Silly Thinking

Hi reader and welcome to this special edition of "Silly Thinking With Douglas Lain" now union made.

Today we go to HBO for an edition of thier "First Look" series focusing on the behind the scenes production of "The Marlon Brando Show" which premieres here tommorow.


This is HBO "First Look"... at "The Marlon Brando Show"...I'm Brenda Vaccaro..


Getting a talk show of this magnitude off the ground takes skill, imagination, and a great personality...


MB: Where are the little after dinner mints? Those little pink and yellow mints....

It takes a great team...

Producer of "The Marlon Brando Show" Sid Byus...


"Marlon's great. First and foremost. Without him we don't have a show...."


MB: Cantelope. You thump it and you know... if it's fresh.... cantelope....

Set designer Mary Ann Von Vorhees- Newton....

"We wanted a welcoming set and we worked on several set designs as you can see from this early concept sketch....


Color was very important. You know... does it compliment the host?



Marlon was very 'hands on' in this process..


MB: I want a batcave. Or... a house. One time I was in a house in Vermont... the people were gone. It had a lot of wood... panneling and hunks of wood... big pieces. The people were not there....... I had a dog once. Named Seymour. Seymour the dog... he could jump. Oh he could jump..."

So with his input we decided on the set you see here....



Guest co-ordinator Bob Rudabegg...


Booking the guests, particularly early on, is key to the success of this show. So I worked very closely with Mr. Brando on finding the right guests for the first few episodes....

PRODUCTION MEETING. Sept. 24th...


BR: ...how about Al?
MB: Who the hell is that?
BR: Pacino. Al Pacino?
MB: He's a pimp.What about...Stan.... the florist?
BR: Well.... he's not a celebrity Mr. Brando... how about...
MB: Peggy Florez?
BR:I'm sorry who's that?
MB: Look... you... thing. I don't know. I want some peanut butter...
BR: Suzie get Mr. Brando some peanut butter.
MB: No. On the show... how about some peanut butter? And jam...


BR: well it was hard at first but Marlon was great...


MB: Look... what kind of man are you? You snail. You and your insects...I... You are a snail... in my garden... under the weeds... you pimp. You are a snail pimp....

Director Mike Domino...


When we were about to tape the first episode Marlon came to me with an intresting idea...


MB:... under the trees were citrus fruits. All kinds. Lemons...
People like you don't understand. If you really read the material. It's nothing. Here is an article from TV Guide dated Oct 1st. 1960...about a Ginger Rodgers special.."Miss Rodgers was in pink and her guest's shined. Tony Martin sang a medley of songs about the states... and the comedy was done to a turn by Soupy Sales and Stiller and Meara..." Do you understand? No...no...noo. Miss Rodgers was in pink and her guests shined... you mutt. You... mutt. Stiller and Meara...


With these ideas and a great crew the first episode was taped... here are some exclusive outakes for the premiere episode never before shown...




MB: I ought to fight you right here. Let's wrassle. Are you scared? You are a pig...


Dr. Brothers: I didn't know what was happening. Marlon attacked me. I was scared and think he is a sick man...





MB: Sing a real song you mutt. You are like a screaming dog bitch! Sing like this: 'You are my lucky star. I found you from afar...' come on you male whore... SING YOU BASTARD...


Justin Timberlake: I ran. Just ran. He scared me and I ran.




MB: Uhh uh. So you say that making this movie was a life affirming thing. The horses and the plains really changed your life? Let me ask you something, What kind of a man are you? That is nothing and you are nothing and this is nothing...


Kevin Costner: I liked him. He was nice.



Tommorow watch the results of all this hard work when "The Marlon Brando Show" premieres on "Silly Thinking". I'm Brenda Vaccaro. Goodnight.