Speech Two: The Most Fun Job I Ever Had!

(What follows is a much longer version of this speech.)

I'm not talking about the most career satisfying job or the highest earning job or the shortest work day. Not the one that was a stepping stone to bigger and better, but the one from the moment I got there in the morning was so much fun I didn't for a moment think I was working!

Who wouldn't enjoy a job where you could saunter in around 9:30 in the morning, have your lunch paid for every day? Where you get to go shopping in the morning and to the zoo or aquarium in the afternoon? Where you got to play games and go to exciting locales and be treated like a VIP?

I was fortunate to work for a children's TV show in Boston, MA for Channel 7 WNAC-TV at the time. I started out part time working as a sort of babysitter for the children who appeared on the show each day and worked my way up to Associate Producer.

But What Made It fun?

First of all the show's premise! The title character of Major Mudd was an astronaut who lived in a space ship who had some buddies who would visit with him each day and children came to watch and participate.

One of Major Mudd's friends was Billy the Milkman played by the very talented Dave Rodman. Dave played assorted other characters as well. I was able to listen to Dave and Ed write their 'bits' for the show and later take a small role in the writing the show. Ok, not really writing like you might think but I did make up the games! Silly games like who could break the most balloons the fastest.

And I did begin to write the 'tease' for each show. The 'tease' was a short poem or chant that I taught the children to say (or shout) together to introduce the show and Major Mudd. Really simple stuff, something like 'two four six eight, who do we appreciate, we're here today to celebrate, the Major, the Major, the Major!' I hope I managed a few more that were more clever than that but writing a different tease five days a week for almost every week of the year you begin to repeat and rely on old ones like the one above. I now have some small appreciation for anyone who writes for weekly TV shows!

The show had segments that featured animals and exhibits from the Boston Children's Zoo and the local aquarium and science museum. I transported some of these animals and exhibits back and forth sometimes.

But Wait there’s more!

In addition to all that fun stuff I was also responsible for answering the mail, giving out tickets to the children who wanted to be on the show (at one time we were booked six months ahead) which led to my first encounter with having influence!
I made name tags for the children and pinned them on each excited child each day. I herded the kids into the studio (including their parents) and I explained how things worked, answered questions and taught them the 'tease'.

I acted as an 'unofficial' stage manager for the children during the show. Since the kids generally bonded with me quickly they looked to me rather than the real stage manager for direction. Telling when it was ok to cheer, when to listen and of course preparing them for meeting their 'idol' Major Mudd.

A Boa around my neck!

I remember one show we had the children’s zoo doing a segment. They brought a big boa constrictor with them. I mean big. We didn’t want the children to be frightened so guess who got to wear the boa to show them not to be afraid?

I look pretty good in boa.

I was wrapped head to toe in boa with a big ole smile on my face. Now all of this happened off camera – which is where I did my thing. Once we were certain the children wouldn't begin crying - the segment was taped.

Nobody Came!

It was horrific weather the one day I got to be on camera. None of the children could make it in so just for grins they took a shot of me in the bleachers waving! My big break.

We laughed so much every day. And every day was different. Sometimes the kids behaved and sometimes it took some doing to get them to behave. Mostly just threatening them with not meeting Major Mudd did the trick - I only had to eject one child in four years.

That was my job – I was the warm-up person. All live shows have them. The person that gets everybody riled up and applauding? They tell jokes and ask questions etc. Well I played games with the kids like Simon Says and had fun teaching them the tease for the day.


One Very Special Christmas

One Christmas we invited Santa to the set. All the young ones – probably just the 5 and 6 year olds – got a chance to sit on Santa’s lap.

Now our Santa was something else – Joe Early was a make up artist and actor. This guy was Santa! The children were convinced that this was the real Santa and not just because he looked like Santa but he knew what they wanted for Christmas!
Oh my. You see Santa had an ear piece – and after gathering up some quick questionnaires from the parents – I fed Santa the skinny on each child. Oh their faces - what wonderful close-ups. It was great TV. What a wonderful day! And there were many.


Major Mudd and The Kennedy Space Center

My first business trip was flying to Orlando FL and visiting the KSC.
Since the Major was an astronaut we did some bits. Apollo 15 was being prepared – we scheduled the trip because it was supposed to have been on the launch pad – we had gained permission to go to the umbilical tower that stands next to the space ship – unfortunately the fueling schedule was changed to the weekend we were there and we couldn’t get close.

But that was ok - we still go to go places in the UAB that most tourists didn't get to go - and got to ride around in a big limousine! I liked being a VIP for a day!

The Rewards

The rewards were definitely not financial but there were rewards. One was being on the cutting edge of technology and getting to be part of it – I was part of the evolution of local TV moving from film based to video tape and from hand painted name tags to computer generated tags. I know - but this was a long time ago!

Another reward was the respect of those I worked with who showed me everyday that my job was just as important to the success of the show as their jobs were.

And of course it was an outlet for that performer trapped inside of me!

GOOGLE

In preparing this speech I googled Major Mudd and was delighted to discover lots of mentions.

Mentions by adults remembering being on the show as children or watching the show and they all had fond memories.

I also learned some real world lessons on the show, the biggest of which was, if the show isn’t renewed either are you!

For my first real adult job – I couldn’t have asked for anything better and in the vernacular of MM – I’ll be blasting You!