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Post by Ace on Jun 11, 2005 18:11:17 GMT -5
I saw this link on K last's site quite a while ago and forgot about it. Saw it again andthought I'd post it. Part of a much larger interview discussing his creation of Moonlighting and discussing how he didn't like boy/girl detective shows. Interview conducted by Cindy Klauss & Diane HopkinsSeptember 10, 2002 Obviously, I used some of the experience that I gained on Remington Steele. I was with Remington Steele for a very, very short time. I was there really just for the first 10 episodes. And I was there largely because I sort of made it a mission in my life to work with a guy named Bob Butler who directed the pilot for Remington Steele. And really, he sort of came up with the premise for Remington Steele. He'd been carrying it around for years. Michael Gleason developed it for television, but the original idea was actually Bob's. And I really wanted to work with Bob Butler. I got to Remington Steele, worked with Bob. At a certain point, Bob was leaving. I decided to leave. So I really wasn't there as long as a question like that would suggest, although I did contribute a tremendous amount of writing to those first 10 episodes. I think they all, if not all, then most, certainly went through my typewriter at some point. And I still am very fond of my friendship with Pierce. And we were both sort of new to television, so we, you know, he and I developed a relationship. I think I was also really the first writer over there who recognized that he could be funny. In the original conception, I don't think he was thought of as particularly funny. I think Stephanie was thought of as sort of the person who was going to lead the charge of the show, and she's a wonderful actress. But, it just became clear to me hanging around with Pierce, that he had a huge funny bone and so I really tried to write to that. Long answer to a short question." |
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Post by Lauryn on Jun 13, 2005 0:51:10 GMT -5
Nice to know PB has forgiven GC for the Warren Beatty Iron Man Triathlon that was "Love Affair", LOL! Really, I'd love to see a Q & A with Caron on the season one RS DVD. He was central, of course, to the show at that time and and esp. to the singularity of the writing. Even if not all the episodes "went through" his typewriter they follow his lead. It helps (as shown in that Moonlighting interview) that he's a very verbal guy who enjoys talking about the process. If you ask good questions (as those fans generally did) you'll get extra-good value. And even if you don't, he's never lukewarm.
I'd like to see some of the same questions asked about RS. e.g. how an episode goes from concept to airing, and others encouraging GC to talk about what the atmos. on set was like, how it was to work with / write for Pierce and SZ, what they brought to the table, various inspirations for episodes and where they led, etc. So many things to ask, some cheekier than others, LOL! Whatever happened you wouldn't have to worry much about him being ho hum and monosyllabic. Just point him in the general direction and he's off.
I'm curious if the producers of the RS DVD would have him foremost or even mid-most in their minds to contribute to the extras, as he's so associated with Moonlighting. He did spend a generous amount of time (two hours) with the Moonlighting fans there, but that show is his baby, after all. Still, he might be willing as a FOP (friend of Pierce, LOL) if asked.
I wonder how much attention will be lavished on the RS DVD. One expects Moonlighting to get tender loving care. (Given its place in the television firmament, a certain pressure will be applied, I expect.) But with RS, who knows?
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Post by Ace on Jun 13, 2005 1:54:08 GMT -5
Nice to know PB has forgiven GC for the Warren Beatty Iron Man Triathlon that was "Love Affair", LOL! LOL! But they were co-sufferers. In addition to being in general a back seat director from hel, Beatty actually had Caron banned from the set when Hepburn did his scenes so he could direct them.  I've read the extras on the RS discs are 4 episodes with commentaries and 4 featurettes. Who is doing the commentaries, I don't know and I assume by the "ette" the features are small. Interestingly, at Amazon.com the RS DVD has been been selling better than Moonlighting had been this far away from the release date. It's been in the top 100-200 or so for the last month which looks very promising. I assume Gleason will be in the forefront of the commentaries but I'd really like if Butler was involved. You know, I really don't know why Butler left, why did he leave? Caron says he followed Butler out mid way through the 1st Season but I didn't think any major shift happenned until the 2nd season. If I recall correctly, in an interview with PB (from the last 5 years or so) he credited Butler as a Director seeing that he could handle a quicker pace of the script etc and that he then had him given more to do etc and had the writer focus the script that way. And of course from the SMA article there's that great anecdote about Butler: “Play it with a wiggle,” director Robert Butler told him. “I asked, ‘What do you mean, “with a wiggle”?” Brosnan recalls. “He said, ‘Do that thing with the eyes.’ I think he meant twinkle. So I did. I did the twinkle as much as possible.”  Ace |
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Post by Lauryn on Jun 13, 2005 2:21:31 GMT -5
I'd forgotten that. But PB always wins in the masochist's top ten list because he's worked with Barbra Streisand...
Despite what Caron says about only being involved in the first ten episodes he's credited on imdb as a producer on some of the later shows like "Steele Flying High." I don't know what the actual order of the "ten episodes" was as written (not aired). Hearts, where he is credited as writer, aired as #14, for example. Of course, the ones he co-produced could have been in the can mid-way through and aired later as well. If he did leave mid-way through the season, right on Robert Butler's heels, the first season bears his stamp right through to the end. It's hard to know precisely when stuff was written, collaborated on, etc., so a timeline for one's "sphere of influence" is hard to define. As for Butler's departure, I've never heard a reason given. Anyone know?
By the way, this exchange in the Caron interview made me think of Michael "get me re-write!" Gleason.
Diane: Can I ask you some fifth season questions?
Glenn: Yeah, but I probably can't answer them.
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Post by Ace on Jun 13, 2005 9:48:26 GMT -5
I'd forgotten that. But PB always wins in the masochist's top ten list because he's worked with Barbra Streisand... But PB LIKES Streisand. He got along with her very well. Heck well enough that they're still friends and she was invited to his wedding. He had no problem with her directing and said she wasn't anymore demanding than countless male directors who never get criticized and yet aren't as talented. Then again he only worked on the film for 10 days.  Did Moonlighting even make it to a fifth season? I'm not sure I watched any after the 3rd except for a minute here and there to witness the trainwreck and change the channel. Talk about a complete nosedive in quality. Not that I'm not exactly running out to buy the first seasons on DVD either. The Caron series I want on DVD is Now & Again which was murdered by the network before it's time.  Speaking of Caron's other series, I read that his latest "Medium" actually had a reference to PB on it being screwed out of the Bond role by RS. I haven't yet tracked down the exact quote and context though. Ace |
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