enjoyable."
The worst part of his
job is tied to the best
part, which is putting on
a live show five days a
week. He must continu-
ally think of new ideas
for the multi-guest talk
show format. "I work at
least 12 hours a day,
almost every day, and in
the evening I go to the-
ater openings, film
screenings and cocktail
parties in order to keep
up with the latest. That
way I can have a better
perspective on who and
what to put on the
show."
Mr. Gelman admits
there have been tense
moments. "Guests have
said four-letter words,
which we can't bleep
because we don't have a
seven-second delay. We
had guys in an under-
wear fashion show get
raunchier than we were
planning, and we have
had models whose
clothes revealed too
much.
"And once Zsa Zsa
Gabor stumbled onto the
set before she was sup-
posed to, complaining
about having an argu-
ment with our entertain-
ment reporter, Claudia
Cohen. But we have been
on the air for so many
years, that we have
learned how to incorpo-
rate these moments into
the show, and some of
the most exciting and
funniest moments have
been when things have
gone wrong."
Unlike most shows,
where the producer is
almost never seen on
camera, Regis makes
sure to include him dur-
ing the 15 minutes of
host chat. Because of
this, Mr. Gelman, with
his tall stature, boyish
charm and clear-rim
glasses, is easily recog-
nizable.
"It surprises me how
many people know who I
am," confessed Mr.
Gelman, who is single.
"As the show has become
more popular, I have
become pretty well-
known with the viewers.
I get fan mail, and a lot
of propositions from
mothers and grandmoth-
ers who want to fix me
up with their daughters.
I guess it comes with the
territory!".
The show has been
nominated for three day-
time Emmy, including
Mr. Gelman as producer
of "best talk-service
show."
hen Linda Gottlieb
was a child she did
not know what a
producer was. She just
knew she liked to be the
one in charge. It was not
until she earned an
undergraduate degree
from Wellesley College
and a graduate degree
from Columbia Univer-
sity that she knew she
wanted to be a producer.
She started as a
researcher for CBS
News. After hours, she
wrote scripts for educa-
tional film companies.
"But I didn't enjoy
writing or think I was
any good at it," said Ms.
Gottlieb, who grew up in
an upper middle-class
family in the suburbs of
New Jersey, and whose
parents always encour-
aged her to follow her
dream. "Instead I wanted
to be the one who
thought up the ideas.
"I didn't want to direct,
I didn't want to be in
front of the camera, I
only wanted to be in
charge of it all," she said.
She started an educa-
tional film company and
began creating new
series. Claiming to be
the one who always had
a vision in her head, Ms.
Gottlieb eventually
branched out to produc-
ing short films, made-
for-TV movies and major
motion pictures.
Her list of credits
include "The Electric
Grandmother," which
won the Peabody Award,
"Citizen Cohn" for HBO,
and the smash hit "Dirty
Dancing." She also pio-
neered the "Afterschool
Special."
Two years ago, ABC
asked her to take over as
executive producer of
W
"One Life To Live,"
which had been slipping
in the ratings. The show
is now regaining its pop-
ularity.
"I am doing very heavy
music on the show," said
Ms. Gottlieb, who has
had musical training, is
fluent in several lan-
guages and has a back-
ground in literature and
drama. "I also added a
state-of-the-art computer
editing system. We shoot
the show longer than we
need, so that at the end
of the day we are able to
edit out bad moments."
Not being afraid to
take risks is one of the
secrets of being a good
producer, she said, and
some of her risks have
included introducing con-
troversial storylines.
"We did a storyline on
AIDS and homophobia,
and although we did
receive some negative
mail, most of the public
response was positive,"
said Ms. Gottlieb, who
takes the viewer mail
very seriously. "We
received many letters
from teen-agers, saying
they thought they were
all alone until they
watched our show. Some
said they had been con-
sidering suicide."
According to Ms.
Gottlieb, who is married
with two grown sons,
that's the best part of
her job. The constant
pressure and the relent-
less nature are the
worst.
"On soaps, there is
never an end," she said.
"You do a great storyline,
and you feel it should
end, but it doesn't — it's
on to the next one. It's
also difficult firing peo-
ple, having to deal with a
changing cast and mak-
ing tough decisions about
storie, actors and charac-
ters.
"But it's hard work for
everybody
involved.
There is no
telepromp-
ter, and a lot
of the actors
have to deal
with 30 pages
of scripts a
day. Some-
times emo-
tions blow
sky-high
from the pres-
sure. Some-
times I have
to give them
room to vent,
sometimes I
have to use a
mixture of
discipline,
support and
Producers Michael Gelman, above, Linda Gottlieb and
Burt Dubrow.
flattery.It's all a part of
the job."
rom the time Burt
Dubrow was 5, he
was interested in
what went on behind the
scenes of his favorite
television programs.
"If you were to call my
mother, she could tell
you stories about how I
never watched TV like a
normal child," laughed
Mr. Dubrow, who grew
up in Westchester, N.Y.
"If a camera got in the
shot, I would go crazy,
and if they showed the
boom microphone, I
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