Neil Simon and the coolness of hats.

I'll say it again: Neil Simon.

He is one of my favorite writers. I read his plays. It isnt as if I can just fly to New York every time one is on Broadway. The cool thing is, his plays are readable.

I think my first exposure to Simon was through The Odd Couple for TV. You remember. Jack Klugman and Tony Randall starred and kept the thing running for several seasons. I enjoyed that program and knew that it was an outgrowth of the movie. Then I found out it was a play.

Of course, I was younger then and couldnt relate to a lot of the material. It was more about things my parents were experiencing and I didnt want any part of all that. Those were the days when the courteous thing was to offer guests a cigarette and a drink before they even got their coats off. Everyone wore hats. Women wore gloves out of doors and men wore sport coats.

I'm glad we dont wear sport coats anymore, but hats were cool. Even Michael Jackson took to wearing one. He also took to wearing one glove and having his nose tweaked, but that doesnt negate the coolness of hats.

Of all Simon's plays, I suppose my favorite is Barefoot in the Park. The Bratters just knock me out. And that hole in the skylight is such a clever device. I'd never have thought of that.



Yes, I understand that it isnt PC or "feminist friendly", but that isnt the point. What's important is how influential Simon's writing was...and still is. If you dont think so, rent Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, and Lost in Yonkers. What you'll find is that nearly all the humor you see on television today goes back to Neil Simon (or Woody Allen, who is another story and I'll get to that another time). Unfortunately, the simple over-use of it has, I think, dulled our ability to appreciate it at the source.

All that being said, I understand that Neil Simon was a difficult man to work with. Some reports say that he would rewrite even up to opening night. That might make things difficult for the actors. Evidently it caused Mary Tyler Moore to take up a wireless earpiece so someone could feed her the lines. There's some talk about a note that supposedly read "Learn your lines or get out of my play". She quit.

This man was married five times. One might think he was hard to get along with.