Now that Jay Leno has settled comfortably into Johnny Carson`s ”Tonight Show” chair and the presidential primaries have wrapped up, America can turn its attention to the somewhat less ballyhooed but considerably more frenetic search for a man or woman or dancing bear to replace Ben Hollis as host of
”Wild Chicago.”
No bears applied to star in one of the wildest half-hour shows on local TV. But about 250 people did. Local actors, high school students and one hematologist sent their videotape applications to the WTTW-Ch. 11 studios on the Northwest Side.
”There was a lot of inventive stuff,” said Harvey Moshman, the show`s producer who was charged with the daunting chore of screening all the applications. ”Some went to great creative lengths. Others just seemed to have had a few too many drinks before taking out the camera.”
The army of candidates was eventually whittled to 12 finalists, and each can be seen in four-minute showcases that will air, six to each program, at 10:30 p.m. Sunday and July 5 on WTTW.
At one point there had been some thought of merely airing the video applications. But Moshman was interested in seeing how each would behave on a real shoot. And so over the last few weeks the potential hosts have been out in the field shooting segments at such places as the Kendall College Culinary Institute, the State of Mind Relaxation Center, Washburne Guitar Factory, Ash`s Magic Shop . . .
And on West Van Buren Street where, one bright morning a couple of weeks ago, a familiar looking man was sprinting down the sidewalk vanishing into one of the 1,386 or so doors of the main post office.
Close on his heels were Mike Davis, a camera on his shoulder, and Tom Siegel, carrying a huge microphone that dangled in the air like some strange toy snake.
In the building`s lobby, the man-local actor-writer Aaron Freeman-stopped to interview Bonnie Johnson, the post office`s communications specialist, as Davis poked his camera an inch from her face.
”I`m used to this,” said Johnson. ”I`ve done TV before, during the last-minute tax rush. And for the Elvis stamp, I was on `The NBC Nightly News.` ”
Class cutup
”Wild Chicago” may have been small potatoes to Johnson, but it wasn`t for many of the other postal employees encountered on the crew`s mad dash through the building.
”Hey, camera, over here,” shouted one woman.
The ”Wild Chicago” crew doesn`t so much encounter as attack its subject. Davis wields his camera like a weapon, poking it into bins of mail, circling Freeman, jamming it into the unsuspecting faces of strangers and into the guts of machinery.
It is TV as guerrilla warfare.
”And this is for what show?” asked a man sorting mail.
He was told and then he was recognized. He was Carlos May, who used to belt long balls for the White Sox.
”Isn`t this silly?” said Freeman to May. ”At this point all I`m trying to do is preserve my dignity. I had no idea they did things like this.”
And have since 1988, when ”Wild Chicago” was born; it is the creative brainchild of Hollis-theretofore best known as a class cutup at the Latin School of Chicago and the star of the ”Rent a Friend” video-and producer John Davies.
Refreshingly chaotic
It burst onto local airwaves with a refreshingly chaotic look, a rapid-fire 30 minutes of active video that poked into corners of the city relatively untouched by the bright lights of TV.
In his pith helmet and safari clothes, Hollis cut quite a figure, dashing about to such places as drive-ins, Tupperware parties and the Center for UFO Studies; interviewing all sorts of kooks, artists, animal trainers and, last year, the mayor of the city.
It was a frantic pace, and few were surprised when Hollis, citing the need to recharge his batteries after 400 ”Wild Chicago” segments, announced in May that he would be leaving the show.
Chicago as co-star
”Of course, we are sorry to see Ben go,” said Elizabeth Richter, vice president/production of WTTW. ”But there was never any thought to not continue the show. We have always thought of the city as being the show`s co- star.”
Of the city`s potential ”Wild Chicago” co-stars, Freeman is the most familiar. But any local theatergoer might also recognize Will Clinger, Russ Flack, Ann Harris, Rhonda Hampton and Kevin Crowley. There`s also Amy Scott, a WFLD-Ch. 32 reporter.
But the other members of the group are less well known.
Phillipe Gray is a college student. Karl T. Wright is a radio host. Laura Meagher works as an assistant director for TV. Jose Molinaro is the hematologist.
Finally, there is Katrina Sarson, an independent TV producer, who chose for her on-camera venture a trip to the Field Museum of Natural History.
And there she was looking rather squeamish as a metal box was opened to reveal any number of frighteningly exotic-but dead-sea creatures.
Davis all but dived with his camera into the tank and then into the skeletal jaws of what was once the head of a 600-pound grouper.
”Oh, my,” said Sarson. ”This is frantic fun.”
Technology driven
To be out with the ”Wild Chicago” crew is to realize that, unlike personality driven shows, this is a program powered by technology.
Davis and Siegel, who alternate on camera and sound, have been with the show since its birth and have helped give it its visual pizazz. To watch them operate is to appreciate the artfulness of those who work off camera.
”We`ve been called `P.M. Magazine` on speed,” said Moshman.
The energetic camera angles are what give ”Wild Chicago” part of its distinctive appeal. The rest takes place in the editing room.
”I sometimes wonder if we now have the show down to a science,” said Moshman. ”I wonder if we can put anybody in and make them look like a good host.”
Hollis was a good host. He brought a wide-eyed enthusiasm to the task, never the wise guy.
”What made it work was Ben`s ability to make the weird accessible,”
said Richter. ”In trying to replace him, the first thing I said was that if we try to find someone identical, that person will clearly suffer by comparison. We don`t want his twin. We want new energy-fresh face and fresh approach.”
During the week of July 6, Richter, Moshman and Pat Denny, WTTW senior vice president/production, will sit in a room and select the new ”Wild Chicago” host.
”Of course, we`ll consider viewer input,” Richter said. ”Clearly, anyone can pack a ballot box or have their friends make a thousand phone calls and we`ll watch that carefully. But what I think we`re after is a collective visceral response from the three of us.
”That will be difficult. Katrina (Sarson) worked for me for three years. I will have to separate myself from past associations, but I`m looking forward to it.”
Moshman isn`t worried either. ”Any of the 12 could handle it and carry the show,” he said. ”I`m delighted with them all and not worried about making a choice.”
Denny, too, can`t wait.
”I haven`t seen any of them yet,” he said. ”That way I hope to bring a fresher eye to the selection. I don`t know what will go through my mind when I see them. It`s always tough when a show loses a major star. But it`s exciting.”
High-profile job
Becoming the new host of ”Wild Chicago” will make one of the 12 a star. It is one of the most high-profile TV jobs in town and one that, by the nature of its format, is also one of the hippest.
But whoever is chosen-and that will be announced to viewers July 19-the show is likely to undergo some changes.
”Of course, having a new host leads me to think that show will move in new directions,” said Moshman. ”We will try to do pieces that we think are interesting. Segments will still try to capture the vigorous drive of the city. We may slow the pace just a touch, but it will still be wild `Wild Chicago.` ”
The final 12 said they are, among other things, ”anxious,” ”trying not to think about it,” ”taking a vacation” and ”drinking heavily.”
And what of the nearly 240 folks who didn`t make the final cut?
”Ah, who needs it?” said one of them, a local comedian. ”There`s too much pressure being a TV star. Just look what happened to Joey Bishop. He gets his own show and now you never hear a word about him.”
