MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO, THE: INFLUENCES:
EPISODE EIGHT {MANDY PATINKIN AND DICK WOLF} (TV)
Summary
One in this original series produced by the Museum of Television & Radio that is made up of discussions with popular artists from the entertainment world about the biggest influences on their work. This episode is split into two segments and is hosted by Alan Alda. The first segment focuses on Mandy Patinkin, who jumped from a celebrated and successful Broadway and musical career into film and television. Patinkin discusses the television programs he loved as a child, asserting that he can still vividly remember episodes of "Bozo's Circus." He was infatuated with "The Fugitive" and "Mission: Impossible," he says, adding that he learned everything he knows about physical comedy from watching the Three Stooges. Patinkin suggests that his days in theater gave him insight into acting for television. He discusses the repertory theater group of which he was a member, explaining that he played multiple parts in many productions -- dozens of roles each year. He credits one particular performance by an actor with inspiring him to pursue dramatic acting: Hal Holbrook's portrayal of the country's most celebrated nineteenth-century humorist in "Mark Twain Tonight." Patinkin recalls that he found Holbrook's immersion in the character of Twain hypnotic. The second half of the episode looks at writer/producer Dick Wolf's sources of inspiration. Best known for "Law & Order," Wolf acknowledges that he has always been influenced by the police/detective genre on television. His favorite programs include "77 Sunset Strip," "Naked City," "NYPD," and "Dragnet." Wolf reveals that he even copied the use of a signature opening line in "The Naked City" -- "There are eight million stories in the naked city. This is one of them." -- for the opening to "Law & Order." "In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate but equally important groups: the police who investigate the crimes, and the D.A.s who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories," a narrator says each week. Wolf concludes his portion of the interview by saying that it is his ambition to have "Law and Order" beat "Gunsmoke" for the record of longest running dramatic show. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: Bravo
- DATE: September 24, 2000 7:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:23:32
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:61316
- GENRE: Talk/Interviews
- SUBJECT HEADING: Actors and actresses; Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.); Television producers and directors; Television writers
- SERIES RUN: Bravo - TV Series, 2000-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Robert M. Batscha … Executive Producer
- Jean-Michel Michenaud … Executive Producer
- Chris Cowan … Executive Producer
- Christine Triano … Producer, Writer
- Stephen Pocock … Associate Producer
- Stacy Peralta … Director
- Tom Boston … Music by
- Alan Alda … Host
- Mandy Patinkin … Guest
- Dick Wolf … Guest
- Hal Holbrook
- Mark Twain
- Three Stooges, The