Show Rundown: June 9, 2010
Was Benjy Passive-Aggressively Early?
Joan Rivers Is a Piece of Work
Why Steve Grillo Quit
Why Steve Grillo Quit
Howard welcomed Steve Grillo to the studio and asked if he left his 6-year ‘internship’ with the show because they were always making fun of him, which Steve vehemently denied:
“Absolutely not. No! No, I quit because I was making six dollars an hour. I was getting paid for 30 hours and working 60. Tom wouldn’t give me health insurance or pay me for the hours I worked. And it was like, no one’s helping me out here. I got stuck on a copy machine for 3 hours a day, doing your f’ing articles all day. In my head, I said I might as well leave and not burn a bridge because if I stay, I’ll get angry and you’ll fire me and I’ll never be able to come back.”
Now He’s Pretty Much Broke
Steve went on to say he was now “pretty much” broke, but was still trying to make it on TV.
Howard thought Grillo was delusional: “It’s time to stop thinking of yourself as a guy in show business…you were the stand-in on ‘The Sopranos’ and they put you on camera once.”
Steve said he regretted taking a break after that gig to try and become an electrician: “Once you’re gone, you gotta start all over again.”
Robin sided with Howard: “Anything is possible but I think he should be doing something in the meantime.”
Steve said he was currently trying to raise funds to pay the back rent on his trailer in the Catskills: “It’s my happy place.”
Steve wants to use the trailer as the set of a reality show–but also seems to live there: “I owe a couple of grand for previous years…and this year’s site fee is $3,000.”
Steve said he planned to base the show on the fond memories of his summers there–while he was just a nobody in Brooklyn, he was ‘cool’ in the Catskills: “I went up there and I was one of the cool kids.”
This Guy Has Faith…In Grillo?
Steve told Howard that Kevin, the guy responsible for producing the proposed reality show, was in the green room, so Howard invited Kevin into the studio.
Kevin came in and went over his resume, saying he’d produced the ‘Dare to Dream’ charity concert for ABC and had just finished his 8th season as the Director of Photography on ‘Bullshit with Penn & Teller.”
Howard was unimpressed with Kevin’s experience: “The actual production company hasn’t had a hit yet. Is that fair to say?”
Kevin nodded: “We haven’t…but we build show reels and go out to sell the show…we have about four out there right now.”
Kevin admitted that none of the four shows ‘out there’ have sold yet, so: “We don’t want to put up the $5,000 for the trailer but we came up with another way to do it. A benefit. We know some bands in town.”
Don’t Be a Loser, Steve
Howard addressed the Electrician’s Union and begged them to let Steve back into their apprentice program: “Please. If the union has any compassion, let him back in.”
Steve said he hoped to run a restaurant to make ends meet, but Howard dismissed the idea, suggesting that Steve follow in his father’s footsteps at the USPS: “Who’s going to let you run a restaurant?”
Steve shrugged: “Who’s gonna let me deliver mail?!”
Howard wished him luck: “I don’t want you to end up a loser…go out there and find something to make some money with.”