"Good Clean Fun"
Part III
Bob and Bert told me that the show was to be based on "A Hard Days' Night." It was to be about a four- man band who lived in an apartment on the beach trying to make it. The show's pace would be fast and the action would be mad-cap, just like that movie.
"And these guys are supposed to be America's answer to the Beatles?" I asked.
"No. They supposed to be LIKE the Beatles. They're not America's answer to anything," said Bert.
"And don't you think Beatle fans are gonna get mad at that?" I inquired.
"No. The members of this group will be nothing like the Beatles, " Bob said.
"No Englishmen?" I asked.
"Well, there's one Englishman. But he's from Manchester," said Bert.
They went on to explain what my duties would be, but I wasn't listening. I kept thinking, 'Copying the Beatles? No one is gonna go for that. The Beatles are the Beatles. No one will ever be able to compare to them. These two are going to be the laughing stock of the television and music industry. This is going to be a short-lived internship.'
After they stopped talking, they asked me if I had any questions. Well, of course I didn't because I hadn't been listening. Thank God they handed me a piece of paper with my responsibilities on it. Quickly read over it, I discovered that there was a lot of grunt work involved with this job. I had to clean dressing rooms, type up scripts and distribute them out to the cast members, run errands, and anything else that needed to be done around the set. Bert even said that I could be an extra in the pilot episode!
My first day was to be August 1st, but classes didn't start until the 15th. I told Bob and Bert this dilemma and they suggested that I get in contact with one of the cast members. The cast member in question needed a babysitter for his one-year-old son. His usual babysitter was going to be on vacation during those two weeks. Bob said that I could be a live-in babysitter until classes started. Bert wrote down his name and phone number on a piece of paper and suggested that I call him as soon as possible.
I took the paper from him and read aloud, "Michael Nesmith--555-6453. Ok, I'll give him a call."