In a long night of homage to TV legends, Amy Poehler finally had a laugh at the 18th Annual Brandon Tartikoff Awards.
Poehler was ranked seventh of the seven honorees honored Thursday night at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, with the annual television achievement recognized by the National Assn. of television program directors. The Tartikoff Awards usually take place during the NATPE conference in January, but this year’s annual tradition has been thrown into play by the COVID surge.
Poehler, the multi-hyphenated “Parks and Recreation” star that became a prolific producer, made the most of the closing hatch. She opened with an ironic reference to an earlier moment when presenter Connie Chung noted that the wrong letter was uploaded to the teleprompter when she made her remarks about Tartkoff Venerable Mori Povich, who is also her husband.
“For 38 years, I’ve been going into my bedroom every night and getting ready to make sweet love with my husband, Morey Povich…” said Boehler, to angry applause.
Poehler’s sweet joke was in the spirit of the awards, named after the legendary NBC programming director best known for his drive for innovation and excellence. Among the benefactors this year was Jeff Sagansky, a network veteran and studio executive who worked with Tartikov as one of his NBC peers in the late 1970s.
Sagansky, now a media investor and president of Eagle Equity Partners, shared some colorful stories about working with Tartikoff, and urged a crowd of industry veterans to take the time to mentor young and talented CEOs. As stated by the former president of CBS Entertainment and Sony Corp. In the United States, an unforgettable tip he got from the esteemed NBC president Grant Tinker.
“If you’re going to make a show you won’t watch – don’t put it on,” Sagansky said.
Povich’s tribute came on the heels of the end of his daily talk show after 31 years of daytime television. Povich recalled his early years as a radio reporter and television news reporter, moving around the country until he settled on television as an anchor for “A Running Cause”. This was followed by his daytime talk show which started in 1991.
After reflecting on his long stint in the day, Povich realized he was fortunate to have a loyal team of production staff loyal to the show. “Why did you stay so long they are the people who work on the show,” he said. “They are very professional and very good.”
Honorees Channing Dungey, Whoopi Goldberg, Alex Kurtzman, and William Shatner directed the gamut of on-air talent to the producer executive suite leading the Star Trek TV metaverse.
Dungey, Chairman of Warner Bros. TV Group, by “The Flight Attendant” star Kaley Cuoco. After lining up a video detailing the highlights of Dungey’s career and her debut in the industry as a black woman, Cuoco exclaimed, “Channing, you’re a badass—that’s unbelievable.”
Dungey recalled reading Tartikov’s 1992 memoir “The Last Great Journey” and taking many lessons from his description of birthing shows such as “Hill Street Blues,” “Cheers,” and “First Team.” She noted that he was remarkably forward looking in his final chapter on how television has changed.
“He was of the opinion that there is no one way to capture the audience’s attention as broadcast television did in the 1980s…but the journey continues,” Dungey said.
Goldberg, the multi-hyphenated moderator and longtime coordinator of ABC’s “The View,” accepted her acknowledgment via videotaped notes. I remembered an early meeting I had with Tartkoff and praised him for setting the “standard of excellence in the industry”.
Kurtzman, a veteran model and producer who runs several “Star Trek” series for Paramount+ as well as the Showtime series “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” recalled how Tartikoff liked him as a teenager when he was a subscriber to GQ magazine. Kurtzman knew he’d never be a movie star, but a 1985 cover featuring the NBC hot-shot programmer made a huge impact on him.
“I really read it for articles,” Kurtzman joked, after being introduced by “Star Trek: Discovery” star Sonequa Martin-Green. Kurtzman literally recalled some of his words of wisdom that Tartikov shared in the story: “The beginning trends, do not chase them. No one remembers the plot or the introduction, only the characters and moments with meaning,” Kurtzman said.
The evening began with the “Star Trek” legend no less than William Shatner, captain of the original series that ran on NBC from 1966 to 1969. Shatner recalled his path from being a 6-year-old in Montreal who enjoyed making people laugh, to His time at the Repertory Theater in Ottawa and Toronto for his entry into television and movies.
Shatner, who is 91, said he spent a lot of time reflecting on his accomplishments and the meaning of life. These observations were validated by the gentle introduction of his friend and fellow actor Henry Winkler (“His mind is broad, his intelligence marginal,” Winkler joked of Shatner).
Shatner told the audience that one of the keys to longevity was staying in touch with what he called his “inner child.” For him, this person is a “curious fellow” who asks a lot of questions.
“How do you write an opera? How do you cook spaghetti? I have tried to keep that inner child alive through awareness, by being in the moment and awe and wondering about the world around us,” he said with a Shatner-ian brand rendition.
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