Brian Levant (Happy Days, Flintstones movies, new book My Life in Toys)

Brian Levant joined me to discuss his first TV souvenir: the scripts to a defunct series Noonday; collecting box tops to get toys; still feeling the way about toys that he did when he first got them; his book "My Life in Toys"; his first word being TV related; collecting salt and pepper shakers; playing with the toys he collected and not keeping them in pristine condition; watching Leave it to Beaver and then bringing them back twenty five years later; The Flintstones; not really collecting superheroes; got the job directing The Flintstones when Stevenn Spielberg saw his Flintstones collection; how Happy Days grew him professionally; Garry Marshall's style; playing basketball while writing and softball in between tapings to create a family atmosphere; Weirdly & Creepella Gruesome; Hanna Barbera "stealing" characters; The Great Gazoo; Harvey Korman; Allan Cumming's stunts in "Viva Rock Vegas"; the book putting his collection to bed for the most part; my collection of TV artifacts; writing the classic Happy Days "A.K.A. the Fonz" and "Hard Cover"; leaving to produce Brothers and Sisters; upcoming 50 Years of Happy Days book with Fred Fox; first episode I remember watching in syndication; my favorite Happy Days joke "Mama, Papa, Sister"; the episodes "Stolen Melodies", "Letting Go"; the finale; Beethoven being a sitcom on steroids; Charles Grodin; Jingle all the Way and working with Arnold Schwarzenegger