Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Friday, May 11, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
The Oral History of Hockey Night in Canada's Bob Cole
John Shannon, Producer: Bob Cole is one of my favorites. Bob Cole is a consummate entertainer. Bob Cole knows what the hockey fan wants and, to this day, no one has the ability to rise to the occasion and to tell the person at home, “This is the time to be excited. Hey, watch out, something big is about to happen,” and deliver the punch. That’s what Bob Cole does. I do a lot of teaching now – production seminars with different clients. The way I describe it is – hockey is exciting on a routine basis, but you have to learn how to sell the ‘wow factor.’ Bob Cole can deliver that ‘wow factor’ better than anybody. Really, in order to do a solid television production, you need three ‘wow factors’ in a night. Well, Bob did more than three – Bob had as many as was needed and often times he was ahead of where the officials were, the players were – he had a greater sense of anticipation than anybody else. He played the game at a high level in Newfoundland, but he also had the ability to use the English language in its simplest form, so there was no bull - just the facts with that great voice.
Frank Selke Jr, Exec: When
he first started, he used to come up to the broadcast booth at the Forum … he’d
come in and he’d hang around the booth like a starry eyed kid. When he got the
Sunday night broadcasts, the CBC broadcast radio, you’d have thought he’d died
and gone to heaven. He was so thrilled. He put his heart and soul
into it and I think developed into a very capable broadcaster. He had his own
style.
Gary Dornhoefer, Color Man: He was very intense.
Doug Beeforth, Producer: Coley was very intense as a broadcaster. He took
his job very seriously and he did not want distractions. He
wanted to be able to focus on what he was doing. He would be one of the most
intense broadcasters I’ve ever worked with. His intensity is what makes him as
good as he is.
Dick Irvin, Color Man: That’s the thing about Bob. Once the game starts,
he’s all business. He gets so intense.
Mark Askin, Producer: Bob’s a tough judge. Bob is ultra-serious about
his job. Bob takes life that way too. That’s what Bob was like. He was dead
serious about life.
Steve Lansky, Producer: Very,
very serious about his job and his business.
Dick Irvin: You want me to tell bad stories about him?
Steve Lansky: Oh my God, Coley is hilarious. Bob, I can’t think
of any other word, is an artist. [His] voice can rise and lower and you know
when to look up from your book or whatever you’re doing. Bob tells you when
something is about to happen. Other play-by-play guys get excited when it happens.
Bob’s voice tells you that it’s about
to happen. Bob would come into the booth and he’d sit down and he’d
undo the top button of his pants and he’d pull out his cigarette holder … and
he’d be ready to go. He was ready to do
his game.
John Garrett, Color Man: Oh, yeah. Yes. When he was smoking … that was
always delightful.
Doug Beeforth: Coley would settle in for a game. He’d get up in the booth and he’d undo his tie and he was getting ready to do his work. Sometimes to get really comfortable, he’d undo his belt. So, there was a game against Quebec at Le Colisée … Coley’s up there calling the game and Mickey Redmond is his color guy. The game is intense. Coley would bounce up and down on his seat a lot. That was a part of his intensity … he’d really get into the game. He’d be body-checking. A goal was scored and he shoots up out of his seat with excitement and in the small broadcast space that they’ve got him in, there’s these, sort of, plumbing pipes across the top. Coley fires up out of his seat in excitement and bangs his head on one of these pipes. Coley of course doesn’t have any padding in the way of hair that’s going to help. So he bangs his head and he’s sort of holding his head not saying anything and now his pants start to fall down because he undid his belt! He’s holding his head and his pants… Mickey is looking at him and he can’t keep from laughing! He doesn’t want to laugh on the air, so Mickey can’t say anything. And the [production] truck is starting to yell at him. “What’s going on!? Here’s the replay! Say something about the replay! SAY SOMETHING!” Mickey can’t say anything and Coley is holding his head and trying to pull his pants up and the dust is raining down…
Doug Beeforth: Coley would settle in for a game. He’d get up in the booth and he’d undo his tie and he was getting ready to do his work. Sometimes to get really comfortable, he’d undo his belt. So, there was a game against Quebec at Le Colisée … Coley’s up there calling the game and Mickey Redmond is his color guy. The game is intense. Coley would bounce up and down on his seat a lot. That was a part of his intensity … he’d really get into the game. He’d be body-checking. A goal was scored and he shoots up out of his seat with excitement and in the small broadcast space that they’ve got him in, there’s these, sort of, plumbing pipes across the top. Coley fires up out of his seat in excitement and bangs his head on one of these pipes. Coley of course doesn’t have any padding in the way of hair that’s going to help. So he bangs his head and he’s sort of holding his head not saying anything and now his pants start to fall down because he undid his belt! He’s holding his head and his pants… Mickey is looking at him and he can’t keep from laughing! He doesn’t want to laugh on the air, so Mickey can’t say anything. And the [production] truck is starting to yell at him. “What’s going on!? Here’s the replay! Say something about the replay! SAY SOMETHING!” Mickey can’t say anything and Coley is holding his head and trying to pull his pants up and the dust is raining down…
John Garrett: The one thing about Coley that he still has, is
anticipation of something happening in the play. I think, a lot of play-by-play
guys, that’s the one thing that they don’t have. They can’t anticipate when
there’s danger. You could be looking the other way and all of a sudden you hear
Coley’s voice and you know something is going to happen so you turn around and
watch the TV … He might have the names wrong and he might not have the right
team, but you know something is going to happen.
Jim Robson, Play-by-Play: Hughson knows everybody. All the line match-ups
and all of that, but Bob never does any of that stuff. He talks about the score
and the time… but people don’t mind. It’s only the media guys that notice that.
He has a great voice – the best voice in the business. He’s been doing it a
long time and he’s had dramatic goals and a lot of Stanley Cup Finals. He has
the best job in the world. He’d fly into Toronto Thursday night, be there
Friday, do the game Saturday and go home. Now Jim Hughson has the best job in
the world, but Hughson works a lot harder at it I think.
Mark Askin: Did Bob always laugh at everything we laughed at?
No. But Bob – If Bob liked you – you must be doing something right. Bob doesn’t
suffer fools easy.
John Garrett: (laughs) Well, a lot of guys will just say, “Tap
me on the shoulder when you want to get
[a word] in.” Bob Cole, one of the first things he said to me, “Hello,
John. Nice to meet ya. There’s one thing. Never touch me.”
Doug Sellars: I’m sure you’ve heard the stories. You’re not
allowed to touch him. I can remember … if a new P.A. came in, you had to give
him all the instructions. “Here’s how Bob likes to work. He’ll stand up, he’ll
unbuckle his belt, he likes to be comfortable, but do not touch him.”
Gary Dornhoefer: He didn’t always like the interruption during play
with an analyst coming in.
Dick Irvin: The color man says very little with Bob as long as
Bob is talking.
Doug Sellars: They just had that chemistry … it was just
perfect. Sometimes you just hit with guys that work well together. And they
liked each other. I think.
Steve Armitage: Bob has worked with countless color guys down
through the years. When Bob wants to speak he gives you “The Heisman.” You know
what the Heisman Trophy looks like? With the hand pushed forward? When Bob does
that to his color guy that means, “Bob is speaking!”
Harry Neale: If you ever talked through the play … that really
upset him. We used to kid and say we got “The Heisman.” Did you get a “Heisman”
from Bob Cole?
Gary Dornhoefer: He would prefer that you stop [talking] at the
whistle. When the play is between the blue line - nothing is really happening.
That’s always a good time for the color man or analyst to come in and make a
comment. Y’know, if it’s pertinent, why not? With Bob it seemed to disrupt his
flow. After a while we just didn’t do it. We waited for a stoppage in play.
With all the other guys it wasn’t a problem.
Steve Armitage: When
Bob was speaking – Bob
was speaking. You weren’t allowed to talk. That’s how Bob controlled
his color commentators.
Mark Askin: Everything has to go in one ear for Bob Cole
because he puts his hand up to the other ear. [We] had to build a special
headset just for Bob. If you’re great like Bob and great like Danny, you do
whatever you can to get the best out of those guys. It’s a small price to pay
to get their legendary words and vivid images.
John Shannon: True theatre of the mind.
Steve Armitage: He’s very much to himself. Bob was not a party guy
in the sense that he would go out and have a drink with you after the game.
John Shannon: He’s a guarded person.
Brian McFarlane: He’s a private person.
John Shannon: He guards his privacy.
Steve Armitage: That was one of the great Hockey Night in Canada traditions. You’d go to a bar and have a few pops after the game with the crew, the directors, the producers and fellow commentators. Bob very seldom did that. He did a few times, but not very often.
Mark Askin: Bob Cole loves Frank Sinatra. Loves him. Of all the things you talk to Bob about, “Oh, Frank! Unbelievable.” Frank this – Frank that. I went to Italy for my Honeymoon. The first day we’re there, we walk over to St. Peters … they were doing mass for newlyweds … so we go ... and we get pushed through this door …
Steve Armitage: That was one of the great Hockey Night in Canada traditions. You’d go to a bar and have a few pops after the game with the crew, the directors, the producers and fellow commentators. Bob very seldom did that. He did a few times, but not very often.
Mark Askin: Bob Cole loves Frank Sinatra. Loves him. Of all the things you talk to Bob about, “Oh, Frank! Unbelievable.” Frank this – Frank that. I went to Italy for my Honeymoon. The first day we’re there, we walk over to St. Peters … they were doing mass for newlyweds … so we go ... and we get pushed through this door …
Harry Neale: Bob Cole and I went to see Frank Sinatra in the Pittsburgh Arena when it was first built … He’s a great Frank Sinatra fan and he’s a great music fan. He’s got favorite singers and favorite orchestras and Sinatra could do no wrong as far as Coley was concerned. He got mad one night when a veteran player made a bad mistake and it ended up in the goal. I said, “You know, even Frank Sinatra had to clear his throat during a song once in a while.” He looked at me like I was cutting down his friend.
Steve Armitage: Yes, he loved Frank Sinatra. I worked a lot of games with Bob Cole. Bob would go back to his room … he’d probably deny it … He loved Captain Morgan. He would have a bottle of Captain Morgan, run a bath and he would drink in the bathtub and listen to Frank Sinatra (laughs).
Doug Sellars: Captain Morgan and it had to be real Coke. None of
that new Coke
Jim Robson: Bob Cole continues to work even though he only
seems to know twenty-five percent of the players’ names.
Brian McFarlane: I don’t understand the criticism he gets. Sure,
he’s getting on in age, but he’s my age, and I cheer anybody my
age who can still get up there and do a game and can handle all the travel and
the problems that come along.
Steve Lansky: The Brett Hull [Stanley Cup winning goal] in 1999.
That one bothered me. You won’t find it because they’ve gone back and
re-striped it. First he called – at one point he called Dennis Hull.
Ultimately he called Brett. What they
did was they went back into the studio and re-striped it. So, if you ever see
that goal again it’ll sound like he called it perfectly. I have the original
VHS – and it was a struggle. That one was a struggle for Bob. I felt for him.
Jim Robson: It sounds like sour grapes when I talk about Bob,
but it drives me crazy when he doesn’t mention the players’ names. He’ll say,
“The Flyers dump the puck in. The Flyers get it down the ice.”
Steve Lansky: Bob would say, “I hate Madison Square Garden.” I’d
say, “Why?” He’d say, “You’re so far away you can’t see.”
Jim Robson: When the Canucks played in 1994 in the Stanley Cup
Final - the big goal in game one [at Madison Square Garden] was an overtime goal
by Greg Adams. Pavel Bure started it from the Vancouver blue line with a pass
to Cliff Ronning. Ronning carried the puck a few strides and fed it up to Greg
Adams who broke into the clear and scored on a breakaway late in the long
overtime. Bob Cole did the game on TV. He never mentioned Pavel Bure. He never
mentioned Cliff Ronning. He never mentioned Greg Adams. It was just “They
score,” and probably someone in the truck said “Greg Adams” or something. He
gets away with it because he has got a great voice. It’s dramatic, but those
names never got mentioned.
Steve Lansky: I remember the game that the Rangers fired fifteen
overtime shots at Patrick Roy and the Canadiens came back and scored. If you
watch that call, the Canadiens get a breakaway. Cole says something like, “Roy
makes a great save. Now here come the Canadiens back! Breakaway - right in -
scores!” The guy who scored skates around and back to center ice. I remember looking at Doug Beeforth and
saying, “I don’t think he said Claude Lemieux yet.” Finally he said, “Lemieux
scored.” I remember asking him later, “Why the delay?” He said, “I had no idea
[who scored]. We were too far away.”
Bob always told
me that vision was a struggle.
Frank Selke Jr: Some of the buildings were certainly not easy to work
in. Madison Square Gardens particularly, you were a hell of a long way from the
ice surface. I was never around to have the guy’s eyes checked or anything like
that. So I don’t know whether Bob had eyesight issues, but I do know that
Madison Square Gardens was not an easy place to work. Again, the issue of his
inability to work closely with his color guy would be a detriment in that
sense.
Harry Neale: Every broadcaster in every sport and every color
man in every sport, misidentifies from time to time. The play-by-play guy
doesn’t have time to look down at the number because he’s watching the game …
Bob Cole gave me one good piece of advice. He said, “We’re all going to
[identify] the wrong guy [occasionally]. Don’t correct yourself. Because only a
small percentage of the people that were watching the game on television would
know that you’ve got the wrong guy. If you correct yourself everyone knows.”
Not bad advice. Now, on replays that’s different. On the replays, sometimes you
get a chance to see them before they show them and find out what the guy’s name
is. I don’t believe that eyesight story. At some of the rinks the broadcast
facilities are not as good as the others. And Madison Square Gardens is one of
the worst.
Frank Selke Jr: I think through the past few years, Bob was losing
some of his accuracy. He was missing on players’ names and so on. But the last
year was probably as good a year as he had as long time … Why that is I’m not
sure, because I’m not party to what’s going on in his life. But from what I’ve
heard, his lifestyle might be a little bit better than what it was. I think he
may have also realized that his days were being talked about, being numbered,
and maybe he buckled down a little bit and worked a little harder at the job.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
An Interview with William O. Harbach - Part Two
Kliph Nesteroff: You were around for the feud between Ed Sullivan and Steve Allen.
William Harbach: Yeah, it was great publicity for both teams. Steve did it tongue in cheek, basically.
Kliph Nesteroff: Will Jordan told me there was a routine they wanted to do on The Steve Allen Show - maybe it was the network that said no. You were going to do a cold open Sunday night - with Will Jordan acting as Ed Sullivan - acting as if it were The Ed Sullivan Show - and doing it exact without any buffoonery - not letting on that it was anything other than the real deal.
William Harbach: (laughs) No, we would have done that, for Christ's sake! Oh God, yes.
Kliph Nesteroff: When you produced The Hollywood Palace it was on Saturday nights, but it was similar to Sullivan in terms of format.
William Harbach: We made it much more glamorous.
Kliph Nesteroff: Did Ed Sullivan have his feathers rankled by The Hollywood Palace being what it was?
William Harbach: Yes, I think he did. There's no doubt that it bothered him. Nick Vanoff was my partner and he was a sensational guy. When we were doing The Tonight Show and were really hot, one thing that bothered the hell out of Pat Weaver was that Ed Sullivan owned eight o'clock Sunday nights and nothing could get near him. They had one sponsor - Lincoln. We had spot sponsors with whoever wanted to buy a minute.
Ed Sullivan had an across-the-country column where he would announce who would be featured on his show. So you had a double thing and everybody wanted to be on it. This was the show that everyone was watching on Sunday nights. Finally NBC said let's put this goddamn... let's put Steve Allen up against Ed Sullivan. Let's do it. I was doing five live shows a week and now a new hour on Sunday.
I said, "I can't do five shows and then a weekend show unless I get some help." They said, "Go get an associate." This little guy came in named Nick Vanoff. He was so hungry for it. I hired him and we became fast friends for the rest of our lives. I asked him to take over the Tonight Show while I worked all week long on this big Sunday show. He knew the routine of the Tonight Show. We became partners.
Kliph Nesteroff: Was there some hesitation on Steve Allen's part to do that Sunday night show?
William Harbach: Steve couldn't care less. He'd do anything. He started making some heavy money. Consider it. I think he was getting three or four thousand a week, which today would be fifty thousand a week or something. He didn't balk at anything. NBC came to Steve and said, "We want you to get new singers. We're going real big on the show." Steve said, "Oh? Well, I'll take Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee." They said, "Well, they're not available."
He said, "Okay, well then I'm going to take Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme - because they're fine as they are." He demanded it. He wouldn't do the show unless they kept Steve and Eydie. He was a gutsy guy and I loved him. There was also a cute looking girl named Pat Kirby. Every once in a while I would turn the whole show into one theme. Richard Rodgers all night long! I told the network that we needed to alternate singers on the weeknights. So they said, "Go ahead and find one."
I was getting a haircut at the Plaza Hotel. We were doing auditions to find kids like Steve and Eydie. Son of a gun, I'm walking down from the Plaza Hotel to NBC and Andy Williams walks off a bus. I said, "Andy!" He was just doing gigs around town, whatever he could get. I said, "Hey Andy, what are you doing for the next two hours? Come with me. I want you to do an audition down at NBC." He came down, did the audition and Steve and Skitch said, "Oh my God!" I got him on the show.
Kliph Nesteroff: Steve Allen left the Tonight Show altogether to do The Steve Allen Show full time. What do you recall about the program that replaced the Tonight Show briefly - Tonight After Dark?
William Harbach: Well, I was out of that picture and had nothing to do with it.
Kliph Nesteroff: You had a long, healthy run as the producer of The Hollywood Palace on ABC Saturday nights. It was the replacement for the notorious two-hour Jerry Lewis bomb - his failed talk show.
William Harbach: They called Nick Vanoff and I and asked if we would go out there [to Los Angeles]. Jerry Lewis was just tearing their ratings to pieces. Jerry Lewis had to keep doing three more months of live shows to finish the commercial commitments. They fired him and had to pay him off for two million dollars. They said to me that I had to take over. Jerry was trying to do a sort of Steve Allen type of show, you know, trying to make it sort of relaxed like Steve did. It didn't work. We went out there for about six weeks and stayed seven years. We stayed for seven years.
Kliph Nesteroff: When Jerry Lewis first got that show he spent millions of dollars revamping that theater.
William Harbach: Oh, Jesus! There was a plaque of his profile in bronze in the cement! There were seats taken out of the orchestra and they put couches in!
Kliph Nesteroff: (laughs)
William Harbach: A group of couches instead of seats! Oh my God, the money. His dressing room was brass fittings all over and mirrors... it was beautiful! And they laid this big bomb.
Kliph Nesteroff: I've seen that first episode. Everything that could go wrong...
William Harbach: (laughs)
Kliph Nesteroff: It was a two-hour debacle with microphone feedback and missed cues...
William Harbach: Oh, God... I'll tell you one thing, Kliph. When they asked us to do our show [The Hollywood Palace] we wanted it to have a different host every episode. I had worked with Steve and Nick Vanoff had done The Perry Como Show. We wanted to have real producing control and we wanted a different host each time for this giant vaudeville show. ABC said no. They said, "People like to have the same man in their living room every week." We said, "Then get yourself another producer. We want to do it this way or not at all." And they were desperate so they said, "Oh, Jesus. Okay. We think you're wrong, but go ahead." We had every goddamn giant on the show. Bing Crosby. Bette Davis. Joan Crawford. Hosting. Edward G. Robinson. Dean Martin. The world!
Kliph Nesteroff: Well, I own several episodes and that's how I know your name...
William Harbach: It was a very glamorous thing and it was a ball for them. It was like playing with a Rolls Royce.
Kliph Nesteroff: I want to ask you about one of the most notorious episodes - and one of the earliest ones. The episode hosted by Dean Martin - which the Rolling Stones were on.
William Harbach: Yes! Oh, I'll tell you the story on that...
Kliph Nesteroff: Please.
William Harbach: One of the guys that Nick and I wanted on the show because he belonged on the show was Dean Martin. He didn't want to do it. We asked him several times. He always said no. Finally I said to Nick, "What if we ask him twenty minutes before the taping?" All he has to do is go to the dressing room, put on his dinner jacket and look at the cue cards to see if he wants anything changed. He'll just do the show and go right back to the golf course. No rehearsal, just bang.
We asked him and he said, "Yeah, I'll do that if I don't have to do any goddamn rehearsal." The show was the one we're talking about - but there's another story that must go ahead of this. During our scene with ABC they thought we were too old. "Not enough youth!" My father and I hated rock and roll. I still do. They said, "We've got to get more for the kids. You've got to get some rock and roll and stuff like that." Our booker said, "There's a new group in London called The Rolling Stones and they're going to be as hot as any of 'em. They're not known, but here's your chance."
I said, "I'll give them three minutes of airtime just to get ABC off our back." Okay, so that sets the scene. This means that Dean Martin has never seen or heard of them, not in a rehearsal or anything. It's right in the middle of the show. Dean introduces them. "The Rolling Stones? Well, I've been rolled and I've been stoned, but here they are..." something like that.
They came on and did the dumbest rock shit, "I don't want you to make my bed! I don't want you to cook my bread! I want to make loooov to you, loooov to you!" Three minutes of that shit. I have a picture of it here.
The look on Dean's face as they walk off stage and what he does with his eyes brought the house down. He was applauding as they walk off and what he does with his eyes was a riot. The Rolling Stones made a trillion dollars. Those jerks. God almighty.
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