Thanks to everyone in my personal and professional life for their support and encouragement to take on this project: Christine Tucci Angell, Linda Bobel, Sylvia Borchert and Deborah Silberberg, Jon Bassinger-Flores, Diane Gayeski, Faith Ginsberg, Gary Jones, Elisabeth Nonas, Jackie Paul, Barry Sandler, Neil Spisak, Arnold Stiefel, Holly Van Buren, Patty Zimmermann, my friends at the Trevor Project, and my 1,695 1,582 friends on Facebook.
At Hal Leonard, a major thank-you to John Cerullo for giving me this opportunity, Marybeth Keating for her patience and support, Jessica Burr for her expertise and guidance, and Michele Eniclerico for her assistance. Thanks also to Jaime Nelson and my agent, June Clark, for keeping the faith.
A very special thanks to Karen Herman at the Archive of American Television (www.emmylegends.org) for granting me access to interviews; former SNL cast member Terry Sweeney; and to Herbert S. Schlosser, former president and CEO of NBC, for permission to reprint portions of his memo outlining his idea for a new late-night variety show to air live from New York on Saturday night.
This project was made possible in part by a James B. Pendleton Grant from the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College.
A portion of the author’s proceeds will be donated to the Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization that operates the Trevor Lifeline, a national twenty-four-hour crisis and suicide prevention helpline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth (866-4-U-TREVOR). Visit their website at www.thetrevorproject.org.