tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6319982385052710495.post2558617285678233428..comments2024-02-19T12:48:54.371-05:00Comments on The Land of Whatever: What Might've Been: The Bill Dana Show (1963)hobbyfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08089664500077967952noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6319982385052710495.post-3806826438984290832018-10-03T21:23:44.491-04:002018-10-03T21:23:44.491-04:00The things you learn. Harrington had the persona o...The things you learn. Harrington had the persona of Guido Panzini, as I recall. You said he was Steve Allen's "house dialectician". How many dialects could he do?<br /><br />The funny thing was, when Harrington guest-starred on F-Troop 2 years later, his character was a parody of Don Adams' Maxwell Smart---and turned out to be the villain.hobbyfanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08089664500077967952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6319982385052710495.post-73554392499690210582018-08-28T16:33:24.307-04:002018-08-28T16:33:24.307-04:00Belatedly:
When Bill Dana created the 'Jose Ji...Belatedly:<br />When Bill Dana created the 'Jose Jimenez' character, he was one of the head writers on Steve Allen's variety show.<br />Initially, Dana hadn't intended to play the part himself; he didn't consider himself a performer.<br />The 'Jose' character was earmarked for Pat Harrington, who was Allen's house dialectician back then, but he had another part in the bit, so Dana reluctantly did the part himself.<br /> And lo and behold - 'Jose' was a hit!<br />Steve Allen kept asking for more "Jose' bits, and Dana (whose main function up to then was writing for Don Adams) found himself a Star - for a while, anyway.<br /> Afterwards, Bill Dana enjoyed considerable success as a writer and producer of other people's variety shows (Milton Berle's and Don Knotts's, for example). Mike Doranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14427528138598549103noreply@blogger.com