Greetings over your interweb devices
“You and me we’re gonna be pardners
You and me we’re gonna be pals
You and me we’ll do and dare alike
We’ll share what there’s to share alike
That goes for money, pleasure or gals
You and me will be the greatest pardners, buddies and pals.”
On frame left, writer Tom Fontana –– on the right, director Barry Levinson during the filming of the pilot for their first collaboration, “Homicide: A Life on the Street.” Over the course of my film and TV fandom, both these men made projects I found fulfilling, inspiring, and truly exceptional.
By this point, Mr. Levinson was strictly into his film projects which to that point had included “Rain Man,” “Bugsy,” “The Natural,” “Good Morning, Vietnam,” and the magical Baltimore Trilogy (“Diner,” “Tin Men,” and “Avalon”). He was somewhat in denial of his earlier works as a stand-up comic/sketch performer (partnered at one point with Craig T. Nelson); Mel Brooks’ collaborator co-writing on “Silent Movie” and “High Anxiety” (on that, both as a co-writer, and even cameo actor in the inspired Psycho-shower scene parody); and even TV writer (on “The Carol Burnett Show “among others).
Being the Baltimore maven he was, Levinson was currently keen to adapt for TV, David Simon’s brilliant book set in the Baltimore PD, “Homicide: A Year on the Street.”
Mr. Fontana has an enviable list of credits in television, and at the time of this picture, the foremost among them was his first TV job out of the chute, the legendary, “St. Elsewhere” (on which he would rise from guest writer to full producer and stay with the show for its entire six year run). When they first met, Tom was openly unaware of Barry’s previous work (as was Barry with Tom’s body of work). To be considered to run this show, they insisted that Tom watch Barry’s trilogy. Tom agreed – with the caveat that for every hour of a Levinson movie he would watch, Barry should view an episode of St. Elsewhere. An interesting start to what would be a great collaboration over the years.
That neither “St. Elsewhere” nor “Homicide: A Life on the Street” are not readily available to viewers these days is an absolute crime (resulting from the vagaries of current ownership of classic shows).
Nonetheless, both of these creative souls have more often than not weighed risk over easy success for much of their careers, for which I am greatly thankful.
To one and all, Be Safe-Stay Healthy