12/17/10 Re "HOT IN CLEVELAND" starring VALERIE BERTINELLI & BETTY WHITE12/17/10 I just left the filming of new tv sitcom "Hot in Cleveland" starring Valerie Bertinelli , Jane Leeves, Wendie Maclick, and of course good young Betty White.Andy cadiff is the director, also guest actor John Ducey made an appearance. I arrived late in the pouring rain, or drizzle, around 6 pm ...no ticket in hand..but they were very courteous and even drove me in the golf cart to the studio. Everybody was already seated. They seated me in the back but then offered me a seat up front, nice of them, but I declined. I was fine where I was. Next to me turned out to be a lady from a hair salon, in Long Beach. Later she even got up & danced &.won a mug..lots of jokes from comedian michael burger...kind of a funny guy, emphasized old school jokes... The show is about three women, actually four, in cleveland (mentioned above) who apparently are all single and in various stages of life, including Betty White, the eldest of them. In this particular episode Betty brings home an elderly dog ...[who remarkably is responsive to sign language from the trainer on the set, despite being given the name "dummy" for the episode] ...meanwhile, one of the characters, an actress playing an actress, is trying to find ways to resurrect her career, and part of the episode is about her thinking a "sex film" controversy might help spark her career so she is trying to do a same-sex film simulation, Funny thing is, on set, you could see they were slightly uncomfortable with the theme of this episode and they periodically broke up in embarrassed laughter from time to time, including Valerie. It was a very well-directed show & moved quickly. Michael Burger kept us entertained with lots of jokes, a dancing contest, and also a "name that tune" contest re tv theme show songs. His joke abiut being stopped by cops was funny as well as the one about the lady & the camel. Staff treated me well, as mentioned, altho the sandwiches they offered were a little lacking. I am always left wondering why the studios can't put a little more into the half-way "snack" they offer. Even when it is pizza, its usually a tiny slice, pepperoni only. In this case it was a half-sandwich wrapped in tin foil, mine was hame with what looked like very old lettuce, no mustard, ...I didn't bother eating it. I'd rather have some chips or a candy bar for that matter. Maybe some day they will change. Its an all-girl show. Betty White needed a few more prompts than others, but is doing pretty good for her age, God bless her, she's been around for a while. Valerie laughed a lot in between takes. Acc. To he program provided, she recently completed a Boston Marathon. Her son Wolfgang has played with Van Halen (Makes sense given Eddie Van Halen was Valerie's husband for so many years and is the father of Wolfgang if I'm not mistaken). This show may be around for a while. I got a feeling the live audience truly appreciated it. We'll see what happens.
MY SHOW IS RANDOM...BASED ON DAILY EVENTS IN MY LIFE ...AND OCCASIONAL LONGER PRODUCTIONS AND SLIDE SHOW VIDS...
