commercials and bloopers
Ron and I have been friends a long time, and back when we both worked for Dad, one of the things we did was make commercials for the various dealerships. Most of the advertising was done in the newspaper, but we decided to try cable which was in its infancy really and so the cost was really low.
And that's what we did, produce TV spots as cheaply as possible and sometimes on ridiculous deadlines. I would write the copy, Ron was our on-air personality, and a friend of mine from high school just happened to be a producer at the cable company, so he shot the commercials, all on an extremely low budget.
It was really interesting, in fact Ron and I often comment it was the most fun either of us has had in the car business. We went to the ABC affiliate in Dallas one night to see the production guys putting together the opening logo, a silhouette of the Fort Worth skyline with the 'Bailey' name under it.
Anyway, Ron was very good at doing the commercials. He was very quick and could memorize copy fast. He loved being on camera and had a good presence and voice.
I would be on hand when we shot these spots for any last minute problems or script changes or anything that needed to be done, since it was really just the three of us. Things inevitably went wrong on occasion.
We bought this machine called a 'Cash Blaster,' which you would put dollar bills in and a fan would blow them around, while a person reached in and tried to grab as much as they could. It figured prominently in a commercial, but the top kept blowing off and the dollar bills would go flying everywhere. Ron was no help, he just backed away and said in a small voice, "Help."
There were the expected verbal fluffs, and this is not caught on the blooper tape, but one line I wrote was, "Don't buy a Ford Taurus until you drive the new Mercury Sable."
Every take, Ron said, "Don't buy a Fart Taurus..." It happened about six times. He wasn't trying to be funny. So we changed it to "Don't buy a Taurus" and he was fine.
I had a great idea one time when we opened the new dealership on the west side, to have the showroom doors magically open and Ron to step forward, hand extended, and say, "This is Ron Rougeux for Bailey. Visit our spacious showroom..." etc.
So the cable producer turned the camera on, then rushed over to where he and I would use ropes with hooks to 'magically' open the doors, hopefully out of camera range. Well, not only are we visible in the glass door's reflection, but again Ron muffed his line, saying, "Visit our specious showroom." I think we gave up on the idea after that.
Ron always had a good reason for missing a line. A sample from the blooper reel-
I'm sorry, my eyes just freaked out.
Hey, look at that kid on that bicycle.
At Bailey, you can buy an F-14 fighter jet... (As one screams overhead from nearby Carswell AFB)
Am I sweating?
At Bailey Pontiac, we want to be number one in the nation, so we have this great paging system... (Again, as background noise ruins the take)
It was a lot of fun doing those.
And that's what we did, produce TV spots as cheaply as possible and sometimes on ridiculous deadlines. I would write the copy, Ron was our on-air personality, and a friend of mine from high school just happened to be a producer at the cable company, so he shot the commercials, all on an extremely low budget.
It was really interesting, in fact Ron and I often comment it was the most fun either of us has had in the car business. We went to the ABC affiliate in Dallas one night to see the production guys putting together the opening logo, a silhouette of the Fort Worth skyline with the 'Bailey' name under it.
Anyway, Ron was very good at doing the commercials. He was very quick and could memorize copy fast. He loved being on camera and had a good presence and voice.
I would be on hand when we shot these spots for any last minute problems or script changes or anything that needed to be done, since it was really just the three of us. Things inevitably went wrong on occasion.
We bought this machine called a 'Cash Blaster,' which you would put dollar bills in and a fan would blow them around, while a person reached in and tried to grab as much as they could. It figured prominently in a commercial, but the top kept blowing off and the dollar bills would go flying everywhere. Ron was no help, he just backed away and said in a small voice, "Help."
There were the expected verbal fluffs, and this is not caught on the blooper tape, but one line I wrote was, "Don't buy a Ford Taurus until you drive the new Mercury Sable."
Every take, Ron said, "Don't buy a Fart Taurus..." It happened about six times. He wasn't trying to be funny. So we changed it to "Don't buy a Taurus" and he was fine.
I had a great idea one time when we opened the new dealership on the west side, to have the showroom doors magically open and Ron to step forward, hand extended, and say, "This is Ron Rougeux for Bailey. Visit our spacious showroom..." etc.
So the cable producer turned the camera on, then rushed over to where he and I would use ropes with hooks to 'magically' open the doors, hopefully out of camera range. Well, not only are we visible in the glass door's reflection, but again Ron muffed his line, saying, "Visit our specious showroom." I think we gave up on the idea after that.
Ron always had a good reason for missing a line. A sample from the blooper reel-
I'm sorry, my eyes just freaked out.
Hey, look at that kid on that bicycle.
At Bailey, you can buy an F-14 fighter jet... (As one screams overhead from nearby Carswell AFB)
Am I sweating?
At Bailey Pontiac, we want to be number one in the nation, so we have this great paging system... (Again, as background noise ruins the take)
It was a lot of fun doing those.
posted by gbj at 4:59 PM
3 Comments:
Yeah some crazy times. Speaking of Pat Nelson, that made me remember her calling me at my house when I was married, one Sunday afternoon. I don't even know how she got my number (not that it would have been a big secret) but she was slightly incoherent and kept telling me she was a lot younger than everyone thought.
I'm not sure that's something I would brag about necessarily.
I could have sworn I'd told you that story before, but as you say, there are so many, there's bound to be a few that got lost along the way.
I haven't watched the first 'Alien' in ages, I really need to get that out again. One of my ten favorite movies of all time. Yeah, 'Kane's son.' What a line!
There are obviously a lot of scary scenes, but one that always got to me was the showdown between Ash and Ripley; after she shoves him against the wall, you hear the chimes and this little insane giggle or something from him, before he throws her around.
And Parker cracks me up-
Let's hear it. Let's hear it.
Don't follow me.
If it means killing it.
And on and on...
Joe, is that Shatner singing 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds?'
Missed you too Janny, hope y'all are doing okay!
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