Jason W.,
Thank you for your comments and nice words about my Three's Company book. I'm so glad you liked it and found it to be fair and accurate. As you know, John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt liked it so much that they endorsed it in numerous TV interviews--even though even they had bones to pick with each other in that book. Ironically, I think their airing their feelings of hurt, frustration, etc. in the book gave them an opportunity to understand each other, reunite and heal before it was too late. I'm proud of that.
The decision to run this story at this time was based in large part due to its newsworthiness. Mr. Barker made comments last week after his last taping indicating his interest in remaining with this show. I was stunned that CBS had not yet publicly responded to his offer, given his 35 years of service and the popularity of his primetime specials. He also recently told USA Today that Janice, Kathleen, Holly and Dian caused many problems and are "disgusting," and his specials last month did not show clips of any former cast members. The media did not include anyone else's side of the story--at least not that I have seen during this news cycle--but I made several efforts to get Mr. Barker to comment, as well as Roger Dobkowitz, Fremantle and Jonathan Goodson. They all declined comment. So the story was run with as much balance as possible, even pulling in glowing comments about Mr. Barker from those who worked with him in the 1970s and humanizing him, in my opinion, with Barbara Hunter's comments about Dorothy Jo and Mr. Barker's mom. I really tried to show as much of the picture in the limited space this article allows.
I find it striking that the media has not widely reported that Mr. Barker retired only months after signing a five-year contract extension, and after telling ET how much he loved doing the show. So I tried to ask some of the questions that apparently hadn't been asked. With the story coming out this week, it gives CBS, Mr. Barker and Fremantle an opportunity to respond at the height of media and public interest, and tell longtime viewers such as myself why Mr. Barker wasn't immediately taken up on his offer to return for a few months. Why shouldn't this be addressed now, before he is no longer on CBS and the media in general returns to obsessing over Brittney Spears?
I grew up watching this show and absolutely loved Bob Barker. My relatives lived down the street from him and Dorothy Jo, and one of my happiest childhood memories was meeting him during my summer vacation with my aunt and uncle in 1982. He is a legend, and he's deserved every accolade for his unparalleled career accomplishments. I merely wanted to give texture to the story, report some breaking developments, quote some longtime employees whose contributions have been entirely overlooked, connect the dots and show the many dimensions to an icon. I delivered the story on time to my editors, and I applaud Radar for publishing an in-depth piece illustrating a number of the many behind-the-scenes challenges Mr. Barker has survived, while not shying away from the other sides of the story. This article does not take away from his brilliance as the host and star of the longest running game show in TV history.
Thank you again for your comments. I think you'll be happy with the book, which I've been working on for years.
Jason W.,
Thank you for your comments and nice words about my Three's Company book. I'm so glad you liked it and found it to be fair and accurate. As you know, John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt liked it so much that they endorsed it in numerous TV interviews--even though even they had bones to pick with each other in that book. Ironically, I think their airing their feelings of hurt, frustration, etc. in the book gave them an opportunity to understand each other, reunite and heal before it was too late. I'm proud of that.
The decision to run this story at this time was based in large part due to its newsworthiness. Mr. Barker made comments last week after his last taping indicating his interest in remaining with this show. I was stunned that CBS had not yet publicly responded to his offer, given his 35 years of service and the popularity of his primetime specials. He also recently told USA Today that Janice, Kathleen, Holly and Dian caused many problems and are "disgusting," and his specials last month did not show clips of any former cast members. The media did not include anyone else's side of the story--at least not that I have seen during this news cycle--but I made several efforts to get Mr. Barker to comment, as well as Roger Dobkowitz, Fremantle and Jonathan Goodson. They all declined comment. So the story was run with as much balance as possible, even pulling in glowing comments about Mr. Barker from those who worked with him in the 1970s and humanizing him, in my opinion, with Barbara Hunter's comments about Dorothy Jo and Mr. Barker's mom. I really tried to show as much of the picture in the limited space this article allows.
I find it striking that the media has not widely reported that Mr. Barker retired only months after signing a five-year contract extension, and after telling ET how much he loved doing the show. So I tried to ask some of the questions that apparently hadn't been asked. With the story coming out this week, it gives CBS, Mr. Barker and Fremantle an opportunity to respond at the height of media and public interest, and tell longtime viewers such as myself why Mr. Barker wasn't immediately taken up on his offer to return for a few months. Why shouldn't this be addressed now, before he is no longer on CBS and the media in general returns to obsessing over Brittney Spears?
I grew up watching this show and absolutely loved Bob Barker. My relatives lived down the street from him and Dorothy Jo, and one of my happiest childhood memories was meeting him during my summer vacation with my aunt and uncle in 1982. He is a legend, and he's deserved every accolade for his unparalleled career accomplishments. I merely wanted to give texture to the story, report some breaking developments, quote some longtime employees whose contributions have been entirely overlooked, connect the dots and show the many dimensions to an icon. I delivered the story on time to my editors, and I applaud Radar for publishing an in-depth piece illustrating a number of the many behind-the-scenes challenges Mr. Barker has survived, while not shying away from the other sides of the story. This article does not take away from his brilliance as the host and star of the longest running game show in TV history.
Thank you again for your comments. I think you'll be happy with the book, which I've been working on for years.