In my long broadcast career, I have found that the entertainment side of the industry is far more sharper, open-minded, informed and liberal than the news side of it was. Odd, isn’t it? I went into this business thinking just the opposite would be true, that the folks involved with news, the facts, would be the smart ones. The ones who didn’t have blinders on when reporting about the world around them. In my personal case, the folks who really didn’t get it were usually in the news division. Not all, mind you. Just a few. Case in point: I am not nor have I ever been a chef. Go into my bio section and read it. I was never a Bobby Flay, Paula Deen, Chef Boyardee, Martha Stewart, Emeril or Betty Crocker. When I hosted Top 5 on Food Network, I never did that show from a kitchen or near a stove. I was usually in a fancy cocktail lounge in Manhattan that we used as a set. I just introduced the video packages and did the voiceovers for them. In 100 episodes, I never so much as toasted a piece of bread. However, by the second month after the premiere of the once-a-week show, most newspeople — local and network — assumed I’d become the next Uncle Ben. As an on-air host for Food Network, I had to do publicity for the show. The press kit never stated that I was a cook. It did mention my years as a national talk show host on VH1 plus years of covering entertainment news. Few reporters read the presskit. I did a live appearance on a local ABC weekend morning news program. The anchor kicked off the segment by asking me about the nutrients in seafood. An anchor on a live CNN news show asked me about Asian cheese and then asked me for a cooking tip on a particular dish she wanted to make. I just made shit up.
Then I had to call-in as the guest on a weekday FM rock radio show with a funny morning team. The show was in the Midwest and the couple, who’d watched me on VH1, opened with “Your bio has you doing years of national celebrity interviews, reviews and talk shows. So how did you wind up on Food Network?” Yes! That’s exactly what the news people should’ve asked but didn’t. The entertainment couple in the non-cosmopolitan city got it.
I talked my way into a New York City job in 1985. I was hired by WPIX/Channel 11 news. There was a weekday morning show. I got to do celebrity interviews on it. One of my guests was famed Revlon model-turned-actress Lauren Hutton. She was promoting a goofy vampire comedy she’d made. While chatting in the make-up room before we went on the set, she asked me if she could bring her unknown leading man from the film on with her. “He’s really funny and I think he should be seen,” said Hutton, the star of the film. He was tagging along with her for her round of interviews. He was a young fellow, polite, slim and sharp as a jackknife. Very charismatic. I said to myself, “Why not?”
The rather aggravating producer of the show balked but I talked her into it. Lauren Hutton came on, accompanied by her new buddy. During our on-camera conversation, his face seemed to be made of elastic, his eyes were shining and his wisecracks broke up the cameramen. He was more cartoon character than human. I was so glad Hutton brought him along. He was delightful and he scored with the folks on the floor crew, including the host. Even those in the control room were still laughing and talking about him after the show. We all dug him. Except for the producer who said to me with a slight sneer, “He’ll never get anyplace. He’s silly.”
ONCE BITTEN, Hutton’s movie, didn’t do well at the box office. But I saw her co-star from it today on “Good Morning America” promoting his upcoming Disney film. He’ll play Ebenezer Scrooge. I never saw that producer again when I left the show in 1987 to go over to VH1. But I did see a lot more of Jim Carrey on the entertainment scene. We all did. We made him a star. I guess we all just needed a little silliness in our lives. The news producer just didn’t get it.
Tags: "Once Bitten", Lauren Hutton