Part Two

In preparing to write this book/blog, something I've been planning to do for many years, it occurred to me that between my father's career at NBC and mine at CBS you have pretty much the entire history of American network television.

One might get the impression from Part One that my father was only involved with "Kraft Television Theatre" and "Hallmark Hall of Fame" in those early years, but I have a few souvenirs of that time which remind me that he must have been working on several shows simultaneously. I have a single gold cuff link in the shape of a Coca Cola bottle (I'm sure it started out as a pair) that was given to him by singer Eddie Fisher when they worked together on "Coke Time". I have a gold money clip in the form of a St. Christopher medal that is inscribed "For Joe, with love from Talullah" *

In many ways, we were both in the right places at the right times to be eyewitnesses to some of the most pivotal moments in the growth and development of the medium. My father spent the second half of his NBC career with "The Tonight Show" and the ascendancy of its new host, Johnny Carson. My CBS career included double-stints in both the Program Department and the Program Practices Department - much like having been both a defense attorney and a prosecutor - the only person at any network to have ever done that.

We both started in New York and finished in Los Angeles. We both worked with, and in some cases had to deal with, many of the biggest names (and egos) in the entertainment industry. Unfortunately, this account of my father's career will be necessarily incomplete as he is no longer with us to fill in the gaps in my knowledge and memory. And it follows that this account of my career is fresher in memory and will be far more detailed.

But it is not my purpose to embarrass anyone (if I can help it). Between marriages, I 'dated' several well-known women, but I would not like this effort to be characterized as a kiss-and-tell. Similarly, I've had personal knowledge of a number of what might be called scandals but I will try to be discreet, having no desire to spend the rest of my life in litigation.


* Talullah Bankhead was primarily a stage and screen star, but also did a surprising amount of radio ("The Big Show") and television ("All Star Revue"). A very bawdy lady, she was best known for saying "Who do you have to fuck to get off this picture?" Her relationship with my father remains something of a mystery.

NEXT: "Rock & Roll"