2019-09-01 Emmy Magazine

106 EMMY

Foundation Interviews

boardoftrusteesofSesameWorkshop(the

producersofSesameStreet) andcurrently

servesasvice-chairoftheboardofdirectors

fortheTelevisionAcademyFoundation.

LoeschwasinterviewedinAugust 2017

andApril 2018 byJenniMatz, directorofThe

Interviews:AnOralHistoryofTelevision,

a programoftheTelevisionAcademy

Foundation.Thefollowingisaneditedexcerpt

oftheirconversations.Theentireinterview

canbeseenatTelevisionAcademy.com/

Interviews.

Q:Whatwasyourfirstprofessionaljoboutof

college?

A:I workedfora brokerageinNewOrleansas

a commoditiesresearchclerk.Aftera year,my

roommateandI developeda planthatwe’dgo

toEurope.SoI wenttomybossandsaid,“I’d

liketotakea leaveofabsence,”andhesaid,

“That’swonderful!Whydon’tyoumakethe

leavepermanent?”

I said,“IthoughtI wasdoinga goodjob,”

andhesaid,veryprophetically,“Margaret,

youarenotcutoutforthisbusiness.The

suggestionboxisalwaysfilledwithyourideas.

You’realwaystryingtochangethings,and

peoplewhoinvesttheirmoneywithusdon’t

wanttohearaboutchanges.Youshouldbeina

morecreativebusiness.”

I wasshockedanddismayed.ButI went

toEuropeand,a littlewhileafter,I movedout

toCaliforniaandgotanofferatABCasa clerk-

typist.I knewnothingaboutthebusiness.I

learnedfromthebottomup.Thatwas1971.

Q:Howdidyourisethroughtheranks?

A:WhenI wasa clerk-typist,I workedwith

filmeditors.IntheeveningsI’dsitwiththem,

andtheylovedshowingmehowtoworka

Moviolaandcutfilm.I becamea production

clerk,andthenI waspromotedtothepromo

department,wherewemadethesalesfilms

andtheon-airpromos.That’swhenI really

learnedproduction.

Q:WhatbroughtyoutoNBCin1975?

A:OneofourproducersatABClefttoworkin

thechildren’sprogramsdepartmentatNBC.

HecalledmeonedayandaskedifI would

beinterestedincomingover.I said,“Idon’t

reallyknowanythingaboutprogramming,”

andhesaid,“You’lllearn.”SoI wenttoNBC

asmanagerofchildren’sprograms.ThedayI

started,hehandedmea stackofstoryboards

andsaid,“You’regoingtobeontheseshows.”

OneofthemwasThe Pink Panther Show.

I loved the show, and I had to go to the studio

and start giving notes. The Pink Panther [the

feature version] had won Oscars, and I got to

tell the creators what I thought was right or

wrong about the [TV] show. Oh, my God!

Q: How did that work out?

A: The first time I went, I was supposed to meet

with Friz Freleng — he had created Sylvester

and Tweety and was a cocreator of Bugs

Bunny. I waited and waited. Finally this man

asked, “Are you waiting for Friz? He left to play

golf about twenty minutes ago.” Friz wanted

nothing to do with me.

The next day I called his office and found

out when he was going to be there. I said to his

secretary, “Please don’t tell him I’m coming,”

so she didn’t. I drove over and she brought me

into the office and I introduced myself and he

looked at me in a very surly manner. I said,

“Look, Mr. Freleng...”

He said, “Don’t call me Mr. Freleng. Call me

Friz.”

I said, “Friz, I don’t want to give you notes. I

want you to teach me how to...”

He said, “You want me to teach you how to

do your job?”

I said, “No, I want you to teach me how you

do your job, and then I’ll learn from that.”

We became great friends. He taught me so

much and he saved me from being an utter fool

in the business.

Q: Were there other female executives at this

time?

A: There were a few. But it was a man’s

business. And even though that was the

situation at all the networks, I never thought

that being a female was a handicap, because of

the way people would treat me.

Because I was so interested in what they

did, people were very generous with their

time. They were always very open and rather

delighted that someone was interested in

what they were doing. I didn’t dwell on what I

couldn’t do — I focused on what I could do.

Q: How did you come to join Hanna-Barbera

in 1979?

A: They were clients, and we were doing shows

together. My new boss at NBC didn’t like the

work I had been doing on the animated and

live-action shows. But Joe Barbera and Bill

Hannahadalwayssaidtome,“Ifyoueverwant

to leave NBC, call us first.” So I called Bill, and

they created a job for me as head of children’s

programs. Eventually they changed my title to

executive vice-president.

It was a wonderful experience at Hanna-

Barbera. It was the greatest five years of my

career. We averaged thirteen series a year

on the three networks. And one of our most

successful shows was one that I developed

with our writers and with the Belgian creator,

Peyo, which was The Smurfs.

Q: How did that come about?

A: Fred Silverman [then president of NBC]

called and said, “There’s this property called

The Smurfs.” We’d never heard of it. I sent one

of my associates down the street, and he found

Smurf key chains and toys and dumped them

out on the conference table in Joe Barbera’s

office. Joe looked at them and said, “All these

little blue bastards look the same.”

COURTESY MARGARET LOESCH

Margaret Loesch with Walter Lantz, Friz Freleng,

Joe Barbera and Bill Hanna...