TRIBUTE TO NEIL SIMON, A (TV)
Summary
This comedy/musical special, recorded at the new Long Beach Convention and Performing Arts Center, honors the career of playwright Neil Simon.
After a performance of "Promises, Promises," the title song from the 1968 musical written by Simon, host Paul Williams takes the stage and offers opening remarks. He then introduces Rita Moreno, who performs "Big Spender" from "Sweet Charity," also written by Simon. Carl Reiner introduces a scene from "The Garry Moore Show," one of Simon's earliest professional writing gigs, in which hapless secretary Miss Singer, played by Carol Burnett, is repeatedly injured by her oblivious boss as she attempts to take dictation. Next, Henry Winkler notes that he might have missed out on his iconic role of Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli on "Happy Days" had he landed a role in Simon's 1972 Broadway premiere of "The Sunshine Boys"; he is quickly ushered off the stage by Phil Silvers, best known as Master Sergeant Ernest Bilko on "The Phil Silvers Show," a.k.a. "You'll Never Get Rich," of which Simon wrote 20 episodes. A clip from the series is shown.
Richard Chamberlain, soon to appear in a television adaptation of Simon's play "The Good Doctor," introduces Jack Albertson, who in turn welcomes Joan Van Ark and Richard Benjamin, who perform a scene as the squabbling newlyweds of Simon's "Barefoot in the Park." Albertson then introduces a scene from Simon's "Little Me," with Sid Caesar portraying high-strung German film director Otto Schnitzler, who goes a bit too far in demonstrating Cleopatra's famous suicide scene in his latest play. Next, Williams introduces Raquel Welch, who performs a version of "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" from "Promises, Promises" with the lyrics tweaked to honor Simon, after which Eddie Albert takes the stage and comments on his Oscar-nominated role in Simon's "The Heartbreak Kid" (1972). Walter Matthau and Peter Falk banter as they introduce several clips from "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" (1975), "The Odd Couple" (1968), "The Sunshine Boys" (1975), "Murder By Death" (1976) and "The Goodbye Girl" (1977). David Gates then performs his title song from "Goodbye Girl."
Next, Ann-Margret jokes about finally landing a coveted Simon role in the upcoming film "The Cheap Detective" (1978) as she introduces Jack Klugman, who welcomes Simon to the stage. Simon shares the story of meeting actress Marsha Mason, who would become his second wife, and thanks his friends and associates for the honor. Williams offers final comments, and the program closes with a medley of songs, including "If My Friends Could See Me Now," "Here's To Us," and "I've Got Your Number." Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: March 12, 1978 6:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:20:30
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:72762
- GENRE: Specials
- SUBJECT HEADING: Specials; Tributes; Music/Variety; Comedy
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV, 1978
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Henry Jaffe … Executive Producer
- Riff Markowitz … Executive Producer
- Cathleen Fitzpatrick … Associate Producer
- Lewis Chesler … House Producer
- Bob Wynn … Director
- Nelson Riddle … Conductor
- Carl Jablonski … Choreographer
- Earl Brown … Musical numbers staged by
- Paul Williams … Host
- Neil Simon … Honoree
- Rita Moreno … Guest, Performer
- Joan Van Ark … Guest, Performer
- Richard Benjamin … Guest, Performer
- Sid Caesar … Guest, Performer
- Raquel Welch … Guest, Performer
- David Gates … Guest, Performer
- Carl Reiner … Guest
- Henry Winkler … Guest
- Phil Silvers … Guest
- Richard Chamberlain … Guest
- Jack Albertson … Guest
- Eddie Albert … Guest
- Walter Matthau … Guest
- Peter Falk … Guest
- Ann-Margret … Guest
- Jack Klugman … Guest
- Carol Burnett
- Norman Lear
- Marsha Mason