Greetings over your interweb devices
“Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear may be ever so near
That’s the time
You must keep on trying
Smile, what’s the use of crying
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile.”
One of the unfair comparisons of multi-camera versus single-camera production was the amount of work hours per day. Because multi-cam days were generally shorter and mostly on a soundstage, it was considered as somehow easier. To be fair that is truly an apples and oranges comparison. Multi-cam may have had fewer hours and minimal travel, but we had to compress a similar amount of work into a tighter timeframe. We certainly had our share of times when the pressure was excruciating, and the ticking of the clock was an unforgiving taskmaster.
On a few occasions, though, we would do a hybridized shoot and extend our work day to do some exterior work (in addition to the rest of our show). When one is accustomed to a 9 AM start time — a 5 AM call can be pretty jarring. On this April morning it was cold and crisp, at least by Hollywood, or should I say, Burbank standards –– hence the heavy jackets. There was some errant grumbling amongst a few on the crew regarding the temperature or the schedule change. Southern California native that I am, I managed just fine in a flannel shirt with rolled up sleeves and my trusty thermos of strong, warm coffee.
Two men who had no trouble at all with the time or the weather are pictured here — cameraman extraordinaire David Dechant (in the puffy coat and jaunty hat) and our esteemed director, Rich Correll. They were both very important to me, particularly in that season (which would prove to be my retirement year) — a little more on that later.
The calendar year began with a very tough personal event, the passing of my beloved Pop. He made it nearly 91 years and lived a wonderful life, but it was nonetheless a hard blow. While I was still in Illinois sorting things out, I found out both that the show was picked up for season three and that a salary bump promised after season one, and now delayed by over a year, would not happen at all. A tough time for yet another disappointment, and one that was honestly a bit of an insult. My father’s passing had temporarily put a strain on my finances, however, and most shows were ending their seasons at the time, so I reluctantly accepted. There were a few other professional slights throughout the season, all of which made my final decision to get out of the industry as soon as I could an easy one.
When I am now asked whether I miss “the biz” I say no, not at all, but I DO miss the people. Which brings me back to Rich and Dave — as long as I have known them, their goal was to make work fun, and when they sensed me starting to go into a bit of a funk, one of these two would flash a wonderful smile and give me a much-needed pick up.
So I thank them both — and all the wonderful people with whom I had the great honor and pleasure to work. In the long run, it was a great ride.
Mr. Chaplin was right:
“You’ll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile.”
To one and all, Be Safe-Stay Healthy