A Decade in Media History 1983-1992

Fred/Alan
Annotated & Illustrated

Copyright ©2025, by Alan Goodman and Fred Seibert

Copyrights and trademarks of all images and logos

are held by their respective owners and
reproduced here with their kind permissions.

All rights reserved,

including the right to reproduce
this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

2 3 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
First edition
by Eliot George Books
March 2025

Title page photograph by Elena Seibert

 Dedicated with love to
Jack and Lily and Joe and Perry

Very few of the good things in life happen

without help and collaboration,
and that was certainly true at Fred/Alan.
To the dozens –hundreds– of our
subversives, misfits and thrillmakers,
this book is dedicated to you and all
your talents, skills, and mostly,
your good cheer.
 You can watch a lot of
the video and audio
(and then some)
described in this book at
www.FredAlan.org
CONTENTS
The Fred/Alan Chronology...................... 6 Chuck Berry/Universal Pictures........ 234

Introduction by Alan Goodman............... 8 Chauncey Street Productions............... 236

Introduction by Fred Seibert.................. 14 HBO/Cinemax/Gilbert Gotfried....... 238

Fred Allen, our patron saint.................. 18 The Kids; Choice Awards..................... 244

MTV: Music Television........................... 22 The Movie Masters................................. 246

Playboy's Hot Rocks.............................. 118 The Talent Pool....................................... 248

Showtime................................................... 122 Moviefone/777-FILM........................... 250

Nickelodeon.............................................. 132 Rockschool/WNET................................ 252

Lifetime...................................................... 169 The Movie Channel................................ 254

Mosaic Records........................................ 172 Charlex...................................................... 264

Nick-at-Nite/TV Land........................... 180 TV Heaven................................................. 266

Johnny Cash............................................. 200 Europe in India....................................... 274

VH1.............................................................. 204 Sassy Magazine........................................ 282

Epic Records.............................................. 216 Barq's Root Beer...................................... 284

Amy Grant/A&M Records.................... 218 HA! TV Comedy Network.................... 286

MCA Records............................................ 220 Comedy Central...................................... 298

Swatch/The Fat Boys............................. 222 Pentech...................................................... 302

Myers's Rum Video Network................. 227 The Tonight Show with Jay Leno........ 304

AfrikaBambaataa/JamesBrown............... 230 Self Promotion & Ephemera.............. 306

A Current Affair....................................... 230 Time to go/Goodbye............................. 362

Photograph by Elena Seibert

The Fred/Alan Chronology

We were in business for less than 10 • 1988
years but packed a lot of fun, money, Expanded our staff to become America’s
and innovation into our time. Not to first advertising agency focused on people
mention, best of all, a small city’s worth under 35. Nominations and wins of every
of fantastic colleagues and collaborators. creative advertising award.
.....
• 1989
• 1983 Fred/Alan opens Chauncey Street
Alan Goodman & Fred Seibert open Productions with producer Albie Hecht.
America’s first media branding agency,
with production and consulting • 1992
capabilities, in New York City. Fred/Alan Closes.

6 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

Photography by Elena Seibert Hand coloring by Candy Kugel
INTRODUCTION
by Alan
Goodman

Photograph by Elena Seibert 1984

August 1970. I arrived at Colum- massive intelligence, superior instinct,
personal charisma, consistent point of
bia University as an experienced
newspaper reporter and joined the view, and powers of persuasion were
college paper staff, getting my first like an iceboat through a frozen cor-
assignment almost immediately. I was porate sea of immobility, copycat de-
disillusioned just as quickly when I cision-making, blaming and shaming,
saw my article in print with virtually and general inaction. It was amazing
every word rewritten. That had never to see in person as co-workers, rivals,
happened to me in two summers of clients, and supervisors fell into line
working at my award-winning home- as Fred led any charge.
town paper.
Those traits were on display early.
Maybe radio, I thought. I rang the I remember a time at the radio station
bell at WKCR-FM, and Fred Seibert when we were in the midst of one of
answered the door. He’s been opening our trademark marathons celebrating
doors for me ever since. a musician’s birthday. This one hap-
pened to be a three-day event honor-
I’ve been telling that story for years. ing Charles Mingus. At some point
It’s shown up in print a time or two. around mid-way through the special
Recently I admitted to Fred I’m not we started playing Mingus’ music
entirely certain it’s accurate. It hap- chronologically. I believe it had been
pened more than 50 years ago. It scheduled. When it was Fred’s turn
might have been Lou Venech, who to take the mic, he said “I thought
was at the station every minute he we’d take a break from playing Min-
wasn’t in a classroom, keeping a pot gus’ music chronologically and for
of coffee hot next to the porcelain the next few hours focus on the music
frog “piggy bank” where you were that made us all fall in love with him
supposed to drop a quarter-per-cup. as a bass player and composer.” He
When I say it may not be true, I mean programmed his own three-hour
the first part. The second part, where shift. I stood there thinking, any one
opportunity after opportunity became of us could have done that. Who cares
available to me in my career and life, about the schedule? It was college
that was all Fred for sure. radio. Aren’t you supposed to be a
renegade? But none of us was, only
Fred.
I know this book is about our com- (People always said that at Fred/Alan
pany, Fred/Alan. But my relationship
with Fred is deeper and longer than we broke all the rules. Not true. We
that and so much of who we were as a obeyed lots of rules. We only broke
company was rooted in who and what the stupid ones.)
Fred is as a human. Like anyone, I
struggle to put into words how Fred’s After school we went off into the
world, Fred into radio and I into It wasn’t long before I was by his side
film school, then advertising at CBS producing animation for the network
Records. We were in touch all the and within days, working with him to
time. For a while I would call his new plan MTV.
station in L.A., ask for Fred Seibert,
and be corrected by the receptionist.
“Sei-BERG,” she would tell me as she One of Fred’s great innovations in
quickly put me on hold before I could on-air promotion was bringing The
tell her I actually knew the guy. Movie Channel subscribers to New
York for two days of sightseeing,
In radio he became a protégé of Dale dining, and promo recording. He
Pon, who in a few years Fred would believed in the value of unscripted
hire as the advertising agency for opinions from real people, a strategy
MTV. Dale taught Fred, and later me, we later employed at Nickelodeon
things like the inextricable link be- with real kids. One commercial for
tween media and creative, the value of The Movie Channel has stayed with
numbers, the importance of making me all these years. “There are only
and backing up a claim, and how to three things in my town that are 24
build audiences. In following Dale, hours,” the man told our camera. “The
Fred wound up back to New York, hospital, the diner, and The Movie
where he was able to resume his side Channel.” I’ve never written anything
hustle in freelance record produc- that good.
tion. He was doing a date in the city
once and called me to come sit with “24 hours a day” was an example of
him in the control room. He had just a promotable promise for The Movie
had an offer from Bob Pittman, head Channel that we also used for MTV,
of The Movie Channel, one of the in an era when it was typical for us to
new premium subscription channels develop a list of five or six promises for
springing up to take on HBO. Bob the networks we were promoting.
had gotten a recommendation from
Dale for Fred to run promotion for Again, Fred’s idea, borne out of his ra-
the network (Bob and Dale knew each dio experience where the DJs had a set
other from their days at NBC Radio). of “liners” they’d use in breaks to call
Fred was struggling with the deci- out the station’s attributes.
sion. I looked at the musicians on the
other side of the glass. One or two of Anyone who ever worked with us
them were drunk, I think there was knows about our affection for prom-
an argument in progress, no one was ises. We objected to slogans – slogans
sure what was happening, and it was wear out and get replaced. Also, we
unclear that anything worthwhile was insisted on devoting a LOT of time
going to get recorded that evening. to promotion, which would have
“Do it,” I told him. hastened that burn-out. With the
right promises, you could execute aesthetic reason was there as
endlessly and never run out of ways well.
to creatively tell each story. I could Later, as we built Fred/Alan, I was
probably rattle off all the promises, often in a position where young staff
to this day. It’s a system that wouldn’t members were asking me to interpret
work in today’s era where everything Fred for them. “I brought him an ad
is streamed, content is to see,” they’d tell me, “and he wrote
king, and brands are less valued. But a note on it, but I don’t really know
for years I would run into generations what he wants.”
of promo producers who learned
from Fred and me, and would tell me I would try to explain Fred to them.
about their promises, long after that “Look, Fred is at heart a jazz mu-
strategy ceased being useful. sician,” I’d tell them. “You brought
him something, and based on what
Another of our innovations was you showed him he started impro-
producing TV “audio first.” As MTV vising. He started riffing. I guess he
began building its staff and Fred wants to see something different,
started hiring producers, he found because if he were in love with what
he couldn’t afford seasoned pros and you showed him he would have told
none existed in TV who understood you. But don’t worry too much about
music the way we did. We had spent what he told you. It was just a riff. He
years doing segues and mixes and doesn’t necessarily want to see that
montages in college radio. Sound, we exact thing, and probably won’t even
believed, mattered more than picture. remember it. He wants you to think.
If something doesn’t sound right, it’s He wants something that works. Go
grating as hell. If a second-long im- away and do some more work. Don’t
age isn’t right, what difference does bring him one idea, because I can tell
it make? People are barely watching you he doesn’t want to see one idea.
anyway. So we worked with newbies Don’t come back and tell him his
and sent them all to Clack Studios, a idea doesn’t work either. But if you
recording studio where I had worked come back and show him, ‘I tried this
in the music business, owned by the direction, and then I tried this, and
best audio engineer in New York. Au- then I tried this third one, and then I
dio studio time was $50 an hour. Vid- thought about this, and this seemed
eo hours at video studios were $300 like the best way for us to go,’ he may
an hour, before they started adding all still not like what you have but he will
the extras like special effects proces- totally respect your process of devel-
sors, title generators, and dubs. Better opment and believe you did what he
to have novices crapping around at a wants you to do.”
lower rate than what the video joints
charged. Like many things with Fred, Other times I’d tell them, “Yeah, I
there was a practical reason, but the can’t read his writing either.”
While we could often finish each us. I once hired a comedy writer to
other’s sentences, we weren’t the same write ads for us because he made me
person. laugh. (Later he hired me to run his
sitcom.) We made account executives
An important thing to say about out of people who had never been
account executives before. We boosted
Fred is how he is the world’s great-
voiceover artists into being producers.
est champion of great ideas. A myth
We convinced East Village artists to
abounds that he only likes his own
do advertising for MTV, getting them
stuff. Nothing could be further from
to take commercial work for the first
the truth. I have never seen anyone
time in their lives because we prom-
discard his own work faster in favor
ised them they could do whatever
of someone else’s when it was clear
they wanted – we wouldn’t change a
the other person had a better idea. It
line in their drawings. (R. Crumb, the
was a great lesson to me. There can be
legendary underground comic book
great satisfaction in recognizing the
artist, did a full-page ad for MTV that
contributions of others.
was basically about how much he hat-
I think of all the things we did at Fred/ ed MTV. It’s a brilliant drawing.)
Alan I am most pleased about the ca-
reers we launched. Not the work. The In today’s corporate world HR de-
work was great. I still have some of partments write job descriptions, then
it hanging on the wall because I love go looking for people who fit those
looking at it. But nothing matches descriptions. It’s an impossible assign-
the joy I feel knowing I pulled people ment, because no one will ever match
out of the team to tell them, “You’re your dream applicant. Our attitude
a writer. You don’t know it yet, but was, let’s surround ourselves with
you’re a writer.” And now those people smart people we like being with, and
are writers. Or the junior art director we’ll figure out what they’re good at.
who was supposed to accompany me Our business cards never had titles on
to a shoot I was directing who I told them. That wasn’t the part we cared
at the last moment, “I’m not going. about. Instead, we gave people shots
You’re directing.” It was his first of and we were loyal. I still work with
many. He just needed the push. Fred/ suppliers who were Fred/Alan people
Alan was a wonderful nest, but how 40 years ago.
thrilling when we could push some-
one out of the comfort and safety into It was also a great place for personal
the wider world. experimentation, craft building, and
innovating. I would never have got-
At Fred/Alan we filled extra offices ten the breaks I got without Fred’s
with colleagues who needed space be- cheerleading for me. When we were
cause we wanted those brains around younger, he hired me to write liner
notes for his records. He hired me
to produce animation at The Movie butt. What’s more fun than working,
Channel when all I had done to earn and talking about work?
the job was attend one class in anima-
tion at film school before dropping We’ll always be checking up with each
the class. It’s not common for adver- other, too, if only to take each other’s
tising agency vice presidents to direct temperature on some issue or another.
commercials, but I loved doing it and I can usually count on him to fill in
Fred was absolutely determined that I gaps in my memory or fact base. In
should do things that I loved, so I was 50 years I’ve never heard Fred express
often our director. When Nickelodeon an opinion that wasn’t apparently
was getting ready to produce its first well-reasoned, deeply considered,
sitcom, he told them the reason the poked and prodded for holes and
pilot to “Hey Dude” sucked was that flaws, and ultimately decided in a way
they needed a story editor like Alan that would allow him to have a ready
to supervise the writing. I had never answer if called upon to respond to a
done that job before. But I wrote a question on that subject. I say “appar-
new pilot and we went on to do five ently” because no one could possibly
seasons and suddenly my career as a have that many opinions all sorted
writer/producer was launched. and filed away. He has to be making it
up as he goes, but always in a manner
Our Fred/Alan people were wonder- that makes you believe you’re not the
ful. But let me say this about the work. first person to ask.
The work was frikken unbelievable.
We did more work, and more great I can’t imagine what my life would
work, than seems possible to me now. have been if I hadn’t met Fred Seibert
Part of that comes from the fact that more than 50 years ago and fallen un-
Fred and I love to work. A guy who der his spell of creativity, inspiration,
was a big-deal consultant to MTV and delight in making things. I still
pointed this out to me early in our measure a lot of what I decide based
agency’s life. He had sold his direct on “what would Fred do.”
mail company to American Express
and didn’t have to do anything any- So much of the joy I’ve experienced in
more. “I’ve never seen anything like life I really owe to Fred’s moral, coura-
you guys before,” he told me. “You re- geous, generous, and spirited example.
ally seem to still love doing the work.” I love him more than I could ever say.

I don’t know about Fred, but I don’t Or maybe I owe it all to Lou Venech. I
think I’ll ever retire. What would I do? guess we’ll never really know.
Neither one of us plays golf. We don’t
really have any interests. We’re not
great at small talk. Travel is okay, but
it’s sort of an exhausting pain in the
Fred/Alan was a hoot. Great said, “Fred didn’t get hired in every
department at CBS Records,” Co-
colleagues and special, creative work.
lumbia’s parent company. But I found
Great clients too. Until they weren’t.
my way into commercial radio, then
Who we were –and are– was set at became one of the early employees in
our first meeting at WKCR-FM, the the new technology of the time, cable
college radio station at Columbia television, at the company that was to
University in New York. We became become MTV Networks.
fast friends, learning about all sorts
of music and audio production. We In a short while, Alan joined me, and
went on to work together in various together we hooked up with my child-
places on various projects. We be- hood friend, artist Frank Olinsky,
came brothers-in-law and uncles to and he and his partners designed the
our kids. And, we kept on working innovative MTV logo for us. Alan and
together, whether we were employed I produced the video that introduced
or not. We got each other jobs, and music television to the cable industry.
the more professional we became the Frank led the charge into the unique
deeper our affection. Friendship, un- logos with which we surprised the
derstanding and some work here and world –we tried to use animation to
there has continued for more than 50 keep up with the graphic revolution of
years. rock and jazz album covers– and I put
together the video promotion group.
But, the most intense professional It’s fair to say that our work is what’s
period was the 10+ years we had at most remembered about MTV.
MTV and Fred/Alan.
Having spent my childhood working
I really wanted to be in the record at my parents' Mom and Pop pharma-
business. In our generation, pop cy, I was an anxious, and ultimately,
music was the thing and records unhappy employee. It must have been
were the force multiplier. Being in a shock to Alan that, after all the acco-
rock bands throughout high school lades and promotions our MTV work
and college was great, but over time brought us, I marched into his office
I found myself wanting to help get one day after a confrontation in the
music out there. Based in New York executive suite and announced that
City, it should have been easy, but “we” were quitting. The two of us had
my biggest success was getting some already joked, when we were disgust-
of my friends gigs at the world class ed with the mediocre work of one the
Columbia Records. Alan worked MTV ad agencies, that it would be fun
there, and try as he might, as he once to have a company called Fred/Alan,
because none of our young friends
INTRODUCTION
by Fred
Seibert
would have a clue about America’s most
popular radio comedian, Fred Allen.
Maybe the oldsters who
controlled budgets would hire us?

It took a year to figure out what we

were going to do. We found our office
through the friendship of Buzz Potam-
kin, a leading MTV animation produc-
er, in Jackie Gleason’s former “Honey-
mooners” production headquarters at
the top of the Park Central Hotel on 7th
Avenue. We’d left with thoughts of mak-
ing TV shows. (It took us a few years,
but we eventually got there.) MTV net-
works hired us right back as their major
creative consultants.

For years, I’ve said that we were the first

company to codify media “branding,”
an easy enough translation from the
radio business we’d both been in, along
with boss Bob Pittman. But really, no
one else did it, at least to the degree that
we were up to. Alan and I were the first
people in television to execute on the
notion that a “brand” could be applied
to media rather than only boxed con-
sumer products. (And of course, that
virus has spread far and wide to apply
to individuals and politicians won- Photograph
dering about their personal “brand”.) by Elena Seibert
Along with the rest of my MTV 1984
Program Services team we’d succeed- and the addition of our college buddy
ed with it beyond anyone’s wildest Albie Hecht to our band of misfits,
dreams, and when we left that led to to restart our TV show ambitions,
the company suggesting that Fred/ spinning off Chauncey Street Produc-
Alan might be able to fix what was tions (the street in Bensonhurst that
ailing Nickelodeon. Jackie Gleason “lived” as Ralph Kram-
den in The Honeymooners. Natch!)
Forty years later it’s hard to imagine, with Albie, Alan and me producing.
but in the early '80s, the all-kids-all- A few music videos led to a Gilbert
the-time TV channel was the first Gottfried comedy special for HBO’s
of its kind, and they were failing at Cinemax. Our friends at Nickelode-
execution. No one watched. Nick- on liked our idea for a “Kid’s Court”
elodeon was the lowest rated cable series, MTV thought our quiz show
channel in America. might just work (it didn’t), and HA!
(the Comedy Central predecessor)
We went to work, I even moved into gave the greenlight to a set of half
their offices, and with the then-un- hour specials featuring several up and
heard of “brand” strategy, we helped coming performance artists. We even
the Nick employees understand that did our one and only network TV
they were the leaders of a club of comedy pilot for CBS.
millions of kids who were hungry for
a television channel that understood
them. Our clients knew a lot about Let’s be real, Alan and I had no idea
kids, we knew a little bit about how what we were doing. We were both
to use TV to talk to them, and within DIY before DIY was a thing. Maybe
six months they’d gone from worst to Alan got a little guidance in the adver-
first in the ratings, where they stayed tising department at CBS Records. I’d
for 25 years, following the path we’d read an advertising memoir (which,
cleared for them. Soon, cable channels ironically, made me sure to stay away
across the country wanted a piece of from ad agencies) and got some basic
what we had. Longtime, lucrative gigs training from my mentor Dale Pon
for Showtime, Lifetime, HBO and The when we worked together in country
Movie Channel followed. We even music radio. But, of course, our lack
helped some of our friends who were of training made sure our solutions to
leading the world revolution in jazz problems were based on our personal
record reissues. It was a heady time. experiences with media rather than
the tried, true and cookie cutter. And,
And after launching the company not for nothing, it caused us to hire
with a short lived series for The Play- co-workers who had no “experience”
boy Channel, it took us four years, either, other than street smarts, and
often, their skills. after day, month after month, year after
year.
Over time, things started to go a little
sideways. The stress of supporting 50 The two of us share a vision that has
employees and their families meld- stayed remarkably in sync for 50 years.
ed into our scrappy clients becom- The decade we worked side by side
ing responsible corporate executives, was exceptional. The decades since
searching for financial growth rather have been deep. Deep friendship, deep
than creative escalation. To this day, I respect, deep love.
don’t think Alan and I ever had a dis-
agreement. That is, until our Fred/Alan Thanks buddy. You’ve made a life
underlings would start to argue and we worthwhile.
both felt the need to defend whomever
we were responsible for. After a while,
it all got to be too much and we each
decided that making money couldn’t be
what it was all about.

Like I said, Fred/Alan was a hoot. I can

only speak for myself, but I’m sure Alan
would agree, we never really looked at
our colleagues and creative partners
around the world as “employees,” just
other friends with whom we could get
into good trouble, trying to change the
world. We took our work seriously, but
never ourselves. We’d try anything, and
if one thing didn’t work we were posi-
tive the next thing would.

Most of all, it was the special

chemistry that Alan and I have
always had. A lack of creative fear was
constantly fueled by the excitement
of giving new talent a chance to leap
up to world class. We were sure that
if we came to work to have some fun,
make some money, and be surrounded
by people we liked, it would result in
something special. And, sure enough,
something extraordinary happened day
18 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
Fred Allen,
our patron saint:

“You know, television is called

a new medium, and I have
discovered why they call it
a Medium – because nothing
is Well Done.”

“This drudgery,
this sham,
this gold mine.”

“An advertising agency

is 85 percent confusion
and 15 percent commission.”

Fred/Alan business cards designed by George Lois 1983

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 19

Rug remnant gifted Fred/Alan’s first reception desk, and one of our beautiful rugs.
by Robert Small & Jim Burns 870 7th Avenue, Manhattan, New York. 1983-1987
MTV:
The first MTV promotional bumper sticker August 1981
 Fred Seibert & Alan Goodman :
MTV employees 1980 -1983
Fred/Alan 1983 -1992

MUSIC TELEVISION 1980 -1992

Fred/Alan was a viable business because of department to figure out what the hell
the promotional vocabulary, graphic was TV promotion on a channel with no
design and animation we'd developed while shows. Elias/Peterson Associates started
employees at MTV: Music Television. composing music for our animations
and Alan commandeered independent
During the summer of 1980, we commis- film studios Broadcast Arts, Buzzco and
sioned (without even setting a budget) Colossal Pictures to animate what was to
logo development from Manhattan become our iconic 'M.'
Design, a new firm sitting in a tiny work-
room behind a tai chi studio in lower The magic carpet ride we were on contin-
Manhattan. Months later Fred had hired ued beautifully when we left our jobs and
a small staff as the Program Services launched Fred/Alan on April 11, 1983.
 Fred Seibert
Marcy Brafman
Marc Chusid
Jay Dorfman
Alan Goodman

MTV
Richard Schenkman

:M US IC T E LEV I SIO N
PROGRAM SERVICES
[the in-house creative and promotion department 1980-1983]

Fred: On May 5, 1980 I lucked into my We had an incredible gang –Marcy

first job in television –cable television– at Brafman, Marc Chusid, Jay Dorfman and
Warner Amex Satellite Entertainment Richard Schenkman– who executed all
Company (WASEC). Within 30 days our sui generis network videos. Against
programming head Bob Pittman start- all odds, the unique logo, network IDs,
ed putting together the team to launch and promos set the look and sound for
‘The Music Channel’ (the working name progressive media over the next 20 years.
for what eventually became MTV) and Eventually, my departments included
promotion, studio production, program-
had me add to my existing duties as
ming, advertising, and creative services.
the head of promotion for The Movie
Channel. Later on, I was included in a By 1983 the entrepreneurial genes
group known as MTV’s co-founders. were straining, so my great longtime
Alan came along within a year, at first, to friend, creative partner, writer/producer
start the process of developing an actual Alan Goodman, and I left the company
vocabulary for the channel –probably the to form the world's first media branding/
unsung key to any branding effort– to production/advertising agency.
produce the dozens of 10-second MTV
network animations that defined the Our first client? MTV Networks, until
channel's unique personality. 1992.

[Before Fred/Alan 1980-1983]

M Fred: I'd been friends with Frank Olinsky since I was four
years old and knew Frank as a talented artist and a life-
long music fanatic. In mid-1980, working in television for

A
the first time, I got the assignment to develop the logo for
what was then called "The Music Channel," a 24 hour pop
music video network on cable TV, and I was sure Frank
could handle it.

N
Alan and I went down to the studio Frank had started
with Pat Gorman and Patti Rogoff that was in the spare
room of a tai chi studio above Bigelow Chemists in
Greenwich Village and started a yearlong exercise of try/

H
fails of over 500 designs. You wouldn't have known how
hard we were pushing this new studio, and they kept up
with the same enthusiasm throughout the process. Sever-
al months in, our boss settled on the name MTV: Music

A
Television. We asked Manhattan Design to incorporate it
into the "Mickey Mouse" hand, squeezing a note, before
we realized we had to go back to the drawing board.

MTV was three months away from launch when the

T
group came over to our offices with a pile of new ideas.
We rejected them all until we got to a wrinkled piece of
tracing paper on the bottom that contained a giant 'M.'

T
Yes! A flurry of activity followed to finalize everything
but the "final" colors, because, you know, a logo has to
have a final version. It took a few weeks and a dozen iter-
ations before we realized –to our trademark lawyers' cha-
grin–that there was no "final." We could use what would

A
eventually become thousands of different variations.

N
DESIGN

Pat Gorman
Frank Olinsky
Patti Rogoff
Early MTV logo developments
from Manhattan Design
 Early MTV logo developments from
Manhattan Design 1980-1981:
The cartoon hand holding the music note was
appealing for a few minutes, but not so much
with the addition of the 'MTV ' name.

28 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

 Frank Olinsky originally spray painted We liked seeing rock stars like Cheap Trick's
the "TV " part of the logo to get a graffiti Rick Neilsen interacting with this version of
look that was so prevalent in the late 20th the logo, but less so when we finally changed
century in New York City. the name of "The Music Channel" to
MTV

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 29

30 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 31
 We had a few, last minute tussles with Warner
Amex upper management. The sales department
was embarrassed by what they thought was a
stupid looking logo. They were afraid that national
advertisers wouldn't take us seriously enough to
give us their money. The legal department was
concerned that all the hundreds of different design
executions meant that we couldn't trademark it.

32 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 33
 The MTV logos from Manhattan Design
fit the 1980s TV screens perfectly.

Logo illustration by
[Colossal], San Francisco

34 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

Some design guidance from one of Fred's mentors
was "dominate the space."

Logo illustration by
[Colossal], San Francisco

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 35

 “HEY YOU!

DON’T
WATCH
THAT!”

Newsreel footage
from the
United States
Library of Congress

Voice over from

MADNESS:
“One Step Beyond”

The talented, inexperienced creative a day in stereo (both revolutionary in the

promo group of Marcy, Richard, Jay and early '80s.) After the team traveled to the
Marc experimented for months to find the Library of Congress to take advantage of
right approach to talk to our audience. We the free access to their video archives and
had a TV channel whose "shows" were all came back with dozens of old black and
three minutes long and never pre-sched- white newsreels, Richard Schenkman got
uled, so all we could promote was what we the bright idea to match some ballroom
were and how great it was going to be. We dancing with the English band Madness
eventually brainstormed seven or eight and we had our first 30 seconds of "your
"marketing propositions" that promised, favorite music."
among other things, we were on 24 hours

36 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

 WATCH
THIS!!!”

TALKING HEADS:
“Once in a Lifetime”

FLEETWOOD MAC:
“The Chain”

SHOES
“Too Late”

MTV PLAYS
YOUR
FAVORITE
MUSIC.
MTV:
MUSIC
TELEVISION
Written by Richard Schenkman

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 37

Our proposition vision of a
format that
to filmmakers... would be,
exclusive-
By mid-1981 we'd (finally!) gotten a sign ly, music
off from the higher ups on our approach videos 24
to an MTV: Music Television logo de- hours a day,
sign. We'd settled in on the notion that interrupted
we were a video channel first and fore- occasionally by 'VJs,' video jockeys.
most, a "moving picture" network with
programming –music videos– that was “'So,' I asked Bob, 'what else will be in
also constant- the clock? Jingles, like Top 40 radio?' I
ly in flux, so hoped not, but I couldn’t really picture
the channel's anything else.
"branding"
shouldn't be “'No! Are you kidding? NO!!! We’ll do
"fixed" the animated logos.' Remember, we didn’t
way a classic have a name, no less a logo.
logo would
be executed in print. Like rock'n'roll we "He could tell I was a little confused.
wanted things to be fluid, raucous and 'What?'
full of life. And, it should be animated.
“'Imagine
We'd come up in a world where pop had this.' He
transformed into rock, where album was already
covers were leading graphic design into sounding
places that corporate design was scared triumphant.
to go. If we did our jobs well, album 'There’s an
covers would be, not a thing of the past animated
exactly, but yesterday's innovation. Our cow grazing
animated logos would be adventurous around. All
audacious, outrageous. They'd set the of sudden, an ax comes out of nowhere
pace for the and cuts off its head! The head falls to
future of the ground, veins spurting blood. The
media. (Yes, cow vomits! And in the vomit is our
everyone at logo!!!'
MTV was
that arrogant. "Wow, I thought. Bob will let us do
At least, we whatever
were.) we want!"

As Fred recalled in a blog post: "A There was a

month into my gig at The Movie Chan- bit of back
nel, Bob announced The Music Channel and forth
and asked me to lead the creative efforts as to what
of the channel-to-be. He had a clear style of an-

38 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

imation to use (we didn't want to pigeon Only the
hole ourselves into one approach) but young indies
we were given the green light to use our were dumb
best creative judgment. enough –smart
enough!– to fall
Even before the logo was agreed upon for that pitch.
we started researching animation pro- They were sick
ductions companies, something neither of clients that
of us knew anything about. We scoured wanted to reign in their creativity, and
advertising trade magazines, asked they believed that we were sincerely in-
around, and started visiting anyone who terested in the most exciting possibilities
would meet with us. of their filmmaking.

After a par- The assignment? A 10-second animated

ticularly dour spot –we can supply music or you can
meeting with produce your own soundtrack– where
the hottest our logo is on the screen for at least
producers in the last three seconds. But, we'd prefer
New York we versions of the logo to be on a lot more.
decided that Oh, and we're a rock'n'roll channel, so
we'd only work with people who actually it ought to feel like that. Whatever that
liked contemporary pop music, and with means to you.
folks we could have a laugh with. Basi-
cally, new, indie producers who would Over two years. Alan produced all our
try anything, anyhow, any way. Like us.
animations,
and several
Our pitch?
independent
filmmakers
"We're going to pay you
stepped up and
less than
virtually creat-
you'd like,
ed an approach
but we'll
give you to presenting
a lot of media for a new generation. The world's
creative first generation that had grown up with
freedom. television throughout their entire lives.
Seriously.
And, for the next 20 years, literally
"Show us stuff you love, not hundreds of
what you think we want. We filmmakers put
actually have no idea what their stamp on
we want, except that we what had be-
want it great. Make the piec- come a global
es for us that you'll put at phenomenon.
the top of your demo reels, MTV: Music
the very best you've got." Television!

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 39

Happy Holidays!: Manhattan Design Illustration: Frank Olinsky Animation: Buzzco, NYC
 Buzz Potamkin
originally had a New York City commer-
cial production company, Buzzco (neé
Perpetual Motion Pictures), whose reel
was the only one of hundreds we re-
viewed that was memorable for its fresh
approach to traditional hand drawn ani-
mation. So, when Fred's mentor suggest-
ed that we work together on MTV it was
a no brainer and the studio became one
of our first trusted collaborators on some

B
of the most iconic early MTV signifiers.

U
Z Buzz
Potamkin
Vincent

Z
Cafarelli
Marilyn
Kraemer
Candy

C
Kugel
David
Sameth

Illustrated & directed by Candy Kugel, Buzzco, NYC

O
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 41
More than that we had no TV shows on our music
television network (or put another way,
75,000 times. we posted a new “show” every three minutes
or so when a new video began). That was
world changing, right? (Well, not really.
Fred: The very first time the world saw
CNN beat us to it by 14 months. But,
the visualization of our mutating logo
they didn’t “name it and claim it;” MTV
would lead an unsuspecting global
did, so MTV would get the credit.)
populace to all the other cultural barbarism
we were about to unleash. Obviously, this spot would be the most
important one we could make. There
There were very few “ideas” for spots would be over 30 changing video pieces
I could claim as mine at MTV: Music every hour (music videos, promos, VJs,
Television. Media strategy and identifying and commercials) and this would be the
talent were my strengths, and I felt only thing all day–all week, all year– that
everything else would flow from there. was constant. It would get a lot of scrutiny.
But this spot was different; it’s the only
one for which I feel complete ownership. I thought the “top of the hour” spot
should do its practical job and reflect our
MTV boss Bob Pittman and I knew there arrogant self regard. And not for nothing,
had to be a signal identification at the it needed to be inexpensive, and use
top and bottom of each and every hour our ever changing logo that Manhattan
of MTV, where a VJ would identify the Design brought us. (At least the constant
most important music videos in that half logo metamorphosis –fractions of a
hour. We agreed it would be a voice over second for each design– would keep us
animation, with stills IDing the songs. fresh, distinct, and force folks to watch
that ‘M.’ )
But, what should the animation be? It
had to be memorable, repeatable, and Of course, it goes without saying that like
not drive a viewer completely crazy. After everything we would do, it had to have
all, it was going to play almost 17,000 that indefinable rock’n’roll attitude.
times every year. If we did it right, my
biggest goal could be achieved; I wanted The simplest way to combine all that
the world to fall in love with our ‘M.’ stuff was to steal the shine from an al-
ready existing piece of video. “Let’s take
Oh. Since our logo didn't follow any the most famous television scene ever,” I
classic design and marketing rules, upper said, and fold, spindle, and mutilate it to
management had dragged their feet our nefarious purposes.
approving it. By the time they got around
to it we had less than 90 days until launch. Our brainstorming in my tiny office
cubicle turned up some famous, or really
It seemed to me MTV had the most stuck infamous, stuff. We were all children of
up and conceited view of ourselves. We the '60s and '70s, so our immediate thought
were completely enamored of the fact was the day in 1963 when everyone

42 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

 Top: Original NASA photograph of an Apollo moonwalk
Bottom: our 1981 MTV desecration; logo by Manhattan Design,
illustration by Candy Kugel, Buzzco, New York

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 43

44 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
stayed home from school and were said senior producer Marcy Brafman,
subjected to the live video horror of the when the NASA imagery was suggested.
Lee Harvey Oswald shooting by Jack Not the first or last time she’d hit the nail
Ruby. Aside from its total wrongness, it on the head.
occurred to me that it was pretty much
an American memory. Let’s cop it, I figured. The worst that
could happen is that a generation of kids
I mean, please. The very first claim MTV would grow up wondering why NASA
was going to make, the first "promise" we photoshopped an American flag with
developed, was a promise we really had MTV’s used to be.
to own.
There was that attitude we needed.
“The world’s first video music
channel. MTV: Music Television.” My long time creative partner and
couldn’t-be-closer-friend Alan Goodman
MTV needed a global moment. Or maybe and I enlisted Buzz Potamkin’s Perpetual
75,000 of them. Motion Pictures (soon to be Buzzco) to
put together the spot. David Sameth
As our team was bullshitting ideas it produced for Buzz, Candy Kugel illus-
came to me. In the summer of ‘69 I was trated and directed (with some of the
traveling behind the Iron Curtain with logos adapted from absolutely original il-
my family on the day of the Apollo 11
lustrations by Manhattan Design’s Frank
moonwalk. The streets of dirt poor Sofia,
Olinsky), and the guitar blast track (we
Bulgaria were choked with walkers looking
thought it had the oomph of The Kinks’
for apartments with scarce black & white
“You Really Got Me”) was by composed
TV sets to witness this seemingly impos-
by Jonathan Elias.
sible achievement of man. Truly, Earth’s
most memorable event in television
history. By the way, our original version of
the spot never ran. A few days before the
My mentor Dale Pon had introduced me channel's debut, the lawyers informed
to the treasure trove of free images and us that we needed –and would never
film from NASA, a public government receive!– permission from astronaut Neil
entity which we all “owned” as US cit- Armstrong to use his quotation.
izens. It would be MTV 's inexpensive
source of public domain photographs Alan removed it the next day. But,
and video. As a start-up –no one was another change was needed. John Lack,
really sure this thing would work except the executive vice president of our parent
us– we needed all the financial short-cuts company, Warner Amex Satellite
we could find. Entertainment Company, who’s idea had
been the seed from which MTV grew,
deserved to be in on the action.
“Space is very rock'n'roll,” (continued on the next page)

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 45

24 hours later –one time only!– at bottom of the hour spot we used forever
midnight, August 1, 1981– came John's was that original 10 second piece.
personal voice over:
As I tell the story, the "Top of the Hour"
“Ladies and Gentlemen, was something we learned about very
rock'n'roll!” late in the process – long after many if
not all of the animated IDs we ordered
John, a huge music fan, was proud of for the launch were delivered. We under-
his role in jump starting this phase of stood instantly the need – it’s just that no
popular music's evolution. And from 1 one had asked us to make one, we had
a.m. until the very end, the rocket blast spent all our budget for animation, and
sounded with only a 'beep beep beep’ in we were weeks away from launch. We
place of John and Mr. Armstrong. looked at all the spots we had created
and realized all but one of them worked
The "top of the hour" ran at the top of only as the ten second pieces they were
every hour, more than 17,000 times each designed to be. But since the logos inside
year (48 times each day, including its Neil Armstrong’s flag were essentially
shorter variation at the 30 minute mark). on a loop, we could just keep recycling
Nowadays, the only sense memory/DNA the logos inside the flag. It was the only
that’s left of it is the “Moonman” statue way to make a :30 second piece out of
one of our tens. By default, it became our
on the Video Music Awards (the idea of
choice.
Manhattan Design’s Pat Gorman). The
VMA audience knows why it exists.
[Fred: Buzzco's Candy Kugel reminded
me that the animation was done in one
The spot itself had to be retired, tragically,
week!]
on January 28, 1986 –more than 75,000
times in total– when the Challenger
Same thing with the music from Elias/
Shuttle exploded in mid-air. The end of Peterson Associates. We had commis-
the first space era in history. sioned five pieces of music that we made
..... available to any of the animators working
Recently, Alan added some particulars I for us. Again, only one of those pieces
had completely forgotten: could be looped. The “Duh, duh-duh,
duh-duh, duh-duh” was something I
Alan: My memory is a little different on could go into an audio studio and re-edit.
some of the details. We did three slightly different mixes and
built it into a coherent piece of music 30
There is no question that the man on the seconds long. There was not one single
moon was an audacious act of appropriation other choice.
and historical vandalism, and an
inexpensive use of our national archive "Top of the Hour" was a case of a happy
of free images. But as I recall, it was just accident! The man on the moon became
one in a sack of animated IDs we com- an important icon for us, and lives on
missioned. It was, as originally designed, in the Video Music Award. But who’s to
10 seconds long because all our anima- say what it all might have been if we had
tions were ten seconds long. In fact, the actually planned it all!

46 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

“Top of the Hour” Stills courtesy of NASA Logos by Frank Olinsky and Candy Kugel 1981

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 47

48 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 49
“Duh, duh-duh..." streak. At a recording session, when we
From the Kinks to hardcore punk in eight years: suggested something like the Beatles hit
“Eight Days a Week” might work, Jonathan
the sound that shaped MTV.
turned to John and said “they want the riff
from ‘Eight Days of a Week.’ ” Hmm, differ-
Fred: Before MTV launched on August ent frames of reference.
1, 1981, my creative promotion team had
a lot to build so we could get on the air. Common ground arrived with the Kinks.
We needed a logo, promos, and animated We proposed a twist on Dave Davies’s hook
network IDs. from “You Really Got Me.” Jonathan came
up with a great, rock-ish/punk-ish 10-sec-
What kept gnawing at me though were the ond piece.There was something in the
audio “signatures” Alan Goodman and recordings that had us make three remixes
I wanted. We believed the sound of the where different instruments carried the
channel would be the foundation of how weight. The tracks sounded related, yet
viewers accepted us. each one had its own identity.
The sound would guide our writing, our
attitude, and our production style. Espe- The original "Moonman"
cially for something called “Music Televi- Once we’d decided on using the footage
sion.” Duh. and stills from various NASA moon mis-
sions we were in a quandary. The only orig-
So we commissioned a set of ten second inal music we had were dozen 10-second
tracks that our animation partners could pieces Elias/Petersen had produced.But the
cut to. animated film would need 30 seconds of a
music bed.
To me, Joe Jackson’s music had the right But Jonathan Elias had inadvertently done
feel, but it didn’t seem like a practical solu- us a favor. Alan thought the three Kinks
tion. Scott Elias kept knocking on our door inspired hook mixes would edit together
about his new commercial music shop he seamlessly. Before you know it he went into
was starting with his composer brother the studio and gave it a whirl. Perfect.
Jonathan and John Petersen. Elias/Peterson
For 17,000 times a year for almost four
Associates might be our answer. They were
years, Jonathan Elias’ composition –even-
our age, working in New York, and hungry.
tually covered by the Del Fuego (produced
Like us.
by Fred/Alan’s Tom Pomposello) and the
Butthole Surfers (up above)– would be the
Technical limits meant our animated IDs most played piece of music in the history of
had to be ten seconds long. So we commis- MTV: Music Television.
sioned Jonathan Elias to compose a set of
ten second tracks to guide our animation For almost four years, roughly 17.000
partners. times a year, Jonathan’s composition was
the most played piece of music in the
The MTV “signature” riff history of MTV: Music Television. Later it
That’s when a tiny generation gap showed was covered by The Del Fuegos, produced
up. Our references were the first British by Fred/Alan’s Tom Pomposello, and by
Invasion and blues based rock. Jonathan’s the Butthole Surfers. A 30-second theme
were progressive rock like Yes, Pink Floyd, became the pulse of a new channel. It told
and King Crimson, with a classical music viewers exactly who we were.

50 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 51
Design: Manhattan Design
Illustration: Frank Olinsky
Based on illustrations by Sam Steinberg Design & direction: Candy Kugel
 In 1984, MTV manage-
ment decided they needed
a "refresh" on the original
"top of the hour" anima-
tion. After all, the music
was changing all the time,
the promotional graphics
were changing all the time,
and soon, the VJs would
start changing too.

Since Fred and Alan

produced the original
it was preordained that
Fred/Alan would do the
refresh. And since Buzzco
had animated the 1981
piece it seemed logical
that we'd commission
them for the follow up.
Of course, the musical
composition was already
iconic, so our in-house music
producer, Tom Pomposello,
did an update on the Elias/
Associates theme with
Boston band The Del Fuegos.

“Top of the Hour” 1984

Animation by Buzzco
Hand coloring and logo designs
by Candy Kugel

Footage and stills

courtesy of NASA

Theme composed by
Jon Elias and John Peterson
Performed by
The Del Fuegos
Produced by
Tom Pomposello

54 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 55
56 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
C
O
L
O
S
S
A
L
PICTURES
Gary Gutierrez
Drew Takahashi
58 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
 Over the 1981 Memorial Day
weekend we met in a New York midtown
coffee shop with Drew Takahashi, one
of the two co-owners of San Francisco’s
Colossal Pictures. Little did any of us
know that over a conversation that veered
through Cecil Taylor, Thelonious Monk,
and oh yeah, the soon to be launched
MTV, we’d started the beginning of a deep
creative relationship and a lifelong friendship.

Alan and I had searched far and wide to

find animation studios to work with for this
new channel, to almost no avail. We looked
through 100 reels of people who’d worked
on commercials and network bumpers and
found one to put in a ‘maybe’ pile (more on
them in another post). Then our colleague
Sue Steinberg dropped a cassette on our
desk that she thought we might like. They
were another ‘maybe’ until the last piece,
an animated video for a musician we’d
never heard of. Who cares?! For those early
days it was beyond awesome. They’re in the
‘yes!’ pile (which was no pile at all.)

The studio's other co-founder, director

Gary Gutierrez intuitively understood what
our visual vision for MTV was all about.
The rhythm, the kinetic-ness, the explo-
sion. The studio might be expensive but
they were so worth it. They totally got us.
And we got them. Soon they started doing
conceptual art pieces –starting with a late
night snack of burgers and fries that Alan
edited into our first completely weird ID–
that helped cement MTV 's reputation (and
Colossal's) as the most creatively forward
network on television.

I suppose that Memorial Day trip turned

out to be worth the scratch.

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 59

60 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 61
62 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 63
B
R
O
A
D
C
A
S
T
ARTS
Steve Oakes
Peter Rosenthal
MTV 's first creative award winner Animation by Broadcast Arts 1982
Fred: Well, I'm foggy on how many weeks or
or months Peter waited for a meeting,
Broadcast Arts not but during that time we had a quiet
only made the first animated MTV battle with the bosses about the logo and
network identification but before the when the issue was finally settled we had
channel’s second birthday they’d won us just a few weeks to get some animation
our very first creative award. Of course, done for our launch on August 1, 1981.
the first of many to come over the years
and across the globe. It was truly panic time. We
needed at least two pieces –by the time
Nina Silvestri was a much more patient Alan and I left the company in April
person than I. She eventually became an 1983 we’d produced almost 100– a 30 or
ace producer, but she was already exhib- 40-second film for the top of every hour
iting her skills in 1981 when she was my and another of what would be our stan-
executive assistant. She regularly needed dard 10-seconds.
to run herd over the bunch of wonder-
ful, creative misfits I’d assembled at The “Nina! Is that guy still out there?” We
Movie Channel and the nascent music were desperate. Maybe this guy’s stuff
channel we were planning at Warner might be good? We’d already auditioned
Amex Satellite Entertainment Company. 100 animation studios’ reels and found
Our so-called offices were makeshift, two that were even close to good for us
with my eventual partner Alan Good- (and those two became the next com-
man relegated to a step stool as a chair, a missions for MTV ).
typing table as a desk, and Nina
“He’s out to lunch, but I know how to
was outside the room at a desk by the
find him!” Nina’s skill was amazing.
entrance door.
A half hour later Peter Rosenthal showed
Every once in a while when I’d step out me what was supposed to be the work
Nina would introduce me to a quiet guy of Broadcast Arts –meaning him and
sitting in the waiting chair. his creative partner Steve Oaks– and
it looked pretty good. At least good
“Meet Peter Rosenthal, he’d like to show enough. It was entirely stop motion –the
you his company’s animation.” same technique for The Gumby Show.
MTV boss Bob Pittman wanted a Star
Peter never had an appointment, he’d Wars look, and Fred struck back that
just come by and wait. I never had time he thought Gumby was the thing. Fred
in my schedule and I wasn’t in the mood won.
to see anyone’s work, there were more
pressing problems to deal with. Like, We later found out that Broadcast
what was the name of our channel? And Arts had no clients and the work Peter
why did the big bosses reject the logo showed was stuff they’d worked on else-
we’d ask Manhattan Design to work on where. But, MTV was in a corner.
endlessly for a year before we even had
a name? “We need 10-seconds of our logo in six

66 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

"Swick," the first MTV animated network identification Designed by Frank Olinsky & Broadcast Arts 1981
"Freddy buys it" by Broadcast Arts "Bubblegum" by Broadcast Arts
weeks.” I gave Peter the initial sketches Never-on-TV.
Manhattan Design’s Frank Olinsky had (on the opposite page)
done of “versions” of the now approved
MTV mark. “How much?” Fred: A couple of months after the net-
work launch, Bob promoted me to Vice
“Um, $5000?” On the nose for our President of Production, MTV’s first (a
budget. big deal in those pre-title inflationary
days).
Six weeks later Steve and Peter
delivered. Boy did they. Luckily, Frank I was probably whining too much about
had made it easier by pre-designing how hard I was working.
almost everything they used in “Swick.”
Zebra stripes, a brick wall, a New York He put together a huge congratulatory
Taxi cab and “Hairy M,” which even- event and asked Alan to make some
tually became its own ID. They quickly video just for the party. Alan worked
put together a fabrication team, took one with Broadcast Arts to modify one of the
of our ‘hard rock’ pre-recorded tracks awesome claymation spots they’d made
(you’ll recognize it immediately as the for us. They put a plasticine me in the
MTV "theme") and just jump cut their spot and ignobly ran me over.
way through all the designs.
I probably got what I deserved.
Exactly what we wanted. MTV’s logo
would never stay the same, no matter
what logos had done before. And ideally,
it could change a lot, even in one short
film.

What became of Broadcast Arts? Steve

and Peter went on to make at least 20
IDs for us, and then a few for Nickel-
odeon too. They used their MTV “fame”
to do some awesome things, most nota-
bly the wildly creative production of Pee
Wee’s Playhouse on CBS, before morph-
ing into curious?ictures in New York.

Oh, and that first creative award spot?

It's the one on page 63. Fred and MTV boss Bob Pittman
at the promotion party 1981

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 69

70 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
Tom Pomposello Productions
Jerry Lieberman Productions & Lou Brooks Eli Noyes
David Burd Silver Cloud Productions
 (Opposite page, top to bottom)

Broadcast Arts, Washington DC;

Eli Noyes, New York; Buzzco/
Candy Kugel à la Sam Steinberg,
New York.

(This page, top to bottom)

Manhattan Design/Jerry Lieb-

erman Productions, New York;
Broadcast Arts, Washington DC.

74 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

Logos, logos,
logos. Do we
have logos.
The animation producers
we worked with spanned
independent "art" filmmak-
ers and commercial houses
that were sick of the limita-
tions on them from their ad
agency clients. And most
of them were in animation
because of their beautiful
graphic sensibilities which
couldn't often be expressed
in a normal commission.

MTV was different. And

eventually, our clients at
Nickelodeon, The Movie
Channel, Lifetime and the
others were different.

The most obvious proof

of our ... idiosyncrasy?
peculiarity ? contrariness?
...was the excellence of our
animators. They took us
seriously that our logo was
a canvas for their creativity
and for the respect of our
viewers. For years they kept
delivering results that we
couldn't even imagine in
their relentless variations
of the opportunity that
Manhattan Design made
possible. As MTV spread
across the world the new
creative approaches multi-
plied exponentially.

None of it would have been

possible without the first
designers who actually
believed us when we asked
them to go for it.
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 75
 LPG/PON
Dale Pon George Lois Bill Pitts Dick Gershon
Fred's radio mentor, Dale Pon,
started an ad agency with the legendary
George Lois. It took over a year and a
terrible MTV campaign from the equally
legendary Ogilvy to convince our man-
agement to hire LPG/Pon. Dale and
George were both creative visionaries,
and Dale was a expert in media pro-
motion. Despite their reputations for
volatility, the quality of their work won
out. We guided their print ads before
Dale would execute a repurposing a '50s
hot cereal commercial to become one of
the most remembered ad campaigns of
the late 20th Century.

We produced the campaign with Buzzco,

Dale came up with the media strategy and
MTV executives convinced rock stars to
work for free saying...
"I Want My MTV!"

76 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 77
 Agency: LPG/Pon, NY
Creative director
& strategist: Dale Pon

Production:
Buzz Potamkin, Buuzco, NY
Alan Goodman

Interviews: Dale Pon

Directed by Thomas Schlamme
Logo illustrations:
George Lois

Pete Townshend

“I
want
my
MTV!”
Pat Benatar
David Bowie
Pete Townshend

Men at Work
The Clash
Hall & Oates

"Call your
cable company
and say...
“I
want
my
MTV!”
The road to Enter Dale Pon and his partners at
LPG/Pon. Everyone knew MTV needed
"I want my MTV!" a successful promotion method that only
was, in retrospect, not that long. But TV ads could provide. MTV was in less
when your channel is a start up that than 10% of American homes. The au-
many were writing off before it even dience was clamoring for it, but couldn't
launched, it felt like a couple of lifetimes. get it, thanks to the reverse ageism of the
cable system programmers. And without
MTV boss Bob Pittman and Fred were a major åexpansion of viewers, adver-
pitching the new ad agency that Dale tisers wouldn't come on board and help
Pon and George Lois started to senior pay to keep the company alive.
management from the start. But their
explosive notoriety threw shade on Dale, aside from having a creative vision
Dale's undeniable successes in media for the ads, was a master media strate-
promotion. Besides, one of the big gist. Quickly, he developed a solution
bosses wanted to let co-owner American that spent our meager budgets that in a
Express know we way could efficiently
respected their maximize pressure on
blue chip agency, the cable operators.
Ogilvy. They were
a storied company, Now, what was a cre-
so even we had ative solution for that
high hopes. pressure? George Lois
had been inspired by
Sure, they trucked copywriter Nancy Pod-
out the young bielniak's line in the
copywriter with a The loser Ogilvy commercial for MTV 1981print ads:
satin jacket to "prove" their rock'n'roll
bonafides. But, at the same time they "Rock'n'Roll wasn't enough for them.
hated our beloved MTV logo, and Now they want their MTV!" George
saddled us with a production company knocked off a '50s cereal commercial:
who was embarrassed by it. The agency "I want my Maypo!" Dale married rock
was renowned for their research, but they stars shouting the line with The Who's
did none for MTV. The way they treated Pete Townshend holding a phone:
us, we might as well have been their giant "America! Demand your MTV!
client Hershey Chocolate Bars. Call your cable operator and say
'I WANT MY MTV!"
The Ogilvy commercial was a complete
bomb and netted MTV nothing it need- Soon enough, cable companies across
ed. That is, more distribution with cable America were begging us to turn off the
operators. Who, in the infinite wisdom commercials in exchange for long term
of the old men who ran them, wanted to distribution deals. World domination,
run The Weather Channel instead. here we come!

80 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

 Not for nothing, it's been over 30 years since a rock star commercial shouting
"I want my MTV!" has been on television.
But, a 2023 internet search for the phrase returns
33 million results!

Design by George Lois, LPG/Pon, New York Rolling Stones tongue illustrated by John Pasche

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 81

We left our jobs at MTV all, parents paid the cable bill, not the
to start Fred/Alan in April 1983, con- young'uns who liked pop music.
vinced we could have an independent
career, using our street smarts, skills and 33 years old, MTV boss Bob Pittman
talents. Soon after we left, Bob Pittman, was fearless and he wasn't about to back
our former boss and MTV Networks down to anyone, even someone like
president, hired us right back as consul- the powerful Malone, who was already
tants, which continued until we closed known as the "Darth Vader of cable."
Fred/Alan in 1992.
First off, his team contacted every rock
Over the next few years our company star in the company Rolodex so that
broadened its mandate at MTVN to they would all understand that the most
reposition Nickelodeon's ratings from powerful sales tool in the history of the
worst to first in all of cable television, music business was being threatened.
launch VH1, and invent Nick-at-Nite. Any time they were interviewed, the
And by 1988 we repositioned Fred/ artists shouted out how their fans were
Alan from just the world's first branding being deprived. Any of the bands that
media branding consultancy to a full were available were booked into a series
service advertising agency, not only stra- of "SAVE MTV!" concerts in TCI's Den-
tegically creating and producing ads, but ver area venues.
also the media buying and placement of
TV, radio and print ads. And then, Bob called Fred/Alan.

... Once we understood the situation, Alan

(Pages 82 & 83)
went to work and wrote a commercial
that included:
Fred/Alan's first MTV
ad assignment was a bit of a fire drill.
Suddenly, everything changed.
The cable wars really began around
If your MTV’s missing, call ‘em. I’d call.
MTV.
Tell them “Don’t make decisions for me!”
And MTV won. Tell ‘em “I want what I paid for.”
Tell them:
A few years into the cable era relations
between the programmers and cable sys- “I want my MTV...Back!”
tem operators diverged from "we have to
work together to beat the broadcasters" Alan: The ‘I want my MTV back’ cam-
to "we [programmers] need more money paign is interesting because of how
to grow" and "no," said the operators. many other networks tried to do the
same thing when THEY got kicked off
TCI, then the country's largest biggest during contract negotiations, and utterly
operator out of Denver, decided MTV failed. The fact is, “demand” was some-
would be a good target. TCI's CEO, thing that always worked for MTV ever
John Malone, took MTV off the air. After since the launch because our viewers

82 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

felt locked out. Do you think a lot of Ed Levine and Noel Frankel were just
Lifetime viewers were motivated to grab in time for us to reinvent "I want my
the phone and call their cable operators MTV!" past the original conception.
when their signal went off?
To make a long story short, Noel took
“I remember Tom Godici, then one of the idea of reinvention even more seri-
our fantastic, but junior, art directors, ously than we did. He rewrote the Cole
with this campaign. I was slated to go Porter classic "I Concentrate on You,"
direct one of the stars –can’t remember and suggested we book Tony Bennett to
which one– and I walked into Tom’s sing it. Tony's son Danny had just taken
office and told him to go instead. He was over his management and was deter-
a little surprised and nervous about it, mined to introduce his father to new
but I told him I trusted him and knew he generations. Danny jumped at the offer.
could do a good job. I loved that about
our agency, that we would give people a "I Want My MTV!" would never be the
shot.” same.

Needless to say, Pittman's plan worked. Alan: Tony was a sweetheart, sketching
In a couple of days, MTV was back to every spare minute (quite a talented art-
ruining the youth of America. ist). I own an original copy of his first al-
bum for Columbia, which he signed for
... me. "Your voice was so incredibly high
(Pages 84 & 85) then," I commented. "I was the original
Tony Bennett's career revived Michael Jackson," he told me.
25 years after his style of music had been .....
tidal waved by the rise of rock'n'roll. But,
it didn't start with his 1994 Unplugged By the way, we learned a great agency
concert, the conventional wisdom. Fred/ lesson from Noel on this shoot. He
Alan brought Tony to MTV in 1988. decided the floor needed to be changed.
Always budget conscious, we balked at
We had recently grown our business the $5000 up charge.
beyond its programming and branding
roots at the request of Nickelodeon and "No, no," Noel insisted. "The client will
MTV, becoming a "full service" adver- pay for it all!" Oh.
tising agency. We'd specialized in on-air ...
promotion, but MTV Networks manage- Client: MTV: Music Television
ment recognized our role in reimagining Account supervisor: Ed Levine
Account executive: Jessica Wolf
the unique role their channels played in
the lives of their loyal audiences. In fact,
they credited us in actually establishing
that loyalty.

We became a "full service" advertising

agency and brought in agency pros.

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 83

 Phil
Collins

Billy
Joel

'Suddenly, everything changed.

One minute there was music.
The next minute... nothing.
Just like that! They took off MTV.
It’s the local cable company, you know.
It’s the guy you pay, every month.
Is it fair to take your MTV away?'

84 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

 Rod
Stewart

Paula
Abdul

'I think if we all put the pressure on,

they’re going to have to change their mind.
If your MTV’s missing, call ‘em. I’d call.
Tell them “Don’t make decisions for me!”
Tell ‘em “I want what I paid for.”

'Tell them,
“I want my MTV...
Back!”'
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 85
 Agency: Fred/Alan, Inc.
Copywriter & art director:
Noel Frankel
Director: Robert Small RSE
Production design: RSE
RSE producer: Jim Burns
Fred/Alan producer: Albie Hecht
Arrangement & recording:
Garry Sherman
Executive producers:
Alan Goodman & Fred Seibert

(Tony Bennett sings

Cole Porter’s
“I Concentrate on You”
Lyric's altered by
Noel Frankel]

“Whenever skies
look gray to me,
and trouble begins
to brew,
Whenever the winter
winds become
too strong...
I want
my MTV.”
Tony Bennett
and Alan 1988

86 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

(announcer)
“It doesn’t sound like TV, it doesn’t look like TV,
it doesn’t even feel like TV.”

“Sure, you love TV. But sometimes you gotta ask yourself...”

(Tony talks) "TV or MTV?"

(Tony sings) “I want my MTV.”

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 87

Five years after Fred/Alan was followed this strategy perfectly.
founded, we'd become a bona fide, full
service advertising agency. The distance The core phrase of print, outdoor and
between being founding employees of TV advertising paraphrased directly
MTV and being under the thumb of from Alan's paper:
channel marketing executives was be-
coming really annoying.
"TV? or MTV!"
Each person at MTV had evolved a
The featured players? Rock stars –like
different set of standards to describe the
Jon Bon Jovi, John Mellencamp, Cin-
place. Anyone who didn't agree, even
dy Lauper, The Bangles, Cher– natch.
their own co-workers, was derided as
And... the Burning Man.
someone who didn't "get it." And as the
people who led the effort to develop the
MTV had been such an influence on all
original "hymn sheet," we decided we
of television that hosts started shedding
needed to do something about it.
their stiff formalities, including every-
thing from hair styling to costuming.
Alan wrote the first official "positioning"
We thought that MTV 's reaction to
paper for MTV. Logically argued, well
"normal TV " trying to cop its informali-
written and vetted from top to bottom
ties would be to put our spokesperson in
at MTV, there was one section that
a suit and tie. But how did a well dressed
wrapped their ethos up perfectly.
man represent MTV 's rebellion?
"Watching TV is predictable.
Set him on fire.
"Watching MTV is reliable,
Of course. The challenge in those
not predictable.
pre-computer graphics days was that
we had to actually set the guy on fire.
"It's Normal TV vs. MTV." (Watching the outtakes was harrowing,
as Alan and Ed Levine had horrified
Or, as a future programming head would faces when it looked like his hair might
put it when deciding whether or not to have flamed up too.)
greenlight an MTV show:
The ads were shot as 10 second seg-
"Does it have that 'fuck you?'" ments which were then mixed and
matched into a dozen different spots that
With this positioning, not only could could make watching them, over time,
we have a yardstick that everyone could always fresh.
agree on, but could guide our future
advertising efforts.

The so-called "Burning Man"

campaign from 1987 (pages 88-91)

88 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

The challenge for advertising in the It's fair to say that the campaign in
early '90s was that MTV –actually, all of Rolling Stone (pages 102-117)
the quickly maturing cable channels– had might have been one of the agency's
a loyal, consistent audience. Further, favorites. There was a sense that media
expensive television ads were considered buyers susceptible to MTV 's charms
a bit of a money sink. On the other hand, mirrored the magazine's readers, a
there were special interests that needed perfect place for our persuasions.
constant shoring up. Cable operators
(who paid MTV for carriage), the record Art director Tom Godici was the cham-
industry and artists' managers (who had pion of this campaign, selecting and
other ways of spurring on record and soliciting a group of fine artists – with
a mix of household names, ad biz faves,
concert ticket sales), and most of all, ad-
and soon-to-be’s– most of whom would
vertisers (who had a lot of other places to
rarely be included in a commercial
offset MTV 's premium ad rates).
effort.
Cable operators and advertis- Our favorite ? Hands down, R. Crumb.
ers (pages 96-7, 99) had finally understood Generally, Tom would contact the artists
that they needed to sell ads to the 12-34 personally, tell them something about
year old viewers that MTV dominated the campaign, and emphasize that we’d
like no other channel. That called for want their take on our headline “Just
print advertising in several trade mag- when you think you know what it is... it’s
azines. Chip Simons was a photogra- MTV.” Crumb’s representative told Tom
pher whose singular style would make it was extremely unlikely Crumb would
him a regular Fred/Alan contributor. His participate, but please send over some of
pictures of our young audiences stood the other artists’ work and that he’d send
out in print that usually focused on the it over to Crumb in France. Tom duti-
most boring imagery in existence. fully packed up the stuff with a personal
letter telling Crumb we knew he hated
Billboard magazine (pages 100 & 101) contemporary music but we loved his
was the primary trade publication for work.
the music industry. The programmers
gave us a list of the expanding group of Months later the package was mailed
back, seemingly unopened. Sure
recording artists currently represented
enough, the original contents spilled
on the channel.
out, to all appearances, unread. But
Tom’s eyes popped when along with all
Black and white photography was the
the other stuff flies out an old, yellow
ticket in the mosaic of color that plas- edged piece of onion skin typing paper
tered music magazines. Fred/Alan cre- with the Crumb drawing and a note.
ative director, Noel Frankel, made sure
the art direction dominated the visual “Please forward the $300. My wife
space that made certain that the ads is spending money faster than I can
couldn't be missed by anyone. earn it."

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 89

90 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 91
 Logos illustrated & animated by
92 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
Marv Newland, International Rocketship, Vancouver
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 93
94 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
 Bus side advertising 1988
Illustration by Lou Brooks

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 95

96 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 97
98 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
Photography by Chip Simons

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 99

100 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
Art direction: Bob Zeltmann

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 101

Creative director:
Noel Frankel
Art direction by
Tom Godici
(Pages 102-117) Art direction and design by Tom Godici

104 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 105
106 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 107
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A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 109
110 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
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116 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 117
 Did you do it for
love? Did you do it
for money? Did you
think you had to,
honey?*
Tom Godici's name pops up quite a bit
throughout this book. But, as a talented,
skilled and ambitious designer, director
and art director. Definitely, not as the
actor he is on the opposite page. >>>

Somewhere along the way in the run up

to some MTV promos (and eventually,
TV Guide 'tune-in' ads) conceived and
directed by creative director Noel Fran-
kel and art directed by Tom, he actually
ended up in the spots.

We've been guilty about it ever since.

Tom never did anything halfway, his

dedication to his work is 100%. So, it
couldn't occur to him –or any of us, for
that matter– that spending a day strug-
gling as a trussed and bound actor would
affect his teeth for the rest of his life.

We're sorry Tom. Sincerely.

MTV Promises: "The Gagged Man"

Directed by Noel Frankel
Writers: Noel Frankel & Steve Diamond
Art director & actor: Tom Godici
Producer: Chris Strand
Chauncey Street Productions

*"The Long Run"

By Don Henley & Glenn Frey

118 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 119
We started Fred/Alan with a contract censored for nudity. Perfect for Playboy.
to produce –with our friend Buzz
Potamkin– our first television series for
But, they weren't nude enough for
the Playboy Channel. Playboy, and without our permission
they edited the videos in inappropriate
Music videos were the rage, we were the ways. We dropped out after a couple of
only MTV "stars" in the open market, episodes, but they'd breached our
and we knew there were many pop artists contract. The payout funded our first
who were making videos that were being year in business.

120 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

 1983
PLAYBOY CHANNEL

“Playboy’s Hot Rocks”

Series produced by
Fred/Alan
& Buzzco
Animation by Buzzco
Directed and illustrated by Candy Kugel

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 121

In the aftermath of the graphic memory and when we were on
debacle with The Playboy Channel and the phone he wanted details about the
their illegal editing of music videos, the show budget he had read weeks earlier.
next year was attempting to get some The other was when I ran into him at
more television shows on the air. some thing years later and mentioned
Ringo’s Rock Riot.
We got ourselves a couple of agents.
Right? Isn't that what you do in show He didn’t exactly roll his eyes, but what-
business? And because we were the only ever he did do with his face, I interpret-
free agents who'd had a primary role in ed it as that....
Then, ABC told us that no music show
the hot, hot, hot media story of the early
was ever produced at their network
1980s –MTV, natch!– the agents got us
without Dick Clark producing. You
a "first look" deal at the ABC Networks
know, "American Bandstand," "Where
daytime division.
the Action Is," huge, influential shows.
We were shocked when Dick offered to
"Daytime" was primarily soap operas
partner with us on our venture. He was
and talk shows, and little did we know,
the most successful independent pro-
some variety shows were in their baili-
ducer in network television and we just
wick too.
thought of ourselves as two kids from
the suburbs having a good time. Dick
Variety? Music, right? That's us!
knew better, he wasn't about to shine on
two of the architects of the most talked
We came about entertainment franchise of the
up with a decade.
concept that
was kind of ABC drove us all crazy. Could you
Ed Sullivan change the show to be this? Could you
like, but with adapt it to be that? Along with Dick,
rock'n'roll. we kept writing up new pages for each
We thought request, and they turned down each one
Ringo Starr in turn.
would be a fabulous host. Ringo’s Rock ...
Riot! We traveled up to meet Ringo at Alan: I have four memories of Dick
a Boston hotel. It wasn't his best period Clark. 1) He wore a gorgeous watch
–"personal problems" the tabloids might with two dials, one set to West Coast
say– but his public persona proved to be and one to East Coast. 2) He called me
accurate. He was a nice guy. once from his car to talk about the pitch.
Me. Talking to Dick Clark. Who called
But, Ringo turned us down. from the car! (There weren’t cell phones
... yet). 3) As we sat in the conference room
Alan: I remember two interactions with at ABC in LA, waiting for the network
Ringo — The first was on a phone call to exec to come in for the final meeting,
discuss the budget. Ringo had a photo- it dawned on me that there was I with

122 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

my 3-page treatment in front of me,
and there was Dick Clark with the same
3-page treatment in front of him, and I
thought, “Oh shit, this is the rest of my
Our first year, Fred/
Alan, Inc. was essentially Fred, Alan and
life. Three pieces of paper in an airless
room trying to get a nitwit executive to Gilbert Hsiao, our college friend who
greenlight my show.” 4) After yet anoth- worked with us at MTV Networks and
er meeting with this wishy washy exec came along for the entrepreneurial ride.
we’d been pitching for over a year, who
contacted us to do a show and couldn’t When the Playboy Channel series came
decide if she wanted it or not, Clark to an end and there were no other shows
said, “Well, maybe by Friday we could on the horizon, we started producing
have a yes or short form projects to tap into the ongo-
a no, and we ing expansion of the 1980s cable boom.
can all get Soon enough, we needed help. At first,
on with our freelancers bridged the gap. Our design
lives.” friends at Manhattan Design and Corey
... & Co., Boston, played a pivotal role in
One day, in filling the void.
frustration,
Alan asked Before long, producer Linda Schaffer be-
Dick, "Is this came Fred/Alan's first creative employee,
what it's like for you? Do they do this to where she took the lead on dozens of
you too?" Dick told us, don't worry kids, projects, particularly at Showtime and
it happens all the time. The Movie Channel. When the rebuild-
ing and rebranding of Nickelodeon
"The only thing they haven't asked us to came around, Tom Pomposello stepped
do was turn it into a quiz show!" Alan in to handle all our music production
burst out. and network identification animation.

Next –and last– network meeting: Our original, cost-efficient office at the
top of the Sheraton Park Central Hotel
"Do you guys think it could be a quiz on Manhattan's 7th Avenue served us
show?" well for five years. But as we expanded
into advertising agency duties alongside
Needless to say, we got the Hollywood our branding and production responsi-
no... which is never a no. You just never bilities –and launched Chauncey Street
get a callback. Productions with Albie Hecht– we not
... only grew the team but also relocated
So, the world didn't seem to want TV three blocks north to a more spacious
shows from Fred/Alan. We needed a –and not for nothing, nicer– location.
reinvention, fast.

Maybe network branding and

promotion?

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 123

Poster design by Mark Larson
 Illustrations by
Manhattan Design

SHOWTIME
1984 -1992
The Showtime subscription "We've got the rights to [Apple co-found-
channel was the Fred/Alan client with er] Steve Wozniak's US Festival! Can
the most longevity after MTV Networks. you help us?"
Josh Sapan, head of marketing (one of
our best clients ever and, eventually We dutifully did the job, which was
the CEO of AMC Networks) was a guy a latter day, not so successful, Wood-
stock with all the music acts you could
who let us stretch ourselves beyond our
imagine. This time it involved a direct
reputation as media brand gurus. But, at
response approach to lure new subscrib-
first, it wasn't easy.
ers. Piece of cake, and Showtime was
impressed we could do something stra-
Music video. Our blessing and curse.
tegic rather than just a rock promo. We
Despite our Playboy Channel fiasco, our waited for our non-music assignment.
goal was to produce TV shows. In the
meantime, to keep ourselves and our
co-workers paid, we had to fall back on
the work for which we were known. So,
our backup was going to be the branding
and marketing stuff we could do in our
sleep.

But, we didn't want to fall into the music

video trap. First of all, we didn't want to
be typecast. And second, we didn't really
make music videos (though we eventual-
"Debbie wins Barry Manilow's piano!"
ly did two in our decade), and even if we
Produced by Linda Schaffer
did, they didn't pay too well.
"Absolutely!"
So, we were hesitant when Showtime
wanted us to help them promote their When Josh asked us to promote a Barry
jump-on-the-bandwagon music video Manilow concert (really?!) we put our
show. Aside from the fact that it was foot down and refused until we had pre-
hard to say why theirs would be any booked a non-music job. After a bit of
good, we could see the trap ahead. hesitation, it was done. Another direct
response gig, which was great, because
We told Josh we'd agree to take the gig. if we did it right Showtime made more
money, which would guarantee a bunch
If. If we could get a non-music project.
of future work. Which it did for the next
decade. And, not for nothing, from then
"Absolutely!"
on we were fine doing their other music
projects over the years. (See the Police post-
We did "Showtime's Got Rock!!! (the
er on the previous spread.)
previous page), it went over well, and we
waited for our next assignment. Sometimes we were amazed by

126 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

the kind of work we were allowed to do was also a smart composer and had
at Showtime. But that’s the way it some- done a nice a cappella job for us on a
times is when one is in at the beginning couple of spots for the Playboy Chan-
of something bigger than one imagined. nel, so we thought we’d try again with
Brooklyn’s own Honeymooners. (The
But our all time favorite job Jive Five went on to the biggest fame
for Showtime had to be The Honeymooners: in their careers later that year when we
Lost Episodes. (The following two pages.) convinced Nick programmers that these
Americans of a certain age have a great folks needed to be the “sound of Nick-
feeling about Jackie Gleason’s Honey- elodeon.” Another creative coup for us,
mooners. The catch phrases (“To the and mostly for them.)
mooooonnnn Alice!!!”), blue collar ev-
eryman families in Bensonhurst, Brook- At FredAlan.org the first couple
lyn, the cold water flats, and of course, of spots will ring in your ears. What
the indelible characters, made it a must you'll hear, and what we heard too, was
watch show for the whole family, as TV a wonderful song that Eugene and Steve
used to bill itself. did for Jackie and Showtime. And like
we suggested up top, the fact that Josh
So, when actor/writer Jackie Gleason let us use five virtually unknown doo-
dusted off dozens of kinescoped comedy wop singers who composed their own
sketches done over the years, Showtime celebration of a 25 year old, black &
stepped up and presented them towards white sitcom, says something special. At
the end of 1984. They asked Fred/Alan, least it did –and does!– mean something
who, yes, had done some nice work for to us.
Showtime, to help out. Nice work, for .....
sure, but we also –truly!!!– had
our offices in Gleason’s old New York The Honeymooners: Lost Episodes 1984
Honeymooners production offices. Client: Josh Sapan/Showtime

Agency: Fred/Alan, Inc. New York

Fred/Alan put a total New Yawk team Creative directors:
to promote the series. Steve Stein aka Alan Goodman & Fred Seibert
Steinski from lower Manhattan was a Producer, copywriter & sound design:
friend and collaborator with our go-to Steve Stein
Music composition: Eugene Pitt & Steve Stein
sound engineer, Queens born Doug De- Vocals: The Jive Five
Franco (Double Dee). Aside from being
an early hip-hop, white “mastermix”
champ, in those days Steve made his liv-
ing writing advertising. He loved music
as much as we did, but also understood
the art of persuasion.

Eugene Pitt was the leader of The Jive

Five, a local quintet of doo-wop/soul
singers who’d had a few hit records. He

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 127

128 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 129
THE FUNNIEST PERSON Alan did the Uncle Sam with a pie and
IN AMERICA “I WANT YOU!” message/branding on
posters and TV spots. It was also the
Our friend Herb Scannell was marketing inspiration for the “prize” for the 50 state
director at Showtime (soon to become winners, a white plaster big arm with a
CEO of Nickelodeon) and asked us to pie in hand and your name on it. (Yes,
help out with their latest national promo- the key was to enter from Wyoming, the
tion that could get some good headlines. Dakotas and other less populated states
He writes more about it: where if you entered, you won).

Ha! No better way to start this descrip- The grand prize wasn’t a comedy special
tion than with the word “HA!” as it was (Programming wanted little or noth-
the marketing department (program- ing to do with it) and instead the prize
ming kept their distance) at Showtime’s was appearing in “interstitials” between
effort to find funny in America and movies on Showtime while driving
designate 50 state winners and an overall across America in an RV with Groucho
“Funniest Person in America”. nose and glasses. Not a dignified look.
Eventually Showtime crowned Ellen De-
It was Josh Sapan's –VP of marketing– Generes, and entrant from New Orleans,
pet project, and it was like him – uncon- as America's Funnist Person. Five years
ventional, with a goal of generating local later, she became the hottest thing in
and national press, and against the grain Hollywood, with a sitcom and later talk
of traditional pay TV marketing that show.
was about subscriber acquisition (they
weren’t wrong). I came to Showtime So, the marketing weasels won and
with the furniture when they acquired picked a real winner!
The Movie Channel (we’ll keep Scan- .....
nell, we have enough file cabinets). I
Client: Showtime
liked it and Josh, looking for someone Herb Scannell/Josh Sapan
to champion it, put me in charge. Fred/ Writer/director: Alan Goodman

130 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 131
 The key to good health is fiber.
Don’t you want to be spry like me?
Ha ha!
But here’s a healthy offer.
Showtime has exclusive movies and shows.
Like Witness and Death Wish 3.
Without Showtime, you can’t watch them.
And if I’m lying, I’m buying!
Free cable for a year if you spot Show-
time’s Exclusives on HBO or Cinemax!

Plus raisin bran.

Couple of boxes are open.
I like raisins!

132 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

 Larry "Bud" Melman, a
character played by actor/comedian
Calvin DeForest, became a cult star with
regular 1980s appearances on NBC's
Late Night with David Letterman.
Alan thought he'd be the perfect
spokesman, as his always imperfect
self, for a promotion:

"The Showtime Promise: Free cable."

And, as if free cable and exclusive

movies weren't enough for you, Larry
Bud had a great deal for you...

Client: Showtime/Josh Sapan

Writer/director: Alan Goodman
Producer: Steve Shepard
Executive producer: Linda Schaffer

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 133

Nickelodeon, the HBO's success in subscription TV started
a gold rush, and the newly christened
trojan horse Warner Amex Satellite Entertainment
Nickelodeon before Company (WASEC) wanted in. They
MTV Networks and renamed their experimental QUBE's Star
before Fred/Alan Channel as The Movie Channel and felt
that the commercial free Nickelodeon was
April 1, 1979 – their ticket to getting a piece of the future
Nickelodeon launches, commercial free, (they were off by 50 years).
on Warner Cable Communications
Nick's reason for existence... In
December 1979 – those days, cable companies sent their
Still commercial free, Nickelodeon sales folk door to door, carrying loose
becomes part of Warner Amex leaf binders to show homeowners their
Satellite Entertainment, alongside channel offerings like ESPN, Showtime,
The Movie Channel, and distributes on TBS SuperStation. WASEC's hope was
nationwide, American cable systems that by opening their pitch with "we've got
this seven day a week children's channel
January 1984 – with no commercials!" would allow them
Nickelodeon becomes ad supported entry into the house where they could be
..... upsold to their subscription offering of
The Movie Channel.
Dr. Vivian Horner was hired by Warner
Communications' interactive television The effort stumbled and Showtime bought
experiment QUBE, because she wassome- The Movie Channel in late 1983, and
one with experience as the director of kickstarted some seismic changes. Bob
research on the PBS show "The Electric Pittman, MTV Networks' successful leader,
Company." She soon developed an entire added Nick to his portfolio. He dismissed
children's channel with licensed pro- the miscast leader, Cy Schneider, who was
grams, originally called "Pinwheel" after more comfortable trying to copy the Disney
its only original series, eventually named Channel than coming up with anything
"Nickelodeon." No one seems to know original.
why kids' entertainment would be named
after a 50+ year, outdated term, using a Bob promoted staffer Gerry Laybourne to
mime as its logo. Such is media history. run the place and contracted with Fred/
Alan, telling all that would listen that unless
In 1979, Warner partnered with American Nickelodeon found some viewers he would
Express to expand their cable systems be forced to shutter the channel. Luckily, we
across the United States, taking advantage all took him seriously.
of the opportunities presented by the low-
er costs of satellite distribution (Amex felt 1999, Vivian Horner: "[Gerry] really
that cable technology would spur interac- understands what kids want: Her Nickel-
tive shopping; they were off by about four odeon has an attitude. I'm not sure if I could
decades). have made Nickelodeon such a big hit."

134 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

 1979: The Nickelodeon mime.

1981: The "silver ball."

Developed by Klein &,
Beverly Hills.

1984-2009:
The Nickelodeon logo,
developed by Fred/Alan,
designed by
Tom Corey & Scott Nash,
Corey & Co., Boston

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 135

ORANGE
you glad
you've got
your
NICK-EL
-O-
DE-ON?
Nickelodeon was the worst rated
cable network in 1984's lineup of 30
channels. Fred/Alan's first big assign-
ment was to fix that problem. And, from
our very first meeting we realized that
actually reinventing the presentation of
the entire channel was the solution.

Success! Nickelodeon went from worst

to first. Six months after we came
aboard, Nickelodeon was the #1 cable
network, where it stayed for 25 years.

1984 -1992
About a year after we launched our
company, Bob Pittman called us over
and asked us to work on Nickelodeon.
Only one show –"You Can't Do That on
Television"– got any viewers everyday,
and "Mr.Wizard's World," a science
show, got a few kids once a week. All the
others? Bupkis. Nothing. "Hash marks,"
in Nielsen's vocabulary.

Something had to change or MTV Net-

works, Nick's parent, would shut down
the channel. (continued)
Like all the other hipsters
at MTV Networks, we'd pretty much
ignored Nickelodeon. And, it turned

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 137

 out, so did most of the kids in America. promotional efforts, the most efficient
Nickelodeon had lost almost $40 mil- way to attract viewers and hold them
lion since its launch in 1979 (that's over for a few more minutes. Pittman had
$100 million at the time of this book's given us the bad news when he hired us.
publication) and needed to figure out Programming budget? Zero. Marketing
how to turn things around. budget? Zero. And the creative approach
to promotion? Basically, watered down,
Nick's business model had begun as a poorly executed versions of broadcast
non-commercial "door opener" for the network promos. An attempt to convince
company's cash cow, The Movie Chan- kids to watch dozens of shows they'd nev-
nel subscription network. When TMC er heard of on a channel they all thought
didn't work and was sold to Showtime, were "for babies."
Nick had to put up or shut up and it was
decided that it needed advertisers. Obviously, a rethinking was necessary.
Here was the fundamental challenge.
Even though channel head Gerry For the first several years, MTV had no
Laybourne and her chief programming traditional television programs (we were
executive Debby Beece had researched more than thrilled to program music vid-
every show thoroughly and reported eos 24 hours a day) and so, no predict-
back that kids loved them, it hadn't able schedule to promote. We figured out
translated into much viewership. And that promoting MTV itself was the key. If
while 44% of the country tuned in at our viewers loved MTV, they'd give new
least once a week, they stayed for less music a chance. The program services
than six minutes. "It's for babies," said group had developed a systematic ap-
children of every age. proach to making promises to viewers
without cheesy slogans. We used plain
We weren't particularly interested English -- "We're the world's first video
in the job. We didn't attach much im- music channel," "We play your favorite
portance to kids television and at the music," "New music too" -- and illustrat-
time neither of us had probably even ed those simple ideas with an endless
contemplated having children. But, we barrage of startling visuals. Our staff was
needed the work. Fred/Alan got down to young, with no promotional experience
business. and a limited practical knowledge of
television. But they were creative, and the
The math was pretty simple. If we could work was exciting.
lift that six minutes a week even just a
little bit, the ratings would follow. We Fixing Nickelodeon would take
needed to accept Gerry's and Debby's the same approach. We were simultane-
assessment of the quality of their shows. ously working on two tracks: the brand-
What did we know about what kids ing and promotional strategies, and then
liked? the creative solutions.

For us, even a cursory look at the net- Tom Corey and Scott Nash were Boston
work exposed its core weakness. There based graphic designers, among the few
was no structure or heft to the channel's who immediately liked our TV-needs-lo-

138 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

gos-that-changes approach. Fred almost clusively based on our to-be-invented
blew it when they presented five designs promises, rotated through those 20,000+
and picked a traditional "fixed" logo. But slots, would uplift the viewers to fall in
Alan swept it aside for an idea that was love with Nickelodeon.
the polar opposite of what we'd done with
MTV. Help the audience fall in love, and every-
thing else becomes easier.
The Nickelodeon logo would be
one color only –"orange is a color that Together with the Nick executives we
doesn't often appear in nature, it'll stand invented these promises:
out against almost anything," said Corey
& Co– and a never changing, white
Nickelodeon:
logotype. The change element would be
• The first kids network.
shapes, dozens, hundreds of them. (Pages
140-167) At first, Nickelodeon was hesi-
• The only channel for you.
tant. "How come MTV gets all the colors
and we get only one?" But, we used all
our persuasive powers to get it over the • It's what you want.
finish line. If the idea was something
risky, it just might be the right one to • Everyday.
make an impression.
• Only kids win at Nickelodeon.
Alan got together with programming
scheduler Dee LaDuke and completely Would all these ideas actually work?
revamped the network 18-page promo
guide (all the shows were acquired from Scott Webb, our former colleague at
various international producers and The Movie Channel, would be the test.
had differnt formats). They reorganized We knew there was a shared creative
every program to make room for two sensibility with Scott, who was a brilliant
10-second network identifications and young man who was not only a comic
four 30-second promotional spots. book collector but had also trained with
Dale Pon, Fred's mentor and future "I
That’s what set up the pattern that we’d Want My MTV!" guru.
get the first and last spots in every break,
something that would lead to arguments Scott scored big time with his first spot,
with the ad sales team for the rest of eter- "Everyday Hero," which mixed a sequen-
nity (they always wanted to sell –at a pre-
tial frame format with, can you guess?
mium– the spots adjacent to program-
The 'Everyday' promise. (Pages138 & 139)
ming. If we used them right, it would
From the first time the Nick powers
amount to $25 million of annual network
saw and heard the spot ("Isn't the voice
promotion ($75 million today). So much
for the zero'd out marketing budget. over awfully fast?" "No." They believed
Network management saw that well us.) they knew we'd found the future of
executed, wildly creative promos, ex- Nickelodeon.

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 139

140 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
The first “new” Nickelodeon promise promo. Written and produced by Scott Webb, 1984.
142 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
Corey & Co. Boston
Logo design by Tom Corey & Scott Nash
for Fred/Alan

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 143

The origins of the 1984 you really want to do on this?' I said, 'I
Nickelodeon logo think that a kids' network shouldn't have
one particular shape. I think it should
Tom Corey and Scott Nash designed constantly change."
a new Nickelodeon logo (its third one)
for Fred/Alan in 1984. Here's an One iteration of this evolving logo would
excerpt of an interview with Scott be the splat, which was already part of
from NickAlive.com, published in Nickelodeon lore, thanks to one of its
September 2023. earliest programs, You Can't Do That on
Television, on which the kid stars were
In the early 1980s, Scott Nash, just out of regularly slimed with green goo dumped
design school, found himself on a flight from above anytime they said, "I don't
to meet with executives from the nascent know." So the splat was a no-brainer, and
cable channel for kids, Nickelodeon. He they quickly came up with others.
and a former professor, Tom Corey, had
been tasked with developing some logos. "And we presented those rough sketches,
one of which was on a coffee cup that
"We had these, in retrospect, some really we were given, because I had run out of
bad ideas," Nash told Yahoo Entertain- paper," Nash says. "And we actually pre-
ment. "One of which was...because they sented the sketches we did on the plane...
were owned by MTV, we would come We basically threw away the proposal
up with something that was the equiva- that we were going to present to Fred
lent of NTV. And instead of having the and Alan, and showed them a bunch of
ever-changing M, we thought we'd turn sketches done with Sharpies. It was a
the N into a door, which would... sort of revelation for me because, again, I was
greet kids and allow us to come into the nervous, as a young designer, to show
world of Nickelodeon. But it was a really something that unpolished. But [they]
short-sighted idea, and one that I wasn't absolutely embraced the idea, especially.
comfortable with." [They] were very enthusiastic about it."

"I don't know!" The so-called 'splat' logo was born.

Although they had very little time to And though there were eventually hun-
spare, they decided to toss out what they dreds of other Nick logo designs used
had and start over. — the zeppelin, which Nash drew and
became the shape of the trophies at the
"So Tom and I, on the flight down to Kids' Choice Awards; a cow; and a dog
meet with Fred [Seibert] and Alan bone, for example — the paint splatter
[Goodman]," who were in charge of became a favorite. Nash recalls that the
rebranding Nickelodeon in 1984, five product division particularly loved the
years after its launch, "sketched on splat. For the people responsible for
anything we could," Nash says. "We were making T-shirts, toys and other brand
sketching away. Tom said, 'Well, what do merch, the logo needed to be consistent;

144 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

They were trying to build brand identity. with it, it was really gratifying to see
what people would do with this idea that
Nash says his team initially debated Tom and I basically hatched on a plane
whether the color of the splat should be heading down to New York."
slime green or orange.
In Mathew Klickstein's 2013 book
"We somehow got some information as Slimed! An Oral History of Nickelode-
to what colors adults least liked at the on's Golden Age, Scott Webb, Nick's first
time. And lime green was one color. The creative director, went as far as citing
other color was orange, and we went Nash's late professor-turned-business
with orange because green is a keyable partner as one of the people most re-
color," Nash says. sponsible for the network's eventual
success. The splat had been everything.
They settled on Pantone 021, the
vibrant orange that just screams "FUN!" The guys who had made the Nickel-
odeon logo were suddenly in demand,
Nash notes that everyone involved had and they went on to create imagery for
a creative energy Comedy Central, Car-
that comes with toon Network, FX and
working on some- more. Nick continued
thing fresh and new to use the splat until
and vibrant. It was the late aughts, when,
exciting times. He according to Variety, its
describes some of parent company decid-
what they created ed to connect all of the
back then as "groundbreaking," a word Nickelodeon brands — Nick at Nite,
that he believes is over-used but appro- Nicktoons, Nick Jr. and TeenNick — by
priate here. using matching lower-case logos for all
of them.
The splat remained part of the network's
The 'splat' initially might have been the most
identity as hits such as "The Ren &
visible of the logo Corey & Co. designed
Stimpy Show," "Rugrats" and "Hey Dude" (though today, it might well be the Kids'
cycled through. Choice blimp) but it was only one out of
hundreds that they eventually drew. Tom and
"And so, for years," Nash says, "we were Scott became our go-to Fred/Alan designers,
very proud of the Nickelodeon logo. the ones who most instinctively understood
We thought it was a new type of graph- our approach to designing for the moving pic-
ic identity. We referred to the logo as a tures of television, and the people we worked
flexi-logo. It's not one logo. It's a logo with the most often until we built our own
that is imbued with creativity, because it in-house graphics department.
...
can change and morph. And the vari- All Nickelodeon network identifications:
ous iterations that we saw throughout Animation & music producer: Tom Pomposello
the years through the creative services Associate producer: Tina Potter
department and everyone who worked Creative directors: Alan Goodman & Fred Seibert

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 145

 NL
Noyes & Laybourne –independent film-
makers Eli Noyes and Kit Laybourne–
became our first creative partners at
Nickelodeon.

OA
We'd know Kit quite a while –his "The
Animation Book" has always been a
must-have– and worked with Eli at
MTV, and they jumped in with us right
away, eventually making a few dozen

YY
shorts network identifications. (and
then there were the seemingly hundreds
of stop motion, live action variation
pieces they did with us for Nick-at-Nite.
(see pages 186 & 187) Aside from their

EB
core creativity –Eli had already been
an award winning indie film creator
for years– these two were the first of
our collaborators to fully embrace the
various creative milestones we would

SO
institute that could help our viewers fall
in love with Nickelodeon.

First up was the infinite changeability of

the Nick logo designed by Tom Corey

U
and Scott Nash. And then, there was our
sonic identity with the Jive Five. (Pages
154 & 155)

Take a look at the claymation on the

&R
next page. These images are just the
extremes of the designs in only one
10-second spot, and they don't really
capture the classic animated transitions
that instantly transformed one image

N
into another. Or that there were actually
a half dozen of the same visuals with
soundtracks that were vocalese from the
Five, and also musical scoring and funny
sound effect tracks.

E
The next three pages are just a few of
the other films that this duo graced our
audiences. Boy, were we lucky to have
such wonderful confederates.

146 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 147
Eugene Pitt & the Jive Five (soundtrack)
Noyes & Laybourne, New York (animation)
Produced by (left) Jerry Lieberman & Kim Deitch; (right) David Lubell;
Soundtracks by Eugene Pitt & the Jive Five
Noyes & Laybourne, New York (animation)
 CHAR
-LEX
Charlex –the company founded by
Charlie Levi and Alex Weil– was
Joey Ahlbum had done the animation
completely unknown to us before they
for Charlie Ahearn's groundbreaking,
won, along with Jeff Stein, the first MTV
1982 hip-hop documentary "Wild Style."
Video Music Award in 1984 for The
But that's not how we met.
Cars' "You Might Think." (The work was
supervised by Alan's former co-worker
Someone showed us a short film of
and Fred's future wife, Robin Sloane).
Joey's, and we were entranced by its
illustration style. And when he came by
our office, we were completely charmed,
so much so that Nickelodeon was the
beginning of what's become an almost
50 year creative relationship.
Charlie and Alex began their eye pop-
ping video innovations with ad agen-
Everyone that's ever worked with Joey
cy animatics (an early look at what a
was smitten with him and his films, and
commercial might look like before it was
the folks at our shop were no excep-
actually produced) and fun commercials
tion. Every 10-second Nickelodeon ID
for The National Enquirer. But along
he presented was so much more than a
with The Cars, their explosive main
bunch of drawings moving on a screen.
title for Saturday Night Live made them
Joey told stories. And when paired up
show up on our radar. We just had to
with the infectious words and melodies
work together.
of the Tom Pomposello produced jingles
with The Jive Five, those films and their
Our first projects together were IDs
characters became channel icons. Expe-
for Nickelodeon (but, they weren't the
cially those dinosaurs!
last; see pages 214-15, 252-259, 260-261). "Sing-

JOEY
ing Presidents" –a pantomime with the
a cappella of The Jive Five– on the far
right was a perfect amalgamation of
AHLBUM their nascent techniques and their
creative irreverence.
(Check out Joey's animations on the next two
pages and then, pages 201, 203, 226-227, for his
Fred/Alan commissions for different clients.) We enjoyed every minute of working
with Charlex and we all became great
friends. In fact, Charlie and Alex totally
honored us when they asked us to create
their company's first trade ad campaign.
(Pages 260 & 261)

152 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

Eugene Pitt & the Jive Five (soundtrack. right) Charlex, New York (animation)
Eugene Pitt & the Jive Five (soundtracks)
Joey Ahlbum, New York (animation)
Eugene Pitt and the singer in America,” and a wonderful
Jive Five were as perfect an ele- collaborator. When the opportunity to
ment of network identity as Fred/Alan work with Nickelodeon presented itself,
ever found. All the filmmakers who we all –including our music and anima-
worked with us on Nickelodeon lined up tion producer Tom Pomposello– knew
to be the first to use their soundtracks on immediately The Jive Five would be the
their network IDs. perfect underpinning for defining the
sonic vocabulary of
The Fred/Alan television branding the network.
execution often started with defining
a network’s sound. A background in
music and radio made this logical for
us, though it was a philosophy ground-
ed in our belief that TV was driven by
the sounds first, with the visuals often
following the audio lead. In the case of
the Nickelodeon rebranding in 1984 the
time frame was short, under six months,
so the audio and the visual identities Eugene Pitt, photograph by Sonny Maxon
were developed simultaneously.
Working with the group was amazing.
For over a year we’d been thinking about Marty was right, Eugene was indeed
old radio jingles, and thinking of ways smart and a fabulous partner. His
to incorporate a human, vocal sound in breadth of composition incorporated
our identities. (Not for nothing, almost gospel, soul, even the close harmony
a decade later we actually used those of a barbershop quartet or The Mills
radio style jingles for VH1. (Pages 214 Brothers. He and his compatriots were
& 215). A year before, working on The endlessly creative, cheerful, and hard
Playboy Channel’s "Hot Rocks," and working. A charm.
then at Showtime for "The Honeymoon-
ers Lost Episodes," we scouted around Convincing Nickelodeon was
for an a cappella group for distinctive another story. When we brought up the
soundtracks. Alan’s former colleague notion of a sound identity, Nickelodeon
at CBS Records, writer and producer executives, still not fully understanding
Marty Pekar, had started the Ambient of where we intended to steer the chan-
Sound label to capture contemporary nel, suggested a consideration of Raffi,
recordings of classic doo-wop groups then a recent phenomenon as a singer
from the '50s and '60s. He introduced for young children. “He’s very popular;
us to the leader of The Jive Five, Eugene our research confirms it.” A complete
Pitt, as “not only a great singer, but a non-starter for us.
smart man.” We found Eugene to be, as
former Marvel Comics president and Fred/Alan tried to bring them around to
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame CEO Terry a doo-wop sound, but at first they fell on
Stewart said, “the most underrated soul deaf ears. “Doo-wop’s 30 years old, no

156 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

kid has ever heard of it." We won the day that Eugene, Tom and Alan composed
on two grounds. Typically, Fred was a –and the Jive Five sang– was ...
bit academic, playing on the executives’
inclinations. "Alan and I love all forms 
of Black American music, and using
doo-wop will be a great way to educate

American kids without anyone being the
wiser.”

Nickelodeon is still using that song today,
Alan went right for it. He opened his
40 years later.
mouth and, quoting The Marcels’
arrangement of chestnut “Blue Moon,”
The Jive Five was always a perennial
sang:
favorite on the oldies and doo-wop
circuit until Eugene passed away in 2018.
“Bom-ma-bom, a-bom-bom-a-bom, ba-
ba-bom-bom-a-bomp, b-dang-a-dang- But the group's popularity grew exponen-
dang, b-ding-a-dong-ding.” tially with the Nickelodeon engagement.
So much so that their stage uniforms
“What kid isn’t going to love that right quickly matched Nickelodeon orange
away?” Alan asked. (Pantone Orange #021).

Frame grab from “The Jive Five for Nickelode-

Case closed. The first audio sting
on” by Jon Kane/Optic Nerve, New York

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 157

Marv Newland, International Rocketship, Vancouver Paul Fierlinger Animation, PA
Joey Ahlbum, New York
Howard Hoffman & campers, Camp Androscoggin, Maine
 Computer animation by Edward Bakst
(Previous page) Artist/director Howard Hoff-
man spent each summer running an ani- (This page) Pixar's first short was still a
mation program at his childhood summer couple of years away when Alan's film
camp in Maine. He was convinced –and school classmate pitched to use this
he was right!– that his school age campers new fangled tech to use computers to
would be creatively stoked to be working generated film images for a 10-second
on projects that would show up on their Nickelodeon network identification.
favorite television network. The first year Since creative experimentation was at
results were so inpiring, we continued the the heart of all of our work, it was a no
program for several years. brainer.

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 161

Colossal Pictures, San Francisco
Candy Kugel, Buzzco, New York
164 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
Advertising magazine trade ads 1988-1992

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 165

166 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 167
168 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
Alan Goodman
"Hey Dude" story editor

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 169

Sometime in early 1988, success –becoming the top rated cable
Nickelodeon was on the hunt for a new network, and staying that way, thanks to
advertising agency. our brand and promotion repositioning
in 1984, and the launch of our creation
For four years, Gerry Laybourne had of Nick-at Nite (pages 180-199)– had
relied on us for programming and put them at top of the most desired
promotional advice, which had extend- accounts. After all, cable was the hottest
ed into all areas of how Nickelodeon new media thing in the '80s, and Nick's
presented itself to the world off of the worst-to-first performance had become
television screen. the hottest thing in cable.

We'd help them reinvent the world of The problem with all the agencies? They
the advertising "upfront" presentations, had mostly made their bones in non-me-
where broadcasting and cable networks dia –laundry detergent, automobiles,
put agency media buyers in an auditori- beauty products and the like– so their
um and showed slides of their audience strategic and tactical knowledge didn't
performance and maybe a bit of video endear themselves to Nick's manage-
of upcoming shows, hoping to persuade ment.
them to buy next year's ad inventory.
Fred/Alan made the argument that kids As we discussed the pros and mostly
advertising was ho-hum for most of cons of the agency pitches, one day
the buyers and Nickelodeon showing Gerry burst out, "Why don't you guys do
slides was more ho-hum. Shouldn't the it?!"
network that had exploded modern
programming with the runaway success We explained that we weren't structured
of Double Dare's "physical challenges" properly –no media buying, no account
–putting contestants in vats of melted executive structure, no in-house art
chocolate or smashing eggs on their direction, et cetera, et cetera– but she
heads– show up with a new method of wasn't buying it. A bit of to and fro, and
presentation? Fred/Alan added advertising to our
branding and programming practice.
Nickelodeon's first upfront required
the media buyers to run a Double Dare As we geared up our infrastruc-
gauntlet before they got hit with the ture, Nick had a new problem. No
facts. Their upfront was such a success matter how strong the channel's ratings
that all the networks upped their game performance, media buying was a pretty
for the next 30+ years. conservative profession. And, no mat-
ter our success, buyers and their clients
In our role as advisers and consultants, liked it the old way. For decades, kids'
we found ourselves talking about adver- television had been defined by Saturday
tising agencies. Typically, advertising mornings on US broadcast networks,
agencies go through a multi-step process CBS, NBC and ABC. That's the way it
in snagging a new client. Nick's recent was, and that's what the clients wanted.
None of this cable crap. On the surface,

170 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

they had an argument, because while
Nick was on seven days a week and #1
Lifetime was our first new net-
work branding client (the next two pages).
in cable, the average rating delivered a
A rebranding of the unsuccessful Cable
fraction of the kids on Saturday morn-
Health Network, the new management
ings. The result? Not too many clients
had decided on a strategy of "Talk Tele-
and agencies would buy Nick ads.
vision," the TV equivalent of the soon-to-
be combustion of "Talk Radio." It was a
Alan: DickGershon –a consultant after
great idea, poorly executed –eventually,
he left LPG/Pon– had a revelation that
Fox News and MSNBC fine tuned the
Nick was winning in monthly cume –
format successfully– and within a few
most viewers in a month. It's a worthless
years the programming morphed and
number since being spread across a
by the early '90s became "Television for
month there was no weight to any of it
Women." Fred/Alan tenure was long
against any one show or series. When he
gone.
told me that, I said “It sounds to me like
we’re the number one network for kids.”
We brought in our Nickelodeon logo
friends, Tom Corey and Scott Nash, to
Nickelodeon was beating the networks
redesign their logo. We enlisted, among
in kids!
others, Buzzco, Charlex, Olive Jar
Productions, and Colossal Pictures to
Fred/Alan's most effective trade cam-
help us develop some fantastic animated
paign (pages 164 & 165) put the case front
"video logos" to distinguish the channel.
and center in every trade publication
Fred spent countless hours with the on-
available. The argument was so effective,
air promotion team trying to get them to
that even under the threat of lawsuits
unlearn the traditional promo rules that
from the networks, the floodgates on
seemed to seep from their pores.
incoming ad sales for Nickelodeon were
opened.
We were proud of our work, but noth-
ing we did could make any difference. A
Who would've thought?
not-too-bad programming strategy, very
Fred/Alan never expected to become an
poorly executed, rarely works.
actual advertisting agency, but eventu-
ally we became the agency of record for
Ah well.
all of Nick's sister channels, including
MTV, VH1 and Comedy Central.

Thanks Gerry!

Fred/Alan's successes in
cable network branding with MTV,
Nickelodeon, Nick-at-Nite and VH1 had
captured the attention of MTV Net- Producer: Tom Pomposello
works' competitors, and soon enough we Associate producer & voice over: Tina Potter
were visiting most of them.

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 171

Buzzco, New York Colossal Pictures, San Francisco
LIFETIME
1984 -1985
Logo by Corey & Co., Boston

Olive Jar Productions, Boston Buzzco, New York

Written by Alan Goodman Design by Corey & Co. Boston Account & production management: Jessica Wolf

174 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

MOSAIC RECORDS

1984 -1985
Michael Cuscuna Charlie Lourie
We were damned lucky at Fred/Alan, able A couple years later Fred/Alan was do-
to work with clients that had exceptional ing a little better and Mosaic was doing a
vision, and often, wonderful taste. Case in lot worse; Michael and Charlie successful-
point: ly prevailed on us to finally help. We were
still ignorant about direct mail, but pretty
Mosaic Records. much like every other assignment we ever
had we took on Mosaic Records with the
While we were in college radio, Alan full arrogance of youth.
worked with Michael Cuscuna, soon to
become one of the medium’s most revered Alan had started working with a first gen-
producers and the leading reissue pro- eration portable computer and at the pic-
ducer in history. In the late '70s Fred was nic table of our summer rental we invent-
producing jazz records and became friend- ed the first Mosaic 12-page brochure. Alan
ly with Michael too. In 1983, Michael wrote every word, our friends Tom Corey
and former Blue Note/Columbia/Warner and Scott Nash designed the thing, Fred/
Records executive Charlie Lourie started Alan mainstay Jessica Wolf supervised the
the pioneering Mosaic Records as the first production and printing. The first catalog
company specializing in boxed set reissues ever dropped in the autumn mail of 1986.
of classic performances, available only by
mail order. We became reacquainted when With direct mail, there's direct feedback
Fred ordered their first set ("The Com- from people. If the phone rings they like
plete Blue Note Recordings of Thelonious it, if not, it's back to the drawing board.
Monk") and Michael asked Fred/Alan to We patiently waited for the order phones
get involved with helping them out of the to ring, and lo and behold, in the first
hole. It turned out their ‘sure thing’ idea three weeks Mosaic’s business had in-
wasn’t having as many takers as they need- creased 10 fold and over the years it went
ed and the company was worried about up from there. They've been in business
the possibility of shutting down. ever since. We’ve never been prouder of
any project. So proud, in fact, that Alan
We turned them down two years in a row continues writing all new release copy 30
with a lot of unsolicited advice about what years after Fred/Alan closed, and former
they could do better. Fred/Alan was still Fred/Alan CFO Fred Pustay is now the
pretty new and running on a shoestring, Mosaic co-owner.
so even though we loved what Mosaic
stood for we just didn't have the time and
resources they needed. Everything we
knew about direct mail cataloging was
from being mail order catalog customers
ourselves and from a direct mail how-to
book Fred had read (at least the first chap-
ter). We admired what Michael and Char-
lie were trying to accomplish at Mosaic, so
we did our best to help out without jump-
ing all the way in.

176 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

Fred/Alan was proud of most of our Mosaic Records, Stamford, Connecticut
work with clients, but Mosaic wrapped
together a number of threads that went Brochure development:
through all everything we believed in: Alan Goodman & Fred Seibert
Account management & production:
• Our perspective was that Mosaic Re- Jessica Wolf
cords is more than a bunch of wonderful
box record sets, it was an inspiration and Brochure No. 4 (previous pages)
alchemy of artistic and business values. Designed by
The “promises” described in each and Tom Corey & Scott Nash,
every brochure have been kept for over 30 Corey McPherson Nash, Boston
years. Now, that’s a “brand.” Written by Alan Goodman

• Like Mosaic's founders, Fred/Alan be- Brochures No. 5-11 (next two pages)
lieved in the fans, and we always worked Written by Alan Goodman, with
on projects that revolved around what is Marty Pekar and Juli Davidson
now talked about as “fandom” or “commu-
nity.” Mosaic epitomized it, and we made Mosaic Images Brochure (176 & 177)
sure their fans were front and center in Written by Alan Goodman
all our work for the company. So much so Designed by Noel Frankel
that Brochure #6 was entirely composed of
fan letters and critic quotes, thanks to our
collaborator Marty Pekar’s inventiveness.
It doesn’t get better than your customers
doing all the work.

• And of course, we helped sell more

Mosaic boxes, ensuring Michael’s and
Charlie’s vision of exposing some of
America’s greatest art throughout the world.

Both of us, Alan and Fred, have continued

to work to help Mosaic for 30+ years. Alan
continues to write all the new release copy,
Fred helped them start the Mosaic Daily
Jazz Gazette. Jessica Wolf helped them
throughout the days of an actual printed
brochure, and the Fred/Alan CFO, Fred
Pustay, became their partner and eventu-
ally, with Scott Wenzel, the co-owner.

Mosaic Records and their mission lives on.

We're honored to have been a small part of it.

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 177

178 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
 Mosaic Records Brochures #5-11
Written by Alan Goodman, with Marty Pekar and Juli Davidson
Account management & production by Jessica Wolf

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 179

As great photography fans, photographic history. In 1991, Charlie
and like a lot of other music nerds, we were and Michael agreed and launched Mosaic
enamored with the jazz photographers like Images. Fred/Alan created one of their most
Roy DeCarava, Herman Leonard, William beautiful catalogs, and photography became a
Gottlieb and particularly Blue Note Records critical part of Mosaic's business for 30 years.
co-founder Francis “Frank” Wolff. Imagine
Now came the rigorous and joyous work of ac-
how excited we were when Mosaic’s founders,
tually living up to the promise of a world class
Michael Cuscuna and Charlie Lourie –by far,
offering. Michael and Charlie selected three
our favorite friends and clients– told us that
iconic photos featured on three classic Blue
they had taken ownership of the entire Francis
Notes –John Coltrane on “Blue Train,” Sonny
Wolff pho-
Rollins on “Volume 2,” and Art Blakey on
tography
“The Big Beat”–and did the deep dive research
archive*.
that helped
After all, he’d
make Mo-
shot virtu-
saic famous.
ally every
We engaged
Blue Note
one of the
recording
last analog
session from
“master
1944 until
printers,”
1967, even
Chuck
after the company was sold to Liberty Records
Kelton’s
in 1965.
Kelton Labs,
to produce the limited edition prints. And
Fred: “I had started doing a little collecting of
since high priced photography was new to
jazz photography –probably due to our deep
the mainstream jazz public, we also decided
dive into Mosaic, and the shrinking size of CD
to release high quality, limited edition posters
covers– with non-vintage prints by William
of the photographs at a lower price. Alan’s
Claxton, Roy DeCrava, and Chuck Stewart. It
background as a journalist –with a unique
was obvious that the Frank Wolff library
sensitivity to artists and a pitch perfect writing
would be a fantastic addition to the body
talent– made the catalog copy sparkle and Jes-
of jazz work starting to exhibit around the
sica Wolf produced one of our most gorgeous
world.”
brochures, with printing and paper quality
that gave readers the assurance that Mosaic
So, we started bugging Mosaic to think about
Editions was all about quality.
expanding
their line Needless to say, things worked out beautifully,
from just in all ways. Jazz fans from across the world re-
their amaz- sponded overwhelmingly and Mosaic Images
ing, histori- was on fire.
cally neces- .....
sary box sets
* Update: Mosaic Images started with our 1991
to amazing, catalog. In 2022, the Francis Wolff archive was
historically acquired by the Universal Music Group, the current
necessary owner of Blue Note Records.

180 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

Design by Noel Frankel Written by Alan Goodman Account management & production by Jessica Wolf
 Nick-at-Nite
logo designed by
Tom Corey &
Scott Nash
Corey & Co.
Boston
182 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
NICK
1985 -1992

NITE
THE GREATEST HITS OF TELEVISION

at

and

TV Land
America's first white shows!”
oldies television So, when Nick came calling we had
network. worked out the whole thing in our heads.
We could run an entire network with
Fred/Alan invented programming that no one else wanted,
Nick-at-Nite and TV Land. but was solid enough to get a good rating.
That is, Fred and Alan. Perfect for the audience and perfect for
advertisers. Our channel would be the
It’s funny to see it in print. Bill Paley television equivalent of oldies radio, the
created CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting most successful format in decades. Just
Company, Ted Turner invented CNN, the like “The Greatest Hits of All Time” we
Cable News Network, John Lack con- wouldn’t try to hide what we were. The
ceived of MTV: Music Television. But, networks might have reruns (sad face),
there it is. Two guys most people never but at Nick-at-Nite we’d be RERUNS!!!
heard of invented America’s first oldies (happy face!). It would be a blast.
channel on television.
The powers that be at Nickelodeon did
By mid-1985 we had developed the not like "The Donna Reed Show" at all;
branding and vocabulary for MTV and it was seen as a pre-feminist throwback
Nickelodeon. MTV Networks CEO Bob that set a depressing role model. Fred
Pittman asked Nick's president, Gerry had watched it for weeks at a time in high
Laybourne, to figure out what to do with school during an illness, and figured any
the dark hours after Nickelodeon went show that could hold the attention of a
off the air at 8pm*. Gerry and her team high school boy for that long had to be, at
the very least, entertaining.
worked to develop original programming
for a number of months before throwing
We convinced them to give it a go.
in the towel and asking us for suggestions.
They could look for shows that fit the
criminally low budget, were good (mean-
We were ready. A couple of years ing strong characters and solid stories),
before, Pittman had purchased the promote it all under the same guidance
rights to 275 episodes of "The Donna we were giving to Nickelodeon and MTV,
Reed Show," a black & white comedy and go for it. No one was sure what we
series from the late 1950s because they were smoking, but after our last ditch pre-
were cheap and he thought they might sentation to Bob was met with smiles and
be useful someday; I’d heard about the enthusiasm, they agreed to let us at it.
acquisition and started hatching up ways
to use them. When we became indepen- The two of us spent everyday for months
dent producers in 1983 we spent over a at Nickelodeon lining things up (though
year trying to convince ABC to create a we were still ‘outsiders’ we effectively
“TV oldies” block in their daytime hours. served as the channel’s creative directors
They eventually passed. “We’re a televi- for the next seven years). Programming
sion network. We can’t run old, black and chief Debby Beece came up with the

184 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

name 'Nick-at-Nite;’ and she licensed a get any better.
great debut line-up of Donna Reed, "My
Three Sons" (the black & white years), Alan: At the time, David Letterman’s first
"Mr. Ed," and "Route 66." Tom Corey late night show at 12:35 am was relatively
and Scott Nash had already designed the new, and I was a massive fan. I always en-
Nickelodeon logo, so we tapped them joyed his stand-up, and had watched his
again. We had a couple of bumps with very strange daytime show, but it was his
our Nick promo team, the most import- Late Late Show that sealed his contribution
ant element in our scheme, because a to the history of comedy, and his innova-
couple of them were smarter-than-thou tions can’t be overstated.
and thought oldies TV was the dumbest
idea in creation. We convinced them by The most striking element to me was
pointing out we didn’t think we were how gleefully the show embraced all the
doing great art, just “good TV” (eventual- worn-out, overplayed staples of late night
ly one of our cornerstone promises to the with an ironic “we know, it’s just stupid
audience). Scott Webb, Bob Mittenthal, TV” attitude. Coupled with that was their
relentless devotion to bits that weren’t on
Jay Newell, Jim Levi and Will McRobb,
the face of them funny, but became funny
among others, wholeheartedly commit-
because they just wouldn’t stop doing
ted to our vision and created some of the
them. I remember distinctly referencing
most memorable and outlandish pack-
Letterman in the pitch to the network
aging a television network had ever seen.
for Nick at Nite. “Letterman’s show isn’t
(For instance, to promote a "Donna Reed
just a late night talk show. It’s a late night
Show" marathon, they had a contest to talk show ABOUT a late night talk show.”
have 30 women dress up as a "typical" TV Today, we would use the word “meta” to
housewife, that is... Donna.) describe what he was doing, but we didn’t
have that word yet.
Nick-at-Nite was an instant suc-
cess. Within months it was the #1 cable “We’re going to be a television network
network in prime time. It started being about a television network.” You guided
referenced in the popular culture, and the team to make things that seemed
became the shorthand for retro culture. like promos, but were more about being
In competitive research Nick-at-Nite got short-form entertainment. I’ll always re-
credit for any old program a viewer liked, member Jim Levi's spot for Donna Reed
no matter where it ran on TV. And, it where the characters are all proclaiming
paved the way for Nick spinning off the their love for each other, edited from dif-
24 hour TV Land (Alan’s first “position- ferent episodes, ending with Donna say-
ing” for NAN “HELLO OUT THERE... ing “I love cheese.” That was the essence
FROM TV LAND!”). of what we were trying to achieve as far
as I was concerned and certainly nothing
In many ways, Nick-at-Nite was one of like what other networks were doing.
Fred/Alan’s most satisfying triumphs.
Creating success where most everyone Nick-at-Nite was where we really
else thought we had nothing. It doesn’t cemented the value of establishing a

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 185

brand. I remember when we got “F
Troop.” One day, it was on TBS doing no
ratings. The next day – literally the next
day – it was on Nick at Nite and it was
a total winner. It wasn’t the show. It was
that we had established the right home
for it.
.....
* Back in the day, satellite transponders
were scarce and extremely expensive;
Nickelodeon leased their nighttime
hours to the ARTS channel. When they
got their own 24 hour berth and be
came A&E the cost was too much for
Nick to bear without hope for revenue.

186 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

Soundtrack producer and guest star: Tom Pomposello
Oldies? Comedy?
The assignment to create network IDs for Nick-
at-Nite arose from two different circumstances.
The first and best is that the channel that we had
created was a roaring success (thank goodness,
we’d expended a lot of our reputation on this
nutty idea). But, the second was fostered by their
ad sales identity crisis.
Color good, black & white bad. Logical on the
surface. New good, reruns bad. Got it. Network
television (CBS, NBC, ABC) good, cable not so
much.
Well, our channel was all B&W, all reruns, all
cable. Nonetheless, the media buyers at the ad
agencies, while on the surface adhered to the
mantra of “just show me the numbers!” turned
their back on us.
Comedy? The Nick sales team was hurting.They
made their case to the programming and market-
ing folks at NAN and suggested that we position
the channel as “all comedy.” Not a bad thought
(Comedy Central would be around the corner)
but it didn’t really work for Nick-at-Nite.
Nonetheless, they persisted. So, the brain trust
at Fred/Alan put our heads together. Led by
Alan, we had often referenced bits from the
Rocky & Bullwinkle show, particularly our
favorite.
Bullwinkle: “Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rab-
bit out of my hat!”
Rocky: “That trick never works.”

Alan: “In my view the most brilliant bumpers

ever because as a kid you knew there were
three endings. You’d wait through the com-
mercials to see which of the three it was this
time."
Fred/Alan ID and music producer Tom
Pomposello and two of our go-to animation
wizards, Eli Noyes and Kit Laybourne, came
up with a way to use the Rocky & Bullwinkle
model to make hundreds of spots for the nor-
mal cost of just a few made with "traditional"
animation.

Noyes & Laybourne

Kit Laybourne Eli Noyes
Nick-at-Nite network identifications
Stop Motion Animation 1987-1989
Black & White shows Thompson and Ogilvy, we were babes
are worthless? in the woods. So, we hired a couple of
experienced copywriters and account
When Nickelodeon convinced Fred/ executives and hoped we could pull it off.
Alan to become a full-service advertising MTV and Nickelodeon were two of the
agency (as opposed to being branding hottest commodities in television and
and programming consultants), Nick-at- here was this scrappy company that had
Nite came along in the package. the giant agency accounts.

Noel Frankel was our most experienced

Ratings were the issue, NAN was con-
copywriter and art director, and boy was
sistently the most watched TV block on
he good. And nutty. He'd fit right in. Bill
cable television of the late 1980s.
Burnett too.
Advertisers looked at things differently. Our first assignment for Noel was to cre-
The oldies/comedy war was in the past, ate commuter train and TV Guide ads.
but agencies were still hesitant to try The purpose? Persuade advertisers to use
a network that ran "old, black & white Nick-at-Nite. Excited, Noel dove right in.
shows." After all, everyone ran "reruns" Boy, did he.
but no one else positioned themselves so
boldly. Maybe his work was even too weird for
Fred/Alan? No way!
Clearly, our contemporary, humorous
packaging hadn't made a dent in their Noel was right on, advertisers started
consciousnesses. Yet. paying attention, and our agency worked
on the NAN account until we closed in
As part of our company's reinvention to 1992.
become an agency we figured, why not? Nick-at-Nite commuter train posters,
Let's hire some people who have actu- TV Guide advertising, and trade advertising
ally worked in advertising. The people Creative directors/writers:
at Fred/Alan came from a wide ranging Noel Frankel and Bill Burnett
set of experiences, but when it came to Production design & art direction: Bob Zeltmann
straight advertising, where our competi- Nick-at-Nite trade advertising (pages 196-7)
tion were the global giants like J.Walter copywriters: Steve Diamond, Bill Burnett

Noel Frankel Bill Burnett

192 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 193
194 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 195
196 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 197
198 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 199
 Fred/Alan’s innovation with Nick-at-Nite the best in the business at that. Nick-at-Ni-
had already defied all odds by running just te needed to do something bigger!
“reruns” and becoming one of the top rated
cable networks. Better yet the channel was We'd always loved "The Dick Van Dyke
“branded,” which meant that advertisers Show," and we were about to bring back
would pay more for their commercials. But one of the great classics back to TV for the
there were only so many ways to re-pack- first time in a long while. It was funny (and
age and re-present old shows, and we’d who didn't have a crush on the young Mary
pretty much used them all. Tyler Moore).

“What next?” was the theme of the out- For a long while, we felt like a unique
of-office meeting at New York’s Royalton cable channel could use a star spokes-
Hotel that Nickelodeon President Gerry person. We’d accomplished a lot with
Laybourne called with her staff. Alan and packaging and promotion. Now, Fred
Fred were invited as special guests. had a bright idea. Why doesn't the chan-
nel actually hire Dick Van Dyke –who's
We tossed around a lot of stuff, mainly classic early 1960s situation comedy
variations of what we were already doing. was a giant hit on the network– as the
But more marathons (“See all the black & "Chairman of Nick-at-Nite?" He cer-
white "Bewitched” episodes in order!“) or tainly looked the part, with an executive
stunts (”The Nick-at-Nite String-a-thon!“) mane of gray hair and an authoritative
weren’t going to cut it; NAN was already mustache.

Fred/Alan staff at the Dick Van Dyke press introduction

Left to right: Robert Hunter, Alan Goodman, Bill Burnett, Nick-at-Nite Chairman Dick Van Dyke, Fred Seibert,
Bill Horvath, Tom Barreca, Dave Landesberg, Lou Baur
Programming
head Herb Scan-
nell (soon to be
CEO) upped the
ante. He did a little
back-of-a-napkin
math and realized
the idea could be
even bigger. “We’ll
announce it as
a million dollar
deal.” Back in the
day, there were
no big deals being
done with name
talent, just little
hosting gigs here
and there. "Sal-
ary, promotion,
and programming
production com-
mitments... we can
swing it.“

Sure enough, the

announcement
made headlines
across the busi-
ness, and then
further, in the
general interest
newspapers across
the country. Nick-
at-Nite (and cable)
was starting to
come into its own.

As things turned
out, the naming
of the Chairman
Summer 1992:
turned out to be Fred/Alan names Dick Van Dyke as
our last Nick-at- the Chairman of Nick-at-Nite
Nite project before
Fred/Alan called
it day.
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 201
Alan: Ushering in a new era of their way through music chart-toppers.
television meant more than just coming
up with a new vocabulary, audacious An early advocate of ours was a guy
ways of editing, and a re-focus on sound named Fred Rappaport, at the time
as an important element of communi- the Vice President of Specials for CBS.
cation. We weren’t just adding. We were Whether he actually knew what we did
replacing the old ways. for a living, or just knew we were “the
MTV guys,” Fred offered again and again
Our early interactions with CBS were to shoehorn us into projects he thought
a perfect example of what an imperfect might benefit from the “new thing,”
marriage that was turning out to be. whatever that was.

In the early 1980s, the legacy TV hier- He hoped we could enliven a special
archy had no called “How To Be A
idea how to deal Man” by the creators
with a chang- of the TV classic
ing audience. “Free to Be You And
For the most Me.” It had already
part, homes become a cluster
still had just hump when the
one TV set in network forced Bob
the house. The Keeshan — TV’s
premium chan- “Captain Kangaroo”
nels brought — into the show as
movies and late host and co-produc-
night nudity er. There isn’t much
into the living evidence anywhere
room, but basic that special existed,
cable hadn’t yet and that’s probably
become a creator a good thing. We
and distributor of significant original couldn’t, and didn’t, do much of any-
content. Most U.S. TV viewers chose thing on it.
from a maximum of three networks
— ABC, CBS, and NBC — when they We were more involved with “The
gathered around the set at night. Johnny Cash 10th Anniversary Christ-
mas Special.” And that brought us into
So in an attempt to keep younger view- contact with Joe Cates.
ers in the fold, the Big Three tried
(ineptly) to incorporate elements they Joe and his brother Gil were legendary
thought were the essence of youth New York-based producers and direc-
culture into their existing series and tors, with decades behind them. In 1949,
formats. The results were things like Joe was an associate producer of the
putting MTV VJ Nina Blackwood on Dumont network program “Cavalcade
“Circus of the Stars,” or dressing up stars of Stars” and introduced Art Carney —
in spangly Vegas-style outfits to bash then a sidekick of Morey Amsterdam’s —

202 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

 THE 10th ANNIVERSARY
JOHNNY

CASH CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

December 10, 1985
to Jackie Gleason. He also designed the So this was it. We were in the big time.
set for “The Honeymooners,” and alone And boy, what a let down.
or with his brother, produced more
than 1000 television specials. That list Our assignment was to create some mu-
included all of the Johnny Cash specials, sic video-style montages from the previ-
as well as the TV movies he made with ous nine specials, and a snappy opening.
Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, I worked out what the budget would
and other country stars. be, using a lot of our favorite MTV and
Nickelodeon animators, and brought
that to Cates. “You can have half,” he hands (eventually, I did), and couldn’t
told me. I started sputtering. I was using grasp how he could be so nonchalant.
independents who slashed their pric-
es already to get into the game, I told After my scavenger hunt for Cash
him. These were trusted suppliers. “You material we could animate, I drove to
don’t understand,” I said. “No, you don’t the theater in the afternoon in time to
understand,” he said. “You’re not going see Cash throw out the script and sit
to get me one viewer. By the time any- down to write jokes himself. “It’s funnier
one sees your first frame of animation, than the crap you guys are turning out,”
they’ll be there already. The only value he said to the writers. Keep in mind it’s
you bring is, if someone at the building 2:00 pm and cameras were to roll, with a
[CBS] pops in the tape, maybe I’ll get live audience in attendance, in about five
another special out of it.” hours.

I was speechless. He was That evening, I was tucked into the

absolutely right. It was the first of many control room alongside Rappaport, our
lessons I learned from him, some in- backs to the wall as we watched brother
tentional, some not-so-intentional. TV Gil directing a sequence. One feature
is about viewers. Nothing else. I don’t the show promised was a tribute to
think three months have gone by since the legendary Million Dollar Quartet,
that meeting in 1985 when I haven’t told which began and ended in 1956 as a jam
that story. session at Sun Records in Memphis with
Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins,
Later, I learned how haphazardly TV and Elvis Presley. Presley was obviously
was made in an era when most viewers unavailable on account of being dead,
still had limited choices and were con- and Carl Perkins wasn’t interested. Jerry
tent, if not thrilled, to watch whatever Lee showed up, and the reunion didn’t
was on. On the day the performances soften decades of animosity between the
were to be shot at Opryland, I flew to men. He didn’t say one word to Cash
Nashville and ran into Cates in the hotel at rehearsal or at any time during the
lobby as I was checking in. (I would taping. To fill out the roster on what was
make trips that day to the Country Mu- essentially a family special (all the Cash
sic Hall of Fame and Cash’s private mu- and Carter Cash relatives performed),
seum and archive to gather materials for Johnny turned to his 15-year-old son
the montage sequences). He greeted me John Carter Cash. He has had his own
and I asked him how things were going, career in music, but at the time he was
imagining that with the stage heating up the runt of the litter. And there he was
and the taping just hours away, that the alongside his father and Jerry Lee, with
Opryland stage must be buzzing with legendary Nashville studio guys banging
excitement. “I don’t know. I haven’t been out a barely tolerable version of “Johnny
there yet. I’ve been too busy scouting B. Goode.”
locations for my next movie,” he told me.
I wondered if I would ever grow com- As the music played and Gil
fortable enough as a producer to leave tried his best to call the camera cuts (he
something entirely in someone else’s wasn’t really a music editor), Rappaport

204 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

leaned over and whispered to me, “This ...
is like a bad Bar Mitzvah.” I almost lost 10th Anniversary Johnny Cash
it. Christmas Special (CBS Television Network)
Creative director: Alan Goodman
Animation producer: Tom Pomposello
A little later, with cameras still rolling, Associate producer: Tina Potter
Illustration & animation: Joey Ahlbum
Joe grabbed me by the arm to walk
Client: Joseph Cates
down the hall with him and get a cup of
coffee. “You know, years ago when I was
with NBC producing spectaculars — we
called them ‘spectaculars’ in those days,
not specials...” I was again, non-plussed.
What the hell was going on? We were in
the middle of taping an expensive holi-
day special for a major network and this
guy wanted to reminisce?

In the end, our friend Joey Ahlbum

merged every filmed version of “I Walk
the Line” I could get my hands on, as
well as newspaper articles and photos
that had never been widely circulated,
into a lovely animated sequence that
possessed none of the charm and per-
sonality Joey was known for. I did some
montages of guest performances from
previous specials that I made in the edit-
ing studio with John Tierney, a brilliant
editor who saved countless sessions with
us inexperienced producers through his
ingenuity and talent.

What was the result? Joe did

not get another special out of it. The
show did nothing to bring MTV’s brash-
ness and exuberance to network televi-
sion. And I got some indelible lessons on
why this era was ending, and ours was
beginning. The days when three net-
works could cram anything down your
throat was coming to an end. An era
where targeting, specialization, and un-
limited choices that would inspire better
quality was on its way in.

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 205

 Fred/Alan had several engagements with
VH1 over several years. We started with
the all-hands-on-deck speedy launch in
1985 as a "fighting brand" in response to
Turner Broadcasting's Cable Music Chan-
nel that was meant to challenge MTV:
Music Television. We then became their
advertising agency in 1988. And finally, in
1991 we were asked to completely rethink
the programming of the entire network
because of their continued paltry ratings
based on their original strategies. (We sug-
gested –and they agreed –to an approach
that had worked for decades in radio: "The

VH1
Greatest Hits of Music Video!)

1986-1992
VIDEO HITS ONE 1985-1992
THE GREATEST HITS OF MUSIC VIDEO 1991-1992

Nothing stuck with viewers. We did some

good work, and some of it was great,
at least to us. We're proud of it. Hey, it
seemed like nothing ever worked at VH1,
even in the 30 years after we closed our
company. The network continued to be
distributed due to "bundling," which re-
quired that cable companies need to
carry VH1 if they wanted the very success-
ful channels MTV and Nickelodeon.

But alas, no one ever really loved VH1, no

matter who did what.
Left:
Animated network identifications 1985 Buzzco, New York
Logo designed by George Lois LPG/Pon, New York
Animated network IDs 1985
Colossal Pictures, SF
Animated network IDs 1985
Buzzco, NY
210 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
Advertising trade ad spread 1989
Creative/Art Direction/writer: Noel Frankel
Photography: Art Kane
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 211
212 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
 VH1 Commercial 1989
Created & written by Bill Burnett
Art by Don Martin
Animation by The Ink Tank
Produced by Tom Pomposello (Fred/Alan)
and JJ Sedelmaier (Ink Tank)

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 213

214 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
VH1 Commercial campaign 1991. Sting, Elton John, Whitney Houston, kd lang.
Creative director/writer: Bill Burnett Producer: Chris Koch
VH1: The Greatest Hits of Music Video Zbigniew Rybczynski NJ Jingles produced by JAM Creative Dallas
VH1: The Greatest Hits of Music Video Alex Weil/Charlex 1991 Jingles produced by JAM Creative Dallas
 The deadline was way too short
and would require a ridiculous amount of
production logistics. We dragged in Nancy
Podbielniak, our friend and Alan's former
CBS colleague, to help with the writing. We
convinced our longtime audio collabora-
tors, Clack Studios, to let us commandeer
their operations on weekends, so we could
personally edit the recordings.

Craziest of all, the assignment would mean

that Alan would have to direct and inter-
view artists not only in New York, but also
in Los Angeles and London. In fact, to
Alan worked with the Columbia make our dates, Alan flew to the UK on the
and Epic labels at CBS Records (now now discontinued, supersonic Concorde,
Sony Music) in his years before MTV. did the production, and got back to New
One day on our way to lunch on New York in 26 hours. Whew!
York's Avenue of the Americas –then
home of CBS and known as "media The video turned out great, featuring The
row"– we ran into a few of his former Clash, Nena, Luther Vandross, Ozzy Os-
colleagues. They asked us to consider bourne and his babies... and many, many
creating a video for their annual sales more. Our Epic clients were ecstatic.
conference.

This video wouldn't be just any video. It

would be almost an hour long and intro-
duce hundreds of sales people to dozens
of albums, from internationally famous
artists and brand new ones too. Well, not
just "introduce" them, but get the distri-
bution branches all worked up to go out
in the world and make sure those albums
would be stocked in every music store,
tiny and giant, and placed front and cen- Above: Adam Ant [born Stuart Leslie Goddard]
ter when customers walked in. Opposite page, from upper left: Joe Strummer [The
Clash], Luthor Vandross, Carly Simon, Rick Nielsen
& Robin Zander [Cheap Trick], Cyndi Lauper,
Stanley Clarke, and Ozzy, Kelly & Jack Osbourne.)

218 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

 EPIC RECORDS:
EPA ASSOCIATED
LABELS
1984
“The Epic Epic”
Record company convention
Sales presentation video
Written by Alan Goodman and Nancy Podbielniak
Produced by Fred Seibert & Alan Goodman
Directed by Alan Goodman

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 219

Amy goes pop!
Fred/Alan didn't really want to make
music videos. Too much work for too little
money. Besides, MTV had already given
us an amazing, music based, creative rep.
But, it was always tempting. After all, video
music was the creative "edge" of the '80s.
So, when Richard Frankel, our former
WASEC co-worker, went over to A&M
Records and asked us to work with him
on Amy Grant's first post-Christian pop
single... well, we took a shot.

Through Buzz Potamkin, we'd worked a

bit with director Tommy Schlamme on the
original "I Want My MTV!" commercials,
tried to get a movie going with him (page
305) and enjoyed his forward thinking
approach and genial manner, perfect for
working with a musical artist like Amy.
And, lucky for us, Amy's management was
new enough to mainstream video that our
MTV reputations made them comfortable
enough to work with first time producers.

By 1985, the Quantel Paintbox video

graphics tool was just starting to become
"the look of TV in the '80s" –The Cars
had just won the first MTV VMA for their
Paintbox'd "You Might Think," courtesy of
director Jeff Stein & Charlex, and Alan's
former co-worker and Fred's wife to be,
Robin Sloane– and interestingly, both our
music video excursions (pages 230, 232-3)
used it extensively, though in radically
different ways.

Tommy took just the right approach to

working with Amy, and to the modern
world of production design. The video
did its job and launched what became
an amazing mainstream career for Amy
Grant, making it into the Top 40 for her
maiden voyage.

220 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

AMY GRANT
"Find A Way"
A&M Records
1985
Executive producers: Directed by Thomas Schlamme
Alan Goodman & Fred Seibert Produced by Linda Schaffer & Albie Hecht

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 221

 Of course, not every project worked.

Our former MTV colleague and Swatch cli-

ent Nancy Kadner Feingold introduced us to
MCA Records' Larry Solters, the new exec-
utive vice president and right hand of CEO
Irving Azoff. He had Fred/Alan create a few
TV spots for their artists Joan Jett and The
Fixx. But Irving and Larry wanted to give
MCA a complete facelift, since it was a bit of
an also ran in the hipster record business.

Enter Fred/Alan, developers of the most

famous music logo of the '80s.

Our first take was, in our humble opinion,

shot down immediately. MCA's original
parent was the Music Corporation of Amer-
ica, and according to their 1950s logo they
controlled the world! Perfect, and they
already owned it. It would only require a
contemporary graphic execution.

Nope. That's old. We're new! Next.

One of our favorite design groups, Corey &

Co. in Boston, had a instinctive attraction
to our notion of a constantly morphing logo
(see Nickelodeon), and we asked them to
work with us on MCA.

Above: Music Corporation of America 1956 They delivered, you can see their logo pre-
Below: MCA Records 1990 sentation on the opposite page.

We loved the mix and match of their Rubik's

Cube solution. MCA didn't.

What was their solution? Absolute genius!

.....
Logo designed by
Tom Corey & Scott Nash Corey & Co., Boston
Creative directors:
Alan Goodman & Fred Seibert

222 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

MCA
RECORDS
1985
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 223
224 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
SWATCH WATCH
HOLIDAY 1985

Starring The Fat Boys

Directed by Alan Goodman

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 225

226 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 227
The Fat Boys Charlie made a perfect fee-free deal,
putting the boys and MTV together for
for Swatch Swatch's first American commercial.
(previous four pages) Two years later, Swatch wanted to make
a spot for their limited edition Christ-
Fred: This commercial is Alan and all mas watch and they wanted The Fat
his talents at their best. Boys again. Nancy, Steve, and Charlie
asked Fred/Alan to create it.
Our great friend and colleague from
MTV, Nancy Kadner Feingold, had Up until that point we’d only done
bought me a Swatch when they were first media promotion, never anything for an
imported in 1983. Two years later, Max actual, physical product, so we took the
Imgrueth had set up a US office and assignment seriously. As seriously as you
Nancy was running marketing. Since could with an act that weighed almost a
Swatch’s industrial design approach ton between them.
was essentially the same as MTV’s ever
changing logo she sensed a good fit and Alan, our resident writer and director,
we started plotting some stuff together. constructed a spot that fused the hip-
hop spirit of improvisation and the
Alan and I loved Swatch’s first TV slickness of TV. The bit with the couple
commercial for MTV with hip-hop's on the couch being interrupted by Buffy,
The Fat Boys, and when Nancy and her the Human Beatbox was scripted. The
colleague Steve Rechtshaffner intro’d us “Swatch” shouts and the rap bed were
to their manager Charlie Stettler it was a improvised in the back of the shooting
lovefest, and we became friends for three stage. Alan constructed the track in the
decades. mixing studio and the video graphics in
the video in a post-production suite.
Charlie was a total character.
A Swiss national in New York City, he’d Alan: I remember only that Buffy had no
embraced hip-hop culture early and underwear and we had to stitch two pair
completely. together.*

In 1983, MTV hadn't realized that hip- Also, I experienced the ultimate direc-
hop had captured the most forward tor humility when, with me four inches
thinking members of its audience. from his face directing him in the scene,
And here's where Charlie showed his I watched as his eyes settled and closed
business street smarts. He wanted his and he fell asleep (hey, it was after lunch
rappers to get national television expo- and he was taking ‘antibiotics’). I had no
sure, Swatch needed to be on the cutting idea what the track would be or how to
edge. MTV was still new enough that the end it until I heard The Fat Boys rapping
ad rates were perfect for a new company 'Ho, ho, ho’ in the next room. Which
that couldn't afford the giant traditional taught me the rule I live by: be 100 per-
networks. A trio made for the moment. cent prepared and 30 percent flexible.

228 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

 * Sourced, with some difficulty,
by Assistant Producer Daria McLean
Myers's Rum
Video Network
Swatch Limelight (pages 226 & 227)

Client: Swatch USA In 1986 music videos were still the

Nancy Kadner Feingold coolest thing on earth and Alan's
Steve Rechtschaffner colleague from the record business,
Steve Dessau, thought there was a way to
Agency: Fred/Alan, New York make some money with them.
Director/writer: Alan Goodman
Producer: Linda Schaffer Edgar Bronfman Jr. had just taken over
Assistant Producer: Daria McLean Seagram's, his family’s liquor business,
Production Manager: Steve Shepard and was obsessed with pop music (later,
Executive producers: he sold Seagram's to buy the Polygram
Alan Goodman & Fred Seibert music company). He was frustrated that
hard liquor couldn’t use television to
sell its wares and that he couldn’t take
advantage of his favorite entertainment
trend. And he knew Myers's Rum was
losing ground with younger drinkers.

Who better to sell an idea to him than

the only credible creative MTV guys
who weren’t working at MTV anymore?

Partnering with Steve’s company (we set

up a venture called Mystery Train Part-
ners), we convinced Edgar Jr. that the
Myers’s Rum Video Network could be
his own “network” at the “video night-
clubs” that were springing up around the
country. It worked
pretty well.

Mystery Train Partner:

Steve Dessau
Account Executive:
Mike Shavelson
Assistant AE:
Tom Leonardis

Mystery Train Partners'

business card
Designed by
Kathy Seibert Carey

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 229

Myers's Rum Video Network IDs: Joey Ahlbum NY, Charlex NY, International Rocketship, Vancouver
MYERS'S
RUM

VIDEO
NETWORK 1986
PRODUCED IN ASSOCIATION WITH STEVE DESSAU

Poster designed & illustrated by Joey Ahlbum

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 231

We can’t meet A Current Affair is an
American television newsmagazine program
Mr. Brown?! that aired in syndication from July 28, 1986
(pages 232 & 233)
to August 30, 1996, before it was briefly re-
broadcast from March to October 2005. The
"PEACE! UNITY! LOVE! program was produced by Fox Television
And HAVING FUN!" Stations, and based at Fox's New York City
flagship station WNYW, starting as a local
Our second, and last, music video. Ah... to production in 1986. It was syndicated to
work with the Hardest-Working Man in Fox's other owned-and-operated stations the
Show Business, the Godfather of Soul, Mr. next year, and then went into full national
Dynamite, and Soul Brother No. 1! syndication in September 1988. Its signature
"ka-chung" sound effect was created using a
JB was half a decade away from his latest combination of the sound of a construction
chart hit and hip-hop was beginning to paper cutter and the swing of a golf club put
explode, completely usurping The God- through a synthesizer.
father of Funk's excitement. A pioneering –Wikipedia 2023
Bronx DJ, Afrika Bambatta, had hit it big
in 1982 and was looking for his way back The American "A Current Affair" was
on the charts. exported from Australia at the insistence
of New Corps (and Fox) CEO Rupert
Tommy Boy Records, born the same year Murdoch.
as MTV, was still pretty much a New York
phenomenon. After their groundbreaking Fox commissioned Fred/Alan to create an
mix ”No Sellout," featuring Malcom X on audio signature for the show's introduction.
the first sampled record, we picked up the Alan took the assignment.
phone and quickly became fast friends
with founder Tom Silverman and presi- Alan:
dent/creative director Monica Lynch. If it matters, there are actually 11 different
sounds in there, some electronic, some
Imagine our thrill when they asked for natural sound effects. I wish I could remem-
help on "Unity," a duet between a classic ber all of them, but through the hours and
soul artist and a hip-hop pioneer. hours of creating it we added things and
removed things and I can't remember what
Only, they already shot the video. On a made the cut, but I'm pretty sure there's a
crummy VHS tape with only the recording screen door slam in there as well, unless we
studio lights. Could we help? took it out.
Fred/Alan music producer Tom Pom- As Wikipedia posted, the "ka-chung" (three
posello stepped in, with former MTV years before 'Law & Order' burned into the
promo director Marcy Brafman, took the world's consciousness) used an early synthe-
Quantel Paintbox, just like the Amy Grant sizer to combine a golf swing and a paper
video and made it a Bam/JB video. cutter.
After all was said and done, we (sort of) Pure Alan.
worked with James Brown!

232 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

 FOX
TELEVISION STATIONS
-20th CENTURY FOX
TELEVISION
1985-2005
Audio trademark sound design conceived and produced by Alan Goodman

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 233

234 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
AFRIKA BAMBAATAA
JAMES BROWN
Tommy Boy Records
1987

"Unity" written by James Brown, Khayan Music video: Produced by Tom Pomposello
Aasim Bambaataa, Douglas Wimbish, Bernard Video illustration by Marcy Brafman
Alexander Keith LeBlanc Robin Haplin Edited by Peter Caesar
Hail! Hail! Daphne Zuniga, and Virginia Madsen,
about three girls who work, go home to
Rock and Roll” sleep a couple hours, then party all night at
Trailer music clubs. Thank goodness someone else
Universal Pictures got the job, because the movie was com-
19 8 7 pletely forgettable. We also did the poster for
the Jeff Goldblum movie, “The Tall Guy.” It
Alan: On paper, it made perfect sense for us was fine. It looked like a movie poster.
to do the movie trailer for the Chuck Berry
concert documentary, “Hail! Hail! Rock and
Roll,” directed by Taylor Hackford. It was
1987. We were the “music” guys. Innovators
in communicating with young audiences.

That’s the problem with match-ups on pa-

per. We did the job. It wasn’t anything better
than fine.

We wanted the trailer to be this scene where

Berry gives the camera a tour of his vintage
cars. He was offered a few thousand each for
them by dealers. He decided to hold them
as collectibles and “sell them to you,” he
tells the camera, “For $50,000.” It was a coy
and enticing peek into the mind of the man.
We’d wrap it up with a montage from the
concert. Universal wanted a far more typical
montage of interviews and music. Can you
guess where we ended up?

If your guess was “a cross between the two,”

you’d be right. It’s on YouTube. Universal
finished it based on our offline, including a
voiceover announcer we would never have
used.

What I remember most was weeks of

working through daily notes and re-edits
with our ace editor Jon Kane to make the We were never all that good at working with
night flight to LA so Universal could review entrenched businesses that had their ways of
our edit the next morning and give more doing things, and that was true of the movie
notes. No internet, no streaming sites. Only industry. It’s an industry. The products are
courier pouches, car service deliveries, made in factories. A factory is no place you
airplanes, and telephones. Crazy, inefficient, want Fred or Alan.
and expensive. ...
We had two other encounters with the Producer: Alan Goodman
movie moguls. We got flown to LA to screen Editor: Jon Kane
“Modern Girls,” starring Cynthia Gibb, Client: Universal Pictures/David Sameth
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 237
Fred/Alan was founded to make television could have our cake and eat it too. We
shows. History made sure it was our set up a joint venture, and Albie took on
Chauncey Street Productions the task of establishing us in series and
instead. specials production. Albie and Alan took
the lead on all our shows.
In fact, the two of us quit our jobs at
MTV Networks to produce "Hot Rocks" (Not for nothing, when we all decided to
(page 118 & 119), a series at the Playboy partner Albie, who's given name is Alan,
Channel. But, after that debacle, brand- realized he'd now be known profession-
ing and marketing took a higher bill ally as "Albie" forever.)
paying priority for a while. There were
some big and small shows here and Fred/Alan’s original home was Jackie
there, but it wasn’t until 1987 we decid- Gleason’s production office in Man-
ed to hit it head on. hattan, so we named Chauncey Street
Productions after the street Ralph
Albie Hecht was one of Alan’s closest Kramden and Ed Norton lived on
friends, we all went to college together, in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn in "The
and worked together at the university’s Honeymooners" series. We asked Corey
WKCR. Like us, he’d worked in the & Co. to design a logo that adapted The
music business as a record company ex- Honeymooners print work we’d done for
ecutive, writer, and manager (Crack the Showtime (pages 123-125).
Sky and Dean Friedman) but morphed
into television, starting to establish his We had a good run. Despite all the scripts
reputation. Our company was becoming that never sold (par for the course), we
a full service advertising agency, and we made series for MTV, Nickelodeon,
realized if we brought Albie in to run Comedy Central, and AMC, and pilot
the agency’s commercial production, we specials for CBS, A&E, and VH1.

238 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

CHAUNCEY
STREET
PRODUCTIONS
1987-1992

Albie Hecht
Alan Goodman
Fred Seibert

Stationary design by
Tom Corey & Scott Nash
Corey & Co. Boston

Photographs of Albie Hecht

by Elena Seibert
Cinemax presents real TV show production– put Fred/
Alan, and third production partner Albie
“Greetings Hecht, on track.
from Gilbert”
aka “Gilbert Gottfried...Naturally” In 1986, MTV was in its first moment of
maturing success with all music videos
Thanks to Barbara Kanowitz, Gilbert all the time. The promotion department
Gottfried, the comic’s comic, became that I’d started was being run by the ex-
MTV’s first comedy star. MTV was still pansively creative Judy McGrath who’d
growing its audience in 1986, but it did put together an incredible team that
get Gilbert his first TV special. continually found new ways to express
the rebellious, outsider spirit that was
Fred/Alan's first dream was to produce rock’n’roll. And, it was in the '80s that
TV shows. We’d never made one, but comedians and rockers sealed their
we wanted to. For our first project, we alliance that really blossomed during
partnered with producer Buzz Potamkin this first national cable TV era.
to come up with a show for the Play-
boy Channel. Things went south with Writer/producer/director Barbara
them after the third episode and we left. Kanowitz was one of MTV’s best. And
The good news is that we got ourselves Barbara’s the one who made Gilbert
agents. That’s the ticket, they’ll help us Gottfried famous.
sell our shows.
One day, seemingly out of nowhere,
Well, not really. The good news is they an obvious New Yorker, a comedian
introduced us to Stu Smiley, another in a blue tuxedo jacket, burst onto the
young’un who was trying to get things screen at MTV, in a dozen or so short
going. Eventually he became a comedy films. They were hilarious, for sure. But,
exec at Showtime, then at HBO, then from my perspective, as the architect
he scored big. But in the meantime, we of MTV’s “branding” strategy –aka,
pitched him shows. how to make the “M” famous– Gilbert
Gottfried’s riffs weren’t only hilarious,
“Make it funnier!” he’d write on our they were on message. The promos
scripts. insinuated our branding “promises” into
your head without seeming like they
And then, one day, Stu gave us our big were actually messages.
break. When we finally came up with the
right talent, the right idea and the right And Barbara’s directing and editing... the
director, Stu was there for us. spots were gorgeous.

Fred: After... ahem.... interesting expe- Barbara Kanowitz: I don’t really remem-
riences creating a music video show for ber much about the origin of the spots,
The Playboy Channel and producing the Gilbert didn’t have much of a following
second Farm Aid concert for VH1, Cin- at that point. I do remember his William
emax’s “Greetings for Gilbert” –our first Morris agent selling him pretty hard.

240 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

CINEMAX
HBO
1987
"Greetings
from
Gilbert"
Directed by
Thomas Schlamme
Produced by
Albie Hecht
Production design:
RSE Robert Small
Executive producers:
Alan Goodman &
Fred Seibert

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 241

 set and talk about what to use. I never
I did know that Gilbert would be wear- in my life saw a comic blow so hot and
ing his infamous blue tuxedo jacket so cold. The very first time we saw him
and thought that it would pop against was at Caroline’s original club on 9th
the white cyc (or maybe the white cyc Avenue in the 20s I think. I remember
was all we had the budget for – honest- we went with Tommy Schlamme and
ly, I don’t remember). Each spot had a his wife, and she was gushing after it
marketing message that Gilbert was to was over. From his “thank you.. thank
espouse on. you.. no stop! stop!” that started the
show until he left the stage, the laugh-
I asked him to speak to each marketing ter never stopped for a second. Con-
point the same way in different angles tinuous, deafening laughter. On other
and locations with a locked camera so nights, there’d be crickets.
that we could pop him around the frame
in post. Of course, Gilbert never repeat- He got into the habit of coming to the
ed anything more than once, he just office in the afternoon, and planting
went off on tangents – which of course himself in my office until it was time
was the beauty of him and those spots. to go out. He’d sit there all afternoon
telling me jokes. Gilbert doesn’t much
I worked with Gilbert recently and it tell jokes in his act, but he knows a
was nice to see him, he’s still as funny as trillion jokes and he would just go non-
ever. stop. One day he was telling me how
much he dislikes Seinfeld, who was just
Fred: We saw those spots, and like another guy in the clubs back then. He
everyone watching MTV we fell in love started imitating Seinfeld, but without
with Gilbert. Maybe this would get the jokes. “Did you ever wonder why a
Fred/Alan into the TV specials business! pencil has an eraser only on one end,
and not the other? What’s up with
Our friend Stu Smiley was a top comedy that?” Again, he wouldn’t stop and his
executive at HBO/Cinemax, which was impression was spot on. That night at
then the top TV comedy venue, and he’d Catch, he couldn’t get one laugh. Not
had been generous to us in many ways, one. It was a terrible crowd. Out of no-
trying to help us get something going. where, unannounced and unexplained,
he just started doing his joke-less Sein-
Without Stu, who knows where we feld. For me. Because he knew at least
would have been? one person would be laughing.

Alan: I always remember all the stuff When we had wrapped, he continued
around the show. to come to the office for a few weeks, to
sit in my room because he had nothing
I went to see Gilbert almost else to do all day. Eventually I had to tell
nightly in the month leading up to the him I had moved on to other projects. I
taping, at Catch a Rising Star or The Im- remember he never stopped by without
prov, to become super familiar with his leaving with a couple of pens, a pad of

242 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

paper, whatever he could carry out of “and when you and I got off the plane it
there. clicked up to three. When we go back to
New York, it’ll go back down to one.”
The reason behind the baby blue dinner Albie: Wowser! - (You know, Gilbert
jacket is that he had established some- will probably ask us for additional pay-
thing of a presence in the fabulous rants ment!)
Barbara Kanowitz Small had developed
with him for MTV. That was his ward- Best set I never built!
robe for those spots and we wanted to
piggyback on the recognition. I walked into American Place Theatre
and they had a Sam Shepard play which
I also remember a couple days before had an amazing Airstream trailer in a
the shoot Tommy was very ill. There was desert and I said, "I’ll take it!" – made
some talk that I would have to direct. the deal to keep it for our show.
Thank goodness he recovered, because I
would really have fucked this up. We’re always working with first timers!

I found a video tape of this show, credit- Tommy Schlamme who was an amazing
ed to FRED/ALLEN Inc, on HBO Video film director had rarely done multi-cam-
in a bargain bin years later, paired on the era shows, so of course we chose him
same tape with his “Norman’s Corner” to direct since we knew he had great
produced by our pals Peter Rosenthal comedic timing and creative pov. Which
and Steve Oakes, written by an equally was true and made this show so success-
unknown Larry David. I have it still ful but when we began shooting and he
shrink-wrapped with the price sticker, starting calling the cameras and called
$2.95. for camera 2 – there was dead silence in
the truck - and then the TD said “We’re
This was also the show when I learned on 2”– without losing a beat Schlamme
that, if the network tells you “We don’t says “and stay on 2, it's a beautiful shot”
pay a lot of money for these comedy and from then on he was perfect.
experiments, but we leave you alone,
you don’t get a lot of notes,” it means you “Working with the unpredictable!”
won’t get much money, and you will still
get a thousand notes. Gilbert was and is a unique and special
talent. When he walked out of the trailer
I wonder what happened to the LP we at the top of the show and immediately
made from the special that QMI Mu- went to his water pitcher and says “I’m
sic was going to release? Gilbert and I having a glass of water,” the audience
traveled down to Memphis together for broke into big laughs and we thought
the launch party of QMI, and as we were –we’re home free– But then he kept
walking through the airport he looked repeating it “I’m having a glass of water'
around at the distinctively Southern – after the third time, I looked at Alan in
Christian inhabitants. “Somewhere in the truck and said “we’re f-ed” – but Al
this airport is a digital counter,” he said, was cool and said “wait for it” and after

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 243

 Gilbert repeating it another 3 times, the
audience started roaring and that actual-
ly went on for 10 minutes.

Not all of it made the final cut but a big

moment (and learning moment)!!!

Alan: A story I have told many times is

about our ACE Award for the special.

Yes, the Airstream was already there,

and it’s a small detail but we couldn’t
move it because we shot during a two-
day hiatus of a play that was in the the-
ater. The play was coming back, and we
were told we couldn’t move it. Instead,
we built around it. And thanks to the
pre-existing trailer (and some addition-
al dressing by Bob [Small] and Jimmy
[Burns]), we got our first ACE Award...
for set design!

Fred: “Greetings from Gilbert” was a

eureka! moment for us. Alan, Albie and
I started to think it was more than a
dream. We actually had a future in this
business! We started Chauncey Street
Productions as our label for the shows
we would go on to produce.

Ah, show business!

" Your favorite music" MTV promo starring

Gilbert, directed by Barbara Kanowitz

244 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 245
Kids' Choice Awards of Nick-at-Nite), in addition to kids,
parents –and please, movie stars were
Nickelodeon 1988 parents too!– were more excited about
Nickelodeon than anyone realized. And
The blood was quickly draining from the chance to be in the presence of a live
the faces of Gerry Laybourne and Nick show would draw out the crowds.
Debby Beece.
It was still an uphill battle to mount the
Chauncey Street –Albie Hecht, Alan, show. Budget would be an issue for sev-
Fred– was describing a scene of hopeful eral years, convincing Universal's Holly-
optimism for an annual kids' award show wood theme park to give us one of their
–the Kids' Choice Awards– Nickelodeon pavilions for free was, to say the least,
should produce. “There’ll be the biggest a triumph of negotiation (we promised
movie stars in the world while 10,000 that we’d feature the tour in the show!).
kids will be screaming at the top of their And those movie star guests? That took a
lungs!” while.

"But why will any stars come to a Nickel- The first show host was Tony Dan-
odeon kids' awards show?" za, then flying high on "Who's the Boss,"
Nick network ID singers, Eugene Pitt &
In 1988, Nickelodeon was only three the Jive Five and teen pop sensation Deb-
years into its Fred/Alan revival. Even bie Gibson. And maybe most prophetic
with the network at #1 in the ratings, of all, guest presenters included a star
Nick management was, smartly, still of the sitcom "Head of the Class," Brian
working like the channel was an under- Robbins. "Prophetic?" Well, after several
dog. It allowed the staff to keep their years of being a hit television producer
creative and business edges, striving to be with partner Michael Tollin ("Smallville,"
the best. "All That," "One Tree Hill"), in 2018 Brian
became the president of Nickelodeon.
As much as Nick had grown, the
general perception was that The Disney Albie went on to become the Nickelode-
Channel was bigger. It wasn't true, not on's President of Film and TV entertain-
by a long shot, but Disney clearly had a ment where he produced all the Kids'
bigger brand name in the public's –and Choice shows until he was named Spike
the media business's– imagination. So the TV 's founding CEO in 2003.
underdog needed to keep up the pressure.
Not for nothing, after we shut down
We thought the Kids' Choice Awards, exe- Fred/Alan, Albie continued with
cuted well, could be Nickelodeon's nail in Chauncey. His KCA persistence led to a
The Disney Channel coffin. steady build and the 1998 10th Annual
Kids' Choice Awards was held at UCLA's
Gerry and Debby became convinced, as Pauley Pavilion. The sold out capacity?
did the MTV Networks higher ups, that 10,000 screaming kids.
with cable in 50 million American homes .....
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards created by
in the late 1980s, and Nick at #1 in the Alan Goodman, Albie Hecht & Fred Seibert
ratings (not to mention the dominance Chauncey Street Productions, New York

246 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

 The Kids Choice Award
Blimp Kaleidoscope
Designed by Tom Corey & Scott Nash
and Albie Hecht
The Movie Masters! Movie Classics was one of the most, um,
fiscally careful.
American Movie
Well, Chauncey Street was a perfect fit for
Classics 1989 a deliberate situation. We were still feeling
our way in series production and we were
Albie Hecht (executive producer & well aware we weren’t yet booking the big
co-creator): “My favorite!” gigs.

Christine Ecklund (producer/writer): “Wow. Chauncey Street majordomo Albie Hecht

Bet I can still answer every question. (“Ucip- loved game shows (CSP went on to pro-
ital Mapilary”) duce Turn It Up! for MTV, Kid’s Court and
GUTS for Nickelodeon, and Albie oversaw
Before Mad Men, before Breaking Bad many more as president of Nickelodeon
and The Walking Dead, AMC was actual- production). He and Alan created the idea
ly “American Movie Classics,” the Turner for The Movie Masters, with the notion that
Classic Movies of its time, a cable channel it would recreate the salad days of broadcast
exclusively focused on, duh, movies from network quiz shows.
the heyday of Hollywood. (In fact, the
former head of AMC programming would To that end we ran dozens of casting calls
become the creator of TMC.) at our office, talking to everyone including
musical legends Betty Comden and Marga-
Towards the end of the 80s, channels that ret Whiting, before coming to the conclu-
relied on acquired, cost efficient stuff like sion that we’d replicate a classic quiz show
AMC (or Nick-at-Night or USA or even line up (American Movie Classics, right!).
MTV ) were realizing that advertisers and The production landed on The Match
cable operators were on the hunt for pro- Game’s Gene Rayburn as host, and actress
gramming that could excite viewers. and veteran quiz panelist Peggy Cass, New
York Times’ theater critic Clive Barnes, and
The Movie Masters was one of AMC’s first actress and To Tell the Truth stalwart Kitty
jumps into the pool, and obviously, it wasn’t Carlisle as contestants.
the approach that worked like crazy for
them. Fred/Alan’s primary Showtime client, The production came off with only a few
Josh Sapan, had become AMC’s leader and hitches and delivered on time and on bud-
thought that our Chauncey Street Pro- get. It was a hoot working with such revered
ductions might have an idea for a network acting, writing and television royalty. AMC
series. would eventually find their way to “prestige”
TV, but as far as we were concerned, we did
a wonderful job in the name of the greatest
Original television production, even when
movies of all time.
it’s done efficiently, is pretty expensive. And
.....
the explosion of cable TV had exploded in The Movie Masters!
terms of dozens of channels, but it was still Created by Albie Hecht & Alan Goodman
trying to figure out how to make enough Producer/writer: Christine Ecklund
money to thrive. The financial picture Director: Michael Bernhaut
wouldn’t really come into its own until Business Affairs: Elliot Krowe
the end of the 1990s. All the networks we Executive Producers: Alan Goodman,
worked with over the years approached Albie Hecht, Fred Seibert
originals very gingerly, and American Chauncey Street Productions, New York

248 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

The Talent Pool about history, politics, religion, and cul-
tural trends eventually gave him a regular
HA! TV Comedy Network perch on "The Daily Show."
1990
• Jim Turner became a star when MTV
"Performance Artist" was the term of art presented him as his creation Randee of
in the late 80s. As producer Christine the Redwoods. He later acted in movies
Ecklund remembers Albie Hecht's defi- and TV.
nition, "...longer form material, no joke
tellers. A downtown feel." • Julie Hayden was a delightful writer
and actress who was later in Ben Stiller's
Monologist Spaulding Gray had a hipster "The Cable Guy" with Jim Carrey, She was
success with his performance piece (and finding her way in the TV pilot season
eventual film) "Swimming to Cambodia." when she died of cancer in 1997.
His recitation of his travel, writing and
acting experiences, mixed pathos and • Chucklehead, a troupe whose com-
humor to engaged audiences for several edy addressed fears of the Cold War,
years in New York theater. entropy, mortality, and the likelihood not
enough tickets would be sold at their shows.
When MTV Networks launched HA! in
1990 we pitched channel head Debby • Jeffrey Essman (not pictured), was
Beece that among Gray's contemporaries often referred to as avant-garde, but was a
were humorists with the goods that would hilarious writer and often costumed per-
hone the network's reputation with up former and a Benedictine monk.
and coming talent.
• Danitra Vance (not pictured), was a
"The Talent Pool" set up shop in mid- comedian and actress who came to great
town Manhattan's Lamb's Theatre, site attention in the 1985 season of "Saturday
of a beautiful gospel brunch, and started Night Live." She was on The Talent Pool
casting about for an anthology of perfor- during her diagnosis and eventual death
mance artists. Between Chauncey Street from breast cancer. She was awarded with
and the network we settled on (clockwise an Obie and NAACP Image Award.
from the top left on the opposite page):
• Barry Yourgrau (not pictured), a
• Frank Maya was one of the first open- South African born writer and performer,
ly gay male comics to gain a foothold in has published several books and whose
mainstream stand-up comedy, who sadly fictions have appeared in the New Yorker,
passed away from AIDS in 1995.
Paris Review, VICE, Bomb, Poetry, and
Film Comment.
• John Leguizamo is a writer and
actor who went on to win four Tony
Awards, appear in over 100 films, and The show wasn't particularly highly rated,
whose Columbian/Latino roots and but we were completely taken by each of
community are always up front. our fantastic cast and heartened when so
many of them went on to highly visible
• Lewis Black, whose angry rants and acclaimed careers.

250 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

Clockwise from upper left: Frank Maya,
John Leguizamo, Lewis Black, Jim Turner,
Julie Hayden, Chucklehead.

"The Talent Pool"

Created by Albie Hecht & Alan Goodman
Producers: Christine Ecklund & Craig Coffman
Directors: Craig Coffman, Dana Calderwood
Business Affairs: Elliot Krowe, Jim Arnoff
Executive Producers:
Alan Goodman, Albie Hecht, Fred Seibert
Chauncey Street Productions, New York
777-FILM
Moviefone 1990
"Hello!
And welcome to Moviefone!"
-Russ Leatherman, 'Mr. Moviefone'

Moviefone Movie Theatre spot #1 at what time, and whether there were
Sound effect: telephone busy signal tickets available. Voilà!

Announcer: We met Andrew through our friends at

There's one phone number for movie Charlex and signed on as Moviefone's
showtime information that’s never busy. first agency. Together, we quickly came
Find out where and when it’s playing. up with several 20-second spots that
Call 777-FILM. would play in their partnered theaters
When all that matters is the movie. and started running them in New York
Before there was a consumer internet, and Los Angeles.
getting to the movies was a pain. Even
figuring out whether a particular mov- Lo and behold! Moviefone was ringing
ie was playing in a given week at what off the hook, maximizing theater –and
theater required a logistic enterprise. It Moviefone!– profits. Soon, Andrew had
usually involved getting a local news- figured out how to use call volume to
paper and sifting through columns of predict ticket demand, which allowed
"listings" to figure out what showtimes film producers to target their advertising
were. You couldn't be sure if there were to optimum effect, and of course, more
tickets available and whether or not success for all!
there were a few next to each other. Or
whether they were in the front or back The company was acquired by AOL
rows, and squeezed you in the middle of at the height of the first internet craze.
a long row. Heaven forbid, if you lived in Andrew went on to become an Academy
a city with dozens of movie houses. Award nominated filmmaker ("Captur-
ing the Friedmans") and produce and
Enter entrepreneur, innovator and film- direct "The Jinx" for HBO and "Catfish"
maker Andrew Jarecki. Partnering with for MTV.
the original conceptualizer Russ Leath- .....
Actors: Albie Hecht & Paula Brinkman
erman, they founded Moviefone to solve Director: Albie Hecht
the problem. Just dial 777-FILM and life Producer: Chris Strand
got easier. Now you could immediately Production: Chauncey Street Productions
know what movies were playing where, Agency: Fred/Alan

252 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

 Thirteen WNET NEW YORK
Rockschool
1988
Hosted by Herbie Hancock
Thirteen is the PBS affiliate
in New York, and not exactly known
for cultural programming that
appealed to the young'uns. But, we
got to know someone there, David
Thomas, who wanted to try.

The station bought US rights to

'Rockschool,' a UK series that –even
though 'rock' was a fading genre,
hip-hop was in its ascendancy–
wanted to teach the basics of popular
music.

David hired Herbie Hancock to

'American-ize' the thing, and who
else to hire to put it all together but
a company run by a couple of MTV
folks?
.....
Producer: Tom Pomposello
Associate producer: Tina Potter
Creative directors:
Alan Goodman & Fred Seibert
Art direction: Corey & Co., Boston
Client: David Thomas, Thirteen

254 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

Logo, poster, VHS boxes
designed by Tom Corey
& Scott Nash
Illustrations by
Scott Nash
Corey & Co. Boston
for Fred/Alan
COHORTS IN COMEDY 1984 them: we could supply the jokes but
Don would supply the accent, thanks.
Linda Schaffer had a superpower. Actually,
The night before the shoot we met with
she had a few, but #1 was her ability to spot
talented people. Linda was our first creative Don, and for us it was a master class
employee, working on all sorts of projects, in comedy writing. He went through
primarily “direct response” promotion the scripts and added jokes that made
campaigns that would convince folks to them far funnier -- and he did it all
subscribe to Showtime or The Movie Channel.
with his light, generous spirit.
When The Movie Channel asked us if we
wanted to write and shoot our first promo Once we were on set he showed us how
package of a movie series with Don Novello great comedians work:
–”Father Guido Sarducci” from SNL– we
didn’t hesitate. STAGE MANAGER: Take one.

We’re not sure if she mentioned it was his very FATHER GUIDO: This next film stars Chevy
first professional writing job, but Linda knew Chase and Sig-in-o-ri-ni Weaver.
a talented comedy writer who had a perfor-
mance group in Philadelphia. DIRECTOR: CUT! Don, her name is pro-
nounced "Si-gour-ney."
Linda’s instincts were uncanny. Jim Levi hit
it out of the park with the esteemed Reverend DON: Oh, thanks, thanks.
Father . Soon after, we introduced him to Scott
Webb, our client and creative director at the STAGE MANAGER: Take two.
recently resurrected Nickelodeon and Nick-at-
Nite and Jim became an integral part of the FATHER GUIDO: This next film stars Chevy
writer/producers that helped put the networks Chase and Sig-in-o-ri-ni Weaver.
on the map.
... DIRECTOR: CUT! Don, she pronounces her
In 1984, I was thrilled when Fred/Alan name "Si-gour-ney."
asked me to create comedy intros for a
DON: Okay, thanks.
series of films on The Movie Channel
starring cast members from Saturday STAGE MANAGER: Take three.
Night Live. It gave me the chance to
work with one of my favorite comic FATHER GUIDO: This next film stars Chevy
actors, Don Novello, playing his classic Chase and Sig-in-o-ri-ni Weaver.
character Father Guido Sarducci. Fa-
DIRECTOR: CUT! That's good. Let's move on.
ther Guido's satirical takes on life in the
Vatican were a must-watch segment on The director finally got the joke. In his
SNL: few from that time can forget him own sweet, gentle, faux-clerical way,
shilling "Pope Soap on a Rope." Don had just given us a peek under his
black priest hat into the place where
Alan Goodman and I worked up a great comic performances come from.
series of scripts for Don to introduce
the films, adding extra syllables to each ...
Writers: Jim Levi & Alan Goodman
word to approximate Don's Italian Producer: Linda Schaffer
inflection. We quickly heard back from Creative direction: Alan Goodman/Fred Seibert
Don's agent that we needed to rewrite Client: The Movie Channel/Karen Ticktin

256 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

THE MOVIE CHANNEL 1984
Not all of the branding work Fred/
Alan did was famous, but we weren’t
any less proud of it. The 1988
assignment to redesign The Movie
Channel was one of those.

Our clients at Showtime were now

running the channel after acquiring
it from MTV Networks. It began as
a wannabe competitor to HBO and
Showtime, but never quite made it to
the promised land.

Now, they wanted some of that

Fred/Alan logo magic.

Creative director Noel Frankel

provide the black arts this time. It's
hard to remember whether he told
our clients that "The Eyes Have It," the
title to a 1920s movie, or Shakespeare's
"Eyes are the windows to the soul."
But whatever, they were intrigued by
the notion of the mesmerizing visuals
of a different set of eyes in every net-
work identification.

Our friends at Charlex had by then

done several years of great produc-
tions for us at Nickelodeon, Myers’s
Rum, and HA!, and we worked well
with their emotional approach to
video. Almost unique among “motion
graphics” and visual effects compa-
nies, co-founder Alex Weil understood
it wasn’t all about floating type. He
instantly groked it. He brought all
the eyes alive, as it were, and found
visually clever and kinetic executions
to what to many might have been dull
repetitions of a wink and a nod.
.....
Logo design by Noel Frankel
Video animation by Charlex, New York

258 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

THE MOVIE
CHANNEL
May 1, 1988
260 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 261
262 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 263
264 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 265
CHARLEX 1987
The last thing we ever imagined was that small indies, Charlex traveled in the big
one of our great creative partners would leagues of ad agencies, but with Fred/
become a client. That's what happened Alan's projects they could let their freak
when we went over to 45th Street in flags fly. And boy, did they ever.
Manhattan for a meeting with Charlex
founders and principals Charlie Levi It was no surprise they wanted to ad-
and Alex Weil. vertise themselves in the trades, but it
still shocked us they wanted Fred/Alan
Charlex started as an animatic vendor to lead the way. It cemented our rela-
for advertising agencies. Animatics tionship forever when they wanted us to
–storyboard frames with soundtrack– show that freak flag in public.
helped clients visualize what their
commercials would actually looks like. Arlen Schumer had designed and illus-
Charlie and Alex built a wildly innova- trated a fabulous billboard campaign for
tive company using cutting-edge video WYNY-FM, New York for Fred/Alan,
technology, making their animatics best and Alan thought he'd be perfect for the
in class. One client, National Enquirer, notion of a series of newspaper articles
even used a gussied-up animatic as actu- of Charlex style absurdity, with a com-
al commercials. pletely straight ad in the money spot in
the middle of the page. Absurdity? David
They gained fame in 1984 when their Burd, a comedian, animator, writer and
Cars music video (directed with Jeff producer we'd worked with as far back
Stein) won MTV’s first Video Music as MTV completely fit the bill.
Award. Later, Lorne Michaels hired
them to create a dazzling opening for his How many ads did we produce? Doz-
SNL return. ens? Hundreds? We lost count over the
years, but we never lost our love for
We'd always had a good thing with Charlie, Alex and Charlex.
Charlie and Alex. We were the same
ages and Charlie cemented our cul- Apologia: We're sorry, but we have no
apologia for the absense of Charlie
tural lock in our first meeting when he
"Hambone" Levi's pictorial feature,
made a crack about the Flintstones. The
"Lunch Buckets on Parade."
first project we worked on together was
Nickelodeon network identications (pages
.....
150-151) and from there they came up
Writers: Alan Goodman & David Burd
with wildly creative solutions for Myers's Art direction & illustration: Arlen Schumer
Rum, VH1, HA!, and the Movie Chan- Account management: Jessica Wolf
nel. Most of production partners were Creative directors: Alan Goodman & Fred Seibert

266 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 267
 "Vertical hold is
a state of being, but heaven
is a state of mind."

"There are more things

on heaven and earth, Horatio,
than are dreamt of in your
philosophy."

"Some people go from

dollars to donuts, but I'll take
pennies from heaven."

"Does history repeat

itself in heaven too?"

"Oh human love, thou spirits

given on earth of all we hope
in heaven."

268 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

 “Old
TV shows
don't die,
they go to
heaven.”
TV
HEAVEN
1988-1989
Channel 41
St. Cloud, Minnesota

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 269

 The sales team at Nick-at-Nite couldn't
figure out how to sell ads for oldies, so in
their infinite wisdom, they decreed the
channel should be positioned as "comedy."

At the same time, Fred/Alan was

approached by a tiny UHF station, 65
miles north of Minneapolis. We figured
that 1) they were UHF, local TV, not
cable and 2) NAN no longer wanted
what we had given them.

And just like that we renamed Channel

42, KXLI as "TV HEAVEN." That is, we
brought oldies television to Minnesota.

Fred/Alan producer Tom Pomposello

turned us on to pop artist/filmmaker
Fred Mogubgub who had a simple, dis-
tinctive style that was eye-catching and
relatively inexpensive. We commissioned
some IDs from Fred, got some of our
other favorites to use a similar approach
Illustration using their own art styles.
& animation by
Fred Mogubgub The station leapt to the top of local
NY ratings and got more national press in a
month than NAN got in two years.
Soundtracks sung
by Mac Rebennack,
aka Dr. John Nick-at-Nite was embarrassed and
threatened to fire us. We folded.

Good night, TV Heaven.

272 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
 Illustration
& animation by
Marv Newland
International
Rocketship
Vancouver BC
274 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
 Illustration
& animation by
Marv Newland
International
Rocketship
Vancouver BC

Soundtracks sung
by Mac Rebennack,
aka Dr. John
 We made television hard rock band that had recently had a
not rock concerts. breakout with their album "The Final
Countdown"– along with the compli-
Well, no one at our shop had ever pro- cated logistics between North America,
duced any rock concerts. Except Elliot the European continent and the Asian
Krowe. Which led into the most unusual continent. To give you an idea what was
project in Fred/Alan's history. necessary, to get the sound and lighting
support into a country that had never
Elliot, a college radio buddy of ours, was done the kind of show that the group
required, meant flying literal tons of
on our team. He'd spent his early days
equipment across the frickin' North
(and his post-Fred/Alan career) running
Pole!
the lighting operations of dozens of giant
After the reconnaissance trips, when
the actual concert was booked –coin-
ciding with the 1988 American Thanks-
giving holiday– Alan and his girlfriend,
and a Chauncey Street documentary
crew*, tagged along. Here are some of
Elliot's and Alan's recollections.

.....
Elliot:
In September or October 1986, Venkat
Elliot Krowe in the documentary interview in Mumbai. Vardhan contacted Fred/Alan for help
organizing an outdoor rock concert in
concerts, having started with 70s stalwarts India. Venkat’s brother Shreepad, study-
Blue Öyster Cult. ing in Oklahoma, knew Alan’s landlord,
who figured our MTV connection might
Alan's apartment landlord at the South be useful.
Street Seaport introduced us to Venkat
Vardhan, an Indian acquaintance who In November 1986, I brought Fred/Al-
wanted to promote the first ever rock an’s Mark Tomizawa and a small recon
concert in India. Venkat knew what he team to visit Bombay (now Mumbai) to
wanted the result to be, but other than scout locations and hold meetings. Over
that, he didn't even know what he didn't the next 18 months, multiple site surveys
know. There was no band booked, a were conducted, with communication
vague idea of the location, and... well, mainly through telex and phone. The
not much else. initial plan was to hold the concert at
the Cricket Club of India, a downtown
Elliot put the entire thing together. stadium ideal for the event. Pride India,
Which, trust us, was not a simple a charity for housing and healthcare,
affair. He figured out how to book an sponsored the concert, making govern-
appropriate act –Europe, a Swedish ment approvals easier to secure.

276 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

EUROPE
INDIA
IN

NOVEMBER 28, 1988

Produced by Elliot Krowe

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 277

Negotiating for artists was challeng-
ing. India had no prior concerts of this
scale, and promoters had a poor reputa-
tion for production value and payment
issues. After numerous possibilities, con-
firmations, and cancellations, the band
Europe headlined, with Nazareth as the
second act and local band Rock Machine
as the opener.

Originally scheduled for October 1988,

the show was delayed to November 26
due to issues with Reserve Bank per-
missions. Scheduling conflicts forced a
venue change to a “new” soccer stadium
on Bombay’s outskirts. Once all funds
were transferred and production equip-
ment flown in, our team arrived two
weeks early.

Wait! What? The venue was disas-

trous. The stadium was 75% built and
abandoned. Grass had been burned
down days before, homeless families
occupied dressing rooms, and utili-
ties were off. In two frantic weeks, we
cleaned the site, turned on water and
electricity, and built a bamboo stage,
fencing, and barricades.

Coordinating utilities, law enforcement,

and concert infrastructure was exhaust-
ing with inexperienced local staff. The
event was also a crash course in modern
concert production and security for
everyone involved.

Alan:
My memories of our Fred/Alan trip to
bring rock and roll to what is now Mum-
bai are mostly personal. My presence
was largely ceremonial and my duties
minimal — to shake hands at a welcom-
ing meeting, and to watch the concert at

278 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

 Europe plays the first rock concert in India, November 29, 1988
(opposite page: Producer Elliot Krowe and promoter Venkat Vardhan
plot and plan the entire event.

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 279

the rustic, unfinished stadium. boards or ads at the newspaper stands.
I remember it was already evening on Another sign that to be doing what we
the day we arrived when we got the idea were doing with a rock band that had
to go see the field where the concert global recognition was extremely note-
would be staged. We arrived after dark, worthy.
and since there were no lights, we saw
only an endless expanse of blackness. Without familiar touchstones, we im-
Somewhere in the distance was the mersed ourselves in the Indian way of
sound of a loud motor. We couldn’t see life. With a few days off between our
what it was. As the sound got closer, a project kick-off and the concert, my girl-
tiny red dot became visible. It seemed friend and I had time to explore Jaipur
to just hover in the sky. It wasn’t until and Udaipur, cities in the Rajasthan with
it was quite close that we could see it ancient roots. We had made flight and
was the glowing end of a cigarette, in hotel reservations back in the U.S. and
the mouth of a man mowing the field in everything was set, but we were com-
total darkness in the middle of the night. pletely unable to book a flight back from
Udaipur to arrive before the concert.
We wrote it off as something we’d solve
when we were on the ground.

The flight to Jaipur was hours and hours

delayed, and we arrived sometime after
2:00 A.M. A row of taxis were waiting.
We snagged one, and our very cheerful
driver started on his way. We had heard
our trip coincided with the annual
Puskar camel fair, and we asked him the
best way to the event. He told us it was
two-and-a-half hours away, and the best
Our friends at MTV had tossed some way to get there was for him to drive us.
money in the till to shoot a promo spot We told him we wanted to see the city
with Europe’s lead singer, so I wrote first, and he suggested that the best way
something and we shot it days later to do that would be for him to drive us.
before the concert. All I remember was It seemed that whatever we wanted to
that he was at a payphone. I don’t think do, the best way to do it was for him to
it was very good. I don’t think it ever drive us.
aired.
The next morning, despite the late
I was often startled as we traveled check-in, we were down early for break-
through the city to see no signs of the fast at our hotel, a former palace. We
culture we knew outside of India. Very looked across the lawn and there was
distant places in the world still have our driver standing proudly by the car.
Coca Cola and Levis Jeans. Not what When we had eaten, he brought us on
was then Bombay. At least, not on bill- his personal tour of the city, including

280 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

stops at some particularly special jewelry appear as though it rises straight out of
and fabric merchants. I’m rather certain the water in the middle of Lake Pichola.
one of the ways they were special was It’s easy to describe what you see as you
that they maintained a special relation- approach by boat, but almost impossible
ship with our driver. to describe the effect. It is a stunning
monument to wealth and opulence. We
When we had had our fill of touring, we booked an incredible suite that may have
started on the road to Pushkar. It was a been 4000 square feet. It was on multiple
startlingly desolate route. Mostly what levels. It had wrap-around terraces that
we saw was barren earth. Occasionally seemed the size of basketball courts. The
we would pass a man with his camel. I bedroom featured a cloistered bed nook
remember only one establishment where with a ceiling just a few inches above
we stopped to eat, and possibly for fuel. our heads, utterly festooned with erotic
I remember our driver wanted no food. paintings. We had definitely gotten on a
plane and gone somewhere.
The camel fair was a feast for the eyes.
An annual event, it draws thousands But there was still the pesky issue of get-
who trade livestock, sell their colorful ting back. We learned that flights were
rugs and other goods, and participate in scarce because of the pilgrimages. This
sporting events. What we didn’t fully un- was peak travel season in India. Even
derstand was that it is also an important our attentive hotel clerk had been unable
pilgrimage site, and that the fair marked to secure flight reservations, and recom-
the week when religious rituals are mended getting on the boat and going to
observed. Everywhere we looked we saw the airline office in town where we might
something new and extraordinary, and have more success.
when we had seen enough, we found our
driver, standing by his car and smiling at The airline office was little more than a
us. It was another two-and-a-half hour single room on an upper floor in an of-
excursion back, of course. He was cheer- fice building. We went inside and saw a
ful the entire way. long line that snaked around and around
until it reached a single man at a small
We had an early flight out to Udaipur. desk, an open ledger in front of him
Guess what the best way was to the and a pencil in his hand. It took quite a
airport? while to pull up at the desk but by now
we were used to long lines everywhere in
The following morning at the airport we India. We told him what we wanted, and
paid our driver, tipping him enormous- he wrote our names and ages in pencil
ly. The entire bill including tip was $60. into his ledger. I’ve never understood
Funny what you remember. why they needed our ages. When he
was done, he smiled up at us. “Okay,” he
Our trip to Udaipur was even more said. “You are on the waiting list. Num-
eye-popping. The Lake Palace Hotel was ber 43 and 44.” It took a moment for
built in 1743 as a summer palace for the the information to sink in. “This plane
Maharana and is cleverly designed to has 19 seats, correct?” I asked. Yes, he

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 281

said. “And we’re number 43 and 44 on
the waiting list?” I asked. Yes, he said.
‘So there’s no chance we’re getting on
this flight, is there?” “No,” he answered,
smiling, “no chance.”

Back at the hotel, our sympathetic clerk

told us the only option was the train
from Ahmedabad to Bombay. Ahmed-
abad was close to four-and-a-half hours
away.
We were on the road early the next day, looked particularly safe. That same nice
clerk told us we could buy a meal at the
employee cafeteria, so we found that
room and ordered. Mine was the cur-
ried cauliflower. I remember it because
at some point while we were eating, it
dawned on me that it was Thanksgiving
back home. This was one of the most ap-
preciated Thanksgiving feasts of my life.

and at the station spent hours and hours

trying to get train tickets. We went from
counter to counter. Our names went
on list after list. My girlfriend was still
suffering from some food poisoning
contracted earlier in the week and was
not looking well. Finally, the only nice
man in the station said to me, “Tell me...
are you a Christian man?” I wasn’t sure
what the right answer was, so I tentative-
23 years later, I was at Housing
ly answered “Y-y-y-es?” He had spotted
the manager of the station and walked Works Bookstore for our twice a year
us across the floor to meet him. I’m not street fair [Alan volunteers there weekly]
sure what the clerk told him, but the and this kid Keith –a financial analyst–
man whipped out a pencil and without a was there through the morning moving
word signed a form. Suddenly there were stuff out to the street. He finished up
train tickets for the all-night train back and asked me if we had show tunes that
to Bombay. hadn't come out yet. So I brought him to
the sub basement where we always have
We hadn’t eaten. Nothing at the stalls plenty of show tunes.

282 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

He was in heaven, grabbing West Side grade. He was crying, he told me, be-
Story and Evita and everything else – cause it was the first time in his life his
maybe 25 albums. Sketches of Spain and very strict mother let him do anything.
some other jazz. He was telling me about
listening to music with his father, who There's 1.2 billion people in India. I met
traveled a lot and brought home albums. one we touched.
...
I asked where he was from in India, and Elliot:
he said Bombay. I told him I was there On November 28, 1988, the concert
when we produced the first rock concert went surprisingly well. Of course, there
in Bombay. He asked, "Which one?" were last-minute fixes, but 45,000 at-
"Europe," I told him. "oh my god," he tells tendees enjoyed a great music presenta-
me. "I was there!!!". He was in seventh tion in a safe, entertaining environment.

*Documentary footage was shot with a

team led by cinematogapher John Haz-
ard, some rough edits made, but never
finished. The photos here are some funky
screenshots from the original VHS tape
dubs. The raw footsge was posted on
YouTube in 2024. There's a new comment
posted on the videos at least every week.
35 years later!

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 283

 SASSY
Sassy Magazine certainly wasn't aimed
at us 30-somethings. An Australian brand
import, editor Jane Pratt exploded what
a teen girl magazine could be. No more
Seventeen headlines like "Tips for KISS-
ABLE Lips" and "Make your CRUSH come
true."

No way. Sassy asked "Do you need armpit

hair to be a feminist? The Sassy Debate."
Not to mention"Take Our Sex Survey,
Please" and "Understanding the daddy
love-hate vibe." Or "8 teens who fought for
their rights." 1990-1991
But it wasn't just the headlines. The
articles broke the fourth wall, allowing
MAGAZINE
readers to get to know Jane and all her
writers and photographers. It wasn't the
biggest magazine, but Sassy was certainly
one of the most special.

Our TV Heaven client was actually a

magazine publisher. He bought Sassy and
asked Fred/Alan to get involved.

The most lasting thing we did was when

we found out the office received 400,000
letters from readers. That's with a mag-
azine with a circulation of 400,000! And
when we read the stuff it might have been
written by the professional staff at Sassy.

So we suggested what became an annual

feature. How about having those super
smart readers take over from the editors
and writers? No surprise, it was a great
success that was repeated year after year.

284 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 285
The little engine that could. determined to book accounts outside of
New Orleans based Barq's Root Beer media. Like Barq's. Thanks to Ed Levine.
was determined to sell itself. And their
strategy was to create "breakthrough" "Fred/Alan, the unconventional New
advertising that would get the attention York agency that has made a name
of the press and the major soft drink for itself creating advertising that
companies. Fred/Alan's "unconvention- MTV-generation consumers think is
al" reputation made us the perfect fit. awesome."

"We needed to make [Barq's] a phenom- "'We have to prove that our style of
enon, like MTV, " said it all, in the words talking to young consumers will work
of their advertising guy. for a lot of clients, not just ones in the
entertainment business.'"
Fred/Alan delivered on a number of
fronts, not the least in our media selec- "It was the work for MTV that estab­
tion. Wild "snipes" –posters on construc- lished Fred/ Alan as a "hip" agency that
tion sites, like concert promoters would everyone in the industry watched closely
do– and cable exclusive ad buys, still an and sometimes imitated."
unusual strategy in those early years. We
made a few spots with our friends, the "'Everyone thinks the agency is going
Poster Boys comedy troupe. Barq's loved to be filled with people bounc­ing off
the work. the walls.' [the Barq's exec] said. 'But
only the advertising is off the
So they fired us, as they did for four wall.'"
subsequent boutique agencies over the
next four years. "Chew 'em up and spit "But 10 years from now, when
'em out," as a record executive was once the principals are well into middle age,
quoted. It worked for them. and if, as planned, the agency has in-
creased its $30 million in billings signifi-
"In 1995, The Coca‑Cola Company pur- cantly, that may be a far more difficult
chased Barq's, making history with the trick to pull off . "
company's first purchase of a carbonated
beverage in the U.S." "Mr. Goodman said, 'But the one
thing we're never going to
But, the real story for Fred/Alan do is become one of those agencies
was embedded in the New York Times that makes it living taking its clients on
advertising column about the Barq's fishing trips.'"
snipe campaign.
Alan had it righter than right.
Starting in 1988, when we took on the
trappings of a "full service" ad agency Two years later, Fred/Alan folded
–an art department, media planning, its tent. We had better things to do than
account executives, the works– we were to go fishing.

286 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

BARQ'S
ROOT BEER 1990

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 287

HA!
1990-1991

TV COMEDY NETWORK

HA! logo designed by Noel Frankel, Fred/Alan creative director

Design & illustration by Lou Brooks Animation by Jerry Lieberman Productions NY
HA! business cards

Models:
Top: Jessica Wolf
Bottom: John
Sullivan

(Next page)
Top: Len Fischman
Bottom: Duck

290 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 291
Illustrated and animated by Marv Newland, International Rocketship, Vancouver BC
Designed, photographed and produced by Marc Karzen
294 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
Designed and produced by Charlex New York
Designed by Drew Takahashi and produced by [Colossal] Pictures, San Francisco

296 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 297
298 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
Designed and produced by [Colossal] Pictures, San Francisco

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 299

HA! TV Comedy Network and art director intuitively understood
(pages 282-294) and our view that television logos had to be
Comedy Central dynamic and move. He designed a logo
(pages 296 & 297) would always be linked where designers, illustrators, photog-
for Fred/Alan. raphers and animators could all have
a field day, with a mix-and-match of
A comedy channel had always been in people, color and visual humor.
the long term planning, but life and
Everyone at the agency loved it. The
business got in the way and with the
HA! identity became some of Fred/Al-
roller coaster of the cable television pro-
an's favorite work.
gramming business of the 1980s it never
got off the ground.
Then reality hit. The brass tracks
of business.
So it was a bit of a shock to MTV Net-
works management when HBO an-
Both HBO and MTV Networks were
nounced "The Comedy Channel" in ear-
spending a fortune competing to be fun-
ly 1990. They were clearly coming after ny. As they realized there was probably
the MTV audience, with a programming no one winner, their powers decided to
"clock" that replicated the music video merge so they each have half a dollar of
approach of three minute comedy, most- profit.
ly stand-up and an occasional special.
Once again, like with VH1, MTV went The new network's original management
into crunch mode and brought in Fred/ didn't have a lot of imagination and in
Alan. While they wanted to rely on their infinite wisdom decided to name
us for branding and promotion (and the channel CTV: Comedy Television.
eventually, a Chauncey Street produced Nonetheless, as their branding and ad-
series) our first gig was kind of a hoot. vertising agency Fred/Alan went to work
on our patented positioning strategy.
The creative teams at all the MTV chan-
nels were tasked with coming up with a Creative Director Bill Burnett got the
name, but after 400 tries they couldn't assignment and he wrote a killer paper.
agree on anything, so they wanted us to He suggested that the channel needed to
give it a go. be the country's mecca for comic talent,
the place where everyone wanted to be.
"Send us over what you've got, so we Not unlike Detroit's Motown Records in
don't spin our wheels." We were con- the '60s. A 'comedy central,' if you will.
vinced there was a great name on the list
but they were all dizzy with overwork The next thing you know we got the
and couldn't see it. word that CTV had a new name.

Bingo! For reasons unclear, we didn't develop

the new trademark. Based on what it was
HA! was on their list and we sold them we could tell that the shop they chose,
on their own name and collected a fine our friends and talented collaborators
fee to boot. Noel Frankel, our creative Corey & Co., weren't listened to at all.

300 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

302 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
Comedy Central network IDS Photography by Chip Simons Directed by Chris Koch
 1992
PENTECH
INTERNATIONAL

Pentech, in Edison, New Jersey, was

one of our last new Fred/Alan clients.
Like Swatch wanting to be the MTV
logo of watches, Pentech figured let's
be the MTV logo of pencils. Not a
dumb idea, we thought. Why not?

And who else other than Fred/Alan to

help them make pencils fun?!

304 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

 'Comix' and Nutz!
designed and written
by Lou Brooks.
'Mad Dog' illustrated
by Gary Baseman,
written by David Burd
306 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
 Fred: Hollywood, baby! Our very last
client popped up just as we'd announced
that Fred/Alan was shutting its doors. A
prominent New York movie producer in-
troduced us to Jay Leno's manager, Helen
Kushnick. She thought that our approach
to MTV 's creative was just what the
still-secret takeover of Johnny Carson's
Tonight Show needed for its packaging
bumpers. Who were we to argue?

We'd loved working with photographer

Chip Simons over the years, especially on
the Comedy Central network IDs (pages
296-9) so when Helen gave a list of the
hundreds of comedy club Jay had played
Chip Simons (top), Chris Koch over the years, we suggested that Chip
photograph across the country with his

THE TONIGHT SHOW with Jay Leno

NBC TELEVISION NETWORK
1992
(Below) Chris Koch, Chris Gonzales, Steve McCarron
distinctive styling at as many of those
cities and states as possible.

Fred/Alan's producer/director Chris

Koch volunteered for this hardship duty,
and soon enough the crew started the
road trip.

The sad ending to the saga was that

everyone at NBC and the Tonight Show
was driven batshit crazy by Helen. Four
months as the executive producer she
was let go. As was all the work that she
produced. Including what Fred/Alan pro-
duced. Except for the logo design. Sigh.
...
Produced by Chris Koch
Photography: Chip Simons
Logo design: Steve McCarron
Client: Helen Kushnick/NBC/The Tonight Show

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 307

 1983-1992
FRED/ALAN

SELF
PROMOTION
& EPHEMERA
We promoted media
brands for others.
Maybe we ought to do it for ourselves?

Holiday parties, advertising, PR and, of

course, T-shirts followed. (Swag was
always fun.) We're guessing we were
probably annoying clients to ourselves.

308 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 309
 Louie, Louie.
The Movie. Wait!
The movie??
Since we originally started Fred/Alan to
make films, we tried ‘getting into the mov-
ies’ with something other than a ticket.
The company was somewhat stable by
1985 and we took a shot.

We’d always liked quickie teen movies

and there was a popular spate of them
happening right then so we took a flyer
and, having no idea what we were doing,
somehow succeeded in optioning the
rights to one of the most popular (and
strangely controversial) songs of the rock
era, “Louie, Louie.”

This ad was put together for the back cov-

er of the 2nd MTV Video Music Awards
program, figuring that something might
happen since the channel was then in its
Front cover of the 2nd Annual first big flush of fame.
MTV Video Music Awards September 13, 1985
A script was written by Alan, Albie Hecht,
and our director, Tommy Schlamme (pre-
fame as a leading Hollywood television
director).

Hollywood paid attention, we "took" a few

meetings and subsequently optioned two
other garage band classics, “Wooly Bul-
ly” and “Wipeout,” wrote a couple more
scripts, and... nothing.

Fred, for whatever reason, wasn't knocked

out by the scripts –he now admits that his
abject fear of moving forward clouded his
judgement– and our efforts faded.

We were busy with the agency, and ul-

timately, we probably just didn’t want it
enough yet.

310 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

Fred/Alan ad on the back cover of the 2nd AnnualMTV Video Music Awards September 13, 1985

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 311

The Fred/Alan Afterwards, we wondered if the events
could get any better, but from '87 on we
Holiday Parties tried hard to top ourselves. By the end,
we just might have done it.
We never really understood the “stan-
dard” protocols of running a success- We went out with a sparrow!
ful agency, wining and dining clients We didn’t know it was our last hurrah.
with expensive dinners, golfing outings We’d just moved into a new space that
(you’ve got to be kidding!) and annual we’d designed for ourselves, we were
holiday gifts. We came to the conclusion celebrating. For the December 1990
that our version would be killer holiday party the entertainment booked was
parties. the Calypso King of the World, Mighty
Sparrow, known for getting his fans in
We dipped our toes in the water with a giant Caribbean stadiums up on their
roller disco party, then moved on to a feet to dance. By the end of our contract-
"classy" venue, taking over New York's ed second set in a downtown Manhattan
Museum of Broadcasting. restaurant, his shirt had come off, the
crowd was sweating as much as he was,
But things really hit a peak in 1987, and he assured us he wasn’t done yet.
when Ed Levine, account executive Sparrow came back for another rockin'
and former music promoter/producer/ couple of hours!
now food writer, suggested we book Dr.
John* for our soiree. Creative director For some reason, Art Director Tom
Noel Frankel illustrated an amazing Godici thought it would be worth his
invitation, sized as a 45rpm vinyl picture time to burn the edges of all 500 holiday
sleeve, using a Wite-Out!® brush! A bel- poster invitations by hand. We weren’t
ly dancing school studio on 8th Avenue arguing, Tom always made sure his work
was booked. Sylvia’s, New York's "Queen was up to his personal creative stan-
of Soul Food," catered and the doctor’s dards. He lived them.
band played on their night off. They
completely blew the ceiling off the place, *Ed and Dr. John/MacRebennack
and people hearing the music from the had done a couple of wonderful
street started wandering in. records together, and Ed later
suggested him for fantastic
What a night! campaign we did for TV Heaven.

312 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

Design and Wite-Out!® illustration by Noel Frankel 1987

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 313

 Our attempt at a
classy 'Holiday Affair'
at the Museum of
Broadcasting, with a
knock-off "TV Guide"
invitation. 1985
Photograph by
Elena Seibert

Why not try a

museum again?
The Museum of
Holography 1986
Design by
Corey & Co., Boston
 Let's try music again! At a pool hall!
Texas singer/guitarist Johnny Copeland was 1983's Blues Entertainer of the Year.
Fred missed it, he had the flu.
Design by Noel Frankel 1988
316 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
 Mighty Sparrow really
rocked the house!

For some reason,

Art Director Tom Godici
thought it would be worth
his time to burn the edges
of all 500 holiday poster
invitations by hand.

Design & illustration by

Tom Godici 1990

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 317

Once we added 'advertising
agency' to our rep as the premiere
media branders, we thought that
maybe we ought to go after some
non-media business. But how?
Having spent several years positioning Fred/Alan became the only
clients, we noticed that most agencies agency that focused on audiences under
wanted to be everything for everyone, all 35 years old. We printed up a brochure
the better for having big billings. and started trolling for new business.

Let's have a sales brochure!

320 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 321
322 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 323
324 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
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326 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
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328 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
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330 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 331
332 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 333
 Ed Levine, Troy Ellen Dixon, Noel Frankel, Chris Strand, Linda Schaffer

334 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

Mark Tomizawa, Jill Gershon, Norm Magnusson, Steve Diamond, John Sullivan, Carol
Forsythe, Fred Pustay, Robert Hunter

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 335

336 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 337
Fred/Alan buys the New York Times.
most influential publication in the
About five years after Fred/Alan advertising industry; after all, for de-
launched as the world's first media cades, Manhattan had been the epi-
branding company with added produc- center of the world's great ad agencies.
tion capabilities for promotion, spe- Besides location location location, in
cials and series, there was a big change. the 1980s and 90s, Times columnist
Nickelodeon, and then MTV, asked us Phil Dougherty had a reputation as the
to expand our services to become a "full most honest, authoritative columnist in
service" advertising agency, something the business, and that made the paper a
neither Alan nor Fred had ever con- must-read for anyone who was anyone,
templated and would require adding client side included. Any ad in there
creative, print production and media would guarantee outsized attention,
buying personnel. After about a minute whether for sales of a client's wares or
we decided, what the hell!, let's go for it. for the agency who created the advertis-
ing in the first place.
Did we have any idea what we were
doing? No way! But, that had never Well, why shouldn’t we be our own
stopped us before. The big question was, client, and use the Times to generate
outside of our cable television and music new business leads? We could buy
remnant space at will for less than half
biz network of contacts, how the heck
price (even then that was five figures!) ,
does an ad agency get some new clients?
our current clients would feel like they
were with a pretty together agency, and
In for a dime, in for a bunch of dollars.
businesses outside New York would take
We decided we'd take a big swing.
notice and call. Did it work? You bet.
.....
Our company never did too much ad- Client: Fred/Alan, Inc. New York
vertising for itself (it was expensive), so Copy & design: Noel Frankel & Alan Goodman
if we did every word had to count. Photography: Elena Seibert
The New York Times was, by far, the

338 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

New York Times full page advertisement 1991
Back in the day getting a write-up in Over the years, we never got all that
the New York Times or Adweek adver- much press, but it was just as well.
tising column could make an agency's
For better and worse, we felt –as they
reputation. We were lucky a few times to say– like the quality of our work spoke
have captured the attention of both. for itself.
Manhattan, inc. magazine February 1990
(It's really hard to believe the cover of this issue.
It was even depressing back in the day.)

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 341

342 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 343
344 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 345
Fred/Alan co-workers were smarter, prettier, and
more fun than we were. Their hard work was only
the beginning. We were all serious people who never
took ourselves seriously.

Top: Albie Hecht

Clockwise staring top left: Mike Shavelson; Nancy Nalven;
Tom Leonardis; Tom Pomposello & Marietta Szubski; Rie Koko;
Chris Strand & Jeffrey Beer; Tom Leonardis; Fred Seibert
Fred/Alan & Chauncey Street
870 7th Avenue
Manhattan, New York 1987
Top: Jessica Wolf
Clockwise from top left:
Ed Levine; Janet Gutyan, Marietta Szubski, Nancy, Lori
Jacobsen, Barbara Powers; Len Fischman & Alan Goodman;
Lori Jacobsen; Marisel; Elliot Krowe; Noel Frankel; Chris Strand
Photographs by Elena Seibert
Jim Spegman
Paul Buckley

Mrs. & Mr. Noel

Frankel

Paula Brinkman

Paula Brinkman,
Carol
Forsythe,
Marietta Szubski
Christine
Ecklund, Fred,
Scott Webb

Jessica Wolf,
Melissa
Kurnit,
Christine
Ecklund

Jessica Wolf

Gilbert Hsiao
Ray Meola
 Fred/Alan & Chauncey Street retreat
Shelter Island & Southhold, summer 1989
Alan and Fred

Paula Brinkman,
Carol Forsythe,
Marietta Szubski

Fred &
Carol Forsythe

Christine
Ecklund,
Magda Liolis

Chris & Baby

Strand

Dave
Landesberg

Laurie & Micky

Hyman

Robert Hunter

Half the
Fred/Alan staff
Bill Burnett

Ed Levine.
Vicki Bijur, Baby
Strand, Albie
Hecht

Paul Brinkman,
Dave Landesberg

Albie Hecht,
Nelson Heumann,
Lou Baur

Bob & JuneAnn

Zeltman

Yvette Yasui

Kay Sarlin,
Melissa Kurnit
 Fred/Alan & Chauncey Street retreat
Shelter Island & Southhold, summer 1989

Kenny &
Mrs. Kenny

Paula
Brinkman
& Dave
Landesberg

Dave & Amy

Landesberg &
Nancy Bacher

Fred &
Troy Ellen
Dixon

Bridget, Elliot
& Cassie Krowe

Ray Meola,
Robert Hunter,
NancyBacher,
Bill Burnett

Ed & Will
Levine

Pierce & Carol

Forsythe
Illustrated by Donna J. Pallotta Illustrated by Paul Corio

Illustrated by John Resi Illustrated by Mike Oldroyd

Fred/Alan made our third and It was, by far, the nicest working envi-
final move –from 870 7th Avenue to ronment we'd had, a testament to the
16 West 61st Street to 708 Broadway great work all of our brilliant teams had
(pages 350-355), all in Manhattan– late in done over the years.
1991. We decided to go all out.
7th Avenue –our cheapest space of the
Our moving announcement was decade– was at the top of a mid-level
emblematic of the approach the company Manhattan hotel, only accessible by,
used on all our best projects. Twelve first, walking through the hotel elevator,
talented artists and illustrators contributed then taking the hotel elevator. Getting
off at the top floor, there was a tiny –
really small– elevator that went to the
"tower," a warren of rooms whose tenant
history included the production compa-
ny of popular actor, comedian, writer,
and composer Jackie Gleason ("The
Great One"). It was "decorated" with car-
pet remnants of each of the pop art rugs
from each hotel floor. And, ceiling lights
in the circular, stucco coated reception
area were enclosed in stalactites. (See
pages 21.)

Moving a few blocks to 61st kept us

close to our MTV Networks clients –
our biggest and most lucrative. And the
client who afforded us the most creative
freedom– and was easy to get to for most
of our co-workers. And there was no
need to have to explain the complicat-
ed access to visitors. We'd taken it over
from a TV movie production company,
Postcard package/ moving annoucement and aside from the bigger footprint we
needed to welcome our growing staff,
their own unique styles in the fold-out compared to the hotel it was gorgeous
postcard set we sent to our clients and and "professional." But, it was still some-
friends. one else's home, and we had to adapt
ourselves to their vision of work.
Then, architect Yossi Friedman was
given a blank canvas when it was clear 708 Broadway was all ours. Clean, mod-
our new location needed to be gutted ern in an 1980s kind of way, we felt we'd
and rebuilt to accommodate a space that finally grown up. Little did we know
was actually two buildings connected by what a short time we'd spend there.
a narrow walkway.
Illustrated by Bob Fortier Illustrated by Ray Domingo

Illustrated by Leslie Cabarga Illustrated by Paula Brinkman

Illustrated by Mike Quon Illustrated by Joey Ahlbum

Illustrated by David Burd Illustrated by Drew Hodges

356 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
 Fred/Alan's last office
708 Broadway 8th floor
Manhattan, New York City

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 357

358 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED
 Fred/Alan's last office
708 Broadway 8th floor
Manhattan, New York City
Time to go...

The end came fast, but it was due. And, great staff landed well –we still work
of course, there were myriad reasons. with a bunch of them!– and now that
The two of us never meant to be in it's all over we can look back and feel
the branding and advertising business. proud of the friends we all continue
We –Fred, Alan, and all our fabulous to be and the contributions everyone
colleagues– were always excited about made.
the work and felt like we did some great
stuff. However, the clients, the business The party was over, except for the last
environment, and our personal am- one. It was a blast.
bitions led us elsewhere. Most of our

362 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 363
GOODBYE JUNE 1992
Photography by Elena Seibert

We all worked hard. We also partied promote the company. This last party
enthusiastically. Our Christmas parties was to thank the many Fred/Alan-ers
(pages 305-309) are still remembered for through the years –employees and col-
the outrageous locations and over-the- laborators– who had helped us achieve
top musical talent we booked. We also substantial attention for once-marginal
made a point of holding our parties a accounts with near-empty pockets.
week or so before MTV’s holiday par-
ty so everyone would be talking about More than 30 years after we said good-
ours. bye, these faces bring smiles and fond
memories. Fred/Alan was a special place
But when it was time to close the doors because of special people. It was one
for the last time, we didn’t invite clients small decade in time, but the impact was
or prospects. We no longer needed to significant and the gratitude is indelible.

364 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

 Robert Hunter, Chris Strand,
Alan & Jim Burns Eileen & Tom Barreca

Fred &
Daria
McLean

Albie Hecht & Mark Tomizawa

Jessica Wolf & Melissa Kurnit

Barbara Powers & Tom Pomposello

Gilbert Hsiao & Richard Koenigsberg

Carol Forsythe
A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 365
Mara Marich & Fred
Tom Godici & Alan

Albie Hecht, Ed Levine, Melissa Kurnit Juneanne Zeltman & Jill Gershon

Kenny
Murphy

Linda Schaffer,
Adam Sargis
Steve Shepard

David Burd &

Jessica Wolf
Carol Forsythe
& Fred

366 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

Paula Brinkman, Lou Bauer, Len Fischman

Fred & Albie Hecht

Len Fischman, Dave Landesberg, Ray Meola

Albie Hecht, Chris Strand,

Robert Small, Chris Koch

Gilbert Hsiao & Daria McLean

Ed Levine

Marty Pekar, David Burd

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 367
 Scott Webb & Troy Ellen Dixon

Paulette McCarron & Bob Zeltman Bill

Horvath

Norm Magnussen & Alan

Richard Koenigsberg

Steve Diamond

Alan, Roy Langbord, Fred

368 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

Melissa Kurnit, Albie Hecht, Magda Liolis
Marty Pekar & Fred

Linda Schaffer & Noel Frankel

Honest Tom Pomposello

Troy Ellen Dixon, Yvette Yasui

Nancy Nalven & Ed Levine, authors

Paula Brinkman & Alan

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 369
 There were a lot of folks who were
surprised when Fred/Alan announced it
was shutting down. And it was probably
those in the marketing and ad industry
who were most shocked, since it was the
beginning of the era of agency mergers
and consolidation.

Why would a "hot" company

like Fred/Alan close, when
there were untold riches
to be made by selling the
shop to a public, giant
agency roll-up?

One of our champions in the press,

Adweek's Richard Morgan, had written a
glowing piece about Fred/Alan just three
years before (page 330) and gave us as
nice a professional send off as any com-
pany could have wanted. Who knows
how long it had taken Richard to figure
out a legitimate way to quote The Who
in a headline?

The notion of doing what we'd been

doing for a decade for five or ten more
years just wasn't appealing. We'd done
some groundbreaking, innovative work,
and OK... some not as special, and we
were extremely proud of what had been
accomplished. And, if we did say so
ourselves, we felt like we'd treated our
clients with the best we had in us. Maybe
most of all, we hoped that our co-workers
felt the same way.

We just didn't have it in us anymore.

370 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 371
 Jill Gershon was a Fred/Alan
account executive in the late 80s, and she
kindly decided to put on a party for those
of us she could locate. The result was a
wonderful time for all (though Fred had to
leave early due to a severe allergic reaction
to Jill’s cats). We thought to commemorate
the event with a small poster run for the
attendees. Maybe it’ll inspire another get
together.

Fred/Alan loved posters, especially Fred,

who collected (and still collects) more of
them than was healthy. Any time we could
come up with an excuse we made a poster.
This one was a direct cop by the world
famous Hatch Show Print in Nashville.

We'd spent a fair amount of time promot-

ing ourselves; we had to get some new
business after all. But, of course, like all
creative companies we had a lot of cool
things we wanted to do, and the best client
for cool things is always yourselves.

372 FRED/ALAN ILLUSTRATED & ANNOTATED

A DECADE IN MEDIA HISTORY 1983-1992 373
Fred/Alan was blessed with dozens of
incredible colleagues, whose work you've
seen in these pages.

There are two, Gilbert Hsiao and

Jessica Wolf, who were there for
everyone in the joint every step of the way.

Thank you both, sincerely.

Did Fred/Alan ever have
a Halloween party?
(L-R) Jill Gershon, Troy Ellen Dixon,
Jessica Wolf, Bill Burnett, Darth Vader

From Jessica Wolf, February 2025:

No, we did not have a Halloween party.
That last photo was taken in the Fred/Alan lobby
prior to us all going to an MTV party
where you were supposed to dress as your hero.
Paul Simon and Bonnie Raitt played that night
and a waiter died of a heart attack
(coincidental, not causal).
Funny what stays with you...