Best. Cover. Ever.

 

The proposed cover of Carrie Fisher's next book, out in June 2011.

Exclusive Q&A: TV and movie memorabilia go-to guy Joe Maddalena on hunting and finding studio-dispersed "Hollywood Treasure"

In this exclusive chat with Retroality.TV, Profiles in History owner Joe Maddalena gives us the studio backlot back story behind his work as the entertainment industry's foremost TV and movie memorabilia auctioneer--all of which led to his starring role in the reality series Hollywood Treasure, premiering tonight on the SyFy network.

In your estimation as the go-to guy for Hollywood memorabilia, when did studios and networks begin to get savvy about preserving props—for auctions, for the collectibles market, for posterity.

I want to give you that answer, but you have to understand what happened first to understand the answer. In the 60s and early 70s they broke up the studios. All of the big studios were busted apart. FOX—they built Century City (in its place). MGM—they liquidated the lot. They broke up the studio system. The contract players, everything changed. So all of the studios liquidated all of their assets. So the stuff was scattered to the wind.

So you start with that aspect that very little of the old stuff was saved to begin with. This (set, prop and costume) stuff is a byproduct of the finished product. It’s really so ancillary to what they’re making with a TV show or motion picture. This stuff takes up tremendous amounts of room. And in Los Angeles this room is precious. So I think what happened was, after Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock Café kind of popularlized the idea of memorabilia—because they really were the pioneers of the field and brought a lot of awarness to the field—after that, more in like 2000, there was a systematic effort. There was Disney online, New Line online—a lot of the studios were able to start selling stuff online because ebay was a new venue and they thought it was a cool thing to sell things online.

They did that for a while and I think realized how much work it was and kind of stopped doing that. And I think now they outsource what they want to outsource and archive a tremendous amount of stuff. I think now most studios want to maintain archives and keep a few pieces. But I think they’re also learning that it’s probably a smart marketing idea to start selling stuff.

Last year, Michael Bay called me in the heat of Transformers 2 and said, “I want to sell a bunch of stuff. I want the fans to have it.” I went to the archives, I pulled out a ton of stuff and sold it. People were happy about it. There was so much that his attitude was, “Of course the fans can have it.”

I think it’s great that the studios do this, because I think it’s a worldwide currency. You go anywhere in the world and they know who the Terminator is. They know who Alias is, they know who Bladerunner is, (and) Edward Scissorhands. You tell a guy in China that you have the 1952 Mickey Mantle baseball card and he goes, “What?” And you go, here’s Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Terminator. And he goes, “Oh, yeah!” It’s a different experience.

It’s exciting to see this culture of pop culture preservation evolve in the last decade or two. When I wrote my Three’s Company book, I asked the show’s producers what happened to the trio’s couch; their response was, basically, “That’s a really good question.” If someone like me came up to you and said, “Can you help me find Jack Tripper's couch,” what might be the process you’d undergo to find such a treasure that hasn’t been seen in 25-plus years?

Something like that would be very hard to find. I would tell people who asked me, other than what you did when you wrote your book, it’s probably going to be a dead end. Because it’s a couch and it’s not unique (as a set piece) … My guess is it’s either sitting in someone’s living room or it doesn’t exist anymore. Those pieces are really hard to track down.

It’s more things that you’ve heard of that could still be in existence—and then it’s literally detective work. The good thing about my business is that I’m coming into contact with so many people all over the world—the public. People will call in and say, “My uncle was a set decorator. We have this …” We just got a fantastic thing in for our December auction. This lady worked at Warner Bros. and they had a lot sale one day. Her husband was a pilot and she went up and bought this cool, leather aviator cap. They came in to me and said, “We always wondered…” Inside was a Warner Bros. label that said, “Jimmy Stewart, Lindberg.” It’s the actual flight cap that Jimmy Stewart wore in the Lindbergh story (1957's The Spirit of St. Louis). It’s probably worth $10,000. That cap was not known to exist. If you’d asked me to find it I wouldn’t know where to (begin). But the fact is people did save this stuff.

I think what’s happening is because of what we’re doing and now because of this show, I think more things are going to surface. I think more of this stuff is out there than people ever imagined. I think with public awareness we’re going to find more and more and more of it—which is why I wake up in the morning.

Sad Days: Tom Bosley doesn't live here anymore : (

Tom Bosley with Linda Lavin and Jennifer Lopez in 2010's The Back-up Plan.

Another day when Facebook welcomes you to the world with a big fat (though well-intentioned) beeyotchslap. Mr. Cunningham, I just the other night watched you offer counsel to Richie and Potsie after they dressed in drag. Now who will they turn to? RIP, Tom Bosley ...

 

And if you see TV's other Bosley, David Doyle, on the other side, I hope the angels (you know, other than Farrah) don't get you two mixed up. And God, if you're on Facebook right now, please leave Mrs. C and Laverne and Shirley and company with us, okay? We need our '50s- (and '60s-, '70s- and '80s-)centric sitcom stars, too.

Suzanne Somers turns free "Sex and the City 2" publicity into a "Breakthrough" cinematic event ... here's hoping she pays tribute to her "Three's Company" cast and crew mates felled by cancer

UPI story link

Happy birthday to Suzanne Somers, who celebrates her premiere on planet earth today by announcing a "cinema event" on Nov. 4 and 9 called The Suzanne Somers Breakthrough Tour. This after receiving free and invaluable publicity a few months ago for her 2008 book Breakthrough in the Sex and the City 2 film. Whatever you think of Suzanne's controversial views on cancer treatment and other health matters, you've got to hand it to her: She still knows how to work it.

Ironically, and sadly, her Three's Company co-star Audra Lindley died 13 years ago today (on Suzanne's birthday) of leukemia at 79. Norman Fell and Don Knotts also died of cancer in 1998 and 2006, respectively. Three's Company's fantastic, Emmy-winning director, Dave Powers--who taught Suzanne how to work it as Chrissy Snow--sadly also succumbed to cancer in July 2008. And associate producer Wendy Blair, who also worked with Suzanne, passed from cancer in April 2009. Last but not least, the wonderful, talented Kim Weiskopf, a gentleman who co-wrote some of Suzanne's best lines during season 4 of Three's Company, tragically lost his 18-month battle with pancreatic cancer in April 2009. He was a young, hip 62--not too much younger than Suzanne is now (For more info about Kim's amazing life, see http://kimweiskopf.blogspot.com/).

Here's hoping Suzanne thinks of them, the inspiring lives they led and the courageous battles they waged during her tour. Perhaps she will donate proceeds from her tour to cancer charities in their names ... would be nice to see them get some free publicity, too, even if posthumously.

"Too Close for Comfort" actress Deborah Van Valkenburgh rocked last night's "The Event"--check out her 2009 reunion with lovely Lydia Cornell

See Deborah at 21:30