Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1524863
sometimes we would have an assistant, but when it was slow, we wouldn't. This particular time of year was very, very slow, and we were doing a show called Capitol Critters. The show starred Neil Patrick Harris, and because he was doing Doogie Howser, we had to do it on Saturdays. It had Ed Asner in it, and there was a lot of celebrity talent because it was a primetime show. I was typing up the Capitol Critters script—I'm the only person there, we had no assistant, so I'm doing all the jobs except for Gordon's, and he had left that afternoon because sometimes he'd go teach his acting class, or go meet with producers. So he was out of the office, and I got a phone call about 5:30 p.m., and Gordon said [in raspy voice], "I have pneumonia. You'll be fine." Click. EM: Wow. Had you ever done it before? KZS: I had done a few pickup lines, but not a full show with celebrity talent like that. I had assistant- directed him, so I was always in the booth and I knew how to do it, but I had never done it, so this was a big deal. I took home the storyboard—back then we had full storyboards, now we usually just have scripts. It's so much better with the storyboard because you know what the action is, and you can get more precise performances. Anyway, I was terrified, so I studied that storyboard all night long. When I got there, everybody said, "Hi." I said, "I'm sorry, Gordon's out today so I'm going to substitute for him." I've got Ed, Neil Patrick Harris, Charlie Adler, and there's about nine actors in the room because we recorded it all at the same time back then for a series. I said, "Okay, let's go lines one through 48. Rolling." Then I made little notes on the storyboard. "Okay Ed, I need a little more of this on line 15. Charlie, you need to be crazier on this line. Neil, this is what's happening, so a little more sense of that." Then I said, "Take two." And they did it. I just got this feeling, "This is so much fun." Laughs. So, I made it through, and I remember Ed Asner giving me a big bear hug at the end and going, Kris Zimmerman Salter in the VO Booth. Photo by Eric Marks. M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S 49