November 12, 2025 • 9 mins
How will streaming change the landscape of viewers watching live TV in the future? Alan is working on a Broadway show highlighting the life of comedian Rodney Dangerfield!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Show continues. Well, Alan's Ybell, the great writer, producer, comedian,
best selling author. Get is a book his life story.
It's very funny, a lot of great stories. It's called
laugh Lines. You can get it on Amazon. Laugh Lines,
and it's great to come back with us. Alan's y Bell.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
How you doing, I'm great. How are you Mark?
Speaker 1 (00:21):
I'm good.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hey.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
First, I want to ask you about the network TV.
Primetime Network TV used to be the biggest sitcoms and dramas.
It's all going away, you know, even Blue Blood's highest
rate to get canceled because it costs too much money
to do car chases and it's like making a movie
every week, and they replace it, you know, they replace
it with game shows and stuff.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Well, game shows are very very cheap to produce, right, yeah,
and very few car chases, you know, in a game show. Okay, now,
family Feud. I never saw a car chase. Yeah, you know,
it's what it is is. Yeah, you've got escalating a
production course. As a series gets older and older, it's
(01:03):
cast gets more money and more money, and after a while,
I guess the networks look at it and go, Okay,
what kind of return are we getting on these investments,
and it's a shame because a lot of good shows
get canceled for that reason.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Yeah, years ago Prime Time you got the thirty million viewers,
you could pay for everything. But now if you're going
to get two million viewers, you can't have a twenty
five cars in a chase scene and four thousand trailers.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
You know what it is. The pie is split into
so many pieces now, so many sessions. You know, you
would go back with showing our age. But there was
a time where it was only ABC, CBS and NBC,
and then Fox came along in the late eighties, we
had four networks. Now cable streaming all the other platforms.
(01:50):
Everybody is fighting for a little piece of that same pie,
meaning the viewing audience. Plus you know, it's no longer
a communal gathering to watch the show. It used to
be everybody was around the tv eight o'clock on Sunday
nights because then Sullivan was on, and then you changed
the channel, which was a big to do. At nine o'clock,
(02:12):
Bonanza came on on NBC. But now you know your
DV are it and you watch it at your leisure
or you'd get a family. I know there are times
where I'll discover that my wife and I, who are
in different rooms, Let's say in our house we're watching
the same show at the same time. We shouldn't we
be next to each other.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
No, yeah, not a good idea. But so last night,
all of a sudden, they had the Golden Girls thirtieth
anniversary or whatever it was, it special where they brought
them all back. And then next month, later this month,
they're gonna have Everybody Loves Raymond thirtieth Anniversary. Is this
the new cheap skate form of programming for network TV?
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Well, you know something, I think it's a combination of
a lot of things. You get. You know, it's fun
for the audience to see who they were about who
they were because you're still alive and young, younger in reruns, right,
this is what they look like now, we all age
thirty years. It's fun to see them together again. And
you know something, I don't know the cost of those things,
(03:13):
but it seems to me that everybody's happy to do it.
You know, years ago there was a Murphy Brown one,
and you know, if you go down a list, it's
been a lot of reunion shows, so you know, I
guess they're here to stay. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Also, if you were in the cast of the show,
you know, the big star might have had a piece
of the show, made a fortune or still a big star.
But if you were just in the cast, this is
your big chance to get back on television. Already forgot
about the cast.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Well, that's absolutely true. You're in front of a camera,
you're in front of an audience, and you go, oh wow,
she's still alive. Who knew?
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Hey, tell us about your working on this Ridney Danger project.
I can't wait to see this because it's everybody loves
this guy. Tell us what's going on with that?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Well, we had a reading of the first act a
couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
It went very well, Broadway show, right, a Broadway play,
This would be a Broadway show.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
And got this terrific director named Maritz I can't pronounce
his last name, Van, then s and a bunch of continents. Okay,
great director. And now it's going to be our turn
to go in and dig a little deeper and finish
the story that I've been working on. So it's really exciting.
(04:32):
You know, I love the theater. I've done it a
number of times off Broadway and on Broadway with Billy
Cristol's show seven hundred Sundays and Martin Short had a
show that I co wrote. So, you know, something being
you know, having come from live TV, you know, with
a an audience, and you write something in the morning
(04:54):
and it's on TV at night. This is the closest
you get to it because movies take forever and you're
usually doing the same same scene over and over again
for the crew, okay, and so to have an audience
response to something that you wrote is no better feeling
for a writer.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah, this is not a musical, is it.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
You can sing while you're sitting in your teeth, Mark,
but no, nobody on stage will be seeing.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Good, good, good.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
I don't want that. And well no, no, no, no, no no,
there won't be any no things oh good, oh good.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
It'll be now. Rodney Dangerfield great comedian, funny guy, but
there was like a dark side to him. Will we
see some of that?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah? I think you have to. I think you know,
you have a main character that had demons and had
vices and there are reasons for it, and but what
the reason he was such a hero is that he
took those demons and he took those vices and the
things that he felt inferior about, and he made that
(05:58):
into his act. I don't get no respect, Okay. It
was he looked at head on, you know what I mean.
So that came from a hurtful place, but at the
same time it was his way of getting a laugh,
getting acceptance from audiences, you know, and taking control. So
(06:19):
there's a great degree of heroism heroism there.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Yeah. Now, obviously casting is crucial, uh, And it'd be
great to star in this great Broadway show, this play,
but kind of unflattering if you're going to get cast
as Rodney Dansfield. Somebody says, why you look just like.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
You know. We've had some talks about it, but right now,
as the writer, I'm just writing it for Rodney and
Rodney's voice, Okay.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Once it's done and we're happy with the script, or
the producers are happy with the script, then it's going
to be time to talk Turkey. Okay, who can play him? Okay?
And then you know, there's I'm sure that there'll be
a lot of suggestions. I'm sure there will be a
lot of disagreements, and you know, in some stars are
so big that you know they don't know addition, so
(07:11):
you got to guess whether or not So and so
can do it. You know. It's but that's down the road.
So right now I'm pretending like Rodney's still alive and
he's on stage delivering what I'm writing. Now.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
The only other problem Rodney had incredible delivery for those
one liners. And I don't care how good an actor
you are, You're not gonna have that comic delivery. That's
going to be a problem, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Well, you know something, a lot of people impersonate him.
You're right, Rodney did have that great delivery and the timing.
You know, I remember when I wrote for him. This
is before Saturday Night Live, so this is fifty one,
fifty two years ago.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Now.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
He would labor over syllables, or he would take a pause,
or he would you know, look off stage. It was
all calculated. What seemed like an had lib what seemed like,
in the moment a sort of reaction that he would have.
Those were very, very well rehearsed. It was like jazz,
(08:12):
you know what I mean. He was free flowing, but
at the same time he knew but he knew where
he was going.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Wow, Yeah, he was a real craftsman. He would record
every show's little cassette recorder and he had those index cards.
Absolutely well, right faster, we want to see this. This
is going to be a big I guarantee this will
be a huge, huge, blockbuster hit.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Well, I sure hope. So I just want to get
these words do on paper so we can take the
next step. But thank you for your confidence. I know.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Is there is there any idea, any date, any idea
when to lappen?
Speaker 2 (08:43):
No, no, no, I think that will happen once everyone's satisfied
with the script and then to look at the calendar,
to look at you know. The biggest thing also was
one or theaters available, you know, so those will be
in the hands of people like producers and agents and
whatever who know that is the business.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Well, Alan's white Belt, great talking to everybody. Get his
book laugh Lines. You've got a lot of great stories
and you'll learn a lot about a lot about the
entertainment and show business and comedy books called Laughlines. It's
on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter and all
of that. And Alan's white Belt. Thanks for being with.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Us, Thanks for having me Mark, see you so all right?
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Take care? Oh yes, everybody loves Raymond. If you're there
is going to be a reunion, I'll tell you all
about it coming up in the next hour. Hey don't
forget Buck and Clay at noon today with an excellent show,
and then Bell most listened to radio show in America,
Sean Hannity at three, Jesse Kelly at six, and we're
thrilled to have Jimmy Fayla in the lineup now. He
(09:45):
does a very funny, excellent show every night at nine
on seven to ten, wo R
Show continues. Well, Alan's Ybell, the great writer, producer, comedian,
best selling author. Get is a book his life story.
It's very funny, a lot of great stories. It's called
laugh Lines. You can get it on Amazon. Laugh Lines,
and it's great to come back with us. Alan's y Bell.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
How you doing, I'm great. How are you Mark?
Speaker 1 (00:21):
I'm good.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hey.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
First, I want to ask you about the network TV.
Primetime Network TV used to be the biggest sitcoms and dramas.
It's all going away, you know, even Blue Blood's highest
rate to get canceled because it costs too much money
to do car chases and it's like making a movie
every week, and they replace it, you know, they replace
it with game shows and stuff.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Well, game shows are very very cheap to produce, right, yeah,
and very few car chases, you know, in a game show. Okay, now,
family Feud. I never saw a car chase. Yeah, you know,
it's what it is is. Yeah, you've got escalating a
production course. As a series gets older and older, it's
(01:03):
cast gets more money and more money, and after a while,
I guess the networks look at it and go, Okay,
what kind of return are we getting on these investments,
and it's a shame because a lot of good shows
get canceled for that reason.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Yeah, years ago Prime Time you got the thirty million viewers,
you could pay for everything. But now if you're going
to get two million viewers, you can't have a twenty
five cars in a chase scene and four thousand trailers.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
You know what it is. The pie is split into
so many pieces now, so many sessions. You know, you
would go back with showing our age. But there was
a time where it was only ABC, CBS and NBC,
and then Fox came along in the late eighties, we
had four networks. Now cable streaming all the other platforms.
(01:50):
Everybody is fighting for a little piece of that same pie,
meaning the viewing audience. Plus you know, it's no longer
a communal gathering to watch the show. It used to
be everybody was around the tv eight o'clock on Sunday
nights because then Sullivan was on, and then you changed
the channel, which was a big to do. At nine o'clock,
(02:12):
Bonanza came on on NBC. But now you know your
DV are it and you watch it at your leisure
or you'd get a family. I know there are times
where I'll discover that my wife and I, who are
in different rooms, Let's say in our house we're watching
the same show at the same time. We shouldn't we
be next to each other.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
No, yeah, not a good idea. But so last night,
all of a sudden, they had the Golden Girls thirtieth
anniversary or whatever it was, it special where they brought
them all back. And then next month, later this month,
they're gonna have Everybody Loves Raymond thirtieth Anniversary. Is this
the new cheap skate form of programming for network TV?
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Well, you know something, I think it's a combination of
a lot of things. You get. You know, it's fun
for the audience to see who they were about who
they were because you're still alive and young, younger in reruns, right,
this is what they look like now, we all age
thirty years. It's fun to see them together again. And
you know something, I don't know the cost of those things,
(03:13):
but it seems to me that everybody's happy to do it.
You know, years ago there was a Murphy Brown one,
and you know, if you go down a list, it's
been a lot of reunion shows, so you know, I
guess they're here to stay. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Also, if you were in the cast of the show,
you know, the big star might have had a piece
of the show, made a fortune or still a big star.
But if you were just in the cast, this is
your big chance to get back on television. Already forgot
about the cast.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Well, that's absolutely true. You're in front of a camera,
you're in front of an audience, and you go, oh wow,
she's still alive. Who knew?
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Hey, tell us about your working on this Ridney Danger project.
I can't wait to see this because it's everybody loves
this guy. Tell us what's going on with that?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Well, we had a reading of the first act a
couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
It went very well, Broadway show, right, a Broadway play,
This would be a Broadway show.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
And got this terrific director named Maritz I can't pronounce
his last name, Van, then s and a bunch of continents. Okay,
great director. And now it's going to be our turn
to go in and dig a little deeper and finish
the story that I've been working on. So it's really exciting.
(04:32):
You know, I love the theater. I've done it a
number of times off Broadway and on Broadway with Billy
Cristol's show seven hundred Sundays and Martin Short had a
show that I co wrote. So, you know, something being
you know, having come from live TV, you know, with
a an audience, and you write something in the morning
(04:54):
and it's on TV at night. This is the closest
you get to it because movies take forever and you're
usually doing the same same scene over and over again
for the crew, okay, and so to have an audience
response to something that you wrote is no better feeling
for a writer.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah, this is not a musical, is it.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
You can sing while you're sitting in your teeth, Mark,
but no, nobody on stage will be seeing.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Good, good, good.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
I don't want that. And well no, no, no, no, no no,
there won't be any no things oh good, oh good.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
It'll be now. Rodney Dangerfield great comedian, funny guy, but
there was like a dark side to him. Will we
see some of that?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah? I think you have to. I think you know,
you have a main character that had demons and had
vices and there are reasons for it, and but what
the reason he was such a hero is that he
took those demons and he took those vices and the
things that he felt inferior about, and he made that
(05:58):
into his act. I don't get no respect, Okay. It
was he looked at head on, you know what I mean.
So that came from a hurtful place, but at the
same time it was his way of getting a laugh,
getting acceptance from audiences, you know, and taking control. So
(06:19):
there's a great degree of heroism heroism there.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Yeah. Now, obviously casting is crucial, uh, And it'd be
great to star in this great Broadway show, this play,
but kind of unflattering if you're going to get cast
as Rodney Dansfield. Somebody says, why you look just like.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
You know. We've had some talks about it, but right now,
as the writer, I'm just writing it for Rodney and
Rodney's voice, Okay.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Once it's done and we're happy with the script, or
the producers are happy with the script, then it's going
to be time to talk Turkey. Okay, who can play him? Okay?
And then you know, there's I'm sure that there'll be
a lot of suggestions. I'm sure there will be a
lot of disagreements, and you know, in some stars are
so big that you know they don't know addition, so
(07:11):
you got to guess whether or not So and so
can do it. You know. It's but that's down the road.
So right now I'm pretending like Rodney's still alive and
he's on stage delivering what I'm writing. Now.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
The only other problem Rodney had incredible delivery for those
one liners. And I don't care how good an actor
you are, You're not gonna have that comic delivery. That's
going to be a problem, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Well, you know something, a lot of people impersonate him.
You're right, Rodney did have that great delivery and the timing.
You know, I remember when I wrote for him. This
is before Saturday Night Live, so this is fifty one,
fifty two years ago.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Now.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
He would labor over syllables, or he would take a pause,
or he would you know, look off stage. It was
all calculated. What seemed like an had lib what seemed like,
in the moment a sort of reaction that he would have.
Those were very, very well rehearsed. It was like jazz,
(08:12):
you know what I mean. He was free flowing, but
at the same time he knew but he knew where
he was going.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Wow, Yeah, he was a real craftsman. He would record
every show's little cassette recorder and he had those index cards.
Absolutely well, right faster, we want to see this. This
is going to be a big I guarantee this will
be a huge, huge, blockbuster hit.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Well, I sure hope. So I just want to get
these words do on paper so we can take the
next step. But thank you for your confidence. I know.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Is there is there any idea, any date, any idea
when to lappen?
Speaker 2 (08:43):
No, no, no, I think that will happen once everyone's satisfied
with the script and then to look at the calendar,
to look at you know. The biggest thing also was
one or theaters available, you know, so those will be
in the hands of people like producers and agents and
whatever who know that is the business.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Well, Alan's white Belt, great talking to everybody. Get his
book laugh Lines. You've got a lot of great stories
and you'll learn a lot about a lot about the
entertainment and show business and comedy books called Laughlines. It's
on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter and all
of that. And Alan's white Belt. Thanks for being with.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Us, Thanks for having me Mark, see you so all right?
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Take care? Oh yes, everybody loves Raymond. If you're there
is going to be a reunion, I'll tell you all
about it coming up in the next hour. Hey don't
forget Buck and Clay at noon today with an excellent show,
and then Bell most listened to radio show in America,
Sean Hannity at three, Jesse Kelly at six, and we're
thrilled to have Jimmy Fayla in the lineup now. He
(09:45):
does a very funny, excellent show every night at nine
on seven to ten, wo R
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