Sam Hall interview on tvparty.com site

Alright, I think we'd have to find out how much SH was able to write what he wanted.   I mean, not just plotting but the line by line dialogue.   If DC was so controlling that he even managed to interfere with and ruin (in Sam's view) that, SH can certainly be critical of DS without indicting himself in the process. 

On the other hand, if DC controlled plot, but left writers free to try to make that plot come alive with whatever lines they wanted to write.... then SH is perhaps directing inner criticism outward.   I'm a total amateur obviously, but I would think that it's the responsibility of the writer to take what he's given to work with, and make it work.   I think good writing in a disappointing plot is possible.

As for his Frid comments, I'm pretty sure he wasn't putting NODS on a pedestal.  I think he probably meant that JF shouldn't have been so "proud" or "choosy" about his roles, considering that (in SH's opinion, not mine), Frid wasn't destined for a glorious stage career one way or the other.  He seems to base this on JF's poor memorization of lines.   You know, in the theater, they actually let you perform the same lines night after night, rather than making you memorize new ones every day!   

My memory is considerably worse than Mr. Frid's.   My life in the theater would have been extremely short and extremely undignified!   It would have consisted of the words "Get out!!" at a very high volume...

We love your for you delicious wickedness Janet!  I personally am glad that JF choose not to be in the second movie as it would have centered around Barney again. Plus if he didn't want to do it then I am glad he choose to do what he wanted. Nancy, I know you are friends with JF, so please don't think I am being derogatory towards him. I enjoyed NODS much more than HODS, which had nothing to do with Frid.  I also have the complete script with Grayson's notes, and the movie, in tact is quite a masterpiece, in my opinion.  I really look forward to Darren's restored version.  I hope to the GODS that is come to fruition!

You came flying out of the womb wicked.  We know this.

You came flying out of the womb under your own power, Janet?  Wicked!

And we aren't quite old enough to speak our minds without getting bitten in the ass for it yet, trust me!   Do it anyway please!

Hi T!

The one other thing I'll say about this is that if you survive to be very old, you get to say what you think as bluntly as possible and to hell with the consequences.  It may not be pretty or respectable, but I see it as one of the perquisites of the very old.

On Kathy Griffin's latest special she talks about how her 88 year old mother moved out of her house because, at 88 she's very honest and tells her daughter, "you annoy me."  LOL! 

Here's the unedited, complete interview:

http://www.rollmagazine.com/# (The April 10th issue)

BTW, judging from the front photo, Sam Hall is looking more like Sydney Greenstreet every day! 

I think for now this link is more direct? Maybe it keeps on getting refreshed:

http://www.rollmagazine.com/theatre.html

I am not going to let this article change my respect for Sam and Dan in any way. I just think Sam lost his persepective of DS and DC through the years.

Thank you for the links!  jimbo, yours showed up right while I was stumbling about trying to find the durn thing.

I can't say I agree that SH "lost his perspective," but I also don't accept that advanced age is ever an excuse to spill your co-workers' secrets.  Being rude or gossipy is a choice that anybody can make at any age, and being older doesn't make it okay.  And I think it's quite obvious in the interview that his faculties are intact.  It's one thing to gain the maturity to stop caring about what other people think, but this is not the same thing as not caring whom you hurt when you choose to speak frankly in an interview.  Of course he has a right to tell secrets if that's his choice, but age is not the issue there.  Just MY 2 cents.

I've never had much respect for SH or DC. I think they are both highly overrated in their respective fields - so I'm good.

I agree with you wholehearedly Midnite.  And when I said "you gotta love him" it was  figure of speech!  I mean I like Sam, don't get me wrong, but I wonder how much of that has to do with Grayson! 

Oh Taeylor, you didn't have to explain.

Here's the unedited, complete interview:

Actually, much of the name dropping in the TV Party interview didn't make it into the magazine.

Midnite you raised a good point. Sam did indeed make inflammatory accusations about Dan's character and reputation and made them when Dan is not here to defend himself if he so choosed; and Sam made these hurtful comments in a calculating way. He sounds like a very bitter man and instead he should be thankful.  And Sam should indeed be accountable for his personal attack. I am certainly not going to defend him-if Sam wanted to hurt his own legacy, so be it. The article just doesn't diminish Sam's contributions in my eyes. I don't like what he said and I hope he regrets his hurtful comments about Dan and Dan's legacy. I certainly lost some respect for the man.

Midnight and Jimbo, you both made excellent points!  I agree that the professional information was legit; however, personalities and gossip were out of bounds.  There's a difference between outspoken and rude, and parts of this article really crossed the line.  He could have expressed professional disagreement with Dan Curtis without making, amongst other inappropriate comments,  a sweeping statement that the man had a "miserable life" -- which, after all, is nothing but his opinion, not based on any special knowledge.  All in all, very shabby behavior.

Don't think he would care to have someone else speaking about him that way, in a venue where the family could read about it and possibly be hurt. My guess is he'd probably be the first one to scream bloody murder.

Jeannie

Then again, the world would be pretty boring if everybody behaved themselves. 

Fascinating and amusing reading ... The reviews I've seen of Frid's stage work in the 1960s and '70s were very good, and would seem to belie Mr. Hall's cutting remarks. And his comment that he doesn't understand why DS continues to live on seems rather perversely disingenous. How about the fact that it's a highly original blend of melodrama, gothic romance, the supernatural - with complex characters and relationships that span generations, and reinterprets those characters in interesting ways in different time periods, while still focusing on the effects of all this on a modern day family and personal relationships such as unrequited love, while frequently drawing on primeavel fears and archtypes? Those are just a few thoughts that spring to my mind.

I don't like the fact that he said Dan spent his whole "LIFE" trying to redo DS!  That was a part of it, however, Dan made THE WINDS OF WAR & WAR AND REMEBERANCE, two Emmy winning programs.  His legacy is intact!  I think he just had a great love (whether he would admit it or not)  for DS and wanted to see it continue in some form.