Tony Maietta:
Hello. I'm film historian Tony Maietta.

Brad Shreve:
And I'm Brad Shreve, who's just a guy who likes movies.

Tony Maietta:
We discuss movies and television from Hollywood's golden age. We go behind the scenes and share our opinions too.

Brad Shreve:
And of course, being the average guy, my opinions are the ones that matter.

Tony Maietta:
As does your self delusion. Welcome to going Hollywood.

Well are you ready to record Lucille how's your voice how's your voice doing.

Brad Shreve:
My voice is much better this week thank you i don't sound like froggy

Tony Maietta:
No you sound completely like brad you sound totally like brad good no more lucille in your voice.

Brad Shreve:
No i though i was quite honored that you thought i sounded like lucy that was i was our lucy moment

Tony Maietta:
You were our lucy moment for that That's true. You were for two whole episodes. You were a Lucy moment.

Brad Shreve:
Yes.

Tony Maietta:
Well, I'm glad you don't too, because especially as far as singing goes, because we have a very special, very special, special episode today, which is going to be mostly about singing because I'm so excited. I want to jump up and down, but I'm afraid I'll knock the microphone. I don't want to do that. We are talking about two of, in my opinion, and we'll find out what Brad thinks, the most incredible. Well, let me ask you this first. Before we go into it, Brad, let me ask you a question.

Brad Shreve:
Okay.

Tony Maietta:
What the hell were you doing when you were 22? I'm just curious.

Brad Shreve:
When I was 22, well, most of that's a blur because I was after work probably going out and drinking every night until six in the morning and then going to work two hours later. So that's about the size of it.

Tony Maietta:
You mean you weren't signing a $5 million contract with CBS to do five TV specials over 10 years at 22 years old? What kind of underachiever were you, Brad?

Brad Shreve:
You know, that's what my parents ask me every day.

Tony Maietta:
So so listeners we are today we're talking about two the two uh streisand specials from, 1965 and 1966 the first two the book ends we're talking about my name is barbara, from 1965 and color me barbara from 1966 and this is kind of a wonderful change of pace and thank you brad for going along with me when i said i wanted to talk about these, because i love them and you know it's funny talking about 22-year-olds and a sense of accomplishment. You know, when I was like 24, 25, and I was in Hollywood acting, I got really depressed because I hadn't yet achieved my network CBS special. And I was like, oh my God, I'm late. I'm late. And I remember saying it to a friend of mine one time, and they said, you know what, Tony, maybe Barbra Streisand isn't the best yardstick to measure your success, i'm like kind of true on broadway at 19 uh tv special at 22 yeah you're probably right probably not the best but i'm still waiting for it anyway i'm just excited to talk about it today.

Brad Shreve:
Well i'm gonna be totally honest with you when you suggested this i almost vetoed i almost said no there's no way really but as usual i'm the trooper and i said you know tony really wants to do this, let's do it.

Tony Maietta:
I didn't know that.

Brad Shreve:
So we did it.

Tony Maietta:
So are you trying to soften a blow here about how you feel about these specials or what?

Brad Shreve:
No, I'm not, actually. No, I'm not. I was pleasantly surprised. Eventually, we'll get to where I tell you what I expected and what I got whenever you're ready for that.

Tony Maietta:
So let me ask you a question. So that means you had never seen these before?

Brad Shreve:
No, I had never seen these before that I can recall.

Tony Maietta:
Wow, that's amazing. Have you seen clips of them? Have you seen anything?

Brad Shreve:
I'm sure I've seen clips of them, yes, because I tend to be a YouTube surfer, and I get a lot of music on it, but I don't recall them, no.

Tony Maietta:
And you're a Barbara fan, too. That's why I'm kind of surprised.

Brad Shreve:
Yes, I am.

Tony Maietta:
I'm kind of surprised that you've never.

Brad Shreve:
And this is where I was a little nervous. I'm not a watching music fan, and there's some nuance to that, but I'm more likely to listen to music when I'm doing things or if I'm just trying to relax. I'm not one when I'm visually doing something I need something visually stimulating so I'm not as likely to sit and just watch a musician music video is different because they're more entertainment but to watch a musician is a little bit different so I'm not as likely which is probably why I've never watched it

Tony Maietta:
Well in my opinion these are two big long hour-long music videos I mean that constantly change Barbara was doing music videos before there were music videos that's what's so, There's so many things that are astounding about these specials. There are so many, there are so many, and we're going to talk about both of them. So I'm not going to get ahead of myself, but I just, I want to just give a little,

Tony Maietta:
so we have a little context for this. So yes, the woman was 22 years old when she did her first television special. Actually, it aired four days after her birthday. So she turned, she had just turned 23 and her first network TV special aired on CBS. And she had signed a $5 million 10-year contract with CBS in June of 1964 to do these specials. And what's amazing about that, besides the fact that she was 22 freaking years old, is the fact that it was constituted in her contract. There were to be no guest stars, no production numbers with a chorus of singers or dancers, just one woman singing. And that was unprecedented. done it. And CBS, after they signed it, thought, what the hell did we just get ourselves signed up for?

Brad Shreve:
I understand that.

Tony Maietta:
Because, you know, before this, think about it. The last big thing that Barbara had done before she did My Name is Barbara was, of course, the Judy Garland show, which we talked about. And think about the Judy Garland show. Judy Garland was basically a hostess having people come on and, you know, moving guest stars around and sharing the screen and often and giving up the screen so the guest star can shine. Not with Barbara. Barbara not doing any of that. She's like, no, this is me. We'll just stay on me. Stay on me. It's very funny. It's very funny. In fact, and I don't want to get too far into it yet, but after the very first special was finished, that programming genius, Mike Dan at CBS. Now, Brad, we've talked about Mike Dan before, so I'm going to give you a little quiz here. Do you remember by any chance who Mike Dan was, what we talked about with him? He was VP of programming at CBS in the 60s.

Brad Shreve:
Um well i i don't know i'm because mainly when we've talked about cbs in the 60s and 70s it had to do with the rural comedies right right and and oh that's connected here yeah

Tony Maietta:
Yeah absolutely he's responsible.

Brad Shreve:
Okay go for

Tony Maietta:
He good good guess well you really took a shot in the dark and you got it mike dan was responsible he.

Brad Shreve:
Wouldn't have been this

Tony Maietta:
No mike dan well 60s this is in the 1960s uh mike dan was responsible for all the rural comedies for beverly hillbillies for green acres for, all those pettico junction all that stuff he's also the programming genius who wanted to place the mary tyler moore show behind hee-haw okay, but fred silverman thank god came into the four along with uh robert wood and they said no no no no no we're not putting mary behind hee-haw In fact, hee-haw, bye-bye. So Marty Ehrlichman, Barbara's business associate, and Barbara sent the finished tape to Mike Dan, and he said, you've just ruined this woman's career. I wanted to co-star her next to Dick Van Dyke or Andy Griffith. Now, No shade to Dick Van Dyke or Andy Griffith, you know, both incredibly talented men. But come on, you're going to put them on a TV special, Andy Griffith and Dick Van Dyke? Yeah. With Barbara Jones-Strysand? Are you serious, CBS? Come on.

Brad Shreve:
But they could have, if it had been a few years later, she could have been on with the whole Hee Haw gang.

Tony Maietta:
She could have. Well, she did one with Bob Hope before when she was a guest on Bob Hope's and they did a Hillbilly segment. But I'm sorry. But the amazing thing is, is that just like with her recording career, Marty Ehrlichman had crafted the contract where they had, Barbara had creative control. So she says, hmm, Andy Griffith, Dick Van Dyke, like them, no thank you. And it's just her. So that's what these two specials are. They are basically

Tony Maietta:
Barbara Streisand for two freaking hours. And for me, I'm in heaven. I'm in heaven.

Brad Shreve:
So I'm going to tell you what my expectations were.

Tony Maietta:
Okay. And what happened. Okay.

Brad Shreve:
So I was a little nervous about it, especially when I learned before I watched it that this was just Babs. And the reason why I was nervous is, you know, I wasn't a huge fan of the Judy Garland specials.

Tony Maietta:
Right.

Brad Shreve:
And part of it is when Judy is doing her singing, most of her songs were sung like just very basic, simple sets that I found a little boring. Even if they were elegant looking, they just kind of sat there. And I'm like, why am I just watching a person singing? And then the routine she did, I wasn't all that impressed with. So I thought, okay, so I'm going to have to, I would love to just sit and listen to a Barbara album, but do I really want to just watch her do what Judy did and just stand there in black and white and then in color and just have her stand there singing? And I have to tell Tony I love your music, but I hated the show because I was bored. That's what I was really nervous about. Let me tell you what I learned. What did you learn? Garland is a singer and something I've known all along. Barbara Streisand is not an outstanding singer. She is an outstanding entertainer. She was riveting from beginning to end. Her sets were amazing. I preferred the first one over the second one. The sets were amazing. It just had, you know, when she sat and just talked to us, directly.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah.

Brad Shreve:
I don't even know. You can tell me if there was really an audience there. I was somewhat skeptical.

Tony Maietta:
Yes and no.

Brad Shreve:
Yes and no. Okay. That's kind of what I thought. That's kind of what I thought. When she was sitting there talking directly to us, it was like a friend sitting down. And I can't see many singers that could possibly do that and be so charming. She is entertaining us when she is going through the sets and singing and dancing around. I was wowed throughout. I really expected I was gonna hate this. I'm like, how am I gonna tell people that? Every listener hating my guts, because that's not what it would have been. But wow, this was very nice. This was very pleasurable. Good. Pleasant surprise.

Tony Maietta:
Good. I'm glad. I'm glad. And to add all that, I'm just going to say one more time. At 22 years old.

Brad Shreve:
That's amazing.

Tony Maietta:
The self-possession that this woman had at 22. That's why it seems like she's been around. Well, she has kind of been around forever. She's been around since she was 19. But the fact that because at 22, she had such poise. She had such self-possession. Because she could hold a stage, a screen, on her own at age 22. Now, I thought I was pretty good at 22, but I'll tell you right now, first of all, I'm not a singer. I could not have held a TV screen for an hour at age 22. It's astounding to me when you think about it. I think we're just so used to her now. We have been for 60 years now. We're just so used to her.

Tony Maietta:
The real impact that this woman had when she first came around, We don't get that because we're so used to it. So you really have to try to put yourself in the mind frame of 1965 and the fact that people had never seen the likes of this type of talent before. Yes, we had Judy, but Judy was 42, okay? This is the 22-year-old girl who's doing this and she's doing a Broadway play every night. So after the play, she comes and she films this TV special. It's astounding to me. You said something really interesting, too. You said that Judy's a great singer. I think you said that Barbara is a phenomenal entertainer. I also think Judy's a phenomenal entertainer. But here's the thing I think. I think that Barbara Streisand is a good actress. I think Barbara Streisand is a great singer. And ironically, she's a better actress when she's singing than she is when she's acting. And if you don't if you don't believe that just go watch these specials and look at every single one of these songs she does as a little three act play, and she is giving us every single color every single emotion that is possible, in these performances they're we're getting like, we're getting a myriad of performances here from different actresses and it's all one woman I didn't say that very well, but I think you can understand what I'm saying here, right?

Brad Shreve:
Yes. Yes, absolutely. A modern version example, and I'm not a fan of his, but people talk about how Michael Jackson was the great entertainer. And he was amazing, even though, like I said, I wasn't a huge fan like some people were. And I'm not trying to compare the two because she blows them away, but to give some people perspective that may not have seen these specials, that's the best analogy I could give. I'm sure there are others if I thought hard, but there aren't many that can match this.

Tony Maietta:
No i think i think probably you know we've got the other jewish girl we've got bett midler and we also have eliza but the difference between them is is that, as much as i love bett and please don't get me wrong she's astounding, her voice doesn't have the purity that streisand has no that's the thing not only is this woman a brilliant actress when she sings but her voice is fucking flawless, those notes that that insane range she i'm just i could go on and on talking about it and we need to talk about the specials. But I'm just trying to drive home the import of the fact that nobody had seen, a woman like this before. And for so many people, this was really their first prolonged exposure to this, talent that we just now take for granted. Oh, it's Barbra Streisand. Oh, okay, yeah, you know, it just is. I mean, it's incredible. It's incredible to me.

Brad Shreve:
Well, since you brought up the comparison with Bette, I'm going to go a little deeper on that. First of all, I love to hear Bette sing. She's fun. She's a great singer, but she's a great singer. Barbara is a phenomenal singer. She's also a great entertainer and funny, but she's funny in an Ethel Merman way that she's in your face.

Tony Maietta:
Big Broadway.

Brad Shreve:
She's in your face. Yeah, big Broadway. Barbara's just Barbara.

Tony Maietta:
Yes. Yes. Her funniness comes from her personality. It's just natural. Yes. It's just natural. And we'll talk about it because there's

Tony Maietta:
some hysterical moments in these specials. So let's talk about them a little bit. So first, obviously, first we're going to tackle from, it first aired on April 28th, 1965 on CBS, My Name is Barbara.

Brad Shreve:
No i tell you i still can't believe this is my own show it's like i called to rehearsal and everybody showed up it's like it's like i walked out dressed like this and nobody stopped me and i should have been stopped but i can't help it i like to wear clothes like these because they're they're old and they're broken in already and the knees bulge at the knees and the wrinkles wrinkle where i wrinkle the rhythm which brings up the subject of thrift shops i i buy a lot of things in thrift shops and I, I like the stuff, secondhand stuff, because it has character and it's not what a thing costs, but it's what it's been through.

Tony Maietta:
So, as I said, Barbara had complete creative control over these, and she's going to do exactly what she wants to do. And she did not want to begin the special by coming out and talking. She does not talk until the second act. These specials are divided into three acts, like a play. And she does not utter a word until the top of act two, and she designed it that way. And I don't know how we're going to structure this. I guess we can just talk about, I mean, I have the songs listed. I don't think we need to go through every song or we will be here a long time. But I just think some of the highlights, you know, she opens My Name is Barbara, with a picture of her as a, I think she was five years old when her brother took that picture of her. And she sings the song, the Leonard Bernstein sonata, My Name is Barbara. It wasn't written for her. It was something that he wrote and she found, which was like, oh, this was me. This was Beshert. This was meant to be. And then she launches into much more, a ballad from the fantastic. And okay so she greets her audience not even by saying hello welcome to my special she greets immediately with a ballad with a ballad that's so ballsy it's so ballsy, it's it's crazy it's crazy and.

Brad Shreve:
She acts it the same way too she's she's a sexist with music

Tony Maietta:
Yes she doesn't.

Brad Shreve:
Say good night everybody it's just phase off you know it's ending

Tony Maietta:
Well about streisand is isn't you know streisand you go to her she's not out there saying she's not out there saying love me come to me come to me she's like i'm here hello, you're gonna pay attention to me because i'm barbara freaking streisand there's no kind of like, trying to please anybody which can be problematic sometimes but at this point in your career she's so stunningly talented i don't think it matters i don't think it, genius of her performance is that she's so cool and she's like yeah i'm here, you know you you won't ignore me i'm right here, so in this first section she sings a whole bunch of songs that begin with i'm late from alice in wonderland and she's running all over these incredible these beautiful sets very minimalistic sets and as she gets to another set she sings a song she, sings she sings another song i think my favorite is the song she sings how does the wine taste because she makes it, this metaphor almost for like sexual awakening. It's the thing she does with these songs. Do you remember, what was your, from this first part, can I ask you, what was your impressions from the first part?

Brad Shreve:
From the opening, I was actually originally nervous because it did come out exactly like I thought. She just comes out, wasn't in the last set, wasn't in the last, at the very beginning, and she's just singing. I'm like, okay, here we go. This is what I thought. It was fun to watch the I'm Late. I wasn't real wild about that rendition of it. And nothing to do with her voice, just the way she sang it. She dragged down much longer because she was doing her routines and everything, which was all very impressive. And that's the thing that I really enjoyed. And even when I wasn't wild about what she was doing at the moment, I was still engrossed in it because it wasn't that it was good or bad. It was just my

Tony Maietta:
Take on it. I know. I think I agree with you. I think the song, it's basically just connective tissue. I'm late. It's just, Oh, I should honestly say at the top, I should have said this. Both of these specials are directed by Dwight Hemian, produced by Richard Lewine and the music arrangement and conducted by Peter Matz. Very important. And this all for both specials, All of these production numbers were conceived by Joe Layton and Barbara Streisand, let me tell you right now. But that's really important because this was her core group. And these people were on both, almost all of her TV specials in the 60s, but this was her core group. And these are the people who were responsible for the excellence of this show.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah, and because I wasn't wild about her music selection in the beginning, I was pleased that I wasn't bored. And I thought, okay, I can get through this. That was my thought. Okay, I can get through this because I enjoy listening to her sing. Not real thrilled with her choice, but that's okay. And then once we got past that, that's when I was like, okay, I'm wowed.

Tony Maietta:
She got you in the first act. It's pretty good. Yeah. Pretty good. And then she does a really cute section called I Wish I Were a Kid Again. And they do this really, really fun thing with forced perspective where she starts out as an adult with this orchestra of children. And she hears people calling crazy Barbara over in a corner because that's what they used to say to her when she was a kid. And she walks towards this door and because it's shot in forced perspective, she gets smaller and smaller and smaller until she's like Alice after she drinks the potion and she goes through this door and she's a kid. And I got to tell you, you know, that could have been so cloying. I don't know if it's because she was so young and she could still kind of channel that, but I found her so charming and not cloying in that whole I'm a kid again section. What do you think about that?

Brad Shreve:
Yeah yeah there are there are many there aren't many that could have pulled it off i agree

Tony Maietta:
With you no not at all not at all and in that eye makeup yeah it's not like she still looks like barbara streisand she's still got the eye makeup and she has her hair in pigtails but it's it's so funny because, yes it's not cloying it's not cheesy at all it's so real and she just she's so funny in And she's just so light. Her touch is so light. It's funny because later on, I think, as she progressed in her career... She lost some of that flexibility, I think, as she got older. But at this point, she's just letting it go. And it's so much fun. She's singing some wonderful songs. And she's basically doing a kid at age five. It's charming as hell.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah. I actually, as I was watching, I was thinking, okay, she's doing a few years before what Lily Tomlin did on Laugh-In. Right. What's that little girl's name? I can't remember that.

Tony Maietta:
Edith Ann. Yeah.

Brad Shreve:
She's doing the same thing with Edith Ann, which Lily Tomlin did for Laugh-In. And she's not doing it for laughs, yet she still pulled it off.

Tony Maietta:
She's still funny.

Brad Shreve:
Those were my thoughts as I was watching.

Tony Maietta:
Yes, she sings.

Brad Shreve:
Yes, it was still funny, but it could have been bad.

Tony Maietta:
It could have been really cheesy and cloying. I mean, I love her, and we talked about it last season. Just think of some of those sequences from the Judy Garland show. Yeah. You know, where you're just like, they're painful. Yes. It's painful. Yes. This is not. This is cute and funny and just long enough, And she gets out of there before it becomes too much. She sings a beautiful song called Where is the Wonder, which is basically a reflection on the loss of childhood. And then comes the pièce de résistance. She comes, she runs out again. She's late. She's late. She's late. And she comes upon this big orchestra and she launches into people. Yes. I mean, it's Barbara Streisand. She's going to end the first act with people. And can I just tell you, I've heard the woman has done 20 gazillion versions of people over her career. You know, there's always a different version of people. This to me is the purest the best version of people first of all it's shortened, and it gives me chills this version of people is so good and she's live she's not pre-recorded she sings it live and very frequently i believe and i will go to the map for this on this her live recordings in the 60s, are usually better than her studio recordings i don't know what it is but i'm thinking about when she was on judy garland's show and she sang bewitched bothered and bewildered, This version of people is outstanding. It's just, it's chill inducing.

Brad Shreve:
One of my worst memories of people, and it sticks in my head probably forever, but she helped me as one of my old literature teachers sang people in a talent show. And it was one of the most painful things I'd ever seen. And that song is hard for me to hear without thinking of that moment. And she didn't run it for me. She she carried it it was just it was beautiful i actually just sat there and i i did close my eyes because i was just really enjoying and i know i shouldn't have because the show was visually stunning but really enjoyed that

Tony Maietta:
But oh no but her voice just soars at the end of that it's it's that and that's the end of the first act and then we come to the second act and this is the first time she addresses the audience and right she's sitting on a drum and they're, Okay, I've read that there was not a studio audience there, and I've read that there was a studio audience there. She says that there wasn't, but she just held for laughs where she thought laughs would be.

Tony Maietta:
I mean maybe she i don't know look at me calling her on the carpet saying really barbara i don't know she plays it if there wasn't a studio audience there she is damn good at kind of judging where their laughs would be um because it's she tells a very funny story, uh one of those nonsense stories she used to like to tell and she pauses and, you know i i don't know it's a it's very funny she does a great job if there was no studio audience there but what i loved is is when she talks about her hair because suddenly she has totally different hair you know in the first act we saw the usual barbara streisand bob in the sailor outfit, and then she's got her short hair from the mid 60s now, and she talks about it she says you know i was backstage getting a haircut and she's you know that's so great she wasn't trying to pretend like it was anything different yeah my hair is different because that's how she had her hair now yeah and you know she i think she opened the show with that, with that bob we were used to because that was the last way the audience and saw her on the Judy Garland show, that's how they'd know her.

Tony Maietta:
And now this is her look now, and this is her look for the rest of the 60s. But this is the part that's really interesting to me. This is, the part two was shot on location. Something else that made the CBS brass go, huh? Because you didn't do this in the mid-60s on variety shows. They actually filmed a segment, this second part, at Bergdorf Goodman. Yes. In the middle of the night. Yes. What were your thoughts on that, Brad?

Brad Shreve:
First of all, I found a hard play. I'm like, that has to be a set. And I'm like, no, they did not build sets that expensive during the 60s. But it was just stunning. That was when I really perked up. First of all, her whole little routine that she did, her discussion was just incredible. And then she's dancing to what I initially thought was one of the most amazing sets from the 60s I'd ever seen. And I realized that wasn't a set. And it just flowed. You know, it's... I want to go back to her, the studio audience thing.

Tony Maietta:
Yes, yes, please.

Brad Shreve:
Because she didn't just do well. Because I actually saw the same thing. I guess part of the segments, most of the segments that she was not performing for an audience, but they did make sure they filmed some to an audience. That was what I saw.

Tony Maietta:
They showed. They would show the segments to audiences for their responses. But I honestly believe there was an audience there. I'm probably wrong. And barbara if you're listening barbara if you're listening let me know i'd love to take your call but i really think there was a studio audience there but go ahead that.

Brad Shreve:
You just actually explained it to me it made sense because i was going to say it was also the best canned laughter i'd ever seen because they were they were building up in momentum in the exact perfect places so the fact that they were showing it

Tony Maietta:
Oh yeah to.

Brad Shreve:
An audience and recording that that makes sense now because i was really i'm because i didn't believe there was an audience there and then i'm like no this sounds like a real

Tony Maietta:
Audience yeah.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah well and then now that makes

Tony Maietta:
Sense they obviously showed the bergdorf goodman they name it you heard laughs during the bergdorf goodman segment they showed that to the audience so that's why i'm like well if they're going to the trouble of showing it anyway who knows as i said barbara let me know if i'm wrong about this, but isn't that amazing you notice at the end of the show too they have bergdorf goodman by bergdorf goodman, because probably people thought like you thought oh that's a set oh wait a minute no it's not But it's the Bergdorf-Goodman fur department. And she's cavorting, you know, it always gets a little dicey when Barbara dances, all right? I'll just say it right now. She's not the most graceful dancer. But she exonerates herself in this because it's so funny. And the thing she does as she's trying, she's singing a medley of poverty songs. Against the Bergdorf-Goodman fur department. And as you can imagine, she sings, I got plenty of nothing. She goes, brother, can you spare a dime? These wonderful songs. And she's decked out in these incredible furs. And she's so funny. She's wearing Halston hats because Halston worked at Bergdorf-Goodman at this time. And she's just having a romp in Bergdorf-Goodman. It's just a fun time. She's so much fun in this. And she's so funny and charming. It's a hoot. It's a lot of fun, this segment. One of my favorites.

Brad Shreve:
And it was introduced with secondhand rose.

Tony Maietta:
That's what was also very cute. Exactly, yeah.

Brad Shreve:
And that's one of my favorite earworms, is secondhand rose.

Tony Maietta:
Well, she's making fun of her kook legend. Her kook, at this time, she had the reputation of being a kook. It was kind of fading away because she liked thrift shops, and she talks about liking thrift shops in the monologue of the before. And then she goes to Bergdorf Goodman, and she's decked out in these incredible furs. And it's a wonderful, wonderful segment. Obviously, they had to close down Bergdorf Goodman, at night. So this was filmed in the middle of the night. And as you can see, it's very dark in New York, too. And the guy who is in her coach, the guy with the hat, her coachman, who brings her up to Bergdorf Goodman, and then they take away in the carriage, is Marty Ehrlichman, her manager and business associate. So he had a little cameo here. They shot it on um march 21st 1965 her day off from funny girl and they shot it that night so they could go in there and shoot it without customers without people obviously it's a charming segment it's a hell of a lot of fun.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah that that was the one that i found As we go through, I may change that, but right now that was the most entertaining, actually out of both shows.

Tony Maietta:
And then we have Act 3. I mean, that part's over. Oh, I think I wanted to mention one thing. There is a – so at the end of the Bergdorf Goodmas segment when she's back in the studio audience and she's beating the drum, that's why I think there was a studio audience there. Because she's beating the drum and she's lip syncing. This special was partly lip synced and partly live. And she sings the last few notes of the best things in life are free. And she messes up the lip syncing and she laughs and the audience laughs. So I just wonder, that's what makes me think, are you sure this is a studio audience was there or wasn't there? Anyway, they kept it in, which surprises me. She didn't do it again. So it's very charming. She messes up and it's cute.

Brad Shreve:
We had the same thought.

Tony Maietta:
Act three is the concert. It's Barbara standing on a stage, just building the hell out of these standards in her standards. And this had, verifiably had, a studio audience. She was singing for them because it was shot at the old Ed Sullivan Theater, which was where Stephen Colbert's and David Letterman's shows were. And it was shot a few different renditions of it, but that is in front of an audience. And to me, this is where you make your money. I mean, she sings... When the sun comes out, she sings, Why Did I Choose You? Lover, Come Back to Me. My favorite parts, though. She does a medley of the Broadway songs from Funny Girl. She's basically doing an ad for her Broadway show, which is happening.

Brad Shreve:
Yes.

Tony Maietta:
And she sings an incredible version.

Brad Shreve:
She mentioned it quite often, and nothing wrong with that.

Tony Maietta:
She said, yeah, she said, there's a show on Broadway now called Funny Girl. I like it very much. In fact, I go there every night. It was very cute. And then she sings You Are Woman. She sings Don't Rain in My Parade. She sings a song that was not in the film. And one of my favorite songs called The Music That Makes Me Dance. And that's when she launches into introducing my man. And it was the first time she had ever publicly performed my man. What did you think of this segment, Brad?

Brad Shreve:
I had heard the song and it was the first time that because she had me for this special, it was the first time that I really zeroed on it and it was beautiful. I mean, it's hard for me to say much beyond she's fantastic. I don't have a lot of words.

Tony Maietta:
No, I get it. I get it.

Brad Shreve:
Because I just love, I've always just, she's always been the one I've put on whenever I just need that, her voice.

Tony Maietta:
I mean, this is why the woman became Barbra Streisand, because, I mean, there's just this performance is flawless, flawless. And what I love about it is, is later on, you know, she became such a stickler for perfection, not in doing things over and over again. At 22 years old, she's just flying through these songs. And yeah, maybe they filmed them a few times or taped them a few times, but still flawless performances. And then she ends the show under the credits with Happy Days Are Here Again. And she said i did that on purpose because i didn't want to i didn't want to be like hey here's my big hit here it is and i'm ending the show with it yeah she said she wanted to undercut it she wanted to kind of like toss it off so and it's it's the best version of happy days are here again, i think she's ever ever done it's so pure and so strong you know she hated the studio album version of happy days because she didn't like the ending because she kind of screeches she doesn't screech here. It's just powerful and beautiful. And that's the end of it. An hour-long special. And the public got their first prolonged exposure to this incredible talent named Barbra Streisand.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah. And I can't say that I can compare it to other versions of the song that she had, because I can't remember them all to listen to it. But it was. It was a beautiful way to carry you out.

Tony Maietta:
So My Name is Barbara, aired on April 28th, 1965. It was a tremendous hit. It was nominated for six Emmys. It won five, including her first Emmy for Individual Achievement in Entertainment. It also won Outstanding Individual Achievement in Entertainment. It just won all the major Emmy awards except for directing. So Dwight Heming didn't get one, unfortunately. But it swept the Emmys. It was a huge hit. They played it again in October. It was a big hit.

Tony Maietta:
And so she said, all right, I got to do another one now. And that's where we come up to Color Me, Barbara.

Brad Shreve:
Anyway, this is show and tell. This is Sadie. And she was a birthday present. The cast of Funny Girl gave me a surprise party. And I remember I put my hand in the box and I thought, terrific, a warm hat. Then the hat got up and walked under the couch. But before I got Sadie, I must admit, I didn't like dogs too much. Not that I disliked them, but I had nothing in common with them. You know, there was nothing to talk about. After all, what am I to a dog? A singer? And I don't say hi enough for dogs.

Tony Maietta:
Streisand said she looked on these two specials as bookends. You know, so they figured it worked so well the first time, the way they did it, let's do it the same way so it basically is, the same one woman special except the big difference is it's in color, now here's what's kind of crazy all right so she had just finished a funny girl, on broadway and she was about to go do london and she started working on this special called Color Me Barbara. Ironically, this is 1966. Most people saw this special in black and white.

Brad Shreve:
Black and white, yeah.

Tony Maietta:
People didn't have color TVs yet. Most networks, mostly all the networks switched to color in the fall of 66. But even because they did this, didn't mean that people went out and bought color televisions. So you're watching this special called Color Me Barbara in black and white, Which I think is kind of funny, It's interesting But I got a little trivia for you Brad Okay A little trivia and a little Lucy moment for you Okay So, what do you suppose one of the very first shows To make the switch To filming from black and white to color was.

Brad Shreve:
Oh boy I'm trying to run down the list Let's see I

Tony Maietta:
Gave you a hint It's a trivia And it's a Lucy moment.

Brad Shreve:
Of The Lucy Show.

Tony Maietta:
Yes, yes. But Lucy decided in the fall of 63 to switch to filming color, even though color was not, everything was still black and white. Think about the Dick Van Dyke show, Beverly Hills, Bewitched, all black and white. Well, Bewitched hadn't premiered yet, but black and white. But Lucy said, no, we're going to film it in color because color is the way of the future. I mean, come on. She was two years ahead of the curve, basically. but she knew the show would be more valuable if it was from the color because eventually color tvs would take off so anyway there's your little there's a little lucy moment a little bit of trivia, so now we can watch it in color color me barbara what do you think about this second this other bookend the second bookend um only.

Brad Shreve:
Because i can compare it to the first one i actually found it disappointing and that is not a diss on the show at all i just was not as wowed as I was the first one. Part of the problem is I watched the version I watched. In fact, I think you have the DVD or the old VHS. Of course I do. Where she introduces the show. Yes. And that's what I watched. And I kind of regret that. I wish I had just gone straight into it. Because her introducing the show, she talked about dancing through artwork. Right. And these classical paintings, or these great paintings. And everything and she built up an expectation so when the show started i really didn't feel like i got that and i know i hear that a lot of the complaints were that the sets were the sets were more it's almost like they made the sets more of a star or tried to make them more of a star uh on like the first special right right right and i didn't feel that i wasn't i maybe they were more elaborate, but I wasn't as impressed. But I'm talking about the actual sets and the everything else, or songs and everything else was just as beautiful.

Brad Shreve:
But visually to look at, I wasn't as impressed.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah. So Color Me, Barbara, again, three acts. And the first act of Color Me, Barbara was shot at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Because the Metropolitan in New York said, no, thanks. We don't need you, Mr. Eisend. So they went to Philadelphia, which is great because it's a great museum. And basically the conceit of the first act is Barbara is running through this museum, singing this song yesterday. It's prerecorded because she's in a museum. And she's basically climbing into paintings and she becomes the characters in the paintings. And I hesitate if it's maybe a smidge less effective than My Name is Barbara. I don't know. I find some of her performances in the museum are incredible because they're live. She does a hysterical takeoff on Marie Antoinette singing the minute waltz. And I'm sure people have heard Barbara sing the minute waltz. It's so fast and she's so funny. And she's basically in this Marie Antoinette outfit and she's eating cake and she sings the minute waltz while they're preparing, the guillotine for her. It's very, very funny.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah, I will say had and it wouldn't have made sense. Had we done Color Me Barbara first and then my name is Barbara, I would have thought, wow, Color Me Barbara is really great. I'm really enjoying this. And then I would think, wow, I'm impressed she even did better with My Name is Barbara. But because we did it the correct order, that's why I'm like, eh, it wasn't as good. So I'm not implying that wasn't good.

Tony Maietta:
We should have reversed it. We should have done Cullen Be Barbara.

Brad Shreve:
Well, no, that wouldn't make sense.

Tony Maietta:
But...

Tony Maietta:
So I want to say, Call Me Barbara, same production team. It aired on March 30th in 1966 on CBS. And yes, the first part starts basically in the Philadelphia Art Museum. My favorite thing, she does this incredible, she sees this painting. Now, Barbara's always compared to the painter, the works of the painter Modigliani.

Tony Maietta:
And I'm sure if you are familiar with his work, you know what I'm talking about. And one of those paintings, probably my favorite, she sings this song called Non C'est Rien, which she sang an American version of it called Free Again. And this is what I'm saying about the fact that she's such a fucking incredible actress when she sings. She sings to us in French. And this is probably what, I'm not an opera fan, but I think this is what probably appeals to people in opera. because I don't need to know what she's saying. Her emotions, she portrays this woman who's bereft at the end of a love affair in this song, and you get every color, you get every emotion. It is such an incredible experience. She's such a good actress when she sings. She's a great, great actress when she sings. I think she said once that she would probably be a better actress if she didn't think like a director, and I think that's true because she's always thinking about the big scheme. She's not really immersed in the moment. But when she's singing, she's completely immersed in the moment. And that's what makes it so incredibly effective to me.

Brad Shreve:
That is a great explanation. And it makes sense. Because when she is singing, one thing that makes it so enjoyable is even when her dance routines aren't the best, It's just pure joy because you can just tell she's loving it.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah. It's so funny. I wonder if it's because she was so indifferent about her voice. You know what I mean? It was just like, oh, that. Yeah, I can sing. And because she's so indifferent, she had none of that onus of, I want to be a great singer. And she just kind of relaxes and it just comes out. It's just... Yeah. The woman acting in singing, nobody can touch her. It's phenomenal. It's phenomenal.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah.

Tony Maietta:
And then she finishes the segment with where or when, and because she's always compared to Nefertiti and all the Egyptians, she sings this in this Egyptian garb. And it's funny, this is a set. She also sings it live. That's a dead giveaway. It's a set. There's also a dead giveaway because at the end of the segment, the camera pulls back and you see the face from the logo of Color Me Barbara in the wall like it's a hieroglyphic. It's like, they wouldn't have done that at the Philadelphia Art Museum. People are like, where's the Egyptian room? It doesn't exist. It was a set.

Tony Maietta:
So that's fun. That's a lot of fun. And then we have act two, again, a mix of pre-recording and live. And this is the circus segment. So let me ask you, no specific song. What did you think about this whole circus thing, Brad?

Brad Shreve:
Well, this was probably my least favorite, to be honest.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah. I agree. I agree. Not that it's bad. It's not bad. It's not bad at all. Charming, charming moments.

Brad Shreve:
No, again, I actually was like knowing that she was going to go on to something else. My thought was, okay, at least I get to hear her sing. Let's move on to the next one.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah, it's fun. She's cavorting around a circus. And as it begins, just like in My Name is Barbara, Act 2 starts with her talking to the audience. Yeah. And this time she has her dog, Sadie, her poodle, Sadie. Adorable, adorable.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah.

Tony Maietta:
It was a gift from the cast of Funny Girl to her for her birthday. And I have actually a funny story about this. Now, this is what I was told. So, please, this is what I was told. So maybe it's, there's a little embellished, but I think it's kind of funny. So one of my teachers when I was in college, because I went to performing art school, one of my dance instructors was in the Broadway production of Funny Girl with her. And he said that Barbara, and she admits this, she was not a dog person before she met Sadie, before they gave her Sadie. And then she fell in love with dogs. We all know this. I mean, she had a dog cloned for God's sake. She's so loved with dogs. So, the dancer who was in the show with her said that the cast got together and got her this dog because they knew she hated dogs.

Tony Maietta:
So, it was kind of like a, fuck you, Barbara Strasan, there's a dog fight. Trying to and she ended up you arrogant bitch yes exactly and she ended up falling in love with it now that could be the story of a bitter queen whose biggest credit was, being a dancer and a funny girl i don't know i think it's funny i love the fact that she then loved dogs of all shapes and sizes and became a huge animal lover but it's funny you kind of get that she says i wasn't a dog person before sadie and she you know she didn't really have anything in common with dogs What am I to a dog? A singer? I don't sing high enough for dogs. Yeah. Anyway, she tells a cute story. And then she does this cavorting through and she gets, oh my God, she goes up against some of those animals. There's a llama. There's an anteater that she sings. We have so much in common from Small World and Gypsy. Try to remember with some elephants. There's actually a tiger. She gets in a cage with a tiger.

Brad Shreve:
I think it was a cougar.

Tony Maietta:
Well, it was some kind of big cat, it was some kind of big cat, and she sings What's New Pussycat. She doesn't go up to the tiger though, because apparently the tiger later got loose and everybody freaked out.

Brad Shreve:
And actually, that was the one time that she didn't even do lip syncing. Because she was in there with the big cat, I'm like, oh, that's impressive. I don't know. That's the only time I caught it if she did it before. She was not moving her mouth at all during that period. Yes. And she was in their cage with the two cats. She was there with the leopard and the kitty. And they played her singing until she came out of the cage again.

Tony Maietta:
Right.

Brad Shreve:
And then she started singing again.

Tony Maietta:
Like a voiceover. Like a yentl. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah, that is, I mean, that was one thing about this segment is that it's a mix of pre-recorded and live. And sometimes she's singing and sometimes it's a voiceover. It matches really well when you think about it. And it was shot in the studio.

Brad Shreve:
And I wasn't expecting her to be singing into a leopard's face.

Tony Maietta:
Right.

Brad Shreve:
That would have concerned me.

Tony Maietta:
That would have been very concerning. But she does sing live. She sings with five adorable penguins. She sings, Sam, you got the pants too long. And she talks about how the penguins kept getting sick because penguins are like cold weather and studios have hot lights. And they kept trying to refrigerate them and take care of them. And eventually they got through it. But I guess a few days later, I think three of the penguins died because they were just too sick, which is so sad. Yeah. It wouldn't be done that way today. I'm sure of it. Yeah. Yeah, taken care of. No. Yeah, and I guess the whole circus sequence was just, was a disaster. But they got through it. They got through it.

Tony Maietta:
And then they got to the concert segment which is part act three just as in my name is barbara is a straight concert, and this was a hard from what i understand this was a hard hard shoot uh she wasn't happy she was tired uh at one point she sang it all for the audience and then she wasn't happy with how it sounded, and she asked the audience to leave and she did it alone but the sound wasn't the same and so they had to show it to an audience later and this is exactly when And the sound, the audience applause is a little out there. It's a little too much because they showed it to her fan club and her fan club was going crazy. It's still an incredible concert sequence. Fantastic. I don't think it's quite as good as the concert in My Name is Barbara in the first one. What do you think?

Brad Shreve:
No, it wasn't. But I actually really enjoyed it. She looked great. Yeah. The set was very simple, but it was very elegant. That's the thing. the first one was extremely elegant looking

Tony Maietta:
Just so simple.

Brad Shreve:
Beautiful and i almost feel like the second one they were trying too hard and um so that that last segment where i told you i wasn't looking forward to seeing somebody just standing there singing but that actually was probably my favorite part

Tony Maietta:
Yeah it's so simple it's just this beautiful orange background white staircase she's in white, she was in black in My Name is Barbara, she's in white in this. And it's so simple. And it's, you know, the woman, she can just, the fact that she's singing mostly ballads, and the camera is right on her, and she has you so engaged. Every single moment. I mean, this is, I'm speaking for me, but I think it's pretty, I don't know, for anybody, I mean, you said you were too. She has you at every single phrase. It's at 23. Astounding, astounding to me. I like the songs better in My Name is Barbara, except she does a kick-ass version of Where Am I Going from Sweet Charity, which is unbelievable. And then the final song, starting here, starting now, it's like an aria. It just goes up and builds and builds and builds. And you're just like, how is this woman doing this? How is she doing this? She's getting, she just keeps topping herself over and over. It's just unbelievable to me. The talent that's on display is unfathomably amazing.

Brad Shreve:
And she makes it look incredibly easy.

Tony Maietta:
Yes.

Brad Shreve:
Yes. I'm just like, she's on a tight schedule. She's got to put on this very expensive show for the network. And she's just like, okay, let's turn on the camera and let's do it. And I know that wasn't the case, but she makes it look that way. She is so professional.

Tony Maietta:
It's just, that's what a genius is.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah.

Tony Maietta:
You know, a genius makes it look so easy. We talk about that. I know I said there was only one Lucy moment, but here's another Lucy moment. Yeah. You know, it's like Lucy, and I love Lucy when she's at her peak, when she's doing, Lucy does a TV commercial, when she's doing Ellie at last. It looks so easy. Now, Lucy took it to the mat to get it that perfect. But with Barbara, I think, again, I think we're going back to the fact that she was so dismissive of this voice from God that she had, that she was just born with, that she didn't give it a lot of thought. She didn't even say she barely warmed up. You know it just was it was just this thing she had that this gift she had which she was like okay let's sing and i think really that's what makes it so good is because she doesn't, go to the mat with it she's not all this sturm and drang about oh my god i've got to hit this note and this note somebody asked her one time how can you hold a note so long and she said, because i want to i mean, there's a little arrogance in that remark but it's also kind of amazing because she wanted to She just didn't think about it. Now, later on, she thought about it. And I think that caused problems. But, you know, she was getting older. And obviously, that happens. But at this point in her career, she was young, nothing to lose. Just amazing. Amazing stuff. Amazing stuff.

Brad Shreve:
It is really hard to imagine that she was that age.

Tony Maietta:
Now, Color Me, Barbara was also a big ratings success. It was nominated for six Emmys again. It didn't win any Emmys, however. It was nominated, but it didn't win. So in that respect, My Name is Barbara was the more successful special. But I got to tell you, I mean, we're being very picky here. These are both two unbelievably outstanding specials. And the fact that we can see them in color, the second one in color, that's so glorious. I mean, that mid-60s color is unbelievable. It's really such a treat visually to see these things. And the black and white is gorgeous, too. So, I mean, just think about that.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah, and my criticisms are all related to in relation to everything else in the specials.

Tony Maietta:
Yes, yes.

Brad Shreve:
You got to put that in perspective.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah, the bar is incredibly high, incredibly high. Yes.

Tony Maietta:
Yes. So after this special, I guess I want to say she went off. She did Funny Girl in London, and then she came back. She had three more specials to do for CBS. And her next special, she listened to CBS, and she had guest stars. Also, she also was like, okay, I've done two of these. I got to change it up a little bit. So got to give her credit for that. She had one guest star, actually, but it wasn't Bob Hope. It wasn't Milton Berle. It wasn't Andy Griffith or Dick Van Dyke. It was Jason Robards. So how do you get that?

Brad Shreve:
Oh, my goodness. That would have been like one of the last people I ever thought of.

Tony Maietta:
Exactly. So you get Jason frickin' Robards. You know, it's so funny. It's called The Belle of 14th Street. It was like based on kind of like a vaudeville theme. It was not successful. Now that's, you know, take that with a grain of salt. It's Barbra Streisand unsuccessful. So still a very entertaining special.

Brad Shreve:
Yes, yes.

Tony Maietta:
And then she did The Happening in Central Park, which was an actual concert, which was then taped and shown on CBS. And then she didn't do a special for years because she was off making Funny Girl and The Way We Were and What's Up, Doc? And she finally came back to do one final special at CBS. And it's an entertaining special. It's called Barbra Streisand and Other Musical Instruments, I think from 73. And the only reason they decided to come back and do it was because Mike Dan was gone. And Marty Ehrlichman's like, oh, that guy's gone. We can go and do a special. We don't have to listen to him anymore. And that was it. That was pretty much her TV career. I mean, she would do, we've seen her do other, you know, occasional things here and there. But, and she did, you know, she did her concerts lately. They'd be on Netflix or they'd be on HBO. But as far as this kind of produced special television event that was it this is what we have so i think it's kind of like, it's it's such an incredible little treasure chest of this woman's talent both of these specials of the scope of her performing genius, i i hate to be so hyperbolic but it's hard not to be when you're talking about barbara streisand in 1965.

Brad Shreve:
In 66 yeah having watched these i'm really surprised i i have not seen these before.

Tony Maietta:
Well, I'm glad you saw them this time.

Brad Shreve:
I'm glad I did too. I'm glad I didn't allow my gut feelings to tell you, no, Tony, we're not doing these. I can't do another 60s musical show.

Tony Maietta:
Well, that was My Name is Barbara and Color Me, Barbara. If you people get a chance to watch them, they are on that channel that we can't say that is free.

Tony Maietta:
But also there's also available streaming on other platforms. But Brad, you want to talk to the people about how's the survey going? What's going on with the survey and with all our other stuff?

Brad Shreve:
The survey went well. It's actually over now. And we got a lot of great responses. And just a quick rundown. There were a lot of good suggestions. I will say when it comes to movies, hands down, the 30s and the 40s.

Tony Maietta:
Really?

Brad Shreve:
Yes. What was surprising to me, as you know, our TV show episodes are some of our biggest downloads. Like some of our most popular ones are TV shows. And we had very few comments about TV shows. There were some people that said a certain show is my favorite, but I expected more because that's where we see a lot of – I think maybe because we don't do them that often, why it's so popular.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah, that's true. Do they want us to do them more? No, I don't think so. I think one a month is good with our show.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah, one a month is fine.

Tony Maietta:
I think that's good. This was a change of pace for us. We don't – well, we did variety last year, but I don't know.

Brad Shreve:
But this isn't a series. I don't count this as the same. if we did another one next week which we won't but i'd be fine with that because uh this was kind of it's a special it's kind of its own category right right but also we can't do more than one episode of television a month because they are exhausting they take a lot more work

Tony Maietta:
They were our longest i can't believe we did this one in under uh an hour and a half that's rare for us yes i'm happy about that, Was there anything else you want to say to the people about the podcast or anything else?

Brad Shreve:
Absolutely. So as usual, if you enjoy this show and if you've made it almost to an hour, then we kind of suspect that's probably true that you do. Please rate and review so others can know that you enjoy it as well. And maybe they'll listen in and tell a friend. Most importantly, tell a friend.

Tony Maietta:
Yes, absolutely.

Brad Shreve:
Let them know wherever they get their podcasts, that's where we are.

Tony Maietta:
And to paraphrase the lady of the hour, I think that people who like podcasts are the luckiest people in the world. So I want to thank everybody for staying tuned to us and also for the survey and just for being so supportive. We really, really, really appreciate it. We appreciate it. And then next week, we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming. Well, Brad, that was My Name is Barbara and Color Me Barbara. A lot of fun. Thank you again for indulging me in this little trip back to Streisand in the 60s. It's a lot of fun for me. And I guess I just have one more thing left to say. But as usual, I don't want to say it. So let's not say goodbye. Let's just say au revoir.

Brad Shreve:
No, let's say goodbye.

Tony Maietta:
Goodbye, everybody.