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Buck Henry:
GE Theater Studio One
Before you began working for Steve Allen in 1961, were you writing for theater?
The Philco Television Playhouse, Studio One, GE Theater, Playhouse 90
Well, no worries about the video. That was the era that they wiped almost everything once it was broadcast.
That Was the Week That Was
That Was the Week That Was was a groundbreaking show.
Sometimes I confuse the American version with the British one of the same name.
Was Tom Lehrer part of TW3?
Tell me about the Premise, the New York improv group you were in around that time. It was geographically unusual, as most improv was coming out of Chicago and the Midwest then.
He hit the blackout switch.
It seems like by the early 60s a lot of the interesting comedians and the improv people were getting into writing for television.
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The Today Show
Steve Allen Allen
I imagine that was also true with Saturday Night Live.
As a response?
What did you do there?
Let’s get back to the new vibe in comedy we were talking about a minute ago.
SNL
End as a Man
It would have been strange if you’d both won the Oscar.
Around the time of The Graduate you and Mel Brooks conceived and wrote the original Get Smart. Did you ever get any reaction from the CIA?
Captain Nice It was pretty trippy.
Dropping the political content into these shows, was that for your own amusement?
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There’s got to be a lot of pressure adapting a beloved book.
It’s still amazing.
You think so?
Furioso
You know, I’m not going to ask you about Heaven Can Wait. I’d rather spend that time talking about a great, obscure TV show you wrote around then called Quark. For the readers, it was a kind of spoof of Star Trek. But it was so much weirder than that.
Catch-22 Quark
The Graduate
Taking Off laughs
What’s Up, Doc? I think it’s one of the funniest movies ever made, and I’m not exactly a Streisand fan.
I like your character. Aggressive in a strange way.
How was Bowie to work with?
The Graduate
Sight reading. You mean from cards.
Until recently you held the record for most times hosting SNL. Some people thought that you were actually a cast member.
Are you interested enough in the new version to host?
That Was the Week That Was
Are you a fan of new American film comedy, like Judd Apatow’s movies?
Anything behind it?
The Winter’s Tale
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