Interview with Jay Wolpert, Part 2

[palmer7]

Jay Wolpert's a very nice man.

I hope you like it.

[The_Great_Butler]

Excellent interview, thank you for doing it.

[Off_trak]

The questions are rambling and so badly worded, they come off as insulting towards Mr. Wolpert. I'm surprised he answered anything after being told how many times he "blew it" in his career.

[compdude512]

The interview was great, but Off_trak nailed it. I'm a freelance journalist, and some of the questions gave me pause. The one about G-T allegedly "screwing [Jay] over" almost made me fall out of my chair.

My constructive criticism to you, Greg, is to be a lot more careful in crafting your questions--especially if the interview is being conducted online instead of face-to-face. There are so many ways to interpret a few of the questions maliciously that I'm surprised the interview didn't end very early on. I'm sure that wasn't your intent, but I interpreted them that way...and it appears from some of the answers you received that Mr. Wolpert interpreted them the same way. And like Off_trak said, you never want to imply your interview subject is a failure/has failed at anything unless you have facts from several well-founded sources to back up your charge. If I was to imply that one of Jay Wolpert's shows was a miserable failure to Jay Wolpert himself, I'd probably go searching for several weeks of ratings reports that show a downward trend or attempt to get a statement from someone at the network--which may be as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack when it comes to a show that aired 30 years ago, but at least you'll have that bit of information if someone does know. If I couldn't find any sources, I probably wouldn't say, "Hey, Mr. Wolpert, 'x' show got cancelled. That means it was a failure, right?"

I enjoy reading your interviews, but I'd just advise you to be a bit more careful with the questions next time. Looking forward to the next one!

[palmer7]

I think he seems to be accepting of the fact that not every one of his shows was a success. I got a reply from him just this morning:

"I'm really glad you enjoyed the read. It took me a long time to do, but I will tell you that it really made me think about some of those days and so I'm grateful to you for the opportunity to have done it."

So I'm not the New York Times. I was calling it as I saw it. He liked doing the interview and so did I. I think it went very well.

[palmer7]

Oh, and compdude512, I'm so glad my writing had that much impact on you. Thanks for the criticism, I'll keep that in mind next time.

[vadernader]

I think he seems to be accepting of the fact that not every one of his shows was a success. I got a reply from him just this morning:

"I'm really glad you enjoyed the read. It took me a long time to do, but I will tell you that it really made me think about some of those days and so I'm grateful to you for the opportunity to have done it."

So I'm not the New York Times. I was calling it as I saw it. He liked doing the interview and so did I. I think it went very well.

There's a difference between calling it how you saw it, and being flat out rude. (Like in these examples) :/ Also, even if he didn't like the interview, I'm pretty sure he would have given the same response as a common courtesy.

GP: Now, you were the executive producer of the 1998 version of Match Game, a show that tried to bring the risque humor back but just went over the top. I’m not going to blame you personally, Mr. Wolpert. It’s just that the show had no returning champs, no multiplier from the previous iterations, and a cable-level budget. No, I’m not going to blame you. I’m going to blame Pearson Television. However, I must ask…. were most of the format decisions yours or corporate’s?

“You had a great run as a producer (of “Price Is Right”), but you ended up pulling a
McLean Stevenson. Why did you leave?”

Shortly afterward, his name became a metaphor for someone who leaves a good thing, only to fail miserably at his subsequent efforts.

and then there's this...

GP: Back at the Wiki page, you went up against The Love Boat and Price. Let’s face it, you got screwed by your former employers. That must’ve been tough for you. Of course, it
gave us one of the most famous contestant plugs in TV history.

Jay took that pretty strongly as you can see by his response....

JW: I hate to disillusion you but I wasn’t “screwed” by Goodson-Todman, I was merely beaten by them in the ratings, and why not? Price was the better show. Heck I helped make it that way.

I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but in the future try not to talk so casually about things people devoted their lives to as being "failures" or someone getting "screwed over"

[palmer7]

GP: Now, you were the executive producer of the 1998 version of Match Game, a show that tried to bring the risque humor back but just went over the top. I’m not going to blame you personally, Mr. Wolpert. It’s just that the show had no returning champs, no multiplier from the previous iterations, and a cable-level budget. No, I’m not going to blame you. I’m going to blame Pearson Television. However, I must ask…. were most of the format decisions yours or corporate’s?

I was trying to give Mr. Wolpert an out. Thank you for your advice.

[Axl]

There's a difference between calling it how you saw it, and being flat out rude.

I don't know that it's a matter of being rude.  Pointed questions tend to bring out the best answers since they force the subject to analyze and comment rather than just expand upon the interviewer's praise.  I think the bigger problem here is that the continuing use of "failure" to describe aspects of Jay's career comes across as rather naive (which he pointed out repeatedly).  Just because Jay didn't have the kind of unparalleled success that Mark Goodson had in game shows doesn't mean his work was a failure.  Jay's career has been the kind of "failure" that literally 99% of people in the entertainment industry can only dream of.

As far as I’m concerned, “It’s always been this way” may be comfortable, but it’s a lousy reason to do anything, or more precisely to NOT do anything.

What an interesting philosophy.  Too bad this guy doesn't have any game show experience. 

[palmer7]

Perhaps I was a bit naive. Many game show fans still talk about his work. I'd like to compare him to Stephen J. Cannell.

[NickintheATL]

But would you agree that using the word failure and opposed to "not successful" or something similar was really warranted?  Fail is a strong word to use.  Also, if you're going to cite bad ratings, you'd better have the Nielsen data on hand before you draw such a conclusion.

I also have to call out the constant citing of Wikipedia for schedule information.  That isn't a reliable source to use.

Don't get me wrong, the interview is interesting, but I think some of your interview skills need some work.

[palmer7]

I agree. I would be interested in learning some more from you. Would you mind moving it Out Into Left Field?

Now, the real reason I posted this interview here was because it relates in some way to the show we love so much, The Price is Right, particularly the 1994 version.