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Was G/T a great place to work?

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tvrandywest:
I remember seeing Ira as far back as Ed McMahon's \"Snap Judgement\". Besides the unanimous agreement that he was a great producer, in his final years Gene Rayburn spoke well of Ira.

Beyond their working relationship, Gene and Ira renewed their friendship when Gene moved to LA in the late 1990s. Gene pulled no punches in talking about people with whom he did not share a pleasant relationship. It gives even more credibility to Gene's praise of Ira as both a broadcaster and a friend.

Randy
tvrandywest.com

cmjb13:

--- Quote ---I remember seeing Ira as far back as Ed McMahon's \"Snap Judgement\"
--- End quote ---

According to imdb.com, this was from the late 60's.

Geez, Randy how old are you?

And for those searching for Randy's work on imdb.com, be careful to search for Randy West (II).

Otherwise, you'll get work from, ahem, the other Randy West. :)

tvrandywest:
When she was pregnant with me, mom sat atop a monitor in 8G. That's how I remember the show  ;-p

I never mentioned this 'cause I never thought anyone would care. My Dad had an interesting job for the City of New York that required him to visit all the theatrical venues in midtown. Although like all of our parents he tried to discourage my early interest in the industry, he would take me along on some of the NBC and Ed Sullivan Theatre visits. Unbeknownst to him, I would use his good name with studio employees to return on other occasions and sit in audiences (roam the vacant studios, attend Tonight Show rehearsals, etc.) despite being well underage. As the only kid in the audience I was often singled out by the announcers who did warm-up, which only encouraged me to return. That was how I first met Johnny O who was an important part of my life for many subsequent years.

Still awake?

As the San Fernando Valley is the porn capital of the universe, the other Randy West is a neighbor of mine; I get great service calling for cabs and pizza. One local bank teller called her supervisor thinking I was trying to cash his checks!

I don't know how IMDB gets updated, but when I was last sent a link it was terribly sketchy. I would appreciate somebody copying my website resume and sending it. You can add some VO work for Jimmy Kimmel last week. In exchange, I'll call your name to \"come on down\" in studio 33. No, not during the show!   ;-)


Randy
tvrandywest.com

SRIV94:
[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Jul 20 2003, 02:04 PM\']Ira Skutch is the best, most astute producer I've ever worked with in a lot of years in television. He and Bobby knew exactly what kind of material worked best for Match Game. Other than certain panelists enjoying a delightful beverage during the lunch break, the environment on MG was thoroughly professional. And as you observed, audiences didn't whoop like a flock of drunken hoot owls.

To fully appreciate the importance of having the right producer for Match Game, try watching a few episodes of MG 98. That said, this should not become a thread about what was wrong with MG 98.[/quote]
And I won't turn this thread into one.  But it should also be noted that Ira was also a pretty good director, having directed BLOCKBUSTERS among other shows.  So not only did he have a good mind for gameplay, he had a good visual sense of how a show should look on screen.  If I'm not mistaken, did he not have to have three cameras on at once during \"Gold Run\" (one for the clock [which was not Chyroned], one for the contestant and one for the game board)?

That's why I marvel at the work that directors do.  Making sure the home viewer sees the proper thing at the proper time while adding a little bit of stylization can sometimes be underappreciated.  Count me among those who appreciate their work.

Doug

joshg:

--- Quote ---Ira Skutch is the best, most astute producer I've ever worked with in a lot of years in television.
--- End quote ---

If you can find a copy, I highly recommend Ira's book that he wrote in the late 80's. Great first accounts of the early GT stuff (plus a 'Match Game' mention here and there...)

JOSH

P.S. Makes a great birthday gift!

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