William Clotworthy
Executive
About This Interview
In his three-hour Archive interview, William Clotworthy talks of his early years working as an NBC page in the late 1940s. He describes joining advertising agency BBDO (Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn) in October 1950, and details his 25-year career as a commercial television producer for the agency. He discusses several of the series for which he served as the ad liaison, including G. E. Theater (where he worked closely with host Ronald Reagan), Your Hit Parade, and You Bet Your Life. Clotworthy then outlines his work from 1979-91 as NBC’s Director of Broadcast Standards, where he primarily served as the network censor for Saturday Night Live until his retirement. Karen Herman conducted the interview on June 28, 2006 in Los Angeles, CA.
Related To This Video
Resources
Book: Saturday Night Live: Equal Opportunity Offender by William Clotworthy (2001)
YouTube video player - HTML5 compatible.
Highlights
William Clotworthy on representing General Electric Theater, hosted by Ronald Reagan
Clip begins at: 10:23, Duration: 06m 20s
William Clotworthy on drug humor and Al Franken on Saturday Night Live
Clip begins at: 10:38, Duration: 00m 52s
William Clotworthy on working with Gilda Radner on Saturday Night Live
Clip begins at: 20:16, Duration: 02m 34s
William Clotworthy on escorting Milton Berle's mother on Texaco Star Theater while he was an NBC page
Clip begins at: 05:17, Duration: 01m 10s- William Clotworthy on representing advertisers on You Bet Your Life
Clip begins at: 21:30, Duration: 01m 57s
Chapters
- Chapter 1
- On his childhood and early influences; on growing up in New Jersey; on majoring in drama at Syracuse University; on becoming an NBC page in 1948; on working at NBC during the 1948 election
Clip begins at: 0:41 - On joining advertising agency BBDO; on working for client American Tobacco; on the television department at BBDO; on Your Hit Parade; on directing commercials on Robert Montgomery Presents; on early baseball; on working on The Jack Benny Program
Clip begins at: 12:35 - Chapter 2
- On Jack Benny; on Lucky Strike and writing radio shows; on many people making their TV debuts on T his is Show Business; on moving to BBDO in California and representing advertisers on General Electric Theater; on writing Ronald Reagan's lead-ins and lead-outs for General Electric Theater
Clip begins at: 0:18 - On the format of General Electric Theater; on writing for the show; on representing advertisers on You Bet Your Life; on working with Bing Crosby
Clip begins at: 16:43 - Chapter 3
- On Sheree North's dance on General Electric Theater; on the 1952 political campaign and BBDO representing the Republican party - Eisenhower; on how they got Ike to wear makeup; on Eisenhower not liking television; on the Hollywood Blacklist
Clip begins at: 0:27 - On his 25 year career at BBDO; on General Electric True with Jack Webb; on radio and television commercials he worked on; on his friendship with Ronald Reagan; on how the television landscape changed over the years; on leaving BBDO and joining Standards & Practices at NBC, and getting assigned to Saturday Night Live
Clip begins at: 11:37 - Chapter 4
- On the importance of context for Standards and Practices; on Steven Bochco having trouble with Standards and Practices; on Charles Rocket and censorship on Saturday Night Live; on Sam Kinison going against Standards and Practices on Saturday Night Live
Clip begins at: 0:20 - On drug humor being allowed on Saturday Night Live; on pressure from outside organizations; on a controversial joke by David Letterman; on the people he worked with on Saturday Night Live
Clip begins at: 08:49 - On a typical work week at Saturday Night Live
Clip begins at: 23:51 - Chapter 5
- On Saturday Night Live' s production schedule; on Lorne Michaels; on working with the show's writers; on working with Al Franken; on challenges he faced as a Standards & Practices Executive; on memorable and less than ideal guest hosts and performers on Saturday Night Live
Clip begins at: 0:18 - On the season that Jean Doumanian ran Saturday Night Live; on Brandon Tartikoff bringing Dick Ebersol in to run the show; on cast members he worked with: Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Steve Martin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Jon Lovitz
Clip begins at: 14:03 - Chapter 6
- On working with cast members of Saturday Night Live; on a controversial David Bowie appearance; on retiring in 1991
Clip begins at: 0:18 - On his last days as the Standards Executive for Saturday Night Live; on becoming a Presidential historian; on consulting for the WB channel; on career regrets; on his title of "Editor" rather than "Censor"; on wanting to allow the word "fart" on Saturday Night Live; on advice to aspiring professionals; on how he'd like to be remembered
Clip begins at: 15:00
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