Sundays With Snyder Number 28 - Our Gang's Spanky McFarland

After 27 consecutive weekly Sundays presenting Tom Snyder's The Radio Show, Isn't Life Terrible ran out of raw material (i.e., no more cassettes in the collection) and it appeared we had reached the end of the road.

But turn, if you would, toward St. Paul, Minnesota and tip your hat, send good karma, and make a toast with your very next Colortini to Bryan Olson, a Video Producer at Real Life Video who also saved tapes of Tom Snyder's Radio Show. Bryan kindly offered to share his programs with us, and he's put time and effort into getting them here in the proper format.

Bryan, speaking for all of us who appreciate good radio, great interviews, and the unique perspective and presence of Tom Snyder... we're in your debt.

The first program from Bryan's collection dates from May 30th, 1989, when Tom welcomed George "Spanky" McFarland, star of the Hal Roach (and later, MGM) Our Gang Comedies. (At right, a sad Spanky sports his signature chapeau in the company of fellow Hal Roach star Charley Chase). Spanky started his movie career at age three and appears in many of the Gang's best shorts as well as its only feature, General Spanky.

Bryan removed the commercials from the hour-long segment. It's priceless.



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Sundays With Snyder - Number 26

A fascinating hour with Tim Phelps, one of the authors of Capitol Game, all about the Anita Hill - Clarence Thomas scandal which almost precluded Thomas's ascent to the Supreme Court. The interview is complete, and is followed by a partial hour of open phones.




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Sundays With Snyder - Number 25

Tuesday Jan 21, 1992.

In 1970, attorneys Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington filed suit in a U.S. District Court in Texas on behalf of Norma L. McCorvey (under the alias Jane Roe). This broadcast of The Tom Snyder Show features Sarah Weddington as the 20th anniversary of the still-controversial decision that legalized abortion approached. The story of McCorvey, who interrupted the confirmation hearing of Sonia Sotomayor as as part of an anti-abortion protest, is sad and startling.

In the second hour, actor Alan Rachins (L.A. Law) is interviewed (The recording ends slightly before the conclusion of the interview).



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Sundays With Snyder - Number 24

Aug 12, 1992. Jay Leno is involved in a dispute with another late night talk show host. The more things change...

An interview with Bernard Asbell, author of The Book of You, a compendium of curious and marginally interesting statistics. Following Mr. Asbell (who also wrote What They Know About You, which sounds like the exact same book) is an hour of open phones where nearly all callers sound like they're part of the crowd waiting outside the studio for Jerry Langford. I swear, one call after another, it is the night from radio talk show hell, and you can hear Tom struggle to make either sense or entertainment out of it. Tom's day didn't start well, apparently. Something's wrong, and it's not just that Tom's show was to be dropped by WABC-AM in New York. Tom is flustered. Tom gets the year wrong at one moment... and gets his own toll-free call-in number wrong shortly after that. He blames his busy day ("my mind is a bowl of guava jelly") but does not elaborate as to what might have happened. We once again hear - albeit briefly - about the charms of Snapple Lemonade and Wheat Thins. The breakfast of champions, folks.



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Just discovered a nice appreciation of Tom that I hadn't seen before. Recommended if you're a fan.

Sundays With Snyder - Number 23

From June 25, 1992. Stock up on Wheat Thins and Snapple Lemonade - here's Tom taking phone calls for about forty minutes.

Unemployed? Tom feels your pain. Conspiracy theorist? Somebody tell Ross Perot. Otherwise, Tom seems uncharacteristically crabby with callers. Maybe looking forward to his vacation. You might also cue up your copy of Harry Nilsson's "Nobody Cares About The Railroads Anymore."



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Sundays With Snyder - Number 22

Friday, 16 November 1990.

First, an quick interview with Michael Josephson, from The Institute for the Advancement of Ethics, who talks about Charles Keating and the "Keating 5" savings and loan scandal. Then some phone calls, including one from Tom's NYC co-worker and weatherman extraordinaire Dr. Frank Field... and one from "Harmonica Man."

Then, an interview with the daughter of the only comedian who appears in the Bogart classic Casablanca.

That would be Joan Benny, daughter of Jack Benny. Some radio clips from The Jack Benny Show are played, and as usual (sorry) the entire interview is not quite there.

What? You say you didn't know that Jack Benny appears in Casablanca? Well - and this is breaking news - his daughter thinks he does. The debate rages on at this very moment.



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Sundays With Snyder - Number 21

If you're a TV person, you know Lois Nettleton as the woman who responds to a shift in the earth's orbit by perspiring heavily in "The Midnight Sun," a Twilight Zone episode from 1961.

If you're an old radio time radio person, you know Lois Nettleton as the third wife of Jean Shepherd. Or maybe from one of her roles on CBS Mystery Theater. Or Maybe from her endless list of TV guest shots. She was a charmer. Wish more of the interview was here; it's joined in progress.

Included in the Lois Nettleton segment, at no extra charge - a Folgers commercial that channels Bruce Springsteen to sell coffee. Included in the Nightside Hour - an incredible, thoroughly disgusting anti-drug commercial narrated from the coffin by a Debbie, a dead teenager. Moral: don't buy coke from anyone named Junior.

The Nightside Hour is a memorable one, because it marks the debut of a joke/prank, told/pulled by a listener, "Steve in Philadelphia," which went on to become a running gag Tom Snyder used over and over ever after. It has to do with what a tuna hears.

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Sundays With Snyder - Number 20

This Sunday, we have an interview with Jack Haley Jr. about The Wizard of Oz. It's joined in progress - Jack is talking about the ways in which CBS shortened the film's running time for its yearly airings. It's actually been posted here before, and is here simply because more of the same show has been found. Not more of Jack Haley Jr., but the hour that follows it.

This second hour begins at around 00:31 and is spent with the colorful and somewhat puzzling Mayor Joseph Alioto, who is  to San Francisco as Ed Koch is to New York City.




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Sundays With Snyder - Number 19

Tom's first guest is an author who would not deny that his most famous book is rubbish.

William Rathje deploys a terrific sense of humor during his hour with Tom from July 21, 1992. as he discusses Rubbish!: The Archaeology of Garbage, his book first published in May of 1992 and reprinted in 2001. Rathje is an archeologist who digs into landfills and extracts garbage that has been buried for as long as 40 years. Bill admits that he and his crew don't always use their facemasks, because "after ten or fifteen minutes, the smell goes away."

That may be true, and no disrespect to Mr. Rathje, but maybe he and his compatriots should have kept those masks on. I can't remember anyone coughing while on Tom's show, but Rathje hacks his way throughout the entire interview, with one bout of coughing so serious-sounding that Tom playfully asks Bill if he'd like to have some oxygen brought in. I'm pleased to report that Mr. Rathje seems to still be alive and, presumably, well. That's amazing; based the audio impression given by this program, you wouldn't have given the guy six months.

Tom's guest for the second hour (in an interview that's nearly complete) is legendary CBS newsman Robert Trout. Trout began working in radio when announcers wore smocks and were selected, in part, on elocution, vocal timbre, and authoritative delivery. Trout's final assignments were retrospective pieces for NPR, which probably had to make an exception to bring him on board. (I love and support NPR, but suspect they select male announcers based on level of affectation, inappropriate folksiness, wryness, and execution of thoughtful pauses/ability to convey mock surprise).




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Sundays With Snyder - Number 18

When a new kid plops down next to Tom in the sandbox, you can count on him to be welcoming and polite, even when he's not completely thrilled with the new arrival.

Deborah Norville made the announcement that she would soon be added to the ABC radio sandbox on this day. The key achievement of Norville's life seems to be her failure on the NBC "Today" television show, where her brief stint was bookended by the long and successful reigns of Jane Pauley, who preceded her, and Katie Couric, who followed her. For quite some time, she adopted the persona of the puzzled yet plucky underdog. ("What did I do wrong?")

She lasted a year as an ABC radio host. Tom didn't like her much, which is evident in the interview despite his statements to the contrary. Perhaps Norville is not as disingenuous as she sounds.

In the second hour, Tom is joined by Robin "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" Leach. A man who can be trusted, obviously.

For your information - let's get this straight - there were hidden self-promotional motives in neither Norville's tasteful People Magazine breast-feeding photo nor Leach's graphic-but-also-tasteful presentation of a celebrity C-section. No further discussion, please, on these selfless acts that bring important information to the public. And let's not even mention Tom's TV show that featured a naked encounter group.



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Sundays With Snyder - Number 17

An hour (actually less, commercials have been removed) with Stephen Rebello, author of Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. This is preceded by the end of an interview with Don Drysdale. This was a "Best Of" rebroadcast, which accounts for some of the unusual edits.

Why post the end of the Drysdale interview? Because the beginning might show up someday. That's what happened with a previous program posted here with guest Anthea Disney, editor of TV Guide; that program will be updated shortly with the missing segment.

And if you want to see TS with Hitch...



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Sundays With Snyder - Number 15

It's a slimefest! It's a deathfest! It's about as low as the Tom Snyder Radio Show would ever go! And somebody... let's hope not Tom... thought the program was good enough for a rerun!

Gravelly-voiced John Austin (author of More Of Hollywood's Unsolved Mysteries) rattles off the deaths and the dirt at breakneck speed. Seems he knew everyone and has the low-down on every Hollywood scandal and murder ever.

While I was listening, I was thinking, "Boy, I've already heard all of these, and I probably know this stuff as well as this guy does, but I wouldn't talk about it in polite company, let alone on the radio." At that moment, a caller asked which Hollywood star had a restaurant and was mixed up with the mob. Austin is at a complete loss. No idea. I'm here thinking "That guy is asking about Thelma Todd, her Sidewalk Cafe, and her unfortunate connection to Pat Di Cicco, connected in turn to Lucky Luciano's mob. I guess I do know this stuff better than this guy does."

Later in the show, Tom brings up Thelma Todd... and Austin has the whole story. He's wrong, but he has the whole story.

P.S.: does Austin use a racial epithet just before one of the commercials?



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Sundays With Snyder - Number 14

May 1, 1992.

This is Tom Snyder's Radio Show from the day after the worst of the riots. A semblance of order has been restored in Los Angeles and wild-eyed fears of country-wide "race warfare" seem to be diminishing.

At right: A cross section of wood with veneer finish. Caption: "Many man-made boards are ugly to look at and veneers (very thin layers of real wood) can be stuck to them to make them look solid..."

The country is left to reflect upon the durability and thickness of the veneer that makes civil society look solid... and how deep and how ugly it might be just below that surface.



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Sundays With Snyder - Number 13

April 30, 1992. I've been looking for this edition of The Radio Show for quite some time - and here it is.

Tom Snyder broadcasts live from Los Angeles as the city suffers through the violence and rioting that follows the acquittal of the policemen who beat Rodney King. If you don't have a sense of what that day was like, you will after you hear this recording.

It is an historic Tom Snyder program, incredible in so many ways, not the least of which is Tom's insight, compassion and ability to convey the horror of what's taking place while remaining, as ever, the consummate host and reporter. Forget Tom's Charles Manson interview, essentially just a freak show with a person who's insane - this may be Tom Snyder's most impressive achievement, as he works to make sense of a city gone insane.

This is history - a sad day in the history of the country - and  it happened less than twenty years ago. It is well worth your time.

As the program begins, the rioting is spreading throughout the city, phone lines are down, and Tom announces that he may have to end his broadcast prematurely and "send it back to New York." What follows... seems unreal.

At the very end of Tom's interview with one of the jurors is a bizarre moment of unbelievable, unintentional gallows humor which escapes both "Madam Juror" and Tom, though a caller later points it out. Listen carefully to the last sentence spoken by "Madam Juror."

This is a partial program which contains the full first hour and the majority of the second hour, with most commercials and local segments deleted. I've left portions of newscasts in, as well as a few commercials which seem to provide unintentional oblique or ironic commentary.



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Sundays With Snyder - Number 12

Abortion. That's the topic that begins this program, which offers much insight into Tom's personal opinions upon religion and the notion of a secular state. Michelle McKeegan is the guest for the first hour, then phones, then tennis star Tracy Austin.

This is the program where I decided I had had enought of Mr. Buullock, so his commercial as heard here is not exactly as aired. This episode was broadcast at the time of the Republican convention in Houston. The guest for hour two is Rand LeBon, reporting for KLIF in Dallas, who's in Houston covering the Republican National Convention.

Tom has a memorable problem pronouncing "Scud Stud" Arthur Kent's name.

Tom announces that "The Radio Show" will end in November.



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Sundays With Snyder - Number 11

This is mostly a "Nightside" hour of listener calls, but it does contain the end of an interview with Sarah Purcell. The reason so many segments are joined in progress is the haphazard nature in which cassette tapes were either saved or discarded. (I used to tape The Radio Show and listen to it in the car on the following day). Sarah Purcell co-hosted "A.M. Los Angeles" with Regis Phibin from '75 to '83.

In this clip, we learn about Tom's primary source material vis-à-vis the facts of life; we hear Tom's warning about how not to visit Disneyland; and some comments about the impending last episode of Johnny Carson's Tonight Show

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Sundays With Snyder - Number 10

June 16, 1992. Guest Ed Meese, President Reagan's ex-Attorney General. The interview is joined in progress. Then we have the Nightside Hour for phones.

Don't think Tom was terribly fond of Mr. Meese. If you remember the Hanna-Barbera character "Mr. Jinx," his signature phrase springs to mind...

Commercial breaks are included from the Meese interview - some seem germane, some were just funny or interesting. Once again, the topics still seem current, although many of Meese's positions have not stood the test of time... deregulation, for example. I love the caller who was "disenchatized" with Meese's handling of Oliver North.

There's quite a bit of the Snyder philosophy available in the Nightside Hour.



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Sundays With Snyder - Number 9

August 25, 1992: Tom takes a live feed from a newsman awaiting Hurricane Andrew ("Will New Orleans come away clean from this?"), interviews political pundit Eleanor Clift and actress Dana Delaney.

We're in the beginning of the Bush/Clinton campaign, post conventions, which Tom covers with Eleanor. (The more things change...)

Dana Delaney is, in a word, delightful.

(Photo: 1968)



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Sundays With Snyder - Number 8

Tom is ready for his interview with Martin Gross. You can hear it - he calls Gross's book terrific; he's laughing as the interview starts; he likes the idea that someone has documented waste in Washington.

But - very quickly - Martin Gross says things that strain Tom's credulity. Tom's smile disappears; he asks Gross to repeat a statement. For Tom, the answer is totally overboard. Tom realizes that he's got nearly an hour to go with this wacko. The tone of the interview changes; Tom starts taking shots at the guy... well, listen. You'll hear it happen.

Also - a partial (sorry) interview with comedian Rita Rudner.

June 22, 1992

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Sundays With Snyder - Number 7

This time out, an interview with Al Gore, who's promoting his book Earth In The Balance and the Nightside hour, featuring calls from listeners.

During Nightside, Tom can't seem to figure out how the then-new VCR Plus automatic VCR programmer works. Listeners try to explain it, but Tom still doesn't quite get it.

A notable hour because Tom - completely befuddled as to how the VCR Plus works - leaves the microphone for a minute or so while he searches the studio for the day's newspaper, which he believes will solve the problem once and for all. (It doesn't). While he's gone on this fool's errand, the control room plays an old TV theme (Holiday for Strings).

December 20, 1990

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