HOSTS...
Bob Eubanks: On The Newlywed Game I asked a woman, "What's the one thing your husband wouldn't want you to talk about?" She spilled the beans that her husband and cousin were going to kill their uncle for the insurance money! Then, the husband told the same story! They matched and got the points!! Randy's TV INSIDE-OUT documents some of the most unpredictable and shocking moments that played out in front of and behind live TV cameras.
Wink Martindale: On my first radio job I played a Pabst Beer commercial transcription at 78 RPM instead of 33-1/3 RPM. With the microphone open I yelled, "God dammit! What the shit's gonna' happen next?!" I thought I'd just ended my career in broadcasting. When the phone rang with a complaint I played dumb and said, "I'll notify the announcer!" In TV INSIDE-OUT Randy has captured the business as it really is, warts and all!
Marc Summers: NBC turned me down to play on their Scrabble "favorite game show hosts week." But on the next phone call I heard "I have good news and bad news, which would you like to hear first?" I guess I picked correctly. My next stop was my first network gig: sub-hosting that Scrabble game show hosts week! Those of us who have been in the TV biz for years have a boatload of these stories. Somehow, Randy West knows a ton of them!
George Gray: I've known Randy West for long enough that it would make me sound really old, and I've even had the pleasure of working with him on multiple occasions over the years. Now he's written a behind-the-scenes book about the industry, TV INSIDE-OUT. Just remember, if you read anything about me in it, he probably made it up-unless it makes me look good, then he's totally telling the truth!
COMEDIANS...
Bill Kirchenbauer: Stepping in front of the cameras as a comedian is wildly unpredictable. Who could guess John Davidson would suddenly decide to heckle me by reading my jokes from my personal cue cards to the audience? How about Tonight Show guest host Bill Cosby repeatedly telling the audience that I was mispronouncing my own name? I got the last laugh calling him "Mr. cos-BEE!" If you have a weak heart, don't read Randy's TV INSIDE-OUT!