In 1971, I graduated from San Francisco State University.  One of the requirements in obtaining a Masters' Degree in Television was to write a thesis.  I decided to write it about gameshows because that was a type of television program I had always been fascinated with.  At that time very little was written about television and practically nothing was written about gameshows.  There was no internet then and most of my research was done in libraries going through rolls and rolls of microfilm and reading articles and reviews of gameshows that were printed in business publications such as Weekly Variety.

After graduating, I decided to take my thesis and put it to work.  I sent it to many, many, gameshow producers.  Sometimes I would watch a gameshow during the day and watched  for the credits at the end of the show.  I would then write down the producer's name and send a copy of my thesis to them in care of the network.  I think I must have sent out about 40 to 50 copies of my thesis.

To my good fortune, one copy found its way to Ron Greenberg who was producing the Who, What, Where show at that time.  He forwarded it to Bud Grant who was Vice President of Daytime at CBS.  Apparently, he was impressed with my work and arranged an interview with me at CBS Television City.  After meeting with him, he said  he was going to contact Mark Goodson in New York and that I should see him for a possible job on one of his TV shows.

I drove to New York in my 1959 Volkswagen Beetle, cooking hard boiled eggs with a hotplate I took along and occasionally sleeping in my car.  When I arrived in New York I met with Mr. Goodson in the magnificant office he had there.  I could see that he was quite pleased that someone wrote something serious about gameshows.  He asked me when I was flying back to Los Angeles...and I said "flying!...I'm driving!"  I remember his eyes getting really big and he became quite surprised that someone would drive all the way to New York for an interview.  After my interview with him (he had not yet promised me a job) I left his office and went back to my hotel.  Upon arrival at the hotel, the desk clerk said that there was a message for me.  It was from his secretary.  I phoned her immediately and she said that Mr. Goodson wanted to see me the next day!

When I met with him the following day, he said he was quite impressed that not only did I write a thesis on gameshows but that I drove to New York for the interview.  He said he was starting a new show in Los Angeles and that I could have a job on it.  He said he was bringing back The Price is Right in a new updated version and that he would find something for me to do on the show.

For me, the rest is history.  I started on the show as part of the production staff..  I was also able to get a position on Gene Rayburn's Match Game.  Working hard and being involved with the creative processes at Mark Goodson Productions (Now You See It, Double Dare, Family Feud, Concentration, etc.) I eventually was appointed producer of the Price Is Right in 1984.  I remained producer of the show until recently.  During my reign at the Price Is Right I developed over 18 games for the show, worked with the greatest MC of all time, Bob Barker, and kept a tight ship.  I am really proud that I was an important part of a great piece of American television.

My thesis, "An Historical Study of Prime-Time Network Television Audience Participation Programs 1948-1968" can be viewed as a PDF file.  It is a little large and might take a few minutes to download---please be patient!