willie suggested Adam Rich from his show and the idea was up and running. I always strive to make these shows good radio dramas with all the intent in the readings and let the animation amplify that. The show was somewhat of a hit for two seasons and has remained a cult classic.
Hagar The Horrible, a half-hour prime time CBS animated special, was written by Doug Wyman of The Bob Newhart Show. Lanie Kazan brought great energy to Hagar's wife, and Peter Cullen delivered his wonderful humor and vocal girth to Hagar. I liked this show a lot, but animation did not fare particularly well on CBS at the time, no matter how well done.
