Rockin' the Boat

Not surprisingly, Jake wasn't thrilled with my choice of change. It was clear that he wanted me to remain on The Tonight Show...closer to the action, he thought. His wishful action. Many new and rising talents passed through the door of my current employer and Jake always felt a a chance to represent one of them was just around the corner. He'd come close with Freddie Prinze. Before his first appearance on the show Freddie was so broke he'd spent the night on Betsy's couch. Jake and I went over for a glass of wine and I was sufficiently embarrassed at the blatant "pitch" job Jake had done. Freddie was young, innocent and enormously talented. And, after his appearance on the show he was scooped up by ICM - a huge agency. After a meteoric rise, sadly, Freddie Prinze fell into a hideous trap of sudden fame...drugs, depression and suicide at the age of 24. Today we watch Lindsay Lohan ...but I digress.

Living on the boat full time had become old after almost two years. I was more than ready to leave my sea legs behind. Jake, less so. He still enjoyed being the unconventional "almost 40" year old. At 27 I was ready to be a little bit more of a grown up. It was clear the marriage was not working.

My work in Compliance and Practices was fun. I was assigned the "back end" of most of the game shows - working with the contestants. The whole purpose of this department was to ensure game shows were completely and totally aboveboard. The "front end" person worked with the material, i.e. questions and answers. If they were taping five shows, the production company would have to bring enough material for eight shows. C&P would pick the order in which they would be taped. The "back end" person - usually the newest members of the department) worked with the contestants. Making sure they were "briefed" properly. That they didn't know anybody working for NBC or the production company...then we would select the order in which the contestants appeared. The reasoning behind this was you would have to give so many people so many answers it was certainly impossible to do.

It was...nobody cheated...but lots of us in our twenties had a great time working on these shows. Wheel of Fortune - the original one with Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford - she actually had to turn the letters around. Susan also held prayer meetings in her dressing room but that's another story. Name that Tune - we took the contestants out on all day excursions so we could definitely say they were no where near the studio when the music was being rehearsed. Movies, lunches in Hollywood...that was a REALLY fun show to be part of. And the contestants were the nicest, I thought. I decided it was because their common denominator was a love of music. Kathie Lee Gifford - then Kathy Johnson - was the "la-la" girl. Singing the notes without the words. I swear when she started out she was my age but now she's about eight years younger. Again, another story.

But the home front was not going well. Jake and I were fighting - a lot! I worked nights and weekends. Again, as the newest member of the department I got a lot of the "early call" or "late ending" tapings. I loved it - I was out more, meeting great people and not having to listen to Jake's constant barrage of who was against him now. I finally told him I was moving onto land. I rented a studio apartment in Betsy's building. Jake decided to stay on the boat. We'd worry about who was going to pay for what later - but, hey, the boat payments were coming out of MY paycheck. No matter. I still loved Kraft Mac and Cheese, and would eat it every night if it meant moving ashore. A trial time apart we both agreed.

I moved to Sherman Oaks....lock stock and charm bracelets!