Jerry Seinfeld was originally on the path to be an unmemorable character actor, got fired from "Benson"

[Harry Hollywood]

Jerry Seinfeld is one of the best known names in American comedy, but his career was originally on a different path, which would have deprived the world of his award winning '90s TV show.

Seinfeld originally wanted to be an actor, and was attending New York's Queens College, studying theater and communications. While in college, he started to develop a moderate interest in stand up comedy, and started appearing at local open mic nights. While enjoying some local success in New York, his stand up career seemed to be going nowhere, and the 26-year-old Seinfeld put his focus back upon acting.

In 1980, he landed a part-time role on the second season of political comedy Benson, which starred Robert Guillame. Seinfeld played a character named Frankie, which was somewhat based on his real self. Frankie was a mail room delivery boy who thought he was a stand up comedian, and tried out his routine on others in the governor's mansion, much to their chagrin. He appeared in just 3 episodes, for about a minute each, but he was originally told the character would be a recurring one for a long time. You can see the entirety of his performances on the show below:




If you noticed Seinfeld was a stilted, jerky actor, you're not alone. That's also what producers noticed, and they weren't happy with his performance. They attempted to give Seinfeld guidance, asking him to somewhat tone down the character and his handsy movements. Seinfeld preferred his own interpretation of the character, and was resistant to change, believing audiences would enjoy his take on Frankie.

Finally, after these three episodes, producers had enough. Seinfeld showed up on the set for an episode he was originally told he'd be in, only to find he had been written out. Strangely he was not told at first that he was fired, but rather that there was nothing for him to do in that particular episode anymore. When Seinfeld pressed and asked producers when he would be appearing next, he was finally told that they had completely written him out of the series, making him realize he had been fired.

Seinfeld left the set very bitter. He felt it was unfair that they abruptly fired him without any final warning regarding changing his portrayal of the character, and even more miffed that they did not notify him of the firing. It was his opinion that the lack of notification was a passive-aggressive move by producers, who had come to resent him for not listening to their interpretation of the Frankie character.

This soured Seinfeld on acting, and he threw himself back into stand up comedy. He was determined to develop a better and more refined routine, and hit it big in that realm. This ended up becoming increasingly successful, as Seinfeld appeared in An Evening at the Improv in 1981, and then started increasingly appearing on television comedy specials. This got him enough attetion to where he had enough clout to develop his own sitcom along with Larry David, which began airing in 1989.

If you notice that Seinfeld's acting was far better on his own TV show than on Benson nearly a decade earlier, that's also no coincidence. After he had enough time to come down from his resentment toward the Benson producers, Seinfeld came to accept the fact that he simply wasn't a very good actor. He worked with acting coaches to improve. If we are being honest here, Seinfeld was never a great actor, and his talent in that realm paled in comparison to the other actors on his show. His mediocre acting was less noticeable because he was playing somewhat a version of himself, and also was backed by excellent writing and a fine supporting cast.

In interviews, Seinfeld has occasionally acknowledged that his ill-fated appearances on Benson were actually a good thing for his career, as he would have otherwise plodded along as a minor character actor for his career, had he enjoyed enough success on that show to avoid getting fired early on. It was the firing which motivated him to reinvent himself as a stand up comedian first and an actor second.

I will reveal a few other things about Benson, unrealted to Seinfeld, in the next post.

[Harry Hollywood]

Benson was a better show than most people remember. It was usually well written, funny, and occasionally tackled political and social issues of the day. While it was very tempting for a show about a government to be preachy or subversive, Benson chose to be neither. It contained subtle messages regarding equality and social justice, but was never obnoxious or divisive. The political party of the governor (played by James Noble) was never revealed or even implied, and they were deliberately ambiguous as to which state it was supposed to take place.

Benson was a partial spinoff from the successful soap opera ensemble parody called Soap, and Robert Guillame's Benson character from that show, a butler, was tapped to lead the new show. The character was supposed to have just gotten a job as head of household affairs at the governor's mansion, working directly under the governor himself. Benson was a typical '70s/'80s sitcom, and did not have the unconventional format seen on Soap.

There was some cast turnover on Benson. Lewis J. Stadlen played chief of staff in the first season from 1979-80. However, Stadlen's character John Taylor was not well written, and he was asked to play the character as a combination of arrogant and pathetic. Stadlen hated the character and asked for it to be modified, but he had little clout and the character remained as-is. He objected increasingly loudly throughout the season, earning the ire of both producers and his co-stars. Unfortunately Stadlen was on a multiyear contract, and initially producers told him he had to fulfill all of it. After he became enough of a distration, producers agreed to let him out of the contract at the end of the first season, on the condition that it was a mutual resignation, and he would not be due any further money. Stadlen was thrilled to be out, and said yes. He retains bitterness about his time on Benson to this day, and will scream about it to anyone who will listen. I was actually present for one of his bitchfests about Benson, more than 25 years after he had been let go. This anger never made much sense to me, as he had a respectable live theater career after Benson, which seemed to be much more of his cup of tea.



Stadlen was replaced by Rene Auberjonois, who played a similar but better written character named Clayton Endicott. Rene stayed in that role until the series end. Stadlen also seems to have some residual btiterness toward Rene, even though the two men never shared a studio. Stadlen demanded out of his contract, they honored his demand, and somehow he was angry at his replacement. Reminds me of an ex-girlfriend I once had, who dumped me and then resented the next girl I dated!

Caroline McWilliams also left the show, but under completely different circumstances. Unlike Stadlen, who was combative and resentful, McWilliams liked her role on Benson as secretary Marcy Hill. Like Guillame, she was also an alumnus of Soap. The Marcy character was a sensible, motherly one, and was one of the few characters on the show not to have some ridiculous quirk. McWilliams married Michael Keaton in 1982, whose career was just starting to get going via the movie Night Shift. Keaton asked McWilliams to move to New York, have children with him, and support his career. This was incompatible with her work on Benson, which was filmed in southern California. McWilliams stayed loyal to Keaton, and quit the show to move across the country with him. She agreed to do three episodes at the beginning of season 3 in 1981, in order to transition herself off. She remained in the opening credits for those three episodes. She was written off in a very similar fashion to what occurred in real life, with her new husband buying a business in New York, and asking her to come with him, thus leaving Benson and the gang behind. McWilliams should have stayed with the show, as her marriage to Keaton only lasted 8 years. They did have one child, and Keaton has gone on record saying several times that she was a great mom to the kid, and has had nothing but positive things to say about her. Unfortunately, McWilliams was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, and died at 64 from the disease in 2010. I knew McWilliams a little bit through a friend, and she was both kind and egoless. I was quite saddened by the news of her early passing.





Missy Gold was the younger sister of Tracey Gold, who would later be known for Growing Pains. Gold was just 9 when she started Benson in 1979, playing the governor's daughter Katie. Missy was a mature girl wise beyond her years, and made a very unusual decision at the age of 16. She had just come off a successful 7-year run on Benson, which had been cancelled. Unlike other child actors who age out of their cuteness or developed pesronal demons, Missy had no such issues. She was still coveted in the world of televsion, and had many offers to continue acting. Missy said no to all of it. She was done. She officially retired from acting at the age of 16, and has not acted since.

When asked later on about the decision, Missy revealed that she never enjoyed acting, and in fact was an introvert who felt uncomfortable performing. She instead had an intense desire to be a normal young person, wanting to go to college and start a career unrelated to Hollywood. Missy did just that, went to Georgetown, and became a psychologist, which is the career she still holds today at age 53.



Tracey, one year older than Missy, got a major role on Growing Pains, but infamously developed a horrible case of anorexia, and had to take a leave of absence from the show. Tracey reportedly fell to as little as 80 pounds, and somewhat blamed the anorexia on fat jokes about Tracey's character, despite the fact that she was not actually fat.

Look at this clip from late 1991, when Tracey was dangerously thin, and the show sadly covered her up with baggy clothes in order to hide it...



I remember this entire saga and felt very bad for Tracey. I'm glad she recovered and landed on her feet. The show should have removed her long before it got to the point it did. I did not work on Growing Pains, so I did not have any kind of contact with Tracey or producers of that program.

Missy later recalled that her quitting acting at 16 may have saved her from a fate similar to Tracey's, and that she was very happy she got out when she did.

[Harry Hollywood]

The final two actors to leave Benson were Didi Conn and Ethan Phillips. The two characters were both written off the program in early season 6.

Didi Conn, who played a much ditzier secretary than the Marcy character portrayed by Caroline McWilliams, got bored with her role. She did not resent or hate the character like Lewis J. Stalden did in 1979, but Conn felt that it was one note and had nowhere to go. She was not enjoying coming to work anymore, and just wanted to be done with it.

Ethan Phillips played Pete Downey, the governor's press secretary. He had been there since season 2, with Lewis J. Stadlen's character essentially being split in two, with Phillips doing the press secretary type parts, and Auberjonois doing the other chief of staff stuff. Phillips' character Pete was portrayed as buffoonish and often the butt of jokes, but he didn't mind at all. He liked the steady work and paycheck.

Phillips was quite upset when Conn asked to leave the show. Why? Because the two actors had just seen their characters marry, and it was decided that they did not want to present a divorce so quickly. Producers informed Phillips that, while they were very happy with his work, his character simply could not continue on the show once Conn left. Phillips was very upset about this and kept asking if there was a way around this, but he was told no. Elderly actress Billie Bird was brought on in their place.




When it was all done after seasons, only Guillame (Benson), James Noble (governor), Gold (Katie), and Inga Swenson (Kraus the German-born mansion cook) survived the entire series.

As many of these actors were not young, several have passed away. Guillame, Noble, Aubernojois, McWilliams, Swenson, and Bird all are no longer with us.

You can find the etire Benson series on YouTube if you wish to watch it again.

Thank you for coming with me on this trip down Benson memory lane.

[Orko]

Imo Jerry isn't naturally funny or particularly talented. He owes his entire career to Larry David and the various joke and script writers the show employed and pure luck..
Jerry likeable tho I did watch a few Comedians in Cars episodes.

That being said
Jerry's vastly overrated, probably the second most overrated tv personality in Hollywood, number one being Jimmy Fallon.
I have no idea how someone so awkward and untalented as Jimmy Fallon landed The Tonite Show gig.
I'm not really a tv aficionado or anything, so yea.

Heck I think Curb is a much funnier show than Seinfeld.

Anyhow Thanks Harry, interesting post.
Benson was pretty good, i forgot all about that show.

[limitles]

Imo Jerry isn't naturally funny or particularly talented. He owes his entire career to Larry David and the various joke and script writers the show employed and pure luck..
Jerry likeable tho I did watch a few Comedians in Cars episodes.

That being said
Jerry's vastly overrated, probably the second most overrated tv personality in Hollywood, number one being Jimmy Fallon.
I have no idea how someone so awkward and untalented as Jimmy Fallon landed The Tonite Show gig.
I'm not really a tv aficionado or anything, so yea.

Heck I think Curb is a much funnier show than Seinfeld.

Anyhow Thanks Harry, interesting post.
Benson was pretty good, i forgot all about that show.

Dead wrong. Seinfeld admittedly had a stand-up act unlike most when he began. He certainly was no trained actor. Dabbling in comedic acting is no crime but hanging on to it for a paycheck is.
He has admitted to being a second rate actor and luckily for all he stuck with his greatest strength.
True stand up comedians are not TV personalities which takes them out of the running for being overrated.

[Karen Nathan]

Jerry's facial expressions are funny in Seinfeld, especially in the episode about Pappy's pizzeria. Jerry goes to the bathroom and Pappy uses the restroom and doesn't wash his hands. Jerry's facial expression is shocked! His date later tries to make him eat some of the pizza that Pappy made. Jerry refuses to eat the pizza that Pappy made and Jerry's facial expression is horrified! LMAO! In the beginning of this episode, Jerry had been eating a pizza that Pappy made and had been trying to get his first date to eat the pizza. His date had a horrified facial expression and refused to eat the pizza. Jerry was baffled on why his date had a horrified facial expression and refused to eat the pizza. He thought his date must be a Psycho. As I write this post, she must have seen a FEMALE pizza chef use the bathroom without washing her hands, because there's no way she would have seen PAPPY use the bathroom without washing his hands. Ironically, Jerry has the same horrified facial expression in his second date that his date had in the first date. It's possible that his second date thought he was a Psycho like he thought his first date was.

[OK2]

Imo Jerry isn't naturally funny or particularly talented. He owes his entire career to Larry David and the various joke and script writers the show employed and pure luck..
Jerry likeable tho I did watch a few Comedians in Cars episodes.

That being said
Jerry's vastly overrated, probably the second most overrated tv personality in Hollywood, number one being Jimmy Fallon.
I have no idea how someone so awkward and untalented as Jimmy Fallon landed The Tonite Show gig.
I'm not really a tv aficionado or anything, so yea.

Heck I think Curb is a much funnier show than Seinfeld.

Anyhow Thanks Harry, interesting post.
Benson was pretty good, i forgot all about that show.

Dead wrong. Seinfeld admittedly had a stand-up act unlike most when he began. He certainly was no trained actor. Dabbling in comedic acting is no crime but hanging on to it for a paycheck is.
He has admitted to being a second rate actor and luckily for all he stuck with his greatest strength.
True stand up comedians are not TV personalities which takes them out of the running for being overrated.

Who are some true stand up comedians according to you?

[The Boz]

Jerry's facial expressions are funny in Seinfeld, especially in the episode about Pappy's pizzeria. Jerry goes to the bathroom and Pappy uses the restroom and doesn't wash his hands. Jerry's facial expression is shocked! His date later tries to make him eat some of the pizza that Pappy made. Jerry refuses to eat the pizza that Pappy made and Jerry's facial expression is horrified! LMAO! In the beginning of this episode, Jerry had been eating a pizza that Pappy made and had been trying to get his first date to eat the pizza. His date had a horrified facial expression and refused to eat the pizza. Jerry was baffled on why his date had a horrified facial expression and refused to eat the pizza. He thought his date must be a Psycho. As I write this post, she must have seen a FEMALE pizza chef use the bathroom without washing her hands, because there's no way she would have seen PAPPY use the bathroom without washing his hands. Ironically, Jerry has the same horrified facial expression in his second date that his date had in the first date. It's possible that his second date thought he was a Psycho like he thought his first date was.

Figures it would show up after months to talk about someone with bathroom issues.

Reports are you went right back to eating chicken without washing your hands after shitting on the floor of that chicken joint.

[BetCheckBet]

Imo Jerry isn't naturally funny or particularly talented. He owes his entire career to Larry David and the various joke and script writers the show employed and pure luck..
Jerry likeable tho I did watch a few Comedians in Cars episodes.

That being said
Jerry's vastly overrated, probably the second most overrated tv personality in Hollywood, number one being Jimmy Fallon.
I have no idea how someone so awkward and untalented as Jimmy Fallon landed The Tonite Show gig.
I'm not really a tv aficionado or anything, so yea.

Heck I think Curb is a much funnier show than Seinfeld.

Anyhow Thanks Harry, interesting post.
Benson was pretty good, i forgot all about that show.

Dead wrong. Seinfeld admittedly had a stand-up act unlike most when he began. He certainly was no trained actor. Dabbling in comedic acting is no crime but hanging on to it for a paycheck is.
He has admitted to being a second rate actor and luckily for all he stuck with his greatest strength.
True stand up comedians are not TV personalities which takes them out of the running for being overrated.

I actually completely agree with Limitles here.

You need to keep in mind that when critiquing comedy you want to consider the era. Seinfeld was absolutely revolutionary and so many shows and people copied the formula. It comes across as kinda bland today because it's been mimicked and improved upon by so many others.

I agree that most stand up comedians are terrible actors 95% of the time. The few who get TV shows rarely make it out of 1 season. When you look at the best comedic actors from SCTV and SNL very few had a good standup game and that's fine. The reverse is also true, look at the late great Dustin Diamond who was likely the greatest comedian/porn actor combo of all time. His standup was shit but his ability to both portray Screech on Saved by the bell and orgasm on command was unmatched.

Jerry was clearly the weakest character on the show both from a written and acting point. Without great writing along with Elaine, George, and to a lesser degree Kramer, the show would have never been as big. The other things is the absolute amazing lineup of guest actors and characters in later seasons. Very few shows can manage to pull so many strong cameos and not ruin them through overreliance/use.

[Mission146]

Harry Hollywood,

You can write, brother! Of course, you don't need me to tell you that. I just read every word about departed actors from a show I've never heard of until twenty minutes ago; my opinion is that you should really be making money off of content like this. This would be perfect for some sort of look back series of articles or perhaps even a Youtube, 'Video essay,' style channel. You'd just throw some clips of the show in and I think eight minutes is the minimum target now. You could get the posts in this thread to 10-15 minutes, easily, without the need for any pure fluff.

[Mission146]

Imo Jerry isn't naturally funny or particularly talented. He owes his entire career to Larry David and the various joke and script writers the show employed and pure luck..
Jerry likeable tho I did watch a few Comedians in Cars episodes.

That being said
Jerry's vastly overrated, probably the second most overrated tv personality in Hollywood, number one being Jimmy Fallon.
I have no idea how someone so awkward and untalented as Jimmy Fallon landed The Tonite Show gig.
I'm not really a tv aficionado or anything, so yea.

Heck I think Curb is a much funnier show than Seinfeld.

Anyhow Thanks Harry, interesting post.
Benson was pretty good, i forgot all about that show.

How can someone who was the lead actor on a show that was consistently #1 ever be overrated? Seinfeld was also one of the few shows to end it when they were at/near the top, which isn't to forgive the series finale, which was terrible.

What's he overrated as? As an actor? I don't know that anyone has ever said he's a good actor. I certainly don't recall seeing Seinfeld in any movies or other sitcoms...at least none where it's not obvious that he's just Seinfeld.

Is Seinfeld overrated as a stand-up comedian? I can't say that I've ever heard anyone rave about his stand-up comedy. I think a lot of people who go to see him would be willing to admit they are doing so mainly because they liked the show so much.

Maybe you just think the show itself is overrated. I disagree, but I don't know how 'overrated' could apply to Jerry himself. Other than that he had the show (which took a lot of people) I don't know that anyone has ever claimed he's amazing at anything.

[Texter]

Seinfeld isn’t over rated as an actor, he is over rated as a comedian. His TV was great.

His bits are clever and funny but not hilariously funny.

Yet I have heard some people call him the GOAT, no way.

Now, maybe he is great in comedy clubs, but I’ve never really had a hearty laugh at his material, it’s just so much fluff.

[limitles]

Dead wrong. Seinfeld admittedly had a stand-up act unlike most when he began. He certainly was no trained actor. Dabbling in comedic acting is no crime but hanging on to it for a paycheck is.
He has admitted to being a second rate actor and luckily for all he stuck with his greatest strength.
True stand up comedians are not TV personalities which takes them out of the running for being overrated.

Who are some true stand up comedians according to you?

Oh, I don't know, Chris Rock,, Dave Chappell. Bill Burr, Jim Gaffigan, the list is quite long. Grinding it out on a Holliwood set can be great but they're two different jobsl. In comedy, the cream rises to the top after much work and that level is not reached overnight

[Sanlmar]

I’ve enjoyed diving into Seinfeld and cast interviews regarding the show. Harry had observations and material I’d never heard before.

I agree Larry David was the man. In interviews Larry David has described the stress and torture he felt writing scripts. Writing was something of a collaboration with Seinfeld and they did develop a process. Nevertheless, Larry David does a funny bit about how it was killing him. There was never enough time.

Larry David walked away from Seinfeld. He was tortured by the show. I love that. Larry David is an original.

Seinfeld is self deprecating about the fact he was not an actor - especially amidst the rest of the great ensemble cast. Harry’s Benson anecdotes provides additional context regarding Seinfeld’s acting. Seinfeld played himself.

Whether you consider Seinfeld funny or not it was revolutionary. Syndication has made a clear ruling on the question. It needs to be appreciated in the context of the times. 80’s & 90’s television was largely dark and unimaginative. Spin-offs and formula. Never saw a single episode of Benson. I personally imagine Harry Hollywood was part of the machine that ground out that product. How the factory ran is very very interesting to me.

Finally, the issue of Jimmy Fallon. Orko conflating Jerry Seinfeld with Jimmy Fallon is some pretty spiteful shit. Certainly he was exaggerating for effect. He is correct that Fallon is the single most over rated, least genuine, untalented feeb on television today.

Yes Mission, Harry can write. He has the potential to do something huge. In kindness, I offer my observation that he lacks a perspective. He relates facts but not an attitude. Mission has attitude. What overall message does Harry want to convey about the era? Perhaps I’ve missed it.

[Texter]

I was watching an excerpt of Louis CK on some young comics podcast and he was talking about how social media and podcasts are making most comedians that participate less funny. He said they are so busy with that stuff that they have no time to create and craft new material into high quality bits.

Now I pretty much agree, while these guys have built an audience through their podcasts and are making good money. Most of their standup is crapola and they are now at the point where they just interview each other a lot of the time.

Of course there are exceptions but usually the established comics were good before podcasting existed and they don’t really focus on social media. Bill Burrs Monday Morning Podcast is not highly polished and seems like a diversion while he has time to kill.

Joe Rogan is the podcast king but his standup has never been first rate so he really hit his niche. Of course he promotes a bunch of sycophants who he likes most of whom are mediocre.

[Harry Hollywood]

Harry Hollywood,

You can write, brother! Of course, you don't need me to tell you that. I just read every word about departed actors from a show I've never heard of until twenty minutes ago; my opinion is that you should really be making money off of content like this. This would be perfect for some sort of look back series of articles or perhaps even a Youtube, 'Video essay,' style channel. You'd just throw some clips of the show in and I think eight minutes is the minimum target now. You could get the posts in this thread to 10-15 minutes, easily, without the need for any pure fluff.

Thank you for the kind words, Mission.

Originally I registered this account as a joke in order to troll Corey Feldman and his ridiculous upcoming revelation which he claimed would destroy Hollywood. In reality Feldman was just going for attention and money, as the stories he told, while likely true, were of minor figures and not as he had portrayed in the lead up.

I told Druff that I was annoyed by Corey, and he mentioned it would be funny if I posted the big reveal on this site before Corey's silly event. I was also not the only one who had the names, as many in the industry had already deduced at least some of them.

After the success of that thread, it was suggested that maybe I could appear every so often to post Hollywood stories. I prefer to post older stuff because that is less likely to get me in hot water. Unfortunately one of my threads was found by someone I work with, who deduced my identity. This was very stressful and I contacted Druff in a panic to delete it! Fortunately the person who found it was a friendly party, but it was a close call.

For this reason I choose not to monetize my information at this time. Perhaps when my career is over, which will not be in too long of a time, I will consider putting together something like a YouTube channel which can share a lot of this information.

[Harry Hollywood]

I’ve enjoyed diving into Seinfeld and cast interviews regarding the show. Harry had observations and material I’d never heard before.

I agree Larry David was the man. In interviews Larry David has described the stress and torture he felt writing scripts. Writing was something of a collaboration with Seinfeld and they did develop a process. Nevertheless, Larry David does a funny bit about how it was killing him. There was never enough time.

Larry David walked away from Seinfeld. He was tortured by the show. I love that. Larry David is an original.

Seinfeld is self deprecating about the fact he was not an actor - especially amidst the rest of the great ensemble cast. Harry’s Benson anecdotes provides additional context regarding Seinfeld’s acting. Seinfeld played himself.

Whether you consider Seinfeld funny or not it was revolutionary. Syndication has made a clear ruling on the question. It needs to be appreciated in the context of the times. 80’s & 90’s television was largely dark and unimaginative. Spin-offs and formula. Never saw a single episode of Benson. I personally imagine Harry Hollywood was part of the machine that ground out that product. How the factory ran is very very interesting to me.

Finally, the issue of Jimmy Fallon. Orko conflating Jerry Seinfeld with Jimmy Fallon is some pretty spiteful shit. Certainly he was exaggerating for effect. He is correct that Fallon is the single most over rated, least genuine, untalented feeb on television today.

Yes Mission, Harry can write. He has the potential to do something huge. In kindness, I offer my observation that he lacks a perspective. He relates facts but not an attitude. Mission has attitude. What overall message does Harry want to convey about the era? Perhaps I’ve missed it.

Sanlmar I appreciate the faith in me but I am not looking to do anything huge. You mention that I was part of the machine which produced shows like Benson. While I did not work on that show specifically, your description is generally correct. The television shows of that era were definitely part of what one might call a machine, and I was a cog within it. I still am.

My presence here is not to come with attitude but to provide a window into a world which most of you see from the outside, but typically with little view inside. When you do get a look inside, it tends to be very negative and filled with drama, as someone has a gripe and tattles their version to reporters. This gives some people the incorrect impression that sets are full of constant acrimony. I really have no gripes, and I try to provide a balanced and matter of fact view. It does fascinate me how different the personality types are that you encounter in Hollywood. Often the viewer has no idea, as the personalities you see on screens are manufactured by the script. The nicest guy on screen can be a complete jerkwad in real life, and vice versa.

I also rarely discuss the recent controversies regarding Hollywood and its political posturing. I must say that has saddened me to witness, as I believe I have stated before. For most of my life, I was a moderate liberal. I thought it was a good thing when television progams helped gently push along social issues, such as acceptance, compassion, and non-discrimination. However what we see today is that concept on steroids, and it is resulting in the opposite effect than intended. I did not vote for Donald Trump, but it is my opinion that many supported him as an act of rebellion against Hollywood's preaching. There are some very entitled young people on set who think that the world must bend to their activism. Social media has given them a much louder voice than they deserve. In my day coming up, I had my opinions, but a lack of influence to push them. This, in hindsight, was a good thing. Today with social media, a lot of the younger, inexperienced folks erroneously believe they are and should be in control. I no longer consider myself a Democrat or a liberal, though I am also not a conservative. For the first time in my life, I feel politically homeless.

[tyde]

Harry do you have any insight into Hollywood essentially being a cabal of pedophiles and satanists ?

[lol wow]

be eaaaaaaaaaasssy brother tyde this guy might have known the gaffer on die hard and for that we thank you

[Texter]

When Harry retires I’ll donate to a whos Harry Hollywood freeroll.

Harry can give cryptic clues and whomever solves the mystery takes the pot.