Max Gail Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

What a thrill it is when someone whose work I admire, adore, and respect exceeds all my expectations as a human. Max Gail, actor, director, advocate, songwriter, two-time Emmy Award Nominee, for Barney Miller, and two-time Emmy Winner for General Hospital did just that. Spending time in his most excellent company felt like a giant hug, like going home. 

Max took us back to his childhood homes in Detroit and Florida, his six siblings, five of whom are twins, including his twin sister… crazy, the music his father instilled in him, his academic science “nerd” education, the songwriting, with rhyming lyrics of which he treated us to a delicious taste, backing into acting, a gift from his mother, co-starring in the original stage production of One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest as Chief Bromden in San Francisco, and reprising the role in his New York stage debut. He did his first film role in Dirty Harry, small parts on TV, and in commercials, till he got to Barney Miller, his Game Changer. You have to be smart to act dumb. Max with the masters mastered it. We talked about a lot of things along the way… acting, writing, auditioning, failing, scoring, native Americans, marriage, fatherhood, grandfatherhood, a later-in-life surprise, DC Cab, Belushi, Whiz Kids, 42, Alzheimer’s, General Hospital… Max, always fascinating, thoughtful, and delightful. 

I loved every moment, and I’m so grateful to have gotten this opportunity to know Max a bit and to discover his heart is as huge as his talent. No wonder he’s so beloved, by his fans, of which I’m one, as well as just about every actor I know. Deserved!  As much as I adored Max Gail before this sit-down, multiply it a gazillionfold. What fun! And boy, does he know to close. I still have goosebumps.

Max Gail Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson
Wed, August 30th, 5 pm PT, 8 pm ET
Streamed Live on The Facebook
Replay here:
https://bit.ly/3OWqb9i

Max Gail Live On Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

Jim Vallely Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson 

Sitting down with Emmy and WGA award winner, Jim Vallely was a cozy, comfortable, fun, and funny hang. He even told us a joke joke, on request. It’s one he’s been “testing” as part of a sociological experiment of sorts. Win/win, we got a laugh with a lesson.

Who knew that having a seizure in 6th grade would lead to a career as a TV comedy writer. Jim takes us through and it makes perfect sense. This accountant studying student just happened to sit next to the right guy at an NYU audition, ask his mother the right question on the right day, marry the right girl, move into the right apartment, partner with the right actor/comedian, Jonathan Schmock, become 1/2 of The Funny Boys comedy team, appear on Johnny Carson, co-star on the sitcom, Double Trouble, and then write on The Golden Girls, one of the most successful sitcoms of all time. Brotherly Love, Ladies Man, Action, Two and a Half Men, My Wife and Kids, The John Larriquette Show, Till Death,  Extended Family, as well as Arrested Development, for which he garnered 4 Emmy nominations, and the aforementioned awards, followed.  Jim was an executive producer and co-creator with Will Arnett and Michael Hurwitz of Running Wilde on Fox. There’s more.

Jim tells a great Carl Reiner/Alan Brady story, tells us how the real Kramer, Larry David, Bill Maher, Callie Khouri, Chris Thompson, Don Reo, Mitchell Hurwitz, Will Arnett, and Jay Mohr factor into his story, gives us the before, during, and after of his career milestones, and speaks with great pride and tenderness about the great loves and joys of his life, his talented wife, Maggie, and his successful daughter, Tannis.

We talked about our friends, Taylor Negron and Ron Zimmerman. There is no friend like Jim. His love, devotion, and care for Ron, was a gift he gave all of us who loved him. Jim’s a tender-hearted, special man. And boy, is he funny. A very funny boy, indeed! 

Jim Vallely Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson 
Wednesday, 3/12/25, 5 PM PT, 8 PM ET
Streamed Live on my Facebook & YouTube 
Replay here:
https://bit.ly/4iCKgPq 
YouTube
https://www.facebook.com/vickiabelson/videos/937526015211102

Jim Vallely Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

Tony Braunagel, Terry Wilson & Snuffy Walden Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson 

What do you get when you Zoom with three amigos from Texas who go back over 50 years? A whole lot of fun, rock stories galore, and a ton of love. The Grammy, Emmy, BMI, and Blues Award Winning trio of Snuffy Walden, Tony Braunagel, and Terry Wilson took us back to the 60s in Houston, playing at the Cellar, a strip club in Houston, Tony and Terry off with Johnny Nash and Snuffy off with Stray Dog to open for Emerson, Lake and Palmer. They all ended up in London, there was Rabbit, Paul Kossoff, Free, Back Street Crawler, Pete Townshend, and Eric Burdon for all of them, at least twice. Some great war stories along the way… there was Michael Ruff, some crashed cars and trashed hotel rooms. 

Tony took us through his time with Rickie Lee Jones, Bonnie Raitt, and The Blues Brothers backup band, leading to be an actor and musician on According to Jim. Snuffy getting Chaka Khan, Donna Summers and then segueing to TV, Thirty Something and The Wonder Years, his first foray in––both Emmy-winning shows that year, leading to the West Wing and his own Emmy. Terry partnering with Teresa James in music and in life, their Grammy nod, his song-writing, producing through his latest for Back Street Crawler’s Terry Slesser which reunited him with Tony and Terry. 

They’ve shared many stages and sessions over the years, but it’s their rock-solid friendship borne in decades-long history that sweetens their song. What a joy to be in their joy. A great time was had by all. Lucky me and you to be a fly on that wall. 

Tony Braunagel, Terry Wilson & Snuffy Walden Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson 
Wednesday, 3/19/25, 5 PM PT, 8 PM ET
Streaming Live on my YouTube & my Facebook 
Replay YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ArHgeUrToc&t=194s
Replay FB here:
https://bit.ly/4bNq8b2

Tony Braunagel, Terry Wilson & Snuffy Walden Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

Nile Rogers of Chic Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson 

This sit-down with my old friend, multiple Grammy Winner, Rock & Roll Hall Inductee, Songwriters Hall of Fame Inductee, composer, producer, arranger, and guitarist, Nile Rogers, is SOLID GOLD… more like triple platinum. Even though we never exchanged more than a few words in the handful of times he graced my jams back in the day, there was always DHM (deep hidden meaning), as there always is with Nile. This day, we got to that and so much more. STORIES! Oh my lord, No one tells ‘em like Nile. Case in point, his tome, Le Freak, may be the greatest memoir I’ve read. I could not put the thing down. When was the last time I read a book cover to cover in less than 24 hours? A rare score on Amazon these days, Nile’s assured he’ll be updating and republishing. It’s a MUST-read for music fans, flower children, and anyone who loves to sink their teeth into a great story, well-told. 

Nile covered his very humble early days, his barely older than him mother, the drugs, the bi-coastal extended family, the moves, the schools, early influences from Coltrane to The Beatles, flute to clarinet to guitar… how Bernard Edwards got him to the Hitmaker Strat and chucking, which has become synonymous with Nile’s style. We talked the DHM, the breakdown, the Chic magic as well as the music during and since… producing the top of the top for Sister Sledge, Diana Ross, Madonna, David Bowie, Duran Duran, still winning Grammys and kicking it with Daft Punk, Beyonce, and Cold Play, to name but a few, 750 MILLION albums worth. Say what? 

We got the sweetest stories about Michael Jackson… a funny with Keith Richards, a Grace Jones impression, and a scary story about Nile’s coke psychosis leading to him bottoming out and getting clean and sober. 31 years worth and counting…

That Nile was able to do all that he’s done, and it’s Herculean - aside from the massive number of hits, the films he’s scored, the shows he’s played, there’s the We Are Family Foundation, Chairing the Songwriters Hall of Fame, receiving the 2024 World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award for his extraordinary efforts to make the world a more peaceful, equal, and inclusive place… Nile is a humanist, a gentle soul with a heart of platinum like the records that line his walls. 

I’ve always admired, respected, and adored Nile. After reading Le Freak, and spending this time with him, I cherish him all the more. What a man, what a man, what a mighty fine man!   Nile Rogers of Chic Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson 
Wednesday, 4/2/25, 11AM PT, 2 PM ET
Streamed Live on my Facebook and on my YouTube 
FB Replay here:
https://bit.ly/4cmPP2u

YouTube replay here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q875x2lVyLE

Nile Rogers of CHIC Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

Alan Zweibel Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

Live from the Zoom Room, it’s Alan Zweibel! It was so great to jump back in with the fabulous, funny, and fun Emmy Winner.

Alan took us back to his earliest days in the biz, how he made his way in, the first joke he sold, still funny! The Catskill Mountains, Morty Gunty, Freddie Roman, Rodney Dangerfield, maybe his first collaborator… with whom Alan comes full circle, presently.  Doing standup with Billy Crystal, leading to years of collaboration, being discovered by Lorne Michaels… SNL, Alan’s game changer. Gilda, a partnership made in heaven -  how Roseannne Roseannadanna and Emily Latella came to be, Belushi, Ackroyd, the current film, Saturday Night, where it felt right, where liberties were taken, how it felt to have someone play him. 

Co-creating It’s The Garry Shandling Show with Gary, how they worked together. Writing Lunatics with Dave Barry, long distance, For This We left Egypt with Dave and Adam Mansbach, and a great story about how that friendship and collaboration began.  Broadway with Billy and with Martin Short, and the cute, sweet note after their encounter at the SNL 50th reunion. Alan’s current collab with Barry Levinson, how that started and where it is today, that full circle Rodney story coming to fruition currently… and through it all, Robin. Alan’s love and wife since the early SNL days… and his most fruitful collaborator.  

Alan’s devotion to his family is what stories are made of, as is his work ethic, resiliency, tenacity, and talent. His storytelling is what good conversations are made of, served up with laughs, lots of them. What an inspiration! 

Loved every minute of this. And I sure did need the eggs. 

Alan Zweibel Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson
Wednesday, 5/14/23, 5 pm PT, 8 pm ET
Streamed Live 
Links in the comments
Replay on YouTube 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1uvKClTYdY

Alan Zweibel Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

Rosemary Butler Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson  Part 2

Rosemary Butler has sung with everyone on every song I love. Pretty damn close. In this, our 2nd sitdown, Rose picked up where we left off, post Paul & Ringo, The Rolling Stones, and Three Dog Night - see Part 1 for those fab stories, and took us through Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, The Section, Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald (her first student, who taught her to create her own unique voice), Neil Diamond (on his Christmas album… to which Neil said, I’m Jewish, why am I doing this) Joe Cocker, Johnny Mathis, The Bish, Willie Nelson,  David Lindley (the most fun), Warren Zevon, Alan Parsons, Don Henley, Bruce Springsteen (when he was sleeping under the Jersey pier with his guitar), Billy Joel, Joni Mitchell (her idol), and Paul Simon. Rosemary’s voice intermingles magically with all of them. Stories, stories, more stories about hero after shero. Peter Asher, she credits with opening the doors. 


Teaching and sharing what she’s learned and what she knows, you too can study with the master - reach out at RosemaryButler.com. And, catch her Live with The Tribe at their 10th anniversary celebration at The Canyon Club in L.A. where it all started. 

I’m so grateful for this opportunity to traverse a career and a life brilliantly lived. The road, the buses, the food, the fun, and the hit music her iconic voice is synonymous with. Can I ever hear Running on Empty and not think of her… no way. 

Love the Rosemary Butler!

Rosemary Butler Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson  Part 2
Wednesday, 5/21/25, 5 PM PT, 8 PM ET
Streamed Live on my Facebook & YouTube

Replay Links:
https://bit.ly/3Fj8Syt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgO9MJHZNj4

Rosemary Butler Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson  Part 2

Tracy Newman Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

We were Live with my good friend, 2x Emmy nominee, Gary Stockdale. What a joy after a long void. Pre-pandemic, it seems we saw each other everywhere, and often. COVID changed life. A lot. We talked about that and how both of us have Facebook Lives born out of necessity. You’d think with our combined expertise, it would be smooth sailing. You’d think. Tech glitches messed with Gary’s fine art… his singing/playing and songwriting, which we were challenged to present, but Gary persevered and did treat us to two songs from his new musical, Showstopper, and an a cappella treat to take us out that I won’t spoil. 

Gary took us back to his early days in Glendale, musical theatre at LA City College, his mentor Henry Mancini, Penn & Teller for whom he scored for 25 years. There was Sabrina the Teenage Witch, The Aristocrats, Spongebob Square Pants, and lot of Gary music along the way to discuss. 

Even with the challenges, it was a fun, relaxed ride down Gary’s memory lane. The kind of conversation that happens between friends. Lovely. And Gary’s voice… I don’t know how it’s possible, but he sounds even more incredible than ever. What a gorgeous voice, and what an amazing songwriter! After a particularly crap day, this time with Gary truly healed my weary soul. 

Gary Stockdale Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson
Wednesday, 6/4/25, 5 PM PT, 8 PM ET
Streamed Live on my FB & YouTube
Links in the comments

FB Replay here:
https://bit.ly/4kV1oB1

YouTube Replay here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkMYA_Qfz7E

Gary Stockdale Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

Leland Sklar Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

Happy Happy Joy Joy, that’s spending time conversing with our good friend, Leland Sklar, who’s made it all about the bass with everybody on everything, from Phil Collins, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Billy Cobham, Carole King, Hall & Oates, Crosby Stills, & Nash, Barbra Streisand, Joe Cocker, Toto, Lyle Lovett, and the list goes on and on, and on, and on… over 2500 + albums worth. I’m exhausted typing this. How the hell does he do it? 

An activist, Lee’s stood up, spoken out, and paid the price innumerable times. A voice of clarity, passion, and reason, we got into it big time… the LA protests, the insanity surrounding them, the terrifying regime, our hope for Newsom, the unknowing of how to stop it, or how it will ultimately shake out… the fires, the transition back to living post the pandemic. 

Of course, we did talk music too. Respects to Brian Wilson and Sly Stone, Lee having played with the former, and influenced by the latter… how health has befallen so many heroes, Phil Collins, Linda Ronstadt, Billy Joel, Neil Diamond… and the wonder of Leland, currently doing 3 hr concerts with Lyle, still standing. That boy has good genes. Levis. The ongoing and upcoming big tour with Lyle and the sad putting aside, for now, of The Immediate Family. We talked about the lads, his brothers, Russ Kunkel, Danny Kortchmar, Waddy Wachtel, and Steve  Postel, what makes that band so rockin’ special, we talked about James Taylor, Peter Asher, who Lee holds responsible for launching his career, Phil Collins, and his amazingly talented son, Nick,  Toto, Stevie Nicks, his book, Everybody Loves Me, which I’m blessed to be in, and Lee’s marriage that has endured for 54 years and counting. 

Lee’s one of the most universally adored musicians for his playing, his humanity, his humor, and his great big heart. I adore him. Who doesn’t? Well, maybe a couple of fools on Capitol Hill. 

The man’s a marvel. 

Leland Sklar Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson
Wednesday, 6/11/25, 5 PM PT, 8 PM ET
Streamed Live on my FB 
https://bit.ly/4dZz0Lx
And YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU7luUSTrRU&t=22s

Leland Sklar Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

Decades later, as if no time had passed, bassist Kevin Jenkins came to call. I met Kevin in 1986ish, when he was playing with Cyndi Lauper at the height of her fame. He had stopped in to the Rock ’N Roll Cafe, sat in, and graced our small stage. Big man on campus, he was pop-rock royalty. Girl just wanted to have fun, so with my Cafe cohort, Steve Principe, we headed to The Stone Pony to catch Kevin with Cyndi. About a decade later, I’d meet up with Cyndi as Upper Westside mommies… but I digress. Kevin continued to come around and sit in, most notably with my beloved Phoebe Snow and Matt Sorum from Guns & Roses, at the Cafe Wha.

From Tokyo’s Budokan to London’s famous Albert Hall to NYC’s Madison Square Garden - Kevin’s played them all, with the aforementioned Cyndi Lauper, and Enrique Iglesias, Taylor Dayne, Vicki Sue Robinson, Graham Parker, Lamya, Tom Rush, Maxwell, Roberta Flack, Debbie GIbson and, most recently, Grammy® nominated blues queen Shemekia Copeland, who he’s been with 2005. We talked about them all, as well as the music that influenced him, how he got started, how one meeting led to one gig, which led to another. When imbibing started to interfere, Kevin got sober 38 years ago. We discussed that journey, too. We discussed his highlights, opening for Clapton and Michael Jackson, as well as loss, and love. 

Kevin filled us in on his solo efforts, Step Inside and True Groove, as well as his latest, She:  A Tribute to Joni Mitchell, which will be released in November. 

Humble and unpretentious to a fault, it was a delightful stroll down memory lane with loads of new info and great stories along the way. Kevin is just as I remember him, except even better. Wisdom, experience, and a clear mind have added to the mix. Adore the man, love his playing, respect his humanity. 

Kevin Jenkins Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson
Wednesday, 6/11/25, 5 PM PT, 8 PM ET
Streamed Live on my FB 

Kevin Jenkins Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson
Wednesday, 6/11/25, 5 PM PT, 8 PM ET
Streamed Live on my FB 
http://bit.ly/4kG0LeK
And YouTube 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eup_wy0SJlM&t=2985s

Kevin Jenkins Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

Bradley Whitford Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

It was a sweet reunion when 3 x Emmy-winner Bradley Whitford of The West Wing was surprised and serenaded by composer Snuffy Walden, with the show’s Emmy-winning theme. They share quite a bit of history, having also done Sorkin’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Last night Snuff and I binged the pilot episodes of both shows and were astounded by how timely they still are. Bradley and I discussed his storyline in that first West Wing, which could’ve been ripped out of today’s headlines. We also talked about Studio 60 and the irony of Danny Trip’s confession to Matt Albie, played by Matthew Perry, about his drug slip. Bradley’s emotional remembrance of the show, its cast, and specifically Matthew’s comedic brilliance, and the pocket of sobriety for Matt that allowed for some of his best work. 

Bradley ain’t no Hollywood fluffernutter. Of progressive Quaker stock, his father, who worked at an insurance company, was the local president of Planned Parenthood before it was political, his mother was an outspoken advocate, and his brother, a conscientious objector.  Talk about an unusual childhood, he has an 85-year-old sister. Bradley came from a loving, functional home, and still became an actor. Now that’s an anomaly right there. 

We did a deep dive into the state of the union. Thoughtful, passionate, and in solution, Bradley puts his activism where his mouth is. We talked Trump, Musk, Kennedy, gender affirming care, Biden, Kamala, Hillary, Iran, immigration, how art will not save us, only politics will. And yet much of Bradley’s art is political. We spoke about The Handmaid’s Tale from innumerable angles. For me, arguably perhaps the greatest show ever on television, and his Commander Lawrence, is probably the most layered, complex character he’s portrayed. We talked about Elisabeth and their earlier connection in The West Wing, Anne Dowd, and how her spectacular performance inspired Margaret Atwood’s writing, The Testaments, for her. 

Bradley was far more interested in talking about current affairs and how essential it is that we do more than talk than he was in talking about his work. But we did squeeze in some time to discuss For Worse, the indie feature his bride, Amy Landecker, wrote, directed, and stars in alongside Bradley. His respect, love, and admiration to Amy are adorable to behold. Making the festival circuit and winning awards along the way, I can’t wait to see the film loosely based on their romance. 

I’m a fan. A great, big avid Bradley Whitford fan. The last time we met, it was at a big Hollywood soiree. He was equally as open, personable, unaffected, opinionated, and accessible as he was this day. As much as I adore his work, I’m grateful as hell for his humanity and advocacy. I hope to consider “What would Bradley do” a whole lot more moving forward. And speaking of hope, he has it in abundance… mix that with some fun, his learned recipe’s secret sauce, and there’s good reason to trust that there are better days ahead. It’s up to us, all of us, to make it so. 

This should be essential viewing for anyone in fear and despair. 

Bradley Whitford Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson
Wednesday, 6/25/25, 2 PM PT, 5 PM ET
Streamed Live 
FB Replay 
http://bit.ly/4lv7rfX
& YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFMXr8g9yyY&t=187s

Bradley Whitford Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

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