It was aboot the same time of his restaurant "miracle" that his show had become a near hit.
Let's Talk, David Runmoney's franchise, that he had helped to create (just barely) had, at that time, just topped the young to nearly old demographic that the networks love. The advertisers were still cautious, of course, as the show was v lewd & crass.
David, the star of Let's Talk, played a bartender in a brewpub in Chicago. The whole show was a riff on Lucy in Peanuts. Above the bar there was a sign saying, "The Doctor is In."
The essential charm and difference about the program was that there were only a handful of recurring roles. There was David, natch (playing Rufus, the bartender); Nathalie, the bar back (tough, lean, wiry, wise-cracking, too "butch" to be the series' "hottie"); Maurice (pronounced Moor-Iss, the Anglicized way) who was the owner & sometimes bartender; Rick, the money guy; Stella, the cocktail waitress (& bit of totty, if you will- & David did) and Patina, the local heart of gold whore who was actually quite clever and could quote Shakespeare and Keats and Byron and Pope at near no notice yet.
What made Let's Talk diff from Cheers, let us say, was there was no Norm or Cliff. The patrons on Let's Talk always changed.
The thrust then for Let's Talk was that a patron of the bar (the Bull & Gate, as it was called on the show) would express their discontent, dilemma, or distress and after thirty teevee minutes with David & his gang the problem would be solved.
It sounds ludicrous, I know, but it worked. It worked for eleven fucking years. It worked because David had fabulous writers and because the bar patrons were oftentimes big stars, either looking for campy/clever cameos or juicy re-introductions to the masses on their way down. Plus, David was a good writer, though lazy, and good with a zinger; he helped out on many a script or situation.
To list all of the stars on David's program, Let's Talk, would be crazy; there were so many. It is like Seinfeld, how many bit players became big-time performers. But here are just a few: Dusty Ladbroke, Rupert Friendly, Linda Solace, Chas Runt, Arthur Rendowit, Sunny Bees, Punch Brown, Rex Groat, and the ravishing Celeste Berlin, just to name a few.
Folks at home recognized that the stars they most passionately loved would be likely to return on Let's Talk. Those stars would re-appear with new problems, new problems meant for their local bartender, Rufus (David) to solve.
The broad public seemed to appreciate Ms Ladbroke & Punch Brown.
But the bloggers, critics, and cultists treasured Chas Runt's fourteen appearances the most.
David signed on to the Let's Talk when he was twenty-six. He figured at the time that it was like "All About Eve", that all television was was auditions.
At that time, 1999, he figured he would be a movie star in a couple of years. Rufus would have a new name & a new actor to portray him (or her.)
Anneke v softly touched his elbow from behind as he hailed a cab.
"I'm fine," David said.
"You looked a little funny in there."
"I just needed a smoke."
"Fuck," Anneke said as she ran her hand through her hair, "Have you got one for me? I quit."
David was not drunk. He most def was not drunk. At the restaurant, Market, in Brooklyn he had led the unwashed hordes, known as his closest friends, through the minefield known as a wine list.
What is Paul Theroux says, "... After you have tasted luxury, you are changed, and there is no cure for it"?
Anneke fussed w/ a button on her dress. Her teeth shone in the lamplight. Her bare legs were glossy radiant stems of orchids, "We're getting a taxi, right?"
David raised his hand and said the magic word.
"You are," she said, "Alright? Right?"
And like a Christmas Miracle a taxi did appear.
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