Everything You Know
Is Wrong

8-16-74

Tom –

Hello, worker, so nice to hear from you. Hope your circuits are open and all channels are clear. Was able to get to Wed., Aug. 14 session at TBS. Outdoor sets were closed to all visitors as filming in progress. Phil P. reported that work that day was for Peter Bogdanovich's new flick, At Long Last Love, featuring 21 Cole Porter tunes. Star gazing was not possible – it would have been good to see how all that's done. Oh, well. On to news and trivia:

The day opened with Phil P. on the telephone, a little excited. Seems he was chosen to do a Chevrolet commercial. He was second choice, but could fit the film schedule and was put on Hold. Then, the first choice actor magically became available, bumping Phil. However – since he had been put on Hold, he was going to get paid anyway, to compensate for any gig he might have turned down. Dig?

The day's work I saw concerned production of the news. (See ABC Eyewitness News). Fred and I were there until 3:30. When we left, studio was set up to record new segment.

Frank and Andy, studio engineers, are still not quite together with who or what they are working with. One of them was sent out to Xerox script of "news interview" scene to be recorded that day and returned with - you guessed it – one copy. Well – the Studio is in the middle of an energy crisis squeeze. "Preserve Tomorrow / Conserve Today," reads the banner at the Studio gate.

This particular segment of the "Happy Hour News" was not recorded with standard studio mikes. They rented some Lavaliere TV mikes from TBS. All segments I saw recorded this day were done with TV mikes, for more authentic sound. Phil P. gave the weather report following a brief story from David about scientists having real emotions. The "hotter 'n Hell in here" line from David appears to be an ad lib. The production of it was a momentary inspiration, so I'm fairly sure the line was, too. It was quickly and unanimously decided to have that line sound as though it wasn't meant to be heard. This was achieved by not playing back David's channel. Since his mike wasn't far from PP's , there was a natural carry-over on Phil's channel. Sounds great! For this segment, David was seated at the conductor's podium, placed center studio (it's portable). It looks quite a bit like a draftsman's table – large clear plastic top, placed atop a Preacher's wide-based wooden podium. The base is elevated, and there is a stool on the base. This placed David at what looked a lot like the control panel of a space vehicle. With his ponytail, Levis cap and coat, he looked exactly like Mark Time. Phil was across the room, facing opposite at a small table, which also houses the telephone. THERE IS A DIAGRAM IN THE TEXT AT THIS POINT.

The album is being pieced together. There are several perspectives from which the action is seen, so there is a lot of cut and splice / dub re-dub to do. This results in time to talk, also much two-inch tape on the floor. Nurgie, studio veteran, was with us, napping at the foot of the tape machine. At one point in the editing, Nurgs was covered with tape. She simply curled up in it, happy as anything. Fred and I stared for quite a while, pondering what a great photo it would make. Frank and/or Andy finally noticed this dog under all that discarded tape on the floor, and pulled the tape free of the dog. Just then, Tiny stepped back to talk to David. For fun, she reached over, grabbed the tape, and covered Nurgie with it. She curled up in it again. It was at that point that PP noticed, got his camera, and posed Nurgie for what may be the best photo of the sessions. (She's a show-biz dog. After the picture was snapped, she wagged her tail as in thanks).