OTR BUFFET: Tony, thanks for doing this interview with me. Can you tell us about the website you run?
Tony Baechler: Thanks very much for having me. I feel honored to be in such great company as Ian, Jim and Randy. I have great respect for them and what they're doing for the hobby. I'm constantly amazed at their generosity. I was really hoping to be interviewed and am thrilled to finally get the chance.
Actually, I'm working on several different sites, so I'm not 100% sure which site you mean. I'll start off with the podcast first as I assume that's the one in which your readers are most interested.
Back in 2009, I decided that I wanted to start a podcast. I had hopes of being in radio one of these days, but I realized that with modern radio being the way it is, it would probably never happen. At the time, I really missed the great shows done by John and Larry Gassman. They are among my OTR heroes and I really hope to start a Gassman fan club one of these days. Jerry Haendiges did an excellent job filling in, but it just wasn't the same. Anyway, I realized that I could potentially reach a much wider audience online with a podcast, so I started one called CARE, or Classic Adventures in Radio Entertainment. It only lasted a few episodes and I had no idea what I was doing. I had to quit due to many factors, not the least of which was that I couldn't keep to a weekly schedule. I still have all of the old episodes and plan on releasing them soon.
Let's move ahead two years to January, 2011. I had been pushing OTRR to start a podcast for a long time, but no one seemed interested in doing it. I wanted to, but I had some concerns, like not getting enough new shows. Jim Beshires has been very generous in this regard, sending me several DVDs, so that was settled. I had other issues, like my ongoing health problems, but I finally decided to go ahead and do it myself. Therefore, in March, I launched Radio's Best Years. It's at the exact same site as my old effort, but I think it's much better. A really nice guy by the name of Jimbo Mason did an incredible job redesigning it. I have no web design ability to speak of, so that was much appreciated. If you don't believe me, just look at my other sites. :-) At the moment, it's off for the summer, but I hope to start regular shows again in early September. It mostly depends on my health though. I'm in stage IV kidney failure and I often don't have the energy to do it every week. It takes a tremendous amount of time, work and energy just to create a single episode, very much like writing or any creative task. I hope people are actually listening to it and getting some enjoyment out of it. You can find it at: http://classicradio.us/podcast.
I'll briefly mention my other sites. I'm working on OMIT, or OTR Materials in Text. It hasn't had much done with it yet, but I hope to get back to it one of these days. It's at: http://classicradio.us/omit/ There's also my non-OTR site, batsupport.com, but there isn't anything there yet. I'm starting a business called BATS or Baechler Access Technology Support Services. It's primarily designed to offer tech support and a help desk service to the blind interested in trying, using and learning Linux. Linux is a free, open source operating system which is very accessible to the blind and is far more stable than Windows, not to mention that it runs well on older hardware.
Tony Baechler: Yes, it does. It's one of my favorite shows. The Whistler and Our Miss Brooks are also favorites, but in different ways. I really don't know why Information Please is so unpopular. I wouldn't really call it a quiz show though, since the audience is trying to stump the experts instead of the other way around. Even in its day, it wasn't really popular. It had a long run, but I don't think it ever really had a big audience. To me, the funny moments are special. I definitely agree with you that I like it for trivia, but I really like the interactions between the guests. They were obviously very relaxed and, being that it was unscripted, anything could happen. Interestingly, It Pays to be Ignorant is very popular and also had a long run. Personally, I can't stand that show, but maybe whatever it is that people don't like about Information Please attracts them to It Pays to be Ignorant since they're opposites. It Pays to be Ignorant was, of course, a spoof on Information Please where no one ever got anything right. Maybe Information Please is over too many peoples' heads.
The thing that immediately stands out about Information Please is the sense of class. From the rooster at the beginning to the guests being introduced through to the closing, everything was of high quality and was done well. Milton Cross was also an opera announcer, so having him as announcer was significant. He obviously enjoyed doing the show, as did they all. Even the early Canada Dry commercials were pleasant to listen to, not at all like the later Lucky Strike commercials.
OTR BUFFET: Between the 3 regulars on the show, Franklin P. Adams, John Kieran and Oscar Levant, which one do you think was the smartest?
Tony Baechler: I don't know, I think they were all about equal in different ways. In terms of general knowledge about almost everything, I would say Adams. Even though Kieren was the sports expert, he still knew a lot about other subjects. Maybe I have Adams and Kieran reversed. That's the problem, they were both considered "experts." Likewise, Adams knew a lot about music. That's very hard to say though in terms of actual I.Q. It would be interesting to find out which had the highest I.Q if such information could be found. I guess I would still say that "F.P.A" was the smartest because he wrote a weekly newspaper column. Then again, often times Levant would come up with an answer to something totally unrelated to music that I didn't think he would know.
OTR BUFFET: Between the 3 regulars on the show, which one do you think was the funniest?
Tony Baechler: I would definitely say Levant. He was also the quietest, but when he said something, it was often funny and unexpected. The shows with Levant are definitely a treat for me, both for his musical ability and for his whit. I wish he would've been on more shows and wouldn't have left the series. He's funny and pleasant to listen to on other shows in which he was a guest as well. I wish I could go to one of his concerts.
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| Clifton Fadiman |
Tony Baechler: I think he was perfect. One of the very early shows had someone else instead and it was terrible! The show dragged on endlessly and not even the guests were their usual selves. I don't think there was anyone else who could host that kind of a show in that way. His daughter, Anne (or Ann?) is also very funny and wrote many articles, often talking about her father. He was about the same in person as he was on Information Please. I heard him as a guest on Duffy's Tavern and he wasn't nearly as funny. It was obviously scripted and he was trying too hard. He was at his best when he was relaxed, comfortable and around people who he knew well. That was the case with Information Please. I can almost imagine a bunch of old friends agreeing to meet at their club every week. The club was the show to which we were all invited. They never let the audience get in the way of the show or them having a good time. Unlike a lot of other book reviewers and critics, he wasn't snobbish and didn't make a point of showing off. He was an expert in his own right, but he never let himself, his ego, or his personality get in the way. Paraphrasing what NPR said on his passing, he was able to draw out the experts and get them to say things which they wouldn't otherwise. He could relax and nudge them in such a way that they would want to answer, leading to many of the funniest moments.
He took great delight in trying to find the oddest, strangest and most unusual questions and asked them in such a way as to challenge the experts to get them correct without being pushy. You could hear him, for example, take great delight when all of them got the question wrong about reciting the opening announcement spoken at the start of every show by the announcer. He liked to make them think and got their wheels turning. I would have liked to meet him, but I think he would have been much more reserved in person around people he didn't know.
As you probably know but your readers might not, he eventually became blind in his later years. That was at first distressing to him because he thought he would have no way to read books. Fortunately, both the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) and an organization called Choice Magazine Listening make books and articles available on cassette and now for download. I have been a subscriber to Choice Magazine Listening for several years as was he, so I am in good company. They featured a lot of the articles by his daughter. You can find them at: http://www.choicemagazinelistening.org/.
To give a brief idea of his personality, he would correct mistakes in restaurant menus. I don't know if he pointed them out to the manager, but he would actually take a pen and fix misspellings and incorrect grammar. He did that with other books as well. He always had to have something to read.
OTR BUFFET: Information Please was a tough quiz show but it was very entertaining as well, mostly because of the zaniness and comedic abilities of the panel and Fadiman. Your thoughts on the puns, songs, limericks, etc...?
Tony Baechler: I'm not entirely sure what you're getting at here. They were all funny in their own ways. I especially liked Levant and his musical ability, but it was the unrehearsed, relaxed atmosphere which made it what it was. I've often thought it would be great to recreate at a convention, but it wouldn't work because there was no script. I think it would be very hard to find a similar group of people with that blend of personalities. Once the audience got the point of the show, the questions became more interesting, so the series got better with time. The Lucky Strike shows are better than the Canada Dry shows, I think. Partially it was because the sponsor had more money, but also because the show had been around long enough to attract a regular following. The audience was as much a part of the game as the experts. The "game" wasn't just trying to stump the experts, but it was to make them say and do funny things in the process. For example, make Kieran sing even though Levant is the musical expert.
OTR BUFFET: Each week there was at least one noted star or writer who filled in to make up the 4 spots. Some of these people showed just how brilliant they were. Would you talk about the show's guests and those who have made an impression on you?
Tony Baechler: I haven't heard every show, but a few that immediately come to mind are Rex Stout, Fred Allen, Gracie Allen and Orson Welles. I of course knew who Rex Stout was from his Nero Wolfe novels, but I didn't know what he sounded like. He actually did a fair amount of radio work, almost none of which seems to be in circulation. He was very active during the second world war, completely giving up writing novels to help the war effort with his radio work. If any of it exists, I haven't found it, but I would really like to hear it. He was obviously very educated and you could hear it in how he answered. He was also very quiet, which I didn't expect. I somehow thought he would sound loud and fat, similar to how Wolfe sounded on radio. Instead, he's so soft-spoken that you can hardly hear him. In addition to writing, he was also a gourmet cook and invented a school banking system. He was well-read on many different subjects and seemed to have a broad range of knowledge.
Orson Welles was Orson Welles, no matter where he was. I wouldn't say he dominated the show, but he certainly had a presence. He did very well as I recall and was able to answer quite a few questions.
Gracie was also not at all like her character. She was bubbly on the show, however she was anything but an airhead. She had this odd way of answering. She sounded like she wasn't ever quite sure if she was right or not, but thought she would speak up anyway. George Burns said that part of why her character worked is because she was somewhat naturally that way. I mean that she had her own odd logic which made its own sense. I can definitely hear some of that on her all too few guest appearances. She was very pleasant to listen to and often surprised the audience with her correct answers. I think she surprised herself as well.
Fred Allen was basically himself. He was also quiet. He almost mumbled a little and one wondered how involved he really was. He obviously knew a lot, but didn't say much. I got the impression that he was holding back so as to not take over the show. He wasn't very funny at all and his attempts at humor sounded forced. I think he felt uncomfortable without a script and didn't fit well into the show format.
OTR BUFFET: Levant's knowledge has made a huge impression on me. Yes, he was a musical genius, without doubt. However, he was just as spooky-brilliant in many other areas. Surprisingly, Levant was someone who had mental problems later in life. What are your feelings about Levant?
Tony Baechler: Really? I had no idea that he had mental problems. I pretty much expressed my feelings above. I always looked forward to him as guest and I always hoped to hear him play something. He was a guest on an episode of Kraft Music Hall and was great there as well. He obviously had a flare for comedy and could easily put on a show by himself. I really wish I could've gone to one of his concerts and I hope that more of his musical work survives. He was definitely an artist, and often times artists are known to be odd.
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