Jiminy Glick and... Skip E. Lowe?

[Jim R]

I like to laugh. Lately I've probably been more focused on comedy than music, in fact. I enjoy Youtube for both, but comedy has been more on my radar recently. So, perhaps a week ago I happened upon a Jiminy Glick interview with Steve Martin on Youtube. I hadn't seen any Glick for years, and after I viewed this one, over the next several days I proceeded to view every Glick interview I could find... Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Lovitz, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, and on and on. Could not get enough, in fact I'm watching some of them two or three times, because I'm fascinated by comedic improvisation, timing, quick thinking and references, expressions, the straight man role, the whole artistic nature of it.

I have also been watching some interviews of Martin Short (by Letterman, Conan, etc), and kept my ears open for any comments about the Glick character, wanting to learn more about where the inspiration came from. The only thing I could find was Short referring generally to having seen morons on daytime tv who had their own shows, as well as old acquaintances with quirky voices and mannerisms. I get that, and just accepted it, but it seemed kind of vague with regard to the tv hosts.

Then today, within a week of "rediscovering" Glick, I went to Adam Carolla's podcast website, which I visit regularly. I see three somewhat dated interview videos linked on there, which happened to be mentioned during Adam's podcast today. They featured Milton Berle, Tony Curtis, and Shelley Winters. There's also a name attached to each video.... the host... "Skip E. Lowe". ?? I've never heard of Skip E. Lowe. I do a search, and learn that beginning in the late 70's, he conducted interviews of many major celebritiies and entertainers, but that these shows were mainly shown on obscure public access tv stations in New York and L.A. before being made available to some cable outlets in other large markets. Here's an excerpt from Lowe's 9/23/14 obituary from The Hollywood Reporter:

"Skip E. Lowe Looks at Hollywood, which debuted in 1978, had the host and his interview subjects facing each other in chairs and chatting for a half-hour. The show, which went unedited and often employed extremely tight close-ups, was often shot in high schools or community-room studios with poor equipment and lighting, on videotapes that Lowe paid for himself."

I watched one of the Lowe interviews (with Berle) on the Carolla site, and within about 30 seconds, I realize that this guy was (practically) Jiminy Glick in real life! Wow. I googled him, and then it all came together. Apparently Short had indeed mentioned Lowe as a basis for Glick, on one of his Letterman appearances. Anyway, I found all of this to be rather surprising and delightful, and I'm looking forward to watching more of Lowe's interviews. They're not quite as funny as Glick's, but they are funny with Glick as a reference point. I think it will be somewhat fascinating to see the "real thing" unfold in more depth.

[JSngry]

Ok, whoa, didn't pay any attention to the Glick thing when it was going, but I had to stop after the first ten seconds of this to catch my breath, even before the talking began:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrZXdjcKnss#t=15

• throwdown harpist
• left-handed trombonist
• trombonist holding instrument sideways
• trombonist playing with trumpet mouthpiece
• at first I thought the harpist was the guy who;s the Letterman announcer, but apparently Michael McKeon?

This E. Lowe guy, whoa....

My favorite Short character is Nathan Thurm. Woulde love to see Glick interview Thurm.

[Stereojack]

I have long been a Martin Short fan, since his days at SCTV. Even checked out the Jiminy Glick movie, even though the reviews were lukewarm.

But this Lowe, guy, what can I say? Wow!

Nathan Thurm was a brilliant creation, no doubt inspired by 60 Minutes.

[JSngry]

Was Roy Cohn at all an inspiration for Thurm?

[Jim R]

Sorry for the delayed response, I couldn't access the board last night.

Yeah, the harpist/bandleader (Adrian Van Voorhees) on "Primetime Glick" was played my McKean. He was interviewed by Glick on one episode, presented as though the scheduled guest hadn't shown up.

For me, the only way Glick really worked was in the interview setting. The spinoff skits with him at home with his wife Dixie (played by Jan Hooks), and his opening monologues on Primetime Glick didn't have the same snap.

I just recently watched an interview with Short where he talked a bit about the Thurm character. I think the biggest inspiration for it was actually a grouchy make-up woman who worked for SNL.

[Jim R]

I have long been a Martin Short fan, since his days at SCTV. Even checked out the Jiminy Glick movie, even though the reviews were lukewarm.

Doesn't surprise me, although I never saw it.

But this Lowe, guy, what can I say? Wow!

I was amused initially by the discovery, but he was just so bad... it's getting harder to watch him.