Marc Spector (Associate Producer for Shep at WOR from 1974 to
1974) writes:
Did Jean spend hours preparing the show or did he write a couple of
words on a scrap of paper on his way into the studio? The answer is
really: both of the above. Jean lived his show--it was really him.
Therefore, his prep was just living and remembering and recalling
things from decades or minutes before the 10-inch machine started
rolling. But, in truth, the latter was what really happened. I
remember Jean asking me what I thought of something right before we
walked to the studio. He would write my answers down on a scrap of
paper and that would be the basis of the show. He would do the same
with the studio engineers who he used regularly for such material.
He wanted to make sure the show was about what real people wanted to
hear--not ivory tower stuff. It was his blue collar background, I
suppose. Most of those guys really never 'got' Jean but they played
along. Only a couple, like Herb Squires, really knew that they were
a part of something very special.
The show was absolutely, 98% unscripted. Don't let anyone tell you
otherwise. Jean could never have done what he did with a script.
He wasn't a radio star--he was a monologist. He loved to talk about
what was on his mind--although it was 1974 and still a very G-rated
broadcast world. As for the clock--it was my job (or Leigh's if she
sat in on the session) to keep Jean informed of the time remaining
for the show. This was a VERY important component of the job. He
wanted a '5 minutes remaining' visual and one a bit sooner (although
I cannot remember if it was 2 or 3 minutes). He would seamlessly
and flawlessly (most of the time, anyway) wind it down to perfection
right at the close of the theme. Listen carefully to how far out
the show would be just 2 minutes from the end and how it wound up so
perfectly only 120 seconds later. He was good. I will say,
though, that we did mis-time a couple of shows while I was there.
Ended it a minute early. Big problem. Oh, well it could have been
too long which would have been a bigger problem. While I did the
show, it was most often broadcast in a 9:15 slot. As you know, WOR
did a 15-minute live newscast from the studio across the hall every
hour up until the beginning of our show. I do believe that this
(the 9 PM show) was the last live news show of the day and that they
did not do one following our show, so timing was really important as
they had no live announce to make up for errors. WOR did broadcast
an hourly BEEP and shows ended right on that beep. The News would
immediately follow the BEEP. Anyway, the mis-timed show was a rare
event but it did happen. |
