Netflix is currently running an in-depth documentary entitled,  Remembering Gene Wilder.  This great comedic actor starred in such seminal movies as, The Producers, Willie Wonka,  Bonnie and Clyde, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, Stir Crazy, and so many more. I had the privilege of working with Gene on a short-lived sitcom that I produced called Something Wilder.  While Gene’s on-scene persona was that of an extrovert, the real Gene Wilder couldn’t have been more different. There were few bigger stars during the70’s, yet you never saw Gene sitting on Johnny Carson’s couch.

Why?

“I am not that type of actor,” Gene said. “I am just not a raconteur. I’m not one for telling stories.”

When Warner Brothers finally convinced Wilder to appear in their series, sitcoms were in a downward cycle. NBC had hoped that Gene might breathe some life back into the art form as Bill Cosby had done a decade earlier.

NBCs first failed effort with Gene was called Eligible Dentist.

That pilot failed, but when Gene tested through the roof, NBC decided to greenlight a second pilot for him.  Gene was cast as a middle-aged ad-exec in the Berkshires, who had twin boys with a much younger wife. Jennifer Grey who had starred in the 1986 smash movie Dirty Dancing was cast to play his spouse. NBC loved the pilot, but thought the youthful Grey, who was 27 years younger than Gene and photographed even younger, wanted to recast her role.

That’s when Warner Brothers hired me to produce the third version of Gene’s series, now called Something Wilder. Grey was replaced by a terrific NY actress named Hillary Bailey Smith, who played Nora forever on the soap, One Life to Live. 

We were off.

Gene and I became close while shooting the series. He trusted me in this new sit-com world, which he knew nothing about. We often dined with our wives, both named Karen.  Gene would confide in me and often asked for my advice. The series was fraught with challenges, not the least of which was, to be honest, the terrible scripts. The writing staff was comprised of either upper-level writers, who were not up to their resumes, or lower-level writers who were great but had never been given the chance to shine. 

A few memories of that period. 

As you may be aware, situation comedies are often shot with a studio audience of anywhere between 150 and 300 people.  Mostly out-of-towners who want to experience the thrill of watching a television show produced – and the ticket is free.

One night during the show, Gene sidled over to me and asked, “Why do we have an audience, Frank.”

“The network feels the audience makes the show funnier,” I said.

“Gee, I have been known to make some pretty funny movies without an audience,” Gene smiled humbly.

Score one for Gene.

Every live audience show has a “warm-up comedian.”  A comic/host who tells a few jokes before the show begins and keeps the audience apprised of what happened in the scenes which have already been shot.

The comic threw Gene for a loss.

Between takes, the writers franticly rewrote humorless jokes, while the audience found themselves laughing harder at the warmup person lines than they did at our show.

By episode three, we brought in a tuxedo-clad quartet to play dance music during the lulls. The writers christened the group, The Berkowitz Bar Mitzvah Band. Despite being a bit out of place, they were actually pretty good.

Gene was delighted.

When I told Gene what the writers had named the band, he lit up.

“What do you know? They finally managed to write something funny.” Score another for Gene.

Some nights, with all the rewrites and alternate takes, the audience would have to sit in the studio for five hours. Gene and the entire cast would be exhausted. An hour or so before the end of each ordeal, I would sneak Gene a small snifter of Polish potato vodka to help carry him to the finish line.

We shot 18 episodes of Something Wilder before the NBC dropped the ax.  The episodes are still available on You Tube if you are so inclined.

Gene, an accomplished artist, had dressed some of our sets with his original oil paintings.

After the show closed, I asked Gene, “If I make a donation to Gilda’s House,” a foundation he started in memory of his late first wife Gilda Radnor, “Could I keep one for myself?”  He agreed, and now Gene’s painting sits proudly in my den.

Gene, now back in his Connecticut home, and I continued to stay in touch and shared holiday cards for years. I will always remember Gene Wilder as not only a VERY funny man, but more importantly a VERY kind and gentle man. Even more importantly, a man I was proud to call my friend.

Rest easy, dear friend. I won’t have to “Remember You.”

You will always be in my thoughts.

———- 

To read more about Gene Wilder, and other show business and sports legends, you can order the book If These Lips Could Talk available on this website.