Ronald D. Giles: September 2013

From 1968 to 1970, I had the pleasure (and pressure) of working with the #1 TV personality in Columbus, Ohio -- a wise-cracking, saxophone player who hosted the afternoon movie from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm dressed as a clown. He was Flippo, King of the Clowns, played by Bob Marvin, and the program was titled "The Early Show." This is an excerpt from my unedited manuscript, TV Stories, about working 35 years in Television with some of the finest characters.

For the Television Director, me (and every other Director who worked The Early Show with Flippo), the problem was getting all the commercials in, getting the movie all the way to “The End” by 5:57:30, while dealing with a performer who had a great sense of comical timing, but cared less about the timing of the show.

“I get paid to be funny and you get paid to control the show. That’s why you work in the Control Room and I work with a red ping pong ball glued on my nose.”

The only way to do all of this and let the Clown be the Clown was to roll off the movie during the break when no one could see it in order to make up the lost time that the Clown would consume. I would time the show down to the second before sitting with the Clown while he put on his make-up in the dressing room and then follow the plan to the second. I even had the Art Department make up a “The End” slide to superimpose over the movie in case we got in real trouble; I never used it, but the slide was always loaded.

Timing of The Early Show got more complicated when the Writer’s Guild at the Columbus Dispatch Newspaper went on strike. The station depended upon TV Guide and the Dispatch for printing TV schedules and our advertising of special programs. The lack of a newspaper was a big promotional loss.

In order to make up for the missing promotion, Station management asked the Booth Announcer scheduled during the Early Show to be the station's on-camera promotional vehicle, replacing the newspaper. Who was in the Booth? A man just discharged from Armed Forces Radio in Germany. He was golden-voiced, handsome, well-dressed, and straight-laced--a guy named Dan Imel, a perfect foil for Flippo’s zaniness. The break nearest the 5:00pm hour quickly became the highest rated break of all the Early Show because that was when I would schedule Imel. Flippo was witty and edgy with Mr. Nice Guy; Dan was ever the gentleman.

The Clown would introduce Dan, saying something like “and now here’s the only man I know who drives to work in a milk truck (standing up so as not to wrinkle his clothes) … Dan Eye-mul.”

“That’s Ih-mul,” Dan would say, walking into the frame of the shot.

The Clown would sing the tune of “You Say Potato and I say Potahto, “instead substituting the words… “You say Ih-mul and I say Eye-mul, you say …”

Dan would interrupt Flippo and start the promotion. “At 8:00 tonight on Green Acres…,” and the Clown would continue singing off-camera, humming the tune while Dan spoke. After the newspaper strike was settled, Dan became a permanent feature of the Early Show because the Promo segment had become so popular with the audience.

Sometimes when Dan was on camera by himself in a medium shot, chest up, the Clown would stand just outside the camera frame and slowly move his head forward, till just the curve of his red nose showed on TV; they would be inches apart. Dan would continue reading but occasionally do a side-glance at the nose. The comedic tension was palpable.

Once, a viewer sent me 15 brain teasers, for what reason was not clear. #3 was
“How do you pronounce the Capital of Kentucky, Lewisville or Loueeville?” Answer: “Neither. Frankfort is the Capital of Kentucky.”

I decided to give the Clown one of these brain teasers each day to ask Imel. Without the Clown knowing it, I would then give Dan the answer. Although the Clown always did the “snappers,” this was a reversal – which Dan and Flippo played to the hilt.

Clown: “Say Dan, I was wondering—if I had two coins that totaled 55 cents, and one of them was not a nickel, what are the two coins?”

Dan would look at him and say without missing a beat, “A nickel and a fifty cent piece, since one of them was not a nickel.” Then they would continue to look at each other, silently, staring. The TV staff, gathered in the studio for these two, would start chuckling; finally Dan would turn to the camera and start his promotion. The Clown always smiled. I never told Flippo how Dan knew the answer every time.

Whatever the timing problems with the show were, however, there always had to be time for Bob's signature goodbye at the end: Remember -- I love you; keep smilin' and don't fight.

TV Stories
by Ronald D. Giles © 2013

Flippo photo by Howard R. Krommes
Dan Imel photo by Ron Giles