On "Goodnight, Beantown":…………… …

"This is light comedy in its truest sense as opposed to sitcom. It has a very soft laugh track, the dialogue moves right along and the characters are believable."

"The show involves the give-and-take between a couple of professional newscasters with a hint of romance. There’s a delicious love-hate relationship between the two."

 

San Antonio Express-News: April 3, 1983 (added 7/10/09)

"I am a news junkie. I watch everything that comes in from cable on. And what I don’t like, and am fighting for in my character, is exactly what I don’t like in a newscast."

"Bixby Happy to Be in Beantown" Interview with Jerry Buck (Associated Press) The Hartford Courant: Oct. 2, 1983…….(added 7/10/09)

"If we are going to fall in love, then pride goeth before the fall. We are friendly adversaries. That’s what it comes down to. We each want to retain our individuality. But it’s the pride that keeps us separated."

"[Matt] thinks of himself as a dyed-in-the-wool bachelor. And he’s been the sole anchorman until now and his ego is threatened by the new arrangement.

"He has to learn the repositioning of his place in life. He’s not an unfair man, it’s just that he’s never been faced with it before.

"I think a lot of men feel threatened by the changes going on around them. I hope Matt is an example of how to deal that threat so that it’s no longer a threat."

Bixby…thinks Matt likes Jennifer but has a difficult time admitting it. "Probably because he fears he would be less of a man. That has to be part of his maturing. I think they have the repartee to bring them together. It doesn’t drive them apart. It’s another way of loving."

Bixby, who is executive producer of the series, said he has no hang-ups of his own about women. "If I did, I wouldn’t have a [female] first assistant director pushing me around on the stage. On the set I’m just another actor. I don’t wear my other hats on the stage. I have a lot of the same opinions as Matt, but in terms of the equality of women, no."

"I enjoy doing this show as much as ‘The Courtship of Eddie’s Father’, which was my favorite show. No one who saw that show came away untouched. And I like being back in comedy. I don’t get beat up as much."

He said he first met Mariette Hartley on "The Incredible Hulk" when she played the tragic doctor the creature marries, who then dies .She won an Emmy Award for her portrayal.

"We had a good relationship and I wanted to work with her again. We came to this show as equals…Sometimes it’s her show, sometimes it’s my show, but no one dominates the show."

"Mariette is so much fun to play with. The kind of verbal tennis we play on the show is the same way we do in our personal lives. We start in makeup in the morning and one of us throws a verbal challenge at the other."

Birmingham Alabama News, Nov. 13, 1983 (added 7/10/09)

"We’re doing fine in the ratings. We’re number 26 right now and that is exactly where I want to be. I never wanted to be number one—ever. This year is getting off to the same kind of start as ‘Eddie’s Father’ did on its first year. I think we have a good basic sound following audience which is still finding us. And that is what every show needs. We’ve had everything you can imagine thrown at us by other networks. They’re stunting with heavy-duty movies. But we know they’re going to run out of movies sooner or later."

"This is not a docu-comedy, you know. It’s not a story about news or a story about Boston. It’s a story about people. ‘Goodnight Beantown’ is just a medium to bring together two adult people and try to do adult stories. And I don’t mean X-rated adult. I mean intelligent adult, where people get together and talk and spar with each other.

"We’re a humorous show. But Mariette and I move in our own rhythm. Deliberately, we don’t take the laugh track into account. Our rhythm is more important. I think that people watching the show realize what we’re doing without having a laugh track point them in the right direction. You don’t have to tell people when something’s funny—when they should laugh."

About the show delving into more sensitive social issues: "No! I don’t believe in trying to preach in a half-hour comedy. I think if one wants to preach, it should be done in a special, something like ‘The Chemical People’, which aired on Public Television."

Bill gets some of his biggest kicks from the fact that some of his former series are still attracting the viewers. "Right here in Los Angeles they’re still running ‘The Incredible Hulk’ five days a week. Also ‘My Favorite Martian’."

"I’m disappointed only in the sense that we were trying to aspire to something a little softer and not quite so hard-hitting... And communciating between two male and female adults. And we did it."

 Cleveland Press, Oct. 30, 1983: (added 7/10/09)

 photo added 12/26/10………..

THE TORONTO STAR …..Jan 24, 1987 …… (added 10/4/01)

"I was rather disappointed that CBS didn't have more faith in Beantown, which was a literate show. I think they lost a good thing, but I guess everybody feels that way about their own series."

Read more about the episodes of Goodnight, Beantown.  Added 7/10/09

/My Favorite Martian/ /The Courtship of Eddie’s Father//PBS’s "Steambath"//The Magician/

/The Incredible Hulk// //On Acting//On Directing// /On Television//On Public Recognition/

/Some Personal Thoughts/

 All articles and broadcasts quoted here are held in copyright by their respective publications

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