When the nomination surprise came in 1975, Marc Richards called from Filmation to tell me about it and that they only were going to send 'Serpent's Tooth' to the blue ribbon panel of judges for credential purposes. He said to take it as a matter of course, even if it was their first and only nomination ever.
Later, in May I believe, an old Air Force buddy, Jim Spradling, popped up out of nowhere and he and I went 'on the town' in a big way. We dragged ourselves back to my place, a gardener's cottage behind a big house in Van Nuys, and crashed out around 5 am. At about 9 am, the phone rang, and rang, and rang... When I managed to answer, it was Marc Richards and he was ecstatic. "We won! We won the Emmy! Your episode won us the Emmy! We won, we won!"
I told him that was nice, but that my friend and I were barely moving, and could he call back later? No, you climb out of that bed, get dressed, bring your friend, and get the hell over here! We're gonna have the biggest party you ever saw!
And so, bleary-eyed and rumpled, unshaven, very much in need of a shower, really still drunk, Jim and I drove to Reseda to the main Filmation offices. And the place was in uproar. They were bringing in a band, caterers were setting up large cold buffet spreads, stationary and floating bars were appearing out of nowhere. And the place was packed. Marc Richards saw Jim and I come in, shouted out, 'They're here!', and dozens of people came running at us to hug us. It didn't matter that Jim wasn't David Wise (who was in San Diego and unavailable); he was with me and we were the heroes of the day. They thrust beers and sandwiches at us, waltzed us into the main meeting room, and sat us down in front of a huge projection TV that was set up on one wall. (LA time, three hours behind NY time, so the Daytime Emmys had been held and would be on tape-delay.)
And Marc Richards told this tale: Lou Scheimer and his wife and their two kids had made the trip to NYC for the ceremonies. They weren't confident of a win but getting nominated meant a lot. The award ceremony was to be held on the promenade deck of the QEII, sailing around NY harbor. Once out there, Lou and his wife went into a dining room where the nominees all mingled for free food and booze. But his two kids, a 12 year old girl and a ten year old boy, set out to explore the ship.
The boy went up to the promenade and found the TV crew blocking and rehearsing for the show. Deck chairs sat in rows and cue cards showed where the people from a particular TV show would be sitting. And the boy heard this: 'And for best achievement in Children's Programming, the nominees are-- Sesame Street, Captain Kangaroo, Star Trek, The CBS Children's Film Festival, and The Pink Panther.' Then he opened an envelope and said, ' And the winner is-- Captain Kangaroo!' And the stage director pointed down at certain deck chairs and the wing camera zoomed in on signs that said -- Captain Kangaroo. The boy said, 'Oh,' and went back down the gangway. What he didn't see or hear was the same run-through, the opening of the same envelope, that the winner was another show, and the director pointing to other chairs. It was a dry run...
Below decks, the boy found his parents and said, 'Dad, I know who won the Emmy! I heard the TV people announce it!'
'Who, who? Who won?'
'Captain Kangaroo.'
They sighed, said, okay, at least they nominated us, and ordered more drinks.
Later, during the ceremonies, Lou and his wife kept looking over at the Captain Kangaroo people with envious eyes. Then it was time for Children's Programming and the Broadway actor Cyrill Ritchard read the category. "For Best Achievement in Children's Programming, the nominees are: Sesame Street. Captain Kangaroo. Star Trek. The CBS Children's Film Festival. And the Pink Panther. May I have the envelope, please?" He opened it, looked it over and said, "And the winner is..."
Lou and wife and kids all leaned back to look at the Captain Kangaroo people, and Cyrill Ritchard said, "...STAR TREK!" The camera zoomed in on Lou and his family. He whipped around and looked at the stage, mouth open. His wife and kids were jumping up and hitting him on the arms and shoulders. He looked stricken and tried to get up. The Animated STAR TREK theme was playing and people were applauding and looking at Lou. He sat back again. He tried to get up, and sat back again. Then, he burst into tears.
Finally, people around them helped him get up and he stumbled down the aisle and up to the stage. They handed him the Emmy and Cyrill Ritchard shook his hand and still he was crying. At the microphone, he managed to stammer out that, "Almost twenty-five years ago, three Army buddies and I started our animation studio in my backyard garage. We've done a lot of work in all that time, but this is the first time we've ever even been nominated!" And he thanked the Academy, a bunch of other people, and then he held up the statue and, through his tears, said, "Hey, out there in California! I want you to have the biggest party you can because I'm bringing this home!"
This is what we watched in time-delay on the big-screen TV. And party we did, on into the afternoon and late evening. It was a glorious, drunk and happy day.
Some people believe that there is little drama in the average person's life. But that day and a whole lot of others in my life always will make liars of those who believe there is no drama. The key is, you have to create that drama YOURSELF!