Podcasts about Barbara Billingsley

You can watch the VIDEO version of this episode here: https://youtu.be/QLvMRryWToo On Terror On The Tube, Joel, Peter, and Allyson pick, at random, a made-for-TV horror/suspense movie that aired sometime during the decades of the 1970s, 80s, or 90s. In this episode we're joined by special guest, Drew, to talk about Bay Cove from 1987. Originally released on NBC on Sunday, October 25th, 1987, Bay Cove stars Tim Matheson, Pamela Sue Martin, Barbara Billingsley, Jeff Conaway, and Susan Ruttan. ................................................................................................................................................ Synopsis: Young newlywed couple Jerry and Linda Lebon move out of the big city into a remote seacoast village only to encounter a secret coven of witches who want them to join them or face the consequences. ................................................................................................................................................ ................................................................................................................................................ Special thanks to Ross Bugden for the use of his music for the theme of this podcast under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You can find the track titled Something Wicked here.

Joel Thurm joined me to discuss watching Milton Berle, wrestling, and Disney as a child; wanting to be an actor but finding his calling backstage; working for David Merrick; casting Broadway; moving to L.A.; working on The Pearl Bailey Show; musical guest appearances; Ethel Winant; casting The Bob Newhart Show; casting Henry Winkler and John Randolph; casting Raul Julia, Katherine Helmond, John Ritter, Will MacKenzie, Rene Auberjonois, and Chirstopher Lloyd in very early roles; casting the play and film of The Rocky Horror Picture Show; casting "Grease"; producing "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble"; coercing Olivia Newton John to take the role in "Grease"; swapping the "new, improved" script with the original; turning 80; casting Fantasy Island with Ricardo Montalban and Herve Villechaize; casting Taxi with Judd Hirsch; Cleavon Little being replaced by Jeff Conaway; Nell Carter being unavailable; Andy Kaufman came with the deal; reluctantly accepting the job of casting and producing Angie; casting "Airplane" with Peter Graves; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar being the third choice after Pete Rose and Bruce Jenner; Barbara Billingsley being the second choice after Harriet Nelson; being named NBC's head of talent; casting a casting agent on an episode of Taxi; Eileen Brennan; casting Gavin McLeod and Lauren Tewes for The Love Boat; casting Daniel J. Travanti for Hill Street Blues; Fred Silverman doesn't think he's likeable, so Joel got him to smile; Cheers comes down to three choices for Sam and Diane; NBC won't let Joel cast it; Joel implores Grant Tinker to hire Ted Danson because women will want to fuck him more than William Devane; being wrong on Don Johnson for Miami Vice; casting Florence Halop in Night Court; his favorite show, Law & Order SVU; fandom of Chris Meloni and Mariska Hargitay; recommending Christine Ebersole to SNL in 1981, his assistant recommending Dennis Miller in 1985 and Elvira in 1987 You can order Joel's "Sex Drugs and Pilot Season" here Sex, Drugs & Pilot Season: Confessions of a Casting Director: Thurm, Joel: 9781629339535: Amazon.com: Books

Patric Verrone and I discuss his influences: Chuck McCann, Sonny Fox, Officer Joe Bolton and Jim Henson; Steve Martin; Carl Gottlieb; growing up in Ft. Myers, Florida; going to Harvard with Al Jean; his Lampoon competition packet; working with Andy & Susan Borowitz, Conan O'Brien, and future wife Maiya Williams on the Lampoon; becoming a lawyer; taking a leave of absence to try comedy writing; getting a job on the Late Show with Joan Rivers; rough times on the show; Victoria Principal doxing; leaving Joan Rivers and getting hired on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson; his interview with Johnny; writing sketch and monologue; Sunday morning meetings with Johnny; new characters created; Johnny wanted to dress up less; Carnac moments; The Critic; Doris Grau, Critic / Simpsons crossover; second crossover nixed; writing for the Muppets; the "new" Kermit; his idea of having other puppeteers work on characters and then having Frank Oz dub his voice in; the new puppet, Clifford; working with Dick Blasucci and Paul Flaherty; working with Martin Short, Don Rickles, Billy Crystal and Prince on Muppets Tonight; winning an Emmy and it having it bestowed by Barbara Billingsley; getting hired on Futurama; Cubert Farnsworth; "Problem with Popplers"; no lessons, just jokes; one of my jokes is similar to one in an episode; list jokes; "A Leela of Her Own"; explaining to Hank Aaron his dialogue; writing a Simpsons episode; being President of the Writer's Guild; net neutrality; visiting all fifty states; collecting the Marks Presidential Figurine Set and completing it himself;

This week on the blog, a podcast interview with character actor Jim Meskimen on building an acting career one step at a time.LINKSJim Meskimen website: https://jimmeskimen.com/Jim Meskimen acting reel: https://jimmeskimen.com/acting/The Acting Center: https://theactingcenterla.com/Behind the Page: The Eli Marks Podcast (Episode 222): https://www.elimarksmysteries.com/eli-marks-podcastA Free Film Book for You: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/cq23xyyt12Another Free Film Book: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/x3jn3emga6Fast, Cheap Film Website: https://www.fastcheapfilm.com/Eli Marks Website: https://www.elimarksmysteries.com/Albert's Bridge Books Website: https://www.albertsbridgebooks.com/YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/BehindthePageTheEliMarksPodcast***Meskimen Transcript Jim Meskimen — Character and Voice Actor John Gaspard: Today, we're going to talk about your life as an actor and having a diversified pool of things to draw from to be a working actor. I listened to a couple other interviews with you, and there was one point they kept coming to that I wanted to avoid, which was immediately talking about your mother. My connection is, and was, that we went to the same high school, Southwest high school in Minneapolis. So, I thought, well, that's my great connection. And then my friend Jim here, who is … one of the reasons he's here is because he is a working actor as well, but in a much smaller market here in the Twin Cities. So, I thought having him as part of this chat would be interesting. Jim, what is your story? Jim Meskimen: And he happens to have the name of Cunningham. John: Well, we're gonna get to that. Here we go. Jim Cunningham: Therein lies the story. Your mother made an appearance along with some other famous TV moms at, you know, we're very proud of the fact that Spam is produced here in Minnesota. Meskimen: That's right. That's right. Cunningham: And there is a Spam museum. It's that important to us, Minnesotans. Meskimen: Yes, I know she's been there. We had some Spam swag that she gave us one time. Cunningham: Well, there, it was from that. She came as a famous mom, along with some other famous TV moms, Barbara Billingsley, and-- Meskimen: And Florence, maybe? Florence Henderson? Cunningham: I think so. Yeah. Yeah. Right. And I was the emcee of that event and I was interviewing them as they arrived on the red carpet. And I said to your mother, Oh, I'm just so thrilled to meet you because my last name is Cunningham. And more than that, my dad's name is actually Richard Cunningham. And so is my brother.” Meskimen: Oh, my gosh. Cunningham: During the height of the Happy Days craze, we literally had to have an unlisted phone number because every third call was, “Is Fonzi there?” Meskimen: Oh my God. Oh my God. Cunningham: And your mother said to me, “You have to prove to me that your name is Cunningham.” So I took out my wallet and showed her my driver's license. And she said, “Oh, you poor darling.” And she gave me a nice hug and a peck on the cheek and it was just, I cherish, I cherish the memory. Meskimen: That's really sweet. That's hilarious. She challenged you like someone would make that up, you know, so she had to really get to the bottom of that one. Cunningham: But your mother was just charming and a delight. Meskimen: That's great. Cunningham: Yeah. Sorry. We got off on a tangent. Gaspard: We've given the elephant in the room some peanuts. Now we're shoving it off to the side for you. Meskimen: Well, if I may say it is, it is no problem at all. I love to talk about my mom. She has blazed such a path for me, not in terms of, you know, any kind of practical nepotism, but just because everyone loves her and loves what she represents. And so I find it very easy to make friends with strangers in this way, because you're already kind of disposed to, well, you must not be such a schmuck, you know, he's got this mom. And so I'm always very happy to talk about her. She's a delight and she's 93. She lives very close by and she's very happy in enjoying her retirement. Gaspard: Excellent. All right. So we want to talk about being a working actor, but before we dive into the acting part, I know when you started out, you were focused maybe more on art and cartooning and that. How did you make the switch from that to acting? Meskimen: Well, I kept both plates spinning. I studied, I taught myself to cartoon and illustrate, enough to be a professional, you know, not enough to be a super genius, kind of in demand, tremendous demand person. But enough to work. And I did that in New York city. And I had this need to perform. And so, I also did plays, I would do little projects. I would perform, you know, when I could. When I went to college, I didn't take theater classes, but I would do plays, you know, people would audition. And if there was a guy — I was very good at accents. So, you always needed a funny guy with an accent. Sometimes, you know, I could get the part of the old man, the old French guy or whatever. And that I just was always a few clicks above the rest of my fellows there. So I really kept both these activities going while I was sorting out which one was gonna be the path. Cause I really honestly wasn't clear on what I'd be doing. And, I felt strong feelings about both, but I didn't feel at that time, I didn't see how I could mesh them together. I didn't see how one was going to be, how I'd have to jettison one completely. And it took me a while to figure that out. And when I did, it was a big relief and I went, okay, I know why I want to pursue acting. I know what's honorable about it. I know why it's right for me at this time. And so I'm going to go for it. And then I went with full energy towards that, but I always, I mean, I haven't forgotten how to draw or paint and I do it now. I'm older, I'm 62. That was when I was 23. So at this point in my life, I wouldn't mind sitting home and painting a little bit and being away from everybody. But at the time I felt like I needed a more social existence, a more social career that would have more collaborative aspects. Cunningham: As you look back on things, do you remember some of the first things that you got that were maybe, you know, of note? Meskimen: Yeah. I started off, I came to New York and I started a bunch of things all at once. Cuz New York is a great place get started, you know, and start things and be a starter. So I was studying acting and I was studying improv. I had a false start. I went and studied at the Stella Adler school for a while, which was a disaster. And I vectored off of that as fast as I could. And I got into improv, which was much more suited to my temperament and I think is better training in general. So I was doing that. I was looking for an agent and I was also supporting myself as an illustrator cartoonist in the meantime. So I didn't have to be a waiter. I could have a pretty decent job. So the first things I got had to do with my ability to do impressions. And be a voice actor. So my improv group that I was in had a gig weekly doing what was then a regular feature of the old McNeil Lehrer report, if you ever remember that show? Gaspard: Oh yeah. Meskimen: The McNeil Lehrer report, which was a news show. It was like a hard news show, but it had a funny section every Friday. They would take the political cartoons of the day and just by kind of zooming in and out and changing panels, they would sort of, you know, semi-animate them statically. And they would add voices to it. And then they hired us to do the voices of, you know, Boris Yeltsin, then Reagan and whatever was happening on the time. And we'd go in every Friday. It was my first AFTRA a job and I think I made $114 bucks a week, but it was $114 bucks a week, you know, back then when a ride on the subway was 50 cents. That was like, this is okay. So that was a nice, kinda like, oh, that's a stability, you know? Cause I think I did, we did a whole, I don't know, a season or more of it. And every week, you know, it was kind of cool. My biggest breakthrough came in the area of on-camera commercials. And I had remembered that my mom, when she was a single mom, she would, every now and then before Happy Days, she would get guest spots on things like Mannix and Mission Impossible and Hawaii-5-0. But those were pretty few and far between. And then, if she booked a commercial, it was like, oh, you know, thank God because it would generate enough income, through residuals for her. And back then commercials paid very, very well. Today it's more rare, as you know Jim. It's kind of a disappearing thing, as things go on the internet. But a network commercial back then could help you stay alive. So, I had that in my mind. I was like, you know, I need to get into commercials. So, I auditioned and eventually, after a couple of years, actually two years at least going on a lot of things as a young man, I started to get into commercials. And there was one very, very lucky day that changed my life completely. And it had everything to do with whatever else I was studying, because I was studying communication at that time. I was studying improv at that time and those things came together in a beautiful way. I had an audition for a grocery chain out of Texas called Skaggs Alpha Beta, the euphonious name of Skaggs Alpha Beta. And they were looking for a spokesman to interview people in the store. And they had had some market research that told 'em that, you know, you call yourself the friendliest place in town, but you're not so friendly. So, they wanted a friendly spokesman who could talk to people, actual real people and have fun and whatever, you know, and be clean and not insult people. And that was what I had been studying in improv, you know, clean comedy. Supportive comedy, you know, not cutting the legs off of people. So, I got this audition. I went physically and did it and they said, “oh yeah, yeah, that's great. We're gonna hire you.” I'm like, great. It's three commercials and three regional commercials, which is not a huge deal, but for me it was like, well, this is great. Then after we did those three commercials, they came back about a month later and said, “all right, we want you to be our spokesman to do all our stuff all year long. We'll give you a contract, radio, TV, photo, you know, put you in the newspaper, the little circulars and billboards and what have you.” And it was like, forty grand. And I'm like, oh my God, I didn't even know this existed. My mom never had anything like this. This is like new territory. Well, I did that for five years for that company. And every year, the price went up, the contract got sweeter. By the end of it. I was making, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars a year just on that job, which would take about seven days a year to do. And that changed my life, because it gave me tremendous confidence, because I created all the material, I improvised every second of it. Maybe not every second, but you know. And it gave me the wherewithal to exist in New York comfortably without having to really sweat the day job and to do plays and to do things that, you know, if you have time, you go and you do improv shows and you don't worry about, am I making any money? You don't sweat it. And then I actually got known because the footage, I would take the footage and I would cut it into reels and I would send that around and I got more spokesman jobs. So, you know, it was like a side business that sort of developed outta nowhere. Off of one audition. Sometimes it makes me scared to think: what if I was late? What if I didn't make it that audition, life would be so different. Cunningham: Somewhere in the multiverse, that's happening. Meskimen: That poor sucker in the multiverse but he probably has all my hair. So it's fine. Cunningham: Did you do any Happy Days with your mom? I was just thinking as a young kid, did you do any? You know, walk-ons or extra work on any of the shows your mom was doing? Meskimen: No. The only time when she became Marion Cunningham—your pseudo mom—she got me into an episode and my sister, not the same episode. She exercised a little bit, you know, and it happens to be one of the most famous episodes of Happy Days that I was in.I'm a young man, 17, on the beach looking buff. And I come and announce the fact that they've caught a shark out in the water. And then the rest of the show is about how Fonzi's going to jump the shark. Gaspard: But it sounds like growing up, that you learned the life of a working actor because you've lived with a working actor, is that safe to say? Meskimen: A hundred percent. I think one of my primary advantages in my life has been that I saw what it is, you know, and what it isn't. And I saw it. My mom also was particularly driven and also focused and intent, you know. She's a high achiever. So, whereas a lot of actors go, well, I'm waiting for my agent to call and I don't know, I can't do anything, you know, until they give me an audition. Maybe I can, blah, blah, blah. And I realized that's like a losing attitude. Because what I saw was a woman who went, Hmm, uh, who can I call? What can I do? Who must I reach out to? Who must I meet? Should I do a play? Absolutely, I should do a play and I should let everybody know that I'm doing this play. And even though it's a crappy play and I'm getting no money, I'm gonna do it. And I looked at that and went, okay. I see. You need to promote yourself. She hired a PR person. She always had a PR person and would utilize that in any way that she could. And then, how do you live and raise kids and pursue this weird career that is so herky jerky, what do you do? And I saw how she did it. She would economize and we hired out—she always remembers this—we rented out one of the bedrooms in our house. Mind you, we have three bedrooms. We hired out a third of our house to a college student, because, you know, that was 60 bucks a month or something she would get and shared a kitchen with this person. And, she would do plays and she would volunteer for things and she would push it along, push it down the road. I remember vividly seeing her rehearse lines for an audition over the sink. We were getting ready to have dinner or lunch or something. And she's going to take off in a minute in the car and drive to Hollywood and do this audition. You juggle, but she was a hustler, in the sense of a hard worker. She was a depression child and I think that came as just part of the territory back then. But even more than other people her age that I observed, she was just intent. And it came from this vision that she had of as a girl of seeing her name on a marque and changing her name too—so it would look better—and just being like, I'm gonna do this. Which I recognize now from my life experiences and for my own philosophy that it's a very smart way to go about it. Gaspard: Yeah, it really is. You know, it's interesting in looking at your career and then looking at my friend, Mr. Cunningham here, who I've known for 30 some odd years. Meskimen: Oh, wow. Gaspard: And seeing that you both have a very similar mindset when it comes to not saying no to things. I learned that from Jim. Don't necessarily say no to something right away. Listen to what it is. A lot of times you're gonna accept stuff just because you're not doing anything else and why not. And you never know where it's going to lead. You both have this living in sort of a limbo world of: I don't know what's coming next, but because you've said yes so often, and because you're easy to work with and because you bring the goods and because you have so many different threads, there's almost always something coming in. Because you've just kept the streams open. And that's why I wanted Jim to meet Jim, because you both represent the same thing just in different towns. Meskimen: Soul brothers! Cunningham: Exactly. Well, I'd like to think. Gaspard: But now you have an online course to help actors become working actors. Because there's a real difference between an actor and a working actor. I'm in the low budget movie world and there's a difference between being a screenwriter and a screenwriter who's working or being a director and being a director. You can say your thing, but to actually be working at it on an ongoing basis, doesn't necessarily just happen. And it sounds like in your course, you're going to walk people through that process. Meskimen: Yeah, I've really tried to do that. That's exactly right. You can break down a career, and I'm sure Jim understands this very well, like you have the production side of things, which is the rehearsing, showing up, acting, great. And everybody's focused on that. You're like, that's what acting is. Well, that's right. That is one sliver of the job. The other sliver is marketing. There's also a kind of a sliver that's having the big goal and the vision and sort of the planning and being the visionary of the organization, because you're an organization. There's finance, there's paying bills, there's keeping one's self fit, medical things. There's a lot of different moving parts to it. And, and most of us think of acting as like, oh yes, there I am on the stage holding the skull. Giving the speech to Yoric. Okay, that may happen, that may be part of it, but that's like an eighth of it or a 15th of it. So, in my course, I've tried to share what those other parts of the organization that I do. Because I was paying attention, thank God. It didn't just happen by luck. It happened very concertedly and very determinately. So I know what we did. And I say we: I've got a little team of people, with my wife and now my daughter helps me, agents, managers, other people to actually keep it rolling, because it is that kind of life, the freelance life. And there are many different kinds of freelancing lives that people can lead. But in an actor freelance life, you don't know the next week. Like, I looked on my calendar yesterday. And I went, wow, there's a lot of blank space on that calendar. And yet there is no blank space in, you know, my bills summary--I'm going to have to pay whether there's something or not. So now today, because of all the promotion that I do during the week, now I have a couple jobs. I never sweat it because—probably like Mr. Cunningham—I know that these are the actions that I have to do. I know that schedule's gonna fill out. It's gonna fill out ahead of me almost like a train track rolling out in front of the steam engine. So, in the course, yeah, I've composed a bunch of different videos where I talk about certain things about auditioning, about promotion, marketing, and other very important aspects of keeping the career rolling. I don't teach acting. I'm not going to go there. My wife has a wonderful acting school and anybody can check that of out if they want to. It's called The Acting Center and they run online courses as well as in-person here in LA. I'm not teaching anything, but I'm sharing. What did I do? And what have I found after 35 years of doing this are the important steps to take, the important actions to always keep in, and what might happen, and how I've bobbed and weaved and kept things going so that I didn't have to take another job. I never had to back up and go, well, I retreat, you know, now I'm gonna go and just go into teaching or now I'm gonna go into, you know, real estate or nothing wrong with that. And I know a lot of actors have done it, but I have not had to. And I'm a little bit stubborn at this point. I'll go kicking and screaming into any other, non-artistic field. Gaspard: Good for you. Without giving away too much of the course, we've got a couple questions that I'm always interested in when it comes to this sort of career. What's the biggest mistake that beginning actors often make? Meskimen: I think the biggest single mistake is to have the right mindset concerning who is creating the career. Because we come seemingly with hat in hand, as actors, to the audition, to the theater, to meetings, interviews, we can fall into the trap of thinking, I'm waiting for someone to give me something. When we're really desperate, we're really like beggars and it can get pretty bad. And as any actor who's been begging knows, it just doesn't work very well. It's very unattractive. Unless they're hiring a beggar. For the role of the beggar, you know, then it's okay. All other times it's really anathema. So, I think it's a viewpoint of like, I am gonna create this career. That's what I saw my mom do. And that's what I exercised too. I totally mobilized that, because I'm a creative person, I like to create. So, it was kind of like, well, here's a good excuse: You want an excuse to create? Guess what? Your whole career is up to you.What you wanna do, what you're good at? How much you pursue it, how well you do, how fast you go, how much you get paid. It's really kind of up to you. And that may seem counterintuitive or stupid, or, you know, bewildering to people as they just start out, because we are looking to collaborate. We are looking to fill a hole that someone else has created. You know, somebody is out there right now, writing a part in a show that will need to be cast. And the casting director will be looking around for that person. That hole didn't exist until that writer came up with it. So, in a way, they have created that, they've created that opportunity, that position that needs to be filled. But we can always sort of be ready for those things. I believe in sort of deciding and picturing things and putting things out there in the universe. So, I do that sometimes I'll go, you know, somewhere someone is writing a great part for me and, it's very difficult to actually link that to cause and effect. But the fact is I've been working as I said for a long time. So, I think it's just a mindset of: you have to take the hat out of your hand, put the hat on your head or on a hook and go, you know what? I am the guy in charge. So, how much money do I wanna make? What do I wanna do this year? Take charge. Don't go, well, I hope, if only, well, maybe if things go well, somebody might possibly grant me… No, no, no. That's a losing attitude. That's an expectation, you know, and being the effect of something rather than actually trying to cause something. So, it's a hard lesson to tell people, because so much of life is sort of dictating that we behave like people that are created upon. You know, we are marketed at, you know, come and watch this movie, sit in the dark while we tell you a story and feel this way and laugh at this part and, you know, and pay this money and, oh, okay. We get that all day long. There's stuff, just shooting at us all day long and at some point, the artist has to kind of shake it off and go, what do I wanna make? I'm gonna make it, you know, I'm gonna produce it, I'm gonna create it. And so that's what I think is the biggest change. The biggest mistake that could just go through a whole lifetime or a whole career of a person is like, they're thinking like, God, the agent will give me the thing. And then I might, if I possibly do well, they will give me the part and then maybe they'll keep all of it in and not edit out all of it. And, and then maybe they will pay me and you know, all this kind of awful , you know, slave kind of mentality. As much as you can turn that around. You'll notice that the very big actors didn't take no for an answer. They developed their own projects. They were fussy. Sometimes they were saying, I won't do that, but I'll do this, you know. They're demanding on themselves and, and many of them have created their own things. I always think about Billy Bob Thornton, would Billy Bob Thornton have the terrific career he does today? He's a great actor, but do you have the career that he has today if he hadn't decided, man, I'm gonna write this script and star in this Sling Blade thing myself. I don't know. I doubt it. And there's lots of examples of people like that, because he wanted to do it, cuz it was something he observed in life or had this idea, I think while he was on another shoot and he turned, you know, the material of his life into this project that he believed in and miracles happened. And a lot of stories like that. Gaspard: So you had the advantage of growing up, watching a working actor. So you had probably a bit better sense of that world than someone coming in from the outside doing it. But was there anything that you were surprised by once you started being a full-time working actor? Meskimen: One lesson that I learned very quickly was: I probably would've had a commercial career about two years earlier, but I made a mistake. A strategic error. There's a lot of potency to beginner's luck in show business. We hear a lot of stories. They're almost like legendary stories about people who went well, you know, I wasn't, I didn't even have the audition. I went with my buddy and my buddy didn't get the job. And I did. And you hear that there are gazillion stories like this. Right? Same thing happened to me. I went with my friend to visit a girl who was working for Barbara Shapiro casting in Manhattan. And I went to say hello to this girl. And she said, “oh, by the way, you know, we're casting for this beer commercial.” So I got a call back. I got a second callback. I got a third callback and they pay you for the third callback. But in between the second and third callback is where I made my error. This is funny, because it was related to impressions and impressions has always been a door opener for me. It was a Miller beer commercial with guys sitting around at campfire. And I went well, I'm playing a guy who stands up and does a John Wayne thing. That was me. They kept calling me back, kept calling me. And then I had some stupid conversation with the girl that I had been going out with at the time. And she said, “why don't you do Henry Fonda?” And I went, “yeah, I'll do Henry Fonda.” That was the end of that. So the lesson I learned is a very important lesson. Most actors pick this up very quickly, but I just kind of screwed up. It's that if they keep calling you back, don't change anything. It's going right. If they ask you on the day: Okay, we saw your John Wayne. I wonder, can you do any other voices? That would've been the perfect time to whip out your Henry Fonda, as they say. But I screwed that up. Two years before I got another really good opportunity. So, I never change anything now. I learned that lesson very quickly. When I did finally book a commercial, I had gone in and I got a call back and I remembered on the day I had like a headache. The day I did the first audition, I was cranky. And on the day I got the call back, I'm like that day, I'm like, well, I feel great. Well, I'm not gonna act like I feel great. I'm gonna be cranky. And I went in and I booked that job. By applying this do not change anything. Cunningham: Smart. A lot of people don't think that through, boy. That's a really good tip. If you're an actor listening, that's the price right there. You just got gold just dumped right into your lap. Meskimen: Yeah, it would be like, if you went to a restaurant and you had the halibut one time and you go, oh my God, this halibut's great. I'm gonna come back. And if they serve you the halibut and now it's in a totally different sauce. You're like, what the fuck? I came for the halibut. What happened? Cunningham: What happened? As you think about, you know, actors like me, can you point to some, you know, sort of generic, “Hey, this is here's another trap don't fall into this one?” Something that you see other actors kind of making that mistake again and again? Meskimen: Sure. And it's related to my first comment about what's the biggest challenge in changing this mindset of who's in charge and being in the driver's seat, if you will, of your career. And I think I wind up talking to a lot of people, particularly guys our age who maybe have not made their peace with social media. But for me it was a major breakthrough to finally have the discipline to get onto YouTube and begin what has become the last 11 years of really, just an interesting chapter of my life, where I have something that I would've loved to have in New York, which is this access and ease of production. Anyway. Not to talk too much about myself, but just the fact that most actors are underutilizing, I think, the technological reality of today, of being able to share performances with the world and to generate interest in what you do. And to also creatively expand and reach out and come up with content yourself that may not at first have any kind of monetary value to you, but as a product, as a promotional activity, is virtually free and can create great windfalls and attention. Are you doing anything on YouTube or anything? Cunningham: You know, I'm really not. And not only am I not doing it, but you're the first person to suggest that if you were to use that in some way, that there would be a benefit there. Now, I'm not a great actor. I'm better as myself than I am as anybody else in general. And that's where the bulk of my work comes is being me in front of a camera, or on stage. The challenge has been thrown down now: what could I do on YouTube? And could that effect, because as you mentioned, as you get older, the opportunities decrease. They're looking for a 30-year-old, they're looking for a 40-year-old, and I'm not that anymore. I always used to tell people what you want is the number of auditions to go down and the number of jobs you're doing to go up. That's the goal. And now I'm finding that's no longer true for me. It's inverted now. Meskimen: Yeah. Well, I can speak to a couple of points to that. So, I understand about playing yourself and being like a spokesman or being like something, a character that is more or less how you appear to other people. I would suggest that you're much bigger than that.You're much more various than that. Your possibilities and potentials as just a human being are far beyond what your body might dictate: how you look and how you think about things, even some ideas you have. I think you're bigger than that as an individual. And one of the things that I love about acting is that one gets to occupy a completely different point of view. (as Ian McKellen) For example, this is why I do a lot of impressions is because sometimes I can just change into another person and look at things completely different point of view. That's sort of the magic of it. I mean, the expectation of an actor generally is that they can do different things. You wouldn't buy a Swiss army knife and find that it has one blade and go, I'm really happy now. You'd go, wait, where are the scissors? Whereas the ballpeen hammer or whatever. To be an actor means I can play a lot of different characters. I can play a lot of different roles. Now, as we get older, maybe, you know, that gets narrower, but we can certainly always push. Push it out. And I think you can surprise yourself by what you're actually able to do. You've got a lot of wisdom now, you've earned that over the years, you've met a lot of different kinds of people, and I think it's probably something to take a look at. An actor, if you look at the job description, if there is such a thing it's like knowingly taking on another point of view to help tell a story, that's kind of a quick definition of what it would be like. So if you are facile and ready to occupy other viewpoints, to look at things from the point of view of someone who's, you know, just physically exhausted or someone who's been just kicked around their whole life or someone who's just won the lottery. You know, if we practice this, which is what they do at the acting center, just kind of changing viewpoints and looking at things from different points of view, then you discover that, you know, I can do a lot of different things. Because a human being is like that. A human being can adopt all kinds of different viewpoints and feel all different kinds of ways and express different kinds of emotions.And there's a great freedom in that. I think you'll blossom if you start to have a little try at that. Cunningham: I like that. That's good advice. I like it a lot. Gaspard: You know, it's interesting. You mentioned social media and we're all of a certain age and feel like things might be passing us by, but Jim Meskimen, your use of social media, your use of YouTube—I found you on TikTok—your promotion of yourself does not seem like promotion. It does not seem like marketing. It is just you, having fun, doing the things you do. And then in some cases it's impressions. It's other cases, it's you doing characters that you've created. And I think that's sort of the secret to promoting yourself on social media is: Do what you love and eventually people will find that and want to be part of that. Meskimen: Yeah. And there's an example. Thank you for noticing that. I appreciate it. And I'm having the best time. Two things I wanna say about that. one is: I don't know if you've ever heard the entrepreneur, Gary Vaynerchuk? He said something very, very helpful about branding. Because branding, when we talk about branding, it immediately sounds like something we don't wanna have anything to do with. But branding is reputation. That's another good synonym, your reputation. And we prove our reputation all the time. By how we talk to people, what we do, what choices we make, it's pretty simple. So if we let people know, Hey, I was at this concert and I had a great time. Well, we know that about you. We know that you love Fleetwood Mac, you know, and that you had a great time on last Wednesday. That is your reputation too. If you create a character or you go to a play or you just say, God, you know, this is on my mind and I have to say something about it. That's your reputation too. That's your brand. People get to know you that way. And the other point I wanted make was in terms of the volume of what I do and how it doesn't seem like branding. It's just me having fun. And that is indeed entirely what it is. There was a guy when I was kicking around New York, back in my twenties, in various subway hubs, like grand central station or times square in the subway downstairs. Every now and then I would walk past this young man who was a drummer and he was banging on—not drums—he had like a joint compound bucket. And he had, I swear, I remember one time he had crisper from refrigerator—you know, the shelf, the drawer. Anyway, he was banging away those buckets and those instruments, which obviously did not cost a lot of money. And the sound just racketed through the subway. And it sort of integrated; when you walked through to that drum beat. You were kinda like, yeah, I'm in New York and I'm walking. Not for nothing, this is the right soundtrack for this little part of my life right now, you know? And how many people would walk by this guy every day? Was in the hundreds of thousands, probably, right? So, there is a guy—this is a great example, if you think about it in terms of social media—this was a guy who was drumming for a massive audience every day. And were people giving him money? I never gave him a dime. I mean, he couldn't have made more than, I don't know, 75 bucks a day. Who knows, maybe made more than that. But that wasn't the point. The point was 10 years later maybe, or earlier, there was a production, called, Bring in the Noise, Bring in the Funk. This guy got hired. He was seen by the director. He was in a Broadway show. He was performing seven nights a week. I can guarantee he wasn't making $75 a day. And it just was like: oh, look at that. That's a great, very easy example of like, okay, this is what obviously he loved to do it. Nobody said here is the way to the Broadway: Get your bucket of joint compound young man. And go thee to Times Square. No, not a chance. He loved rhythm. But he made it go right. And I don't know where he is today. I don't even know the guy's name, but I know that it was the big start of something with tremendous potential for him, you know. Gaspard: Follow your bliss. Like they say, you never know. I have two working actors in front of me right now. Tell me about rejection and dealing with rejection and how you deal with rejection Meskimen: Oh, good question. Yeah. Rejection is like a kind of a shock to the beginner, because we kind of know it's coming, but it still hurts. And the fact is that it's something that you have to kind of make friends with, which sounds really, really impossible. I just watched a video of a guy who—I think it was Joe Rogan. I watched a little on TikTok. Joe Rogan was talking about this ice-cold bath. That you know, it's now a thing to do these super cold plunges to try to handle inflammation in the body. And I watched him because I want to see you go in that bath. And he went in. I'm like, how long is he going to stay in that thing? It's 34 degrees, just above freezing, but he was in there. I lost interest. So he went on for minutes and minutes. And being judged and being rejected is like that cold bath. Now, Joe Rogan said that the first time he went in that bath, he could do it for about a minute. And then he got the hell out of there and went into a sauna. Probably. Now he can go in for 15 minutes. So, it was like that for me with rejection. Because, you know, you prepare something it's—and when you're an actor, it's different than other jobs. Because other jobs, if you're producing, like, even a piece of artwork, you know, it's exterior to you. It's not you. It's that piece of paper. It's that object that you've created. With an acting job, it's like, oh, it's your hair, your body, your face, your tone of voice, your presence, your smell. It's all what you're offering, you know, whether you want to or not, it's there. Especially in the pre-Zoom days. So, the levels and the dynamics of you being judged are just exponential. You know, you're like, wow, oh, you didn't like it the way I sat, you didn't like the way I said that one word, you know. There's all these swords to die on. But if you recognize and get familiar with the procedure, then after a while, that bite that it had originally does start to taper off. And at this point— and early on for me, I'd done hundreds of auditions—I'm like, some I get, some I don't get. Unless somebody says something really cruel, which is a whole different category of thing. There is just a natural judgment and evaluation. That is part and parcel of being an actor, where they go, “thank you very much.” And you never hear from them again and you go, wow, that's one thing. If someone says, “yeah, you know, you're not quite right. You're not quite good enough. Boy, we were really expecting something better or, wow, that sucked.” I mean, there's a whole range of othernesses. Then that that is something that you don't necessarily get comfortable with. But after a while you kind of gird your loins and go, well, that comes up, I have a different response to that. You know, I'm gonna say a little something or I'm gonna make a mental note: This casting director is an asshole. But that's different. The everyday kind of, “thank you very much for coming in rejection,” that's just something that if you do it enough and if you're not too precious about it and you don't take it personally, cuz it is not personal, it absolutely is not. You know, one good thing too is to—if you're an actor and I have not done this, so I'm giving you this advice that's kind of secondhand—but go and participate in a casting process where you're not being cast. Watch other actors come in, be a reader or something, and observe the variety of people that come in and what is attractive and what is unattractive and what is distracting and what is not distracting. And it'll give you some reality on like, oh, okay. We've interviewed or we've auditioned 15 people for this role, 12 of them could do it. They were fine, but this one's hair is this way. And this one has a little better this and you know, and I don't know, I met this guy before, I'll work with him again. They're arbitrary, small kind of gentle reasons why the person gets hired. And it's not the Roman arena where they go, Thumbs down. You're dead. Now it's thumbs down, you are a failure. You—it's your turn to be eliminated. It's not that. It's like, yeah, you're great. You're great. I got nothing to say except the director wanted to work with this guy. And you've got to make your peace with that and go, yep, I would do the same thing if I was a director. I wanna work with this guy. Who cares? It doesn't matter. Gaspard: I still remember William H Macy saying once he was on a TV show and went up to the producer/director, the guy in charge, and said, “thanks so much for casting me in this.”And the guy said, “yeah, it was between you and another 5,000 people, but you'll work.” Meskimen: I just found out—this is interesting—I got a role in a show that I'm gonna work on next week. And I was like, wow, great. You always, you know, these days, Jim, you know about this, you do these at home self-tape auditions, and it seems fake. It still seems kinda like I'm not in show business. I'm just doing it in the back of my house, but they call you up and they go, you know what? We want you for the role. And I'm like, oh, okay, great. And I'm all chuffed about it, you know, excited. And the wardrobe man, when I went to the wardrobe fitting, for reasons of his own I'm sure, told me that, “Yeah, they originally hired another actor to do this part and then the schedule changed and so he couldn't do it.” And so then I found out, you know, in that sort of covert way that I was not the first choice. I still get to do the job. But that's another aspect of things that could come in and sour things and you can start to feel sort of like a victim a little bit. But you know what? I just look at, what am I trying to do? I'm trying to get bigger and better parts in bigger and better shows. So that like, like Jim said, maybe I don't have to do so many auditions. Maybe they come to you and say, we have an offer. I love that. That happens sometimes, but I am also very happy to audition. I'm very happy to meet with people because for me, I look at an audition is a performance. Especially these days when they expect a performance. I don't hold the script. I memorize it. I work it out. I spend hours and hours and hours getting that show together and shoot it to the best of my ability, put the best sound on it that I can and fire it back as quickly as I can. And it's fun for me. I like the activity of acting. I like the activity of portraying a different person, of trying something out. And that's, that's the joy of it. And the chore of it.

Inflation bad news.....South Texas politics nasty…..Attacking art paintings and now pouring milk to protect the environment…..Violence in Philadelphia…....Chuck Berry (1926-2017)…..Barbara Billingsley (1915-2010)…..and other stories...    Check our blog.........and follow our friend  Carlos Guedes.........  

In this episode John and Nick sit down with a couple of fast food aficionados (also known as a comedian) Jonathan Farock, and Billy Myers III (Not the "Kiss the Rain" one) to discuss what is their favorite Fast Food menu Item... How will John shoe horn Barbara Billingsley in this episode? You'll have to listen to find out. Instagrams: @johnpridmore @nickwithnothingbettertodo @billymyeriii @jonathanfarock

Welcome to Episode #14 of the Last Call Trivia Podcast! Join us as we kick off the show with a round of general knowledge Trivia. Then, we're paying tribute to one of the most beloved actors of all time with a round of Tom Hanks Trivia.Round OneToday's show starts off with a Food Trivia question about a particular style of pasta. As the Trivia Team points out, the many different shapes of pasta have been created to pair perfectly with specific sauces and ingredients.Next up, we have a Television Trivia question about an iconic TV mom who has been played by both Barbara Billingsley and Janine Turner. Round One concludes with a History Trivia question that references famous architect Christopher Wren, known for his work on rebuilding over 50 churches following a massive fire.Bonus QuestionToday's Bonus Question is a follow-up to the History question from Round One. Our Trivia Team is asked to guess how many churches were destroyed in the fire referenced in the previous question.Round TwoAs always, we've got a theme for Round Two of the game. Get ready to make a Splash, movie buffs, because we're talking about an actor who's in A League of Their Own when it comes to Big roles. That's right, it's time for Tom Hanks Trivia!We start Round two with an Awards Trivia question that challenges the team to name the two films that allowed Tom Hanks to become just the second person ever to win back-to-back Oscars for Best Actor in a Lead Role.Next up, we have a Characters Trivia question about one of Tom Hanks' many award-nominated roles in Cast Away.Round Two concludes with a Magic Trivia question about the 1988 comedy, Big. Final QuestionIt's time to wrap up the game with a multi-part Final Question in the category of Landmarks. Get ready for a Trivia road trip across the U.S.!In today's Final, the Trivia Team is asked to place four famous landmarks in order by how long they took to complete, from longest to shortest.

País Estados Unidos Dirección Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker Guion Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker Música Elmer Bernstein Fotografía Joseph F. Biroc Reparto Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Robert Stack, Lorna Patterson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Stephen Stucker, Lee Bryant, Ann Nelson, Barbara Billingsley, Joyce Bulifant Sinopsis El vuelo 209 de la Trans American sale de Los Ángeles con destino a Chicago. Entre el pasaje se encuentran una serie de curiosos personajes. Entre ellos, un ex-piloto de combate que, en pleno vuelo, se verá obligado a hacerse con el mando del avión comercial, tras quedar los pilotos indispuestos por una comida en mal estado.

One of the best representatives of the American family in the 1950s was the Cleaver household, as portrayed on the iconic and classic television series, Leave It to Beaver. The Cleavers exemplified the idealized suburban family of the mid-20th century. The show, which ran from 1957 to 1963, was about an inquisitive and often naïve boy, Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver, and his adventures at home, school, and around his suburban neighborhood. The show also starred Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont as Beaver's parents, June and Ward Cleaver, and Tony Dow as Beaver's brother Wally. The series was produced by Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, who you may remember as the producers of The Munsters as well. Joining me today is the star of Leave it to Beaver, Jerry Mathers! Jerry had some great stories to share about working on the show including acting, directing for television, and a personal triumph among other things! Check it out! Jerry Mathers can be found at: www.jerrymathers.comwww.jerrymathersbeavermerch.comwww.facebook.com/thejerrymatherswww.twitter.com/thejerrymatherswww.instagram.com/thejerrymathers Feedback: thenisnow42@gmail.com Join the conversation at our Facebook Group Twitter: @HavenPodcasts Website: havenpodcasts.com where you'll find our sister show, The East Meets the West, in which we discuss Shaw Brothers films and Spaghetti Western movies! Please SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube page at http://youtube.com/user/uncledeath1 Don't forget to go to wherever you download your podcasts from and leave us a great review so more listeners can find us! You can find us on all the podcasting apps, especially the big 3: iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher! Enjoy, Re-Gor

Jennifer fell in love with the sound of her own voice and honored it with the longest Circa Sunday Night episode ever produced.   Tonight Jennifer (and her voice) take us to the sweet little burg of Mayfield, home of the Cleaver family.  That's right--we're making a left on Pine Street, where we find Ward painting lawn chairs, June serving up lemonade, and Wally and the Beaver giving each other the business.  It's all charming, and a balm for a weary world.  Jennifer is wild about Leave it to Beaver, so she shares her all-time favorite episode with us--and provides probably too much commentary about it.  She checks out some Beaver memorabilia for sale on eBay (spoiler alert: it isn't cheap), one of which is a book from Ward's very own library.AND SPEAKING OF BOOKS...Jennifer can't keep two shows straight in her head, so she's decided to fold the Vintage Century Reading Room into Circa Sunday Night.  We FINALLY wrap up Take a Look at Yourself with two final chapters:  When Another Takes Your Place and Will Your Life Begin at Forty?   Now it's time for a new book, so Jennifer takes us shopping with her to one of her favorite sources for vintage titles.Ebay StuffJune's casserole dishBobbsey Twins at Meadow Brook bookInterviewsBarbara Billingsley Interview Visit Circa19xx.comThe BlogMeet the Podcaster

Dicker Troy takes time out of his busy schedule while driving Angelina Jolie around Namibia to call the Bee Man. They need to order cars for Hugh Beaumont, Barbara Billingsley, Jerry Mathers, and Lumpy Rutherford.

It's another cartoon-themed episode, as we continue our look at the Saturday morning TV landscape of 1990. This time we've tuned into CBS and found some long-running favorites (Muppet Babies, Garfield and Friends, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Pee Wee's Playhouse) and a couple of short-lived oddities (Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures, and yes, Dink the Little Dinosaur.) Our discussion includes Barbara Billingsley, Lorenzo Music, a couple of cartoon chickens (Camilla and Sheldon), and a tooth-brushing turtle. Also: John Lithgow sings, George Carlin is pumped up like Hans and Franz, and the DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track has serial killers battling cereal mascots. The Trix Rabbit shall have its final revenge, and we're all doomed. DragonCon American Sci-Fi Classics Track: Serial Killers vs. Cereal Mascots! And our regular links... The Flopcast website! The ESO Network! The Flopcast on Facebook! The Flopcast on Instagram! The Flopcast on Twitter! Please rate and review The Flopcast on Apple Podcasts! Email: info@flopcast.net Our music is by The Sponge Awareness Foundation! This week's promo: The Soul Forge Podcast!

From October 2010: Actor and author Frank Bank (Leave It to Beaver, Call Me Lumpy) shares a few thoughts on the eternal appeal of Leave It to Beaver. This conversation was recorded on Oct. 16, 2010, a few hours after Barbara Billingsley passed away that day at age 94. Stu Shostak of Stu's Show co-hosts this segment.  Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast edition of our program. They’re great to work with and will help you advertise on our show. Please email sales@advertisecast.com or click the link below to get started: https://www.advertisecast.com/TVConfidentialAradiotalkshowabout Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Living legend and Hollywood television icon, Jerry Mathers, who was The Beaver on the longest running show in television history, Leave It To Beaver, joins Johnny and Elias for a fun and exciting conversation! Jerry discusses living in California during all of the fires, how and when he got into the business, as well as the many jobs he had before Leave It To Beaver and all of the legends he has had the privilege of working with. Jerry talks about what all of his co stars on the show mean to his life, even today. Jerry tells us about the audition process for Leave It To Beaver and what life was like on the set of the show from Tutors to hanging with Alfred Hitchcock. Jerry reminisces of his time as the lead singer of Beaver and The Trappers and the time he was an overnight radio disc-jockey. Jerry describes life after Leave It To Beaver from high School, college, the military, and life as a real estate investor. Jerry talks about the challenges of contracting Diabetes and how he makes a difference in the lives of others living with it. He then answers listener questions such as whether or not he gets paid from re runs of the show today and more. Be sure to check out Jerrys websites: JerryMathersMerch.com and JerryMathers.com for his upcoming appearances and to purchase merchandise from autographed pictures to hats, pins, and t-shirts. It' a little life with a whole lot of laughs on this weeks episode of Life & Laughs Podcast with the Beaver, Jerry Mathers! Also, show Psychologist Dr. Bil stops by to phone his very own fan club president, twelve year old Andi Smith from Hot Springs, Arkansas for even more laughs!

Rick and Dave discuss specialty masks, how a cow makes milk, sex dolls in the stands, Rick’s brush with Leave it to Beaver’s Barbara Billingsley, and they interview Beau Thompson, a man who is trying to collect one million Cubs baseball cards. [EP180] The post Minutia Men – Cubs and Cows appeared first on Radio Misfits.

Bob & I discuss and/or mention in passing: My Favorite Murder, Mr. Ed, Patty Duke, William Katt, Greg Brady, Christopher Atkins. Scooby Doo, Fred, Newsies, Lady And The Tramp, Thom McCann, New York in the 1970s, Universal Studios Hollywood Tram Tour, Nickelodeon Studios, Warm-Up Hosts, Hi Honey I’m Home, Gale Gordon, Barbara Billingsley, Al Lewis.Website:facethefactspod.comSocial Media:facebook.com/facethefactspodtwitter.com/facethefactspodinstagram.com/facethefactspod

We're looking back on High School USA and looking forward to our next pilot: 1974's Shazam!In 1974, CBS and Filmation created a live action show based on DC Comics' Captain Marvel, called Shazam. Featuring terrible special effects and script, Shazam surprisingly ran for 3 seasons, including a spin off called the Legend of Isis.If you want to watch Shazam, you can watch it on Dailymotion:https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x74hoshContact Us!Email: pilotprojectshow@gmail.comInstagram: @pilotprojectpodFacebook: https://fb.me/pilotprojectpodTwitter: @pilotprojectpodVoicemail: (469) 573-2337Subscribe for Free!Apple Podcasts: http://apple.pilotprojectpod.comGoogle Play: http://googleplay.pilotprojectpod.comRSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/pilotprojectpodSpotify: http://spotify.pilotprojectpod.comStitcher: http://stitcher.pilotprojectpod.com ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

A host of C-level celebrities turn out to make 1984's High School USA a thing? Guest starring Stefan Halley.In 1983, a successful TV movie starring Michael J. Fox called High School USA spawned a potential TV series that never made it, despite having a wealth of known character actors. The pilot was burned off on Memorial Day 1984 and not much is known about it.If you want to watch High School USA, you can watch it on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYTslOwwq30&tContact Us!Email: pilotprojectshow@gmail.comInstagram: @pilotprojectpodFacebook: https://fb.me/pilotprojectpodTwitter: @pilotprojectpodVoicemail: (469) 573-2337Subscribe for Free!Apple Podcasts: http://apple.pilotprojectpod.comGoogle Play: http://googleplay.pilotprojectpod.comRSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/pilotprojectpodSpotify: http://spotify.pilotprojectpod.comStitcher: http://stitcher.pilotprojectpod.com ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

We're looking back at the 1999 Jack Black & Owen Wilson pilot Heat Vision and Jack and talking about our next pilot: High School USA (1984)!In 1983, a successful TV movie starring Michael J. Fox called High School USA spawned a potential TV series that never made it, despite having a wealth of known character actors. The pilot was burned off on Memorial Day 1984 and not much is known about it.If you want to watch High School USA, you can watch it on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYTslOwwq30&tContact Us!Email: pilotprojectshow@gmail.comInstagram: @pilotprojectpodFacebook: https://fb.me/pilotprojectpodTwitter: @pilotprojectpodVoicemail: (469) 573-2337Subscribe for Free!Apple Podcasts: http://apple.pilotprojectpod.comGoogle Play: http://googleplay.pilotprojectpod.comRSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/pilotprojectpodSpotify: http://spotify.pilotprojectpod.comStitcher: http://stitcher.pilotprojectpod.com ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Robb and David discuss and/or mention in passing Bette Davis, One Day At A Time, Norman Lear, All In The Family, Good Times, Norman Lear, Sweeney Todd, Angela Lansbury, makeup, jive, Barbara Billingsley, Erik Moses, Erik Estrada, Valerie, Diff’rent Strokes, Hill Street Blues, Trapper John, M.D., women’s sizes, Monica and Rachel on Friends, Kathy Griffin, the jitterbug, flare jeans, Mary Tyler Moore, singing in sitcoms, sitcom finales, Rose Marie, “Wait For Your Laugh,” Scott Baio, Lynda Carter, Ellen Cleghorne as Queen Sheniquah, Glenn Scarpelli, Punchy Players, Paul Vogt, Peter Allen Vogt, Joe Wesson, Brian Weckerly, Clown College, Ringling Brothers Circus, Steve Purnick, Citizens of Hollywood, Terry Ward, Catherine Stillinger, Donna Charles, Dolly Parton, Cher, Pork Butt Freezer Burn, Little House On The Prairie.

Jim looks at a 65-year old sci-fi cult classic from William Cameron Menzies, "Invaders From Mars," staring Jimmy Hunt, Helena Carter, Arthur Franz, Hillary Brooke and Morris Ankrum. Pay close attention to cameo appearances by Frank Wilcox, Robert Shayne and Barbara Billingsley. A young boy sees a flying saucer land near his house and suddenly people in town begin acting mysteriously, including his parents! How can he convince the authorities an invasion is imminent. Find out on this week's episode of "Monster Attack."

EP60 – Rick and Dave discuss tattoo crime, smarty-pants kids, exasperated crooks, the Cubs righting a wrong, and Rick’s brush with Barbara Billingsley. The post Minutia Men – 08/03/17 appeared first on Radio Misfits.

Today is the birthday of Lady Bird Johnson, the wife of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. Here are some things you may not have known about her. She was born Claudia Alta Taylor in Karnack, Texas in 1912. When she was a baby, her nurse said that she was as “purty as a ladybird” and the nickname stuck. Her father was the son of a sharecropper, who became a wealthy landowner and businessman. Her mother died when Lady Bird was five years old of complications from a miscarriage suffered after she fell down a flight of stairs. Lady Bird was raised largely by her mother’s sister Effie, who moved to Texas after her mother’s death. To attend high school, Lady Bird moved in with a family in the town of Jefferson, Texas. She graduated third in her class after letting her grades slip so she wouldn’t have to give a valedictorian speech at her graduation ceremony. She attended the University of Alabama for a summer before returning to Texas and enrolling at St. Mary’s Episcopal College for Women, a junior college in Dallas. After graduation, she enrolled at the University of Texas, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in history and another in journalism. In 1934, she met Lyndon Baines Johnson, who was working for Congressman Richard Kleberg. Johnson proposed marriage on their first date. Lady Bird accepted 10 weeks later and they were married in November 1934 in San Antonio, Texas. They had two daughters, Lynda Bird and Luci Baines, meaning all four family members had the initials LBJ; five if you include their dog “Little Beagle Johnson.“ Lady Bird used $10,000 of her inheritance from her mother to help fund Lyndon’s first campaign for Congress, which he won. While in office, Lyndon enlisted in the Navy and Lady Bird ran his congressional office. In 1943, Lady Bird used another part of her inheritance to buy a radio station in Austin, Texas. In 1952, she bought a television station as well. The media properties made her the first president’s wife to become a millionaire in her own right. Lyndon Johnson served in the House of Representatives from 1937 until 1949, when he won election to the Senate after a highly controversial Democratic primary election. He eventually rose to become the Senate Majority Leader. In 1960 he decided to run for president. He was unsuccessful, but ended up nominated to be vice president under John F. Kennedy. During the campaign, Lady Bird Johnson filled in for Jacqueline Kennedy at many events, during Kennedy’s pregnancy. Kennedy and Johnson were elected in November 1960 and took office the next January. Lady Bird continued to fill in at events the first lady couldn’t attend. In November 1963, John F. Kennedy was assassinated and Lyndon Baines Johnson became the 36th President of the United States. As first lady, Lady Bird Johnson became well known for several beautification projects. The first, the Society for a More Beautiful National Capital, focused on improving conditions in Washington, D.C. She worked to protect wildflowers and plant them along highways. Later she pushed the Highway Beautification Act to limit billboards and plant flowers along highways across the country. The act became known as “Lady Bird’s Bill.” She also convinced her husband to run for his own term as president in 1964. She campaigned tirelessly for him and helped him defeat Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater in the general election. Lyndon Johnson did not run for re-election in 1968 and the couple retired to their ranch 50 miles west of Austin. Lyndon Johnson died of a heart attack in 1973. Lady Bird Johnson continued to represent her husband at events for the next 30 years. She served on the board of regents of the University of Texas and on the board of trustees of the National Geographic Society. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1988. She died on July 11, 2007, at the age of 94. Our question, in 1982, a poll of historians ranked Lady Bird Johnson as the third most influential and important first lady. Who ranked ahead of her? It’s Armed Forces Day in Vietnam, Mother’s Day in Indonesia and National Mathematics Day in India. It’s unofficially National Cookie Exchange Day and National Date Nut Bread Day. It’s the birthday of actress Barbara Billingsley, musicians Robin and Maurice Gibb; and artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Jackie and Dunlap talk on Hee Haw Babies, Jerry Clower School of Comedy, holograms, hawlograms, deviled ham, deviled eggs, cans as cups, Hell, God's back, Cosby Mysteries, King Obama, Thanksgiving conversation guide, impeachment, Hot Stuff, devil worshippers, racists, rapists, Tom & Jerry, Bob Culp, Barbara Billingsley. Sponsored by Farmboy ("Farmboy!") and Wesley Press Tutoring ("Two Dumb Kids for the Price of One-and-a-Half"). Happy Two Year Anniversary, y'all! Thanks for still listenin'.

Curious adolescent boy David MacLean (Jimmy Hunt) confronts aliens who have set up base in his backyard. The extraterrestrials intend to use mind control on the local townsfolk. Determined to stop the invaders, who have already co-opted his father (Leif Erickson), he attempts to warn others. But when local law officers also succumb, David teams up with astronomer Stuart Kelston (Arthur Franz) and Dr. Pat Blake (Helena Carter), and the trio must fight together to repel the insidious intruders. Stream online: https://amzn.to/2wRT3f1 Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/mfrbooksandfilm?fan_landing=true

Curious adolescent boy David MacLean (Jimmy Hunt) confronts aliens who have set up base in his backyard. The extraterrestrials intend to use mind control on the local townsfolk. Determined to stop the invaders, who have already co-opted his father (Leif Erickson), he attempts to warn others. But when local law officers also succumb, David teams up with astronomer Stuart Kelston (Arthur Franz) and Dr. Pat Blake (Helena Carter), and the trio must fight together to repel the insidious intruders. Stream online: https://amzn.to/2wRT3f1

What ever happened to the golden age of television comedy? Who is the most annoying sitcom sidekick? When did Happy Days really “jump the shark”? Whose hotter Uncle Jesse John Stamos or ER John Stamos? What would Barbara Billingsley be like in the sack? Have you ever asked yourself these questions? Do you have many […]

In this episode: Rob dreams of a sequel to Dutch starring Ed O'Neill, credit card schemes and credit scores, actor and comedian Tom Wilson's funny "The Question Song" (http://www.tomwilsonusa.com), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) starring Dick Van Dyke, celebrity deaths (Irwin Kirshner, Dino De Laurentiis, Barbara Billingsley, Kevin McCarthy, and Leslie Nielsen), remembering the good and bad movies of Leslie Nielsen, Whatever Happened To? (Harry Anderson), the retirement (finally) of Larry King, Stan Lee rambling on and on with Twitter tweets (http://twitter.com/therealstanlee), our culinary review of burger joints (Five Guys, Smash Burger, Elevation Burger), our deli review of sandwich shops (Quiznos, Subway, Blimpie), factory farming, new age and expensive "breadshops" (Panera Bread, Atlanta Bread Co., Saladworks), the fall of Howard Stern, Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon trailer, nominees for Lame Idiot of the Year, and new Mike Masse cover songs: "Africa" by Toto, "In the Name of Love" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2, and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" by John Lennon (http://www.mikemasse.com). 77 minutes - http://www.paunchstevenson.com

Smitty recalls the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Smitty looks at the way that radio and television delivered the terrible news, Radio's speed was of great benefit while television coverage was hampered by the fact that TV at that time was still a stationary medium. Some remote switches were plagued with technical troubles that day, and the fact that events were moving rapidly, and that the shooting happened so suddenly caught TV broadcasters by surprise. In spite of technical troubles, radio and TV delivered the news to an anxious public. From the first bulletins and for the next three days, radio and TV devoted their coverage to the sad events in Texas. Mike and Ian remember their impressions from that day, and recall the reactions of people around them. In another segment, Ian Rose remembers recent celebrities that have passed away. Such stars as Barbara Billingsley, Tom Bosley, Jill Clayburgh, James MacArthur and others are remembered. Smitty tell us about one of our listeners in the Chicago area who needs assistance with a recording project. Maybe you can help...listen in! Our Retro-Commercial is a Nescafe Instant Coffee commercial. Join us on this edition of Galaxy Moonbeam Night Site!

Before we even start the 76th episode we must say good bye to Ms. Barbara Billingsley the voice of Nanny, and June Cleaver. Then it’s time to get cute and cuddly as Mike and Kevin head into the imaginations of the Muppet Babies!! http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/news/Barbara-Billinglsey-is-no-longer-with-us/ Geeks: Mike “TFG1? Blanchard Kevin “Optimus Solo” Thompson Subscribe to us ...