If you wanted to cast someone to oversee the General Foods shows for which Y&R was agency of record, you couldn’t do better than Bud Barry. Tall, handsome with white hair atop a ruddy complexion and a hint of an Irish brogue. Charismatic Bud Barry was most importantly a salesman. He could sell Hershey Bars to the Mars brothers. Salesmanship was the essential skill necessary to negotiate with the assorted Hollywood types that Bud dealt with on behalf of General Foods. Only a man with Bud Barry’s experience and temperament could wheedle concessions from that crowd.
Internally, Barry ran his department with little slack for ineptitude. The only time his face would turn more florid than usual was when he summoned his minions to his office for a grilling. "Now Colgan, what were you supposed to do that you didn’t?" And a shaky Colgan Schlank would spill his kishkes (guts) out, even confess to the seven deadly sins to avoid the wrath of a Bud Barry who thought you were holding out on him. Still the TV honchos on the west coast and the sitcom's performers loved Bud Barry.
I remember a meeting with George Burns and when Burns learned that I was from Y&R, he immediately asked about Bud Barry. "Bud has had some health issues" I replied. "In and out of the hospital." Why I followed up with, "His wife died." I don’t know. But in the context in which I blurted the sad news, George Burns laughed out loud. He could laugh; he was in his 90's. And that’s how I made George Burns laugh. Incidentally, Florence, Bud’s wonderful wife ran a renowned resale shop called Encore where some of New York's most famous socialites turned in their shmattes (hardly ever worn frocks) for immediate cash. My wife, Dorothy became friendly with Florence and was let in on a collector’s item, a Valentino coat owned by Jackie Onassis. Florence confided to Dorothy that Jackie was a ferocious hondler (bargainer) often asking more for her worn clothes than they were worth. Dorothy bought the coat and would trot it out for all her friends to see. It was a lovely A-line apricot colored garment. Dorothy treasured the memento though she rarely wore it. Eventually it disappeared from her wardrobe.
One day I got a call from Bud Barry asking me to come to his office for an important meeting. What could Bud want to see me about? Not one of those infamous interrogations. I don't even work for the guy.
"Chum, ( a greeting borrowed from Walter Bunker, Bud's west coast representative and a legend in radio and TV circles on the coast) I got a big one for you" said Barry jumping up excitedly from behind his desk. "I just bought Carol Channing for General Foods. I got Charles Lowe, Channing's husband, to throw in the lady to do commercials on the show". Since Carol Channing had never done commercials, this was a major concession and only the inimitable Bud Bud Barry could swing it.
"Here's what I need from you Mr. Hampel. I want you to tell me how to use Carol Channing in five or six commercials and then write them so they will be acceptible to her and Mr. Lowe and most of all to General Foods. I know you're goingto love this; I need them by Tuesday morning for a presentation to the client for approval." It was then Friday afternoon when Bud Barry was laying this on me. He's got to be kidding. "I've got all that time? Hell I could write the whole show in that time" trying to make a nervous joke out of a next to impossible request. Here's where I go on my ass was all that I could think of.
"Brother Hampel I'm going to put you up in a suite in the Plaza hotel for the weekend and you can order anything you want from room service. Send out for stuff if you need it. Bring all your writing gear and give me the best you got. This'll make you famous. Hell, I'll even supply the girls. Whaddya like, blondes, redheads brunettes, what other colors they come in? You name it you got it."
I'd be lieing if I said I didn't consider Bud Barry's offer. But my saner head prevailed and I trudged across town and caught a bus to our modest little home and my wife and kids in Wayne, New Jersey. And for one whole weekend I played husband and daddy , while never being uninvolved with Carol Channing.
Usually I put aside the first idea that comes to mind. That would be in keeping with the theory of "Don't Stop" which I always encouraged my creative people to observe. Try some more. There might be a better idea around the corner. But in this case I violated my own tradition. I felt so strongly about the first idea that popped into my head that Saturday morning that I stopped. "That's it." So I had the rest of the weekend to write the copy for Carol Channing and others she would interact with if my idea was accepted. It had to be approved by Barry, Ed Ebel, the head man at General Foods, Charles Lowe, Carol's husband and manager, Carol Channing, the producer and writers of the show and who knows, assorted others. This was a gauntlet that could chip away even kill my idea. What if they all didn't like it? You never stop fretting til the finished product is in the can, meaning produced and ready for airing.
The next time I heard from Bud was a phone call on a Wednesday afternoon from White Plains, the headquarters of General Foods. "Brother Hampel pack your bags. You' re off to meet with Hello Dolly. See you next week at the Bel-Air hotel." So began one of the most magical periods of my show business career.
Following are excerpts from a review in the Hollywood Daily Variety of Monday, February 21, 1966:
AN EVENING WITH CAROL CHANNING
"Carol Channing's first TV special was an unmitigated disappointment. Those who masterminded didn't appear to know how to transfer the gifted Miss Channing's many talents of song and mimicry to the small screen, and the result was a generally vapid and unfunny show. There was a cloying approach throughout most of the tint hour. It seemed as though those in charge theorized viewers wouldn't understand Miss Channing's great routines and her wonderful ability to mime, so they steered her into a cornfield instead, etc., etc.,...........
Producer-director was Bud Yorkin. Writers were Hal Goodman, Al Gordon and Sheldon Keller. Choreo by Hermes Pan was undistinguished.
INTEGRATED BLURBS IN WHICH MISS CHANNING APPEARED WITH ANDY GRIFFITH, JIM NABORS, EVA GABOR, EDDIE ALBERT AND "HOGAN'S HEROES GANG- ALL SPONSORED BY GENERAL FOODS-WERE THE MOST INVENTIVE, INGENIOUS AND AMUSING PART OF THE SPEC. WHOEVER PRODUCED THESE SHOULD HAVE PRODUCED THE SHOW."
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