TV / Radio Bio
I always knew that I wanted to have two careers - music and television. I’ve been lucky enough to have both.
I was ten years old when I saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show the first time. That was a defining moment. Along with millions of other American kids, I witnessed the coolest people in the world. They had the coolest suits, the coolest haircuts, and played the coolest songs on the coolest-looking Rickenbacker guitars, Hofner bass, and Ludwig drum set. And then throw in the screaming-teenage girl factor, and you had the coolest band in the world. From that moment on, I knew I wanted to be in a rock and roll band. Preferably with the screaming girls.
The other seminal moment came when I was about five. My parents took me to be on a Sunday morning TV show called “Popeye and Pals.” I’m sure they had one in every town across America. This one was on WWL-TV, channel 4, New Orleans. I remember walking into the dark, cavernous studio and feeling completely in awe. There were various sets around the large studio. One was the news area, another was a kitchen set, and then there was the set for the kiddie show where I was going to be an audience member. Big hot lights illuminated the set, giving it an otherworldly, dreamlike quality to it. I thought that the people who got to work here were the luckiest people in the world. And then to be the star of your own local kids’ TV show? The greatest job ever.
But before I made it to TV, I had to go through radio first. I was lucky enough to land a job at a local New Orleans radio station when I was a junior in high school. For some reason, they hired me as an announcer. I worked evenings from six to ten pm on school nights. What little homework I did, I did there. The station was WNPS, 1450 am. It was one of those old-fashioned, adult music stations. We played lots of Montovani, Ferrante and Teicher, and a bunch of other people you’ve never heard of. I certainly hadn’t. I mainly played the music, delivered the hourly news and weather and gave time and temp updates. It wasn’t exactly exciting, but, hey, I was in radio. Then on weekends I’d play in my rock band, so it all balanced out, I guess.
The station was located inside WYES-TV, the local PBS affiliate in New Orleans. That’s where I started learning about television. I learned how to operate a TV camera, and I even learned the basics of directing. Occasionally, I worked the graveyard shift – midnight to six am. That was always interesting because I was the only person in the whole building once the TV station signed off for the night. I’d drink coffee and wander the dark halls till dawn, when my shift was over.
After that I worked briefly at a black station, WYLD. I did the news, but I had to fill in for a DJ who was out sick one night. Now, remember, this was a black station and the jocks were all really hip and cool. I was an 18 year-old white kid. Not hip. Not cool. I just did the news usually. During the shift a girl called in and commented on my on-air performance. She said “You sound real proper.” I thanked her. “That wasn’t no compliment,” she responded. That was my first and last on-air shift as a DJ at a black station. I stuck to the news there after that.
There was also a short, forgettable stint at a country-western station. I billed myself as “Tex Elliott.” (Elliott’s my middle name.) One day two women came down to the station to see Tex Elliott. Our studio had double-paned glass that people could look through from the hallway and see the DJ doing a live show. In their minds, Tex Elliott was a large cowboy, dressed in jeans, cowboy boots, big rodeo belt buckle, and a cowboy hat. But what they saw was not quite what they expected. Tex was, in fact, a thin 19 year-old kid with black, wavy shoulder-length hair, tight bell bottoms, and platform shoes. They were shocked. Their illusion was shattered. That’s one of the things I always truly loved about radio; you created whatever type of world you wanted. No one could see you. The listeners created the look in their own minds. These women violated the first rule of radio. Don’t look behind the curtain. You’ll usually be disappointed.
My next job in radio was at WQUE-FM, Q-93, in New Orleans. It was basically a top 40 format, but without such a strict playlist. I did morning drive. This was both good and bad. The bad side was that I had to be there by about 5:30 in the morning, and I usually didn’t get home before two or three am. That didn’t leave a lot of time for sleep. The good side was that morning drive was fun. I did it by myself, but I created different characters and would record them, then play them back and hold conversations with myself.
My segue into television came about indirectly through radio. In 1974 I started a comedy act with a friend. We started doing “Bob & Ray” type interviews, and I’d record some of our comedy at the radio station I was working at. We eventually became a multi-media comedy team, using stand-up, sketches, short films and musical comedy in a live comedy show. We worked clubs around New Orleans and also had our own weekly radio, and then TV shows. We wound up moving to New York City. The act was called “THE MR. BILL SHOW.”
I eventually left the act and the next time I did television was in Yuma, Arizona in 1978. It wasn’t comedy. I was the weekend sports anchor at KYEL-TV, Yuma. I was also the weeknight co-producer of the 10 o’clock news. (while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps)
Moving on to the 80s. I spent pretty much the whole decade as a professional musician, playing in rock bands. (see music bio)
I got back into television after a decade-long absence with a staff-writing job on the NBC series “EERIE, INDIANA,” in 1991.
Since then I’ve managed to transition between writing, producing, and on-camera. Here’s sort of a rundown from latest to earliest.
THE LUNACY REPORT (YAHOO! - Executive Producer/Host)
HARDLY NEWS (HardlyNews.com) (news parody website/TV pilot - executive producer)
2007 ACADEMY AWARDS (writer)
"MY DOG SPANKY" AKA "ANIMALS RULE" (2006 sitcom pilot created with Ellen DeGeneres, the WB Network)
"THE START-UP" (2005 NBC/USA pilot, co-executive producer)
"THE VITAMIN C SHOW" (2005 A. Smith & Co. pilot, co-executive producer)
"THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON" (Guest correspondent appearances
“PAT CROCE: MOVING IN” (Sony syndication, supervising producer, 2004-2005)
“THE 5 th WHEEL” (Universal syndication, supervising producer)
“LET’S MAKE A DEAL” (NBC primetime, co-host)
“YOUR LOCAL NEWS” (Fox Television Studios, TNN, host, executive producer)
“RENDEZVIEW” (Paramount syndication, senior producer)
“THE DAILY SHOW with JON STEWART” (Comedy Central, on-air correspondent)
“HITZ” (UPN, writer)
“ELLEN” (ABC, writer)
“THE BEEF” (MTM syndication, anchor)
“38 th & 39 th ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS” (CBS, writer)
“ELLEN” (ABC, guest star)
“THE 4 th FLOOR SHOW!” (E!, host, executive producer)
“MIKE & MATY” (ABC, segment producer)
DIAGNOSIS MURDER (writer)
“THE MR. LAWRENCE PROGRAM” ( USA, writer, talent)
“ERIC AFTER DARK” (writer, Universal TV)
“46 th ANNUAL PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS” (CBS, writer)
“LOST ANGELS” (ABC pilot script w/ Karl Schaefer)
“EERIE, INDIANA” (NBC, writer, 1991)
