John Moffitt
Producer & Director
About This Interview
In his interview for the Archive of American Television, Producer/Director John Moffitt describes his start in television --as a production assistant on The Ed Sullivan Show. Moffitt details rising through the ranks to become an assistant director on the show during the mid-to-late ‘60s, and shares his recollections of several memorable guests including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Louis Armstrong, and Bing Crosby. He talks about producing television specials Good Vibrations from Central Park and Tribute to Monty Python and discusses directing the comedy-variety series The Richard Pryor Show, the late night comedy sketch series Fridays (with guest star Andy Kaufman), and the satirical HBO series Not Necessarily the News. In addition, Moffitt recalls the formation of Moffitt/Lee Productions, speaks of directing Comic Relief specials for HBO, and comments on the challenges of producing The Emmys. Karen Herman interviewed John Moffitt on November 20, 2003 for nearly four hours in Los Angeles, CA.
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Highlights
John Moffitt on a college visit to CBS Studios that changed his life (00m 52s)
John Moffitt on The Beatles' appearance on
The Ed Sullivan Show (03m 55s)
John Moffitt on Ed Sullivan not trusting a red light (01m 11s)Chapters
- Chapter 1
- On his childhood and early influences; on building sets for and acting in high school productions; on his comedic influences
- On what he wanted to become; on life at Dartmouth; on getting a job in the CBS mailroom
- On getting a job in CBS Operations as Night Log Clerk and then running Tel Ops and Slides; on disappointing Bill Paley
- Chapter 2
- On getting drafted and trying to get into the Army Pictorial; on writing and directing training films; on returning to CBS after the army and assisting Joseph Papp at the New York Shakespeare Festival
- On trying to get a production job at CBS; on joining The Ed Sullivan Show as a PA
- Chapter 3
- On Ed Sullivan selecting acts for The Ed Sullivan Show; on some of his favorite Ed Sullivan Show guests including Louis Armstrong, Barbra Streisand, Bing Crosby
- On cameras and production of The Ed Sullivan Show; on the show going to color in 1965
- On Bob Dylan not appearing on the show; on the production of the show; on censorship issues with The Rolling Stones; on the Beatles appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show
- Chapter 4
- On The Beatles' appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show (cont.)
- On working on The Ed Sullivan Show during the time of the assassination and funeral of John F. Kennedy
- On how The Ed Sullivan Show reflected the Civil Rights Movement; on how The Ed Sullivan Show did not reference the Vietnam War
- On becoming assistant director on The Ed Sullivan Show after working on a European mobile unit during the summer; on Sullivan director Tim Kiley; on becoming director of the Sullivan Show
- On directing music on The Ed Sullivan Show (i.e. Rolling Stones; Dave Clark Five); on The Ed Sullivan Show going off the air as Sullivan got senile
- Chapter 5
- On life after The Ed Sullivan Show - directing Good Vibrations from Central Park, Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, Van Dyke and Company, The Captain and Tennille Show
- On producing and directing The Richard Pryor Show
- On the formation of Moffitt/Lee Productions
- Chapter 6
- On creating, casting, producing, and directing Fridays
- On the death of business partner and best friend Bill Lee; On producing Not Necessarily the News and HBO's Comic Relief
- Chapter 7
- On his philosophy of directing stage comedy shows for television and on his own sense of humor
- On directing the CableACE Awards
- On his long association with the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Creative Arts Primetime Emmy Awards
- On producing the relaunched Hollywood Squares
- Chapter 8
- On turning down the chance to direct Saturday Night Live at its beginning; on producing the HBO reunion special Monty Python's Flying Circus: Live at Aspen
- On his current projects; on ageism; on his directing style; on loving live television and directing a feature
- On advice to an aspiring director - write and perform; on mentors; on how he'd like to be remembered
- On B-roll photos: of him directing in the army, with Louis Armstrong, of Milton Berle and Ed Sullivan, of him with Sullivan, of the control room on The Ed Sullivan Show, with the Beatles' drums, of Sullivan with staff,
- Chapter 9
- On photos from The Ed Sullivan Show, with Frankie and Annette, of The Richard Pryor Show, with friend Bill Lee, of Comic Relief, of Not Necessarily the News, of The Emmys, of Bob Hope and Danny Thomas, of promotional materials for Person to Person, The Late Late Show and CBS
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This is an absolutely amazing interview. I watched the whole thing and could have watched even more hours.
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