For anyone who has ever endeavored to put a single funny thought down on pair, Carl Reiner is a god. I remember back in 2011. The "Dick Van Dyke Show" was celebrating its fiftieth anniversary at the Egyptian Theater. I literally jumped over my own ottoman to get tickets.
After a screening of several episodes, we experienced a magnificent panel discussion led by the still-missed Garry Marshall. Van Dyke was there. The late Rose Marie was in the audience. So was Larry Matthews who played Ritchie Petrie.
But the focus of it all was Carl Reiner, whose genius gave us this show that has been a guiding light for anybody with a creative thought in their heads. Brilliance like that production is sheer serendipity. Like an eclipse, it doesn't come around very often.
As it turned out, I got to meet Carl several times. Both in front of urinals.
The first was about 15 years ago. A producer-friend of mine who belongs to the TV Academy invited me to be her guest at one of their members-only events. An evening devoted to "Hot in Cleveland." Okay, I was a fan of the show in its first season and, as you may have read on these blog pages, I think it had slipped a bit in its subsequent years. Still, it was better than most of the sitcoms on the tube those days and, oh, by the way, Valerie Bertinelli was going to be there. Apparently, it had gotten around town about me and her. Who knew? More importantly, TV Land executives were likely to be there and we might figure out how to pitch two ideas to them.
I was in.
Luckily, these TV Academy functions are more "inside" than the evenings offered up by the Paley Center, when any and every slob shows up looking to get their favorite star's autograph while they sit and chomp down a bag of Cheetos they just bought at Rite Aid. There is an air of intelligence that you can actually feel, touch, and smell.
The moderator of the evening was Larry King and I couldn't wait for him to shut up in his introductions. He brings out Sean Hayes, one of the show's executive producers, along with the series creator Suzanne Martin. Out comes the cast and naturally Betty White gets a long and sustained standing ovation. But, so does surprise guest Carl Reiner who has a recurring role as her love interest. Jon Lovitz, fresh from his guest shot as a homeless guy, is also there and I now wonder how super productive this evening could be. I had been thinking about approaching him for a radio sitcom.
The evening was smart and congenial and over in 90 minutes. Larry King inexplicably leaves at the one hour mark. Obviously, the Metamucil had kicked in. After the show, audience members mill around the stage and try to talk to whoever. My producer friend makes a bee line for the head of TV Land. I try to bounce my way towards Lovitz, but I'm upended by a pesky 80 year-old who probably was Hugh Downs' assistant in 1962.
Despite the best efforts of my producer pal, the right connections did not get made. As we discussed the positives and negatives in the lobby, I beg off for the men's room. No, my Metamucil wasn't kicking in, but a bottle of water was. I run upstairs and I push open the entrance door.
I walk right into Carl Reiner.
Holy shit. One of the icons of television. The creator of one of my favorite TV shows, "The Dick Van Dyke Show." I didn't have more than a split second to come up with something clever.
The split second wasn't enough. I mustered up some mediocrity.
"Wow, I'm in the men's room and I see Carl Reiner."
He smiled at me.
"I'm in the men's room all the time and I always see Carl Reiner."
Good save on my paltry gut reaction.
He went into another direction. He looked down at the typical men's room mess. Those slightly wet paper towels that somehow don't make it into the trash receptacle. I've never understood this. Carl Reiner, however, finds it completely abhorrent.
"I hate when I see this. I can't leave the floor like this."
Huh?
So, in front of me, Carl Reiner starts to clean up the men's room floor. There had to be a dozen crumpled wads.
"Can you give me a hand?"
Well, this was Carl Reiner asking me to help clean up the bathroom floor. Who was I to say "no?"
In short order, we collected all of the moist and used paper towels.
"Good. Now I feel better."
And off he went.
On the aforementioned evening at the Egyptian Theater for the Van Dyke celebration, I wanted to hit the men's room pre-show. Who do I walk right into on his way out?
Yep. I looked down at the floor. There were no paper towels crumpled up on the floor. I laughed. Carl Reiner had been here.
In his later years, it is well known that Carl and his buddy, fellow widower Mel Brooks would meet every night to watch television together. Oh, to be privy to just one of those evenings.
Embrace the geniuses while we have them.
Dinner last night: Grilled ham steak and German potato salad.
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