I`ve always really felt that I thrive in chaos. I think that the places where I`ve done the best have been the most chaotic. ”The Late Show” is a perfect example of that. It was a difficult place. And a very bitter time on the show, because after Joan Rivers (the original host) left, it was a mess. But I liked the opportunity of meeting all the new hosts, whereas everybody else was so frustrated that there wasn`t one permanant host. And there was a lot of resentment among the staff about who was I coming in to take over? Of course, I wasn`t the only producer on the show. But after awhile I was.
When Arsenio became the permanent host, he knew he was going to be taken out as soon as the ”Wilton North Report” (a replacement show) was ready. It was kind of, ”We`ve got 10 weeks, why don`t we let Arsenio do it?” So we did it, and it was a lot of fun.
I was Arsenio`s first choice for producer for his own show, but I wasn`t Paramount`s (the syndicator). (The show, which started in 1989, airs in Chicago at 11:30 p.m. on WBBM-Ch. 2.) I think it was because I`m young and they were launching a whole new show with a host that really hadn`t had a lot of experience. And they had never met me. If I was in their shoes, I think I may have had some concerns too.
But we just make such a good team together, Arsenio and I. And we had already done it. We had a lot of trust for each other. We respect each other`s opinions.
Arsenio had faith
We really provide a great balance for each other. I think because I come from a suburban environment (Wilmette; Hall is from Detroit), I`m able to say things like, ”I don`t understand that reference.” Part of it`s also because I`m white, part of it`s because I`m young, part of it`s because I`m a woman.
There are a lot of times where he says, ”Marla, you are so sheltered.”
Then there are other times when I`ll say, ”Hey, I grew up on the `Brady Bunch,` there are a lot of people out there that know that.”
Arsenio went out on a limb for me, seeing the (candidates for producer)
that Paramount wanted him to see, but continuing to insist that I get the job. He had a lot of faith in me.
When I interviewed with Paramount executives, they were very direct:
”Hey, do you really think you can handle the pressure? We`re going to call you up, we`re going to be screaming at you, Do you think you`re ready for this?” And of course, I said, ”Oh, yeah, yeah.”
Thank goodness the show has done as well as it`s done. When a show isn`t doing well, it gets crazy. Everybody points at something or somebody else as the problem. I think after meeting with me Paramount felt a little more confident.
I didn`t set out to be in television. My (late) father was a stockbroker, my mother worked in market research and in personnel. I have an older sister who lives outside of Boston. She had been a computer science engineer and now she owns a knitting store. My dad was very strong and very confident.
My mom was the one always saying, ”You can do whatever you want to do.” She was the kind of mother that was the head of the PTA, the head of the League of Women Voters-very involved. Both very strong. And both were very much individuals, and in that they were really good roles models.
When I started school, I thought I was going to be a lawyer. But there was an opportunity for an internship at ”P.M. Magazine.” It was just an opportunity to work in the communications field a little bit.
Then came that summer and I wanted to have some other kind of internship and I was looking into public relations and advertising. WLS-TV`s ”A.M. Chicago” was one of the places, too. I applied and was accepted. It was three days a week and it was a great group of people and that kind of set me off on this course.
I also worked at a New York public relations firm and a cable television company.
But originally, I thought I`d be a lawyer because I was very academic and used to debate in high school. I developed a lot of confidence.
On the debate team, I was the only girl. I think there`s a confidence that guys have in high school that women didn`t have. Maybe because the guys play sports together and build a certain cooperation and confidence from the competition.
I like pressure situations. The things I did in high school-debate, newspaper, theater-required that I always kind of be on the spot. I think I`m better that way. If you give me a day to do something, or you give me a year to do something, I`ll get a handle on it quicker than most people.
Ups and downs
The toughest time I`ve had was after ”Wilton North” went off the air. Fox asked me to produce what they were making up to be a new ”Late Show.” I didn`t really want to go back. It was a very hard show to turn down, but I did. And after I did, I didn`t get work. I didn`t really want to go back and do daytime. So I applied for a job at Klein & Friends (a television program development firm). It was only supposed to be a three-week job.
I took it only to start working again because I was very uneasy. When you`re working, all you want to do is have free time. When you`re not working, and don`t know how long you`re going to be out, you don`t want to spend money on a vacation or anything. I didn`t really feel that comfortable.
I really thought it would never happen ever again. To try to occupy my time, I starting running, went to the gym. Meanwhile, Arsenio told me about his show. My first thought was, ”I want to produce that show!” But he didn`t say anything because he couldn`t say anything. (Paramount insisted he consider others for the job.)
I would come home every night and listen to the answering machine, and nothing. It wasn`t that long-about eight months (from the end of ”The Late Show” to when she joined ”Arsenio”)-but you never know when (unemployment) is going to end. Also you don`t know when you`re going to get a job you love as much. (Fox`s new show never materialized.)
On the right track
I really think my success has come because I`ve gotten on the right track. I had great jobs that led to this one. I think the most important thing for someone starting out is that it`s better to be an assistant on ”Good Morning America” or ”The Today Show,” than with a small production company, even though at first you will have more responsibility with a small production company.
I felt like I was able to prove myself in these bigger shows. I think it helped me, because as I went to my next job, people knew about the places I had been.
And, I`ve worked so-o-o hard. I remember working back in New York (on
”The Morning Show” with Regis Philbin); I really didn`t have any friends, I was just working 12-, 16-hour days. One of my first jobs was getting the audience. I went out on 42nd Street to TKTS, where you get half-price tickets, and I would give out tickets for the audience.
Then I had the job of turning away people when we got overbooked. Some days there wasn`t enough of an audience and I`d be yelled at and other days
everybody would show up and I`d have to turn people away after they had schlepped in from New Jersey, leaving at 4 a.m. to get there at 9. It was really rough.
But the staff on the show turned over very quickly, so in the course of two years, I went from a production associate to the head associate producer. I got a lot of experience doing different things. That`s one of my strengths as a producer, I think, that I`ve been through the ground work. I know when I make a change how it`s going to affect everyone.
Working with Arsenio is very easy. He`s very comfortable working with women. (Much of the ”Arsenio Hall” staff is women.) He grew up with women. His grandmother, mother, godmother raised him. A lot of men may not like to be supervised by women, but Arsenio`s very comfortable that way.
But I`m very aware that this is the ”Arsenio Hall” show. I don`t have such an ego that I have to put my mark on it more than it is. Some people would say that`s a female trait. I`m not sure, but our director (also a woman) wants to make him look great. If there`s a shot that doesn`t make him look great, she`s not going to want to take it. And I only want guests on that are really going to make him look good.
Something else that I think is true is that women usually have really paid their dues. I think that women who get into good positions usually really have worked their butts off. And they usually deserve to be there.
Up the ranks
I really didn`t get any breaks that I didn`t make for myself in the business. I didn`t get a job from daddy. And it wasn`t that I was part of the old boys club. I really earned it. I think that`s typical of women.
And on this staff, the women have all really proven themselves. They`re people that have been the production assistants, the receptionists, the secretaries-really worked in the trenches so that as they`ve gone up through the ranks, they`re very qualified workers.
My work style is very informal and very open door. I think people have the feeling that they can say anything to me. We throw around a lot of ideas. If something goes wrong, I want to find out why, but I don`t get off on announcing in a meeting how someone screwed up. I never yell. That isn`t a relief that I get, which I think is very unusual. Very often there`s a lot of yelling, slamming of doors on shows like these. Arsenio`s not like that, either. We`re a very even keel kind of place. And we have a lot of fun. I don`t really think of it as a job, it`s just my way of life.
A full day
I work from about 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and then at night between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. I`m on the phone with Arsenio, watching all the different shows, talking about the next day`s show. You have to love it. Because it`s just so constant. I can`t watch TV without thinking of who I should be booking. I can`t read newspapers, see a magazine, without thinking about the show.
I do have a life outside work-on the weekend. I`m married. I went to New Trier High School with my husband, Steve Brown. He`s from Wilmette, too. We both went to New Trier High School. Actually, we even went to junior high together. We`ve known each other since we were 12 and have been married three years.
When you know someone that well and your relationship is based on so many years of friendship, it works. We have our own individual lives. When we went to different colleges, we kept our relationship going. We`re used to being apart. We`re not afraid that if we`re not together at night that the relationship`s going to fall apart. He knows I`m working.
He runs the West Coast branch of a family business called A.L.P. Lighting, an industrial sales firm. He`s asleep by the time Arsenio calls me at night. My husband is really proud of me, and he`s so supportive. He`s a very secure man.
Someone asked me the other day what I want to do now. I so much wanted to do this particular thing. Now that it has happened, I really want to enjoy it. I feel so fortunate to have it when I`m young and have energy, and have a lot of years ahead of me to think about family. It came together at a good time.
I don`t know that if I was 45 (and with children) if I could handle it. All these hours. It`s grueling. I`m not sure if my goal down the road is going to be balancing this job with a family and seeing if I can reach a point where I can do both things. I really want to make sure I appreciate how lucky I am to be doing this.
