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<v Speaker 1>The Other Side of Midnight Randy West in Los Angeles,

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<v Speaker 1>in Hollywood, a bomb vivant. One of the great assets

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<v Speaker 1>to American television is Randy West. He's been an announcer

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<v Speaker 1>on many of the shows that you enjoy, such as

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<v Speaker 1>The Price Is Right. He is fascinated by the history

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<v Speaker 1>of television and especially the history of game shows. He's

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<v Speaker 1>any game show question I've ever had, he answers. And

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<v Speaker 1>he's writing the definitive book on Television City in Hollywood.

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<v Speaker 1>And you and I for years thought that was a

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<v Speaker 1>made up thing that they just called the normal building.

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<v Speaker 1>That no, No. Television City is an astonishing, an astonishing construction,

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<v Speaker 1>and he's writing the history of it. Many pictures stories.

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<v Speaker 1>Can't wait to see that book. Randy West, Welcome to

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<v Speaker 1>the Other side of Midnight.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, thank you so much. Roll. It's a thrill to

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<v Speaker 2>be with you always. And you give me such a

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<v Speaker 2>write up that makes me think introduction here that I

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<v Speaker 2>should be asking for a raise.

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<v Speaker 1>From some You should be. But every word I said

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<v Speaker 1>is true. Now we're fascinated by conspiracies and mysteries. And

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<v Speaker 1>I said to Randy West, think about the spy, the

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<v Speaker 1>conspiracy and mystery that intrigues you most, and Randy, why

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<v Speaker 1>don't you share that? Now?

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<v Speaker 2>It took me no time at all to come up

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<v Speaker 2>with a great story of Dorothy Kilgallen. Now, folks from

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<v Speaker 2>a generation past would know her as a columnist in

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<v Speaker 2>over two hundred newspapers, of course for many years, about

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<v Speaker 2>fifteen of them on Sunday Night TV show What's My Line,

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<v Speaker 2>where he used to guess people's occupation and her claim

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<v Speaker 2>to fame. I was an investigative reporter, and she refused

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<v Speaker 2>to say no to some stories. She was the first

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<v Speaker 2>person to write about Project Mongoose, which was the CIA

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<v Speaker 2>and Fidel Castro. She was the first who opened the

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<v Speaker 2>reopened the Fugitive Case, which was the Sam Shepard murder

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<v Speaker 2>case that became the Fugitive TV show and movie. And

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<v Speaker 2>she also dabbled and hinting about the truth between Marilyn

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<v Speaker 2>Monroe and the Kennedy brothers, Robert and President John Kennedy,

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<v Speaker 2>which we now have come to understand is real. But

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<v Speaker 2>she was telling these stories when they were not in

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<v Speaker 2>fashion and certainly weren't proven at the time, and she

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<v Speaker 2>dug a little too deep and doug she dug her

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<v Speaker 2>own grave. What can I say she was very intrigued

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<v Speaker 2>by the Kennedy assassination, as we all were, but she

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<v Speaker 2>had a personal stake in it because she was friends

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<v Speaker 2>with John Kennedy and they used to play charades at

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<v Speaker 2>the White House with her son. It's a crazy story.

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<v Speaker 2>So she was really broken hearted when Kennedy was shot,

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<v Speaker 2>and we all were, of course, and she refused to

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<v Speaker 2>let the story die, and she would put in her

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<v Speaker 2>column that the story will not die as long as

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<v Speaker 2>as a reporter alive. And I'm that reporter. And she

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<v Speaker 2>basically invited her own, what can I say, involuntary suicide

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<v Speaker 2>because she received a number of death threats that she

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<v Speaker 2>ignored and continue to pound down about setting this story straight. Now,

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<v Speaker 2>how does she get much of the information that she got,

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<v Speaker 2>which turned out to be far more truth than we

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<v Speaker 2>ever heard. Well, she had a relationship with Melvin Belli,

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<v Speaker 2>who was a big attorney at the time, and bell

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<v Speaker 2>I used to feed her stories that she could put

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<v Speaker 2>into the column as hints and vice versa. They had

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<v Speaker 2>a cooperative relationship. And of all the attorneys in the world,

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<v Speaker 2>guess who was representing Jack Ruby Melvin Belly. So she

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<v Speaker 2>gets two opportunities to talk one on one with Jack

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<v Speaker 2>Ruby without a guard within earshot. No other reporter had

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<v Speaker 2>that access. They pushed the guards back in view, of

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<v Speaker 2>course of the cell, but that she could speak quietly

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<v Speaker 2>with Jack Ruby. And the story that she told is

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<v Speaker 2>what got her in trouble. And she was gone in

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<v Speaker 2>a matter of weeks of her beginning to get too

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<v Speaker 2>close to telling the story publicly and over two hundred newspapers.

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<v Speaker 2>Her demise is the one we're talking about, not so

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<v Speaker 2>much John Kennedy's. So what happened to her, Well, there

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<v Speaker 2>was a Sunday night that she did her last What's

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<v Speaker 2>My Line show November seventh of nineteen sixty five, if

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<v Speaker 2>I remember, and she was running around the Ed Sullivan

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<v Speaker 2>Theater talking about how she's about to blow the lid

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<v Speaker 2>off this case and the Warren Commission is a laughingstock

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<v Speaker 2>and all this what was happening Shortly that she was

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<v Speaker 2>going to really rip the story open. She got an

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<v Speaker 2>appointment to meet with Carlos Marcello, who was the big

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<v Speaker 2>mafia don in New Orleans, and she was going to

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<v Speaker 2>get on a plane and go down there. Within days

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<v Speaker 2>of that appointment, she was gone. And what her last

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<v Speaker 2>Sunday night was the last time most of her friends

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<v Speaker 2>saw her.

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<v Speaker 1>What do you think she was going to find out?

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<v Speaker 1>What the gangster in New Orleans?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, what do I think that the Well, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>I don't want to make conjecture on this because it's

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<v Speaker 2>going to alien it's alienate some people. But you know,

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<v Speaker 2>the government itself was against John Kennedy. He was going

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<v Speaker 2>to break up the CIA into a thousand pieces. And

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<v Speaker 2>the government, CIA specifically and the mafia were hand in

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<v Speaker 2>hand in Project Mongoose, hand in hand working together to

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<v Speaker 2>kill Fidel Castro. So there was a connection between the

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<v Speaker 2>two and both had the exact same motive because again

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<v Speaker 2>John Kennedy was not in favor CIA and the establishment,

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<v Speaker 2>a Democrat out on his own in an era when

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<v Speaker 2>Republicans were in charge and calling the shots. And the

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<v Speaker 2>other half of it, of course, that the mafia was

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<v Speaker 2>involved and had the same goals as the government, was

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<v Speaker 2>that Bobby Kennedy, who John Kennedy made Attorney General, would

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<v Speaker 2>not leave the mafia alone. I mean, he was having

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<v Speaker 2>them on the hearings and w retz and browbeating, and

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<v Speaker 2>the only way to end that Attorney General's investigation as

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<v Speaker 2>the Mafia supposedly said, is you cut off the head

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<v Speaker 2>and the tail will stop wagging.

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<v Speaker 1>What always surprised me about Robert Kennedy's attack on the

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<v Speaker 1>mafia was it was well known that their father was

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<v Speaker 1>in cahoots with the mafia in Chicago and swung the

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<v Speaker 1>votes toward their son with the mob in Chicago, and

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<v Speaker 1>therefore the mob had some reason to be pretty ticked

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<v Speaker 1>off at the Kennedy's doing it.

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<v Speaker 2>I promise they get my son in it and will take

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<v Speaker 2>care of you.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and you know, you just that's just a bad plan.

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<v Speaker 1>And when dealing with the with the mafia, it's just

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<v Speaker 1>a bad plan. Now tell us how she died. Please

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<v Speaker 1>tell us what they found in her very wealthy townhouse.

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<v Speaker 2>Do you know? Yes, she left Watch My Line that

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<v Speaker 2>Sunday night and went with the cast crew to PJ. Rourke's,

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<v Speaker 2>where they always went for drinks. She had a couple

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<v Speaker 2>of vodka tonics, and then she said, don't take me

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<v Speaker 2>home tonight. If anyone could drop me, because he used

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<v Speaker 2>to drop each other off, if anyone could drop me

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<v Speaker 2>at what was the name of the Regency House hotel,

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<v Speaker 2>she was going to meet a new friend quote unquote

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<v Speaker 2>maybe a romantic person. We weren't really clear, and they

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<v Speaker 2>dropped her at the Regency and a guy I became

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<v Speaker 2>friendly with, Bill Egan. I met him and he was

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<v Speaker 2>a very old man in nineteen ninety. He was at

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<v Speaker 2>an Oakwood apartment complex where I was sitting around the

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<v Speaker 2>pool and we just started talking. He had worked on

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<v Speaker 2>What's My Line? He was there the last night of

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<v Speaker 2>Darthy kill Gallan's life and said she wanted to go

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<v Speaker 2>to the Regency House. We didn't understand why we dropped

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<v Speaker 2>her off there. She was seen there. The piano player

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<v Speaker 2>got off at two am at the bar where she

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<v Speaker 2>was speaking to this gentleman nobody knows, and he said, oh, yes,

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<v Speaker 2>she was deep conversation with him at two o'clock in

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<v Speaker 2>the morning. Come eight thirty in the morning, she's in

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<v Speaker 2>her bed in her lovely townhouse and her hairdresser is

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<v Speaker 2>coming because she has a morning appointment and she had

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<v Speaker 2>personal hair and makeup come to her house. They had

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<v Speaker 2>the key. They go into the room where she's normally sleeping.

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<v Speaker 2>If she's not there, they go around the townhouse and

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<v Speaker 2>they find her in the room she hadn't slept in

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<v Speaker 2>since her husband and she had been there and her

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<v Speaker 2>husband had been unfaithful, so she stopped sleeping in that room.

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<v Speaker 2>But suddenly she was in this master bedroom that she

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<v Speaker 2>hadn't used in years. She had a hair piece still

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<v Speaker 2>on that she would have taken off at night. She

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<v Speaker 2>was still wearing makeup. She had a book at the

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<v Speaker 2>side of a bed that she had already finished, but

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<v Speaker 2>she had no eyeglasses. She was blind as far as

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<v Speaker 2>reading a book without glasses. There were no glasses in sight.

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<v Speaker 2>The medication as they pump from her stomach for toxicology,

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<v Speaker 2>they wasn't in the room anywhere. A lot of very

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<v Speaker 2>strange things like that that the hairdresser found in the morning,

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<v Speaker 2>and the wrong room, the wrong book, no glassifications. It's

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<v Speaker 2>just a series of events spoken about by a guy

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<v Speaker 2>who used to enter in her home on his own

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<v Speaker 2>with his own key as a regular thing. He'd come

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<v Speaker 2>in and wake her up and do her hair and makeup.

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<v Speaker 2>So this is somebody who knew her habits very very well.

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<v Speaker 2>So between somewhere after two of the morning when the

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<v Speaker 2>pianist saw them and this eight o'clock in the morning,

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<v Speaker 2>she's gone and staged in her own townhouse.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a remarkable story, and it makes perfect sense. It's

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<v Speaker 1>hard to explain and imagine how powerful she was at

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<v Speaker 1>that moment in time. That was at the height of

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<v Speaker 1>her powers. She was the most successful columnist for the

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<v Speaker 1>Herst organization. She was paid a fortune because when her

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<v Speaker 1>townhouse was at the time, that townhouse was worth nine

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<v Speaker 1>million dollar. So she was very wealthy, very famous, very visible,

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<v Speaker 1>and made the curious mistake of announcing that she had

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<v Speaker 1>a scoop, a rare thing for a columnist, right there

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<v Speaker 1>to announce that she had a scoop, and it was

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<v Speaker 1>a deadly scoop. Randy West, congratulations on being the man

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<v Speaker 1>to write the book about Television City. Two questions about

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<v Speaker 1>Television City. Yeah, about how many shows do you think

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<v Speaker 1>were produced there? Different productions? How many do you think

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<v Speaker 1>was produced there?

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<v Speaker 2>Over one thousand and this was active from nineteen fifty

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<v Speaker 2>two until the present.

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<v Speaker 1>And at any given time, based on the volume of

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<v Speaker 1>studios they had, how many shows could be in production

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<v Speaker 1>at a time.

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<v Speaker 2>That's a great question, because before videotape, you could really

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<v Speaker 2>only have one show a day in each studio. Videotape

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<v Speaker 2>came in in nineteen fifty six, and suddenly they could

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<v Speaker 2>turn these rooms around. So for example, when I worked

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<v Speaker 2>in the studio thirty three, we did the Price is

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<v Speaker 2>Right and we would leave at seven or eight o'clock

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<v Speaker 2>in the evening. By the next morning, at seven am,

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<v Speaker 2>the studios totally reset as if it had been that

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<v Speaker 2>way forever for another show. That other show tapes, and

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<v Speaker 2>then the next day the match game is in for

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<v Speaker 2>Saturday and Sunday, and then when they're done on Sunday night,

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<v Speaker 2>the room gets turned around. So some of these stages

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<v Speaker 2>did quadruple and beyond duty, meeting multiple shows, sometimes two

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<v Speaker 2>in the same day if the sets weren't very like

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<v Speaker 2>For example, there were two soaps in one studio at

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<v Speaker 2>the same time, shooting on opposite walls of the studio.

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<v Speaker 2>So there were a finite number of studios, but an

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<v Speaker 2>infinite number of shows. Because there was an overnight crew

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<v Speaker 2>that did the most amazing It's a show nobody ever

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<v Speaker 2>saw at Television City. They used to pack up everything,

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<v Speaker 2>move it all out, and then bring these entire sets, furniture,

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<v Speaker 2>set dressings, props. The whole place would be redone as

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<v Speaker 2>if it had been that way all along. Think for

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<v Speaker 2>a moment about all in the family you know what

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<v Speaker 2>that set looked like, that living room with the chairs

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<v Speaker 2>and all that uff. Well, that came and went every week.

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<v Speaker 2>It was set like that, and then it was ripped

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<v Speaker 2>apart when they got through taping on Friday nights, other

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<v Speaker 2>shows came in, and then it was set up on

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<v Speaker 2>Thursday of the following week looking like nothing had changed.

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<v Speaker 1>Of course, then I have a price is right question.

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<v Speaker 1>It has always fascinated me that that's a very complicated

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<v Speaker 1>production for a game show, and they have tech rehearsals, right, yes,

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<v Speaker 1>how long did those take? What do they do? And

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<v Speaker 1>at what point does the host get involved?

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<v Speaker 2>Very good? The host gets a private briefing from the producer.

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<v Speaker 2>He does not come to the meeting. There's a pre

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<v Speaker 2>taping meeting where we go over all the shows we're

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<v Speaker 2>going to do that day to talk about anything that's unusual.

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<v Speaker 2>Then is the rehearsal for the first show, and we

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<v Speaker 2>rehearse the show backwards. In other words, we start with

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<v Speaker 2>a showcase, which is the last thing at the end

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<v Speaker 2>of the show, and then we go to the number

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<v Speaker 2>six game, then the number five game. We end the

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<v Speaker 2>rehearsal with the number one top of the show act

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<v Speaker 2>and that's because when we take the prizes out from rehearsal,

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<v Speaker 2>we lay them out in this long staging area in

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<v Speaker 2>the hallway. So the first thing out is the last

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<v Speaker 2>thing in, if that makes any sense. In the lasting

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<v Speaker 2>you rehearse, you put just outside the door, because that's

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<v Speaker 2>going to be the first thing in. And the rehearsal

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<v Speaker 2>takes no longer than the show itself, probably a little

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<v Speaker 2>bit shorter, and it's not necessarily because they're doing it

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<v Speaker 2>in showtime. But they'll bring a prize out and they'll say, hey,

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<v Speaker 2>let's decorate that a little put a little tree, our

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<v Speaker 2>official tree there, and hang a picture on that walls,

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<v Speaker 2>you know. So they're staging everything while I'm reading the

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<v Speaker 2>copy and they're getting their shots. When Randi says Rice

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<v Speaker 2>a Roni, let's shoot to camera two, camera three, you

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<v Speaker 2>pull back, bing bongoom. They all make notes and it's

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<v Speaker 2>like a well oiled machine. So you do the rehearsal

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<v Speaker 2>of the show backwards. Then you do that show. Then

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<v Speaker 2>there's a meal break. You do the same thing with

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<v Speaker 2>the rehearsal on show for the second of that day.

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<v Speaker 1>Randy West and I are talking about the production of

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<v Speaker 1>The Price Is Right which has always fascinated me, especially

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<v Speaker 1>since it's a daily game show. How many prices, right,

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<v Speaker 1>prices that show? How many could they shoot in a day?

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<v Speaker 1>How many did you shoot in one day?

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<v Speaker 2>Bob Barker was able to limit it to a day.

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<v Speaker 2>There are hour shows and two was it. In fact,

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<v Speaker 2>at the end of his run in his eighties, he

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<v Speaker 2>got it down to two on Monday, one on Tuesday,

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<v Speaker 2>one on Wednesday, one on Thursday. But Withdrew carry now

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<v Speaker 2>without that of clouch in order to tell them when

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<v Speaker 2>they're shooting, they're doing three a day, and on some

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<v Speaker 2>days doing four. Now these are four one hour shows,

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<v Speaker 2>each needing a rehearsal that runs very close to an

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<v Speaker 2>hour itself. You have two meal breaks that are required

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<v Speaker 2>by the union. So it's a ton of overtime and

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<v Speaker 2>it's a very long day, but it's still cheaper to

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<v Speaker 2>pay the overtime than to book and show. Everybody show

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<v Speaker 2>up for an another day, and it's murder. Anybody who

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<v Speaker 2>can do four of these in a day is just superhuman.

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<v Speaker 1>And then what do they do They get a week

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<v Speaker 1>off or two weeks off between that production.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, they'll do several days like that in a week

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<v Speaker 2>and then there's time off. Yeah, with under Barker was

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<v Speaker 2>he worked three weeks, one week off, work, three weeks,

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<v Speaker 2>one week off. The whole idea is to get this

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<v Speaker 2>all done, the whole season done as quickly as he can.

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<v Speaker 2>Then you're not paying rental on a lot of things.

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<v Speaker 2>You go back to prop houses. You no longer have

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<v Speaker 2>the presence that you needed. And everybody can go on

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<v Speaker 2>a long hiatus break. So let's get these all done

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<v Speaker 2>as quickly as he can. And some shows will take

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<v Speaker 2>an entire season in two months, and that's it.

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<v Speaker 1>The mystery of Drothy Kilgallan's death and the mystery of

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<v Speaker 1>how they produce The Price is Right, both cleared up

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<v Speaker 1>by the legendary Randy West, bon vivant of Hollywood, brilliant

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<v Speaker 1>television historian. And I thank you for your time tonight

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<v Speaker 1>on the other side of midnight. Thank you appreciate it.