Original subtitles

The year is 1924.

James and Martha Peck of the prominent Boston Pecks give birth to a son.

Nicknamed Mr. Peck, the lad grows up amidst Boston Brahmin society and is

expected to join the family law firm upon graduation from Yale.

War breaks out.

and Peck finds his calling running dance marathons for the USO.

Befriending luminaries like Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, he soon realizes his

future lies in the entertainment world.

He moves to Hollywood, and in 1948 opens Mr.

Peck's, not realizing the profound influence his club will have on the next

several generations of performers.

For 40 years, Peck's is a showcase for every big name who passes through town,

as well as a launching pad for local talent.

Every night is New Year's Eve at the club, as Mr. Peck plays host to the

names in show business.

Want to see a star?

Don't look in the sky.

Come to Peck's.

Toadie Fields, Carol Burnett, Red Fox, all entered Peck's a nobody and came out

part of show business lore.

Laughs, laughs, and more laughs emanated from Peck's stage as the wine kept

flowing and the party kept going.

But there are some rough times.

In 1956, the mayor shuts down Mr. Peck's after mobster Sonny Galante is gunned

down during a set by Joey Bishop.

Then in 1962, Peck suffers a nervous breakdown and joins a cult of Satanists

think Red Buttons is the Antichrist.

Red never forgives Mr. Peck, and their feud becomes the stuff of Hollywood

legends.

Today, Peck's faces its toughest setback of them all when billionaire

industrialist Alan Trugman purchases the property and threatens Peck with

eviction.

So tonight, comedy crusader Gary Shandling, who hasn't forgotten his

his one -man effort to save the comedy club where he started, has rounded up

some of the club's famous alumni for this once -in -a -lifetime gala event,

all -star benefit to save Mr.

Peck's. I'm Arthur White, and ladies and gentlemen, it's my privilege to

introduce you to Gary Shandling. Thank you, Arthur. I couldn't be more excited

tonight to be doing this benefit for Mr. Pax, because, you know, there have been

a lot of firsts here at this nightclub. This is the first place I performed, and

this is the first time I've said that.

So rather than...

Just go on and on about Mr. Peck's and what a wonderful place it is for new

talent and old talent.

Let's just go on and present to you the first act that I ever saw here at Mr.

Peck's, a wonderful, exciting plate -spinning act, Carl and Ruth Carlson.

This is the theme to Gary's show, the theme to Gary's show. Gary called me up

and asked if I would write a theme song.

I'm almost halfway finished. How do you like it so far? How do you like the

theme to Gary's show?

This is the theme to Gary's show. The opening theme to Gary's show. This is

music that you hear as you watch the credits.

We're almost in the part of where I start to whistle. Then we'll watch a

Sandling show.

This is the theme to Gary's Sandling show.

Aren't they great? And you know, that's the same music they used over 20 years

ago. And Carl said, hey, if you ever get a TV show, feel free.

But it all works out because those are my sticks.

But hey, we're not here to talk about that. We're here to talk about Mr.

Peck.

I'll never forget the first really good pratfall I took. It was on Mr. Peck's

stage. He'd forgotten to put the...

phosphorescent tape at the lip of the stage and I just took a hell of a fall

into the audience and that was the beginning of something great. I wouldn't

all this if it weren't for that.

I sued him for about 200 grand.

That's why I have all this.

Thank you, Mr. Peck.

It's Gary Shandling's show presents his all -star benefit to Dave Mr. Peck

starring Steve Allen.

Charlie Cullis, Chevy Chase, Dabney Coleman, Paul the

Poundstone, Father Guido Sarducci, Lionel Sander, and of course, Gary

Shandling.

And, uh, thanks.

Hey, look who just walked in, Father Guido Sarducci.

Hey, Father.

Good to see you. Glad you could make it. Hey, thanks. Hey, Gary, I got some bad

news I got to tell you.

Red Button just called.

He's not coming.

He's not coming. That's what I was afraid of. He's not coming. He's not

The whole night revolves around the Red Button's Mr. Peck reunion, and now he's

not coming? He's upset.

He's upset.

He's upset.

He's upset.

You know they not talk together for 20 years, Mr. Peck and Red Button?

20 years. And then you call.

He's mad. You know why you call him the night of the show?

You say, come on over. You should have called him a couple weeks ago. I didn't

even really call him. I just left a message on his machine. I never talked

him. Well, he's upset.

He's really upset. He's upset. I promised everyone that the Red Button's

Peck reunion.

Well, did you know Mr. Peck called Red Button the Antichrist?

Yeah. I know. I know. People don't like that, Gary. No kidding.

Right.

You know, Mr. Peck is over it. He was stressed out then. He was in a bad mood.

And the whole thing's blown over for him. Well, Red is still upset.

No doubt about it.

Hey, Gary.

You think you could introduce me to Steve Allen?

Steve Allen?

Right. He's out of there. You know, if you could introduce me... Why don't you

just go introduce yourself to Steve Allen?

I'm just out there. What are you so shy about?

I'm intimidated.

He's a genius. You know, what am I going to say? You know, he's written 36 ,000

songs and 200 books.

No, I don't think he's written 200 books. I think he's sold 200 books.

That's good.

I'll tell him that. I'll tell him you said that.

Now I've got something to say to him. I'm glad I could help you out. Okay, now

tell him that. All right.

But all seriousness aside, we are here tonight, there he is, to honor a man who

we've grown really close to over the last 40 years, I gotta tell you. He's

a member of our own family, Mr. Bushel. I mean, Mr.

Penn.

So really, and I...

And I

love your brother Gregory, I really do.

At least he has a first name.

What kind of a name is Mr.? Sounds like you weren't very close to your mother.

But this man has discovered so many great young comics. I'm talking about

like Lenny Placebo. Now, Lenny's not a real comic, of course, but you wouldn't

know that. You know, he's really quick.

He's right.

You wouldn't happen to know who manages Steve. I don't know who manages Steve.

Let's not talk about management right now. What are you being so sensitive

about? He's no conflict with you.

I can't be. He's got great manners. You've got great manners. Gary, Gary,

Excuse me, when's Red Button's coming on? I don't know when he's coming on,

this is a great show just the way it is, don't you think? Oh, well, but, Gary,

Grant's really looking forward to seeing his Uncle Red.

Yeah, I mean, he once told me, a house divided is a condominy.

Gary, you love a condominy.

I mean, that could be a vein that you could mine for some reason.

I can't believe you're telling me that.

Why not?

Because I don't tell you how to manage someone. Don't tell me how to write

comics. He says, watch Steve. He's going to hit a bell soon.

You know, Gary, all these other people are really good performers, but I came

see Red Buttons. Gary, don't shoot the public.

Okay. All right, let me go see.

Let me go see what you're picking, Red.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, here's the man responsible for tonight's

wonderful fiasco, Gary Stanley.

forget to buy your St.

Mr. Peck's t -shirts now. Baba, where's Red?

Yeah, Gary, bring on Red.

Ladies and gentlemen, I think we all want to know the answer to the musical

question.

Where's Red Button?

Uh -oh. Uh -oh.

Uh -oh.

Hey, listen, could you do me a little favor and go on next?

I'm not going to follow Steve Allen.

Oh, come on. Nobody can follow Steve Allen. Why do you think the plate

went first?

Why do you think Springsteen won't let Steve open for him anymore?

You think it's so easy you follow Steve Allen.

Well, I could go on next.

I wasn't really prepared to go on, but I guess I could.

All right, I'll go on.

I don't have any...

Jokes or anything?

I didn't really know what was going on. I'll go on. Go on.

No, no, Alan.

I'll come by soon.

No, I'll follow Steve, Alan.

Oh, thanks, Uncle Pat.

Does the phrase pathetic wimp mean anything to you?

I always cry to get my way.

I'm all right.

I'm all right.

Pretty much my crowd now.

Now, do you have the words to the whole song written down, or did you already

know that?

I actually, I had a hard time finding, I have like a disease with directions to

begin with, and I get like so lost that I'll like start to cry, and no one can

really help.

I get, I like, I was driving, and I pull over and ask directions, and people say

stuff like, go north.

Thank you very much. I can't tell left from right without pretending to eat.

Pop -Tarts a day.

Kind of a health food nut, thank you very much.

I didn't mean to eat the whole box, you know. I think, first of all, it comes in

the box with a picture on the cover, you know, and the tart is snapped in half,

so you can see the cross -section with all the rich taste of goodness right

there.

I'm only human, for Christ's sakes.

Then they come in with the three pouches of two.

And this is what happens to me. I open the first pouch, and I eat one, and I

enjoy it very much as naturally I would.

And then I feel, well, I have to eat the second one, or it will go stale.

Or, no, I've eaten two, and it's no longer just a snack. It's a meal. I

may as well eat two more.

And then I feel like, well, hell, I don't just want two Pop -Tarts hanging

in a box.

I ate the last two just to tidy up, really.

anymore, Zetan. I've decided that perhaps I'm bulimic and just keep

to purge.

Do I seem nervous? Because I feel kind of tense.

No.

Thank you very much.

I'm kind of jumpy to begin with. The other night I was at home all by myself

all the lights went out and I freaked out. I go, there's a guy in the

He flipped a switch. He's coming up to kill me. That's all there is to it.

And I looked out the window. I saw the whole neighborhood was out.

I was kind of relieved because I thought, maybe he'll start at the end of

block.

She's very funny. You know, she reminds me kind of of a young female red button.

It's not like I have a lot of money. I don't have any money. I don't even have

savings account because I don't know my mom's maiden name.

And apparently that's the key to the whole thing right there.

I go in every few weeks and guess. I go, geez, I don't know.

Jones. Okay, I'll come back.

I have no money. I put my clothes in the dry cleaners. I don't have enough money

to get them out again.

It's like they're in jail waiting on me to spring them.

I gotta go in every so often and go, well, could I just see the pants?

the dry cleaners and then you forget so you don't.

You just drive them around a while and bring them back in the house.

And I'll wear them again like they weren't dirty. They were bored.

It was active wear. I just had to get out. That's all.

Hey, Gary.

Oh, hey, Dabney. How you doing? I'm doing great. Great to see you. Really

talks. What are you doing here?

I come here all the time. Is that right? I didn't know you were a fan of comedy.

Comedy? Yeah.

No, no.

No, I don't like comedy.

You know, comedy clubs for that matter. Really?

Yeah, a bunch of guys standing up there saying, look at me, look at me, aren't I

funny?

Right, right.

So why did you come here then?

Oh, I guess it goes back a few years ago. Well, you know Billy Martin, don't

you, the baseball manager?

Sure do, sure do. He brought me in here the first time a few years ago, and we

used to come in here.

And if the guy was really bad upon us, I mean, unfunny, we used to come to the

men's room here, hide behind that door over there, get him, just beat the crap

out of him.

That went on. Yeah. Billy Martin, huh?

Yeah. Great guy.

Was there anything you need?

Nothing in town.

Nothing in town?

Yeah, these things, these are great inventions, aren't they? That's the

thing for you. Anything else?

Yep. It's about time for a peck's punch.

Why don't you let me get you one? You know, I get a performer's discount here.

don't mean to throw it in your face, but I can get you a couple for like... Hey,

hey, relax, okay? I'll get my own.

Here. You happy to throw this out for you?

Beats up comics.

Great guy.

Charlie. Oh.

Charlie, are you all right? Yeah, are you all right?

What?

Dabney Coleman.

Oh. He came and he... I said, hey, Dabney, welcome to the Congress. I would

to hear Sammy Davis. I figured, you know... I can dig that, man.

I don't believe this.

That's not the half of it. I figured maybe he likes Kissinger.

I think that we should have peace in the world.

I don't understand what you're saying.

That's not it. And then I said to him, William F. Buckley, everybody... I said,

Dabney... First of all...

Who gave you a shot right over here?

Jerry Lewis. I figured, rock -a -boy, you're a baby.

Bite on top of the head.

Maybe he was right by then.

I got suicidal the other night. I went home, stood up on my couch, tied that

cord from my curtain around my neck, jumped off the couch, and the curtains

opened.

I'd like to do a remake of that movie, It's a Wonderful Life, where in the

beginning of the movie, I'm on the bridge and I jump off and the angel

me and shows me what life would have been like without me.

Only it turns out it really would have been a whole lot better.

And the angel is forced to apologize.

Remember a few years ago, you'd like, well, a couple years ago, I had never

that movie.

And it seems like this year at Christmas time, there was an all It's a Wonderful

Life station.

We've seen more than enough of it at this juncture.

I am kind of suicidal. I did try carbon monoxide one time.

It wasn't really working because my building has one of those big

parking garages.

I had to bring a box of snacks and some books.

People go by and tap on the window and go, how's that suicide coming?

Drazi earlier today.

Listen, you guys have been a very, very nice crowd. I want to thank you so much.

Oh,

I thought you were Daphne Coleman for a second, Paula.

Yeah, everybody was. Sorry, sorry.

Good set.

Good set.

Mr. Pat's father.

Jerry, did you hear that the crowd...

It's as though Red Button has been under some kind of a demonic spell or

something. I feel terrible. It's all my fault. One night I said a few things.

Now Red will never talk to me again.

Don't feel bad, Mr. Beck. The show's still going great.

It's nice of you to say, honey, but Red was my closest friend.

Why don't we just go over to Red's house, get him, and bring him back over

All right, but if his head starts spinning around, I'm leaving.

Okay?

He said the same thing at Jerry Mahoney's house.

Without Mr. Peck, I'd be dead.

I would have starved, shriveled up, keeled over and died.

Dead just like that.

You see, there was a time when I couldn't get work in this town. The

period, the blacklist.

But Peck stuck his neck out for me.

He called me up and said, Hey, Lionel, why don't you come over to my club and

jam? So as Mr.

Peck's... that I did my first album.

And I think that record is still my favorite.

You know how I love kids.

Lost my partner, what do I do?

Lost my partner, what do I do?

Lost my partner, what do I do?

Skipped to my loo, my darling.

Good song, huh?

Still holds up.

This is Red Button's house.

Right here. I thought it would be red.

Oh, they don't make houses the same color as the people's first name.

Come on, let's go. He's not home. Would you just give him a chance? Give them a

chance. Button's residence.

Hello? Is Red there?

Is Red home? Who's this?

Say Mr. Button. Show some respect. It's not Mr. Button. It's Buttons. It's

plural. It's Mr. Buttons.

You mean like there's two of them?

There's one.

The man just has an F at the end of his name.

Is Mr. Buttons in? It's Gary Shandling and Father Guido Sarducci.

In reference to what?

Well, we just wanted to talk to him for a second about Mr. Peck's nightclub. I

think he'd really want to talk to us about it. We could just come in and see

for just a split second.

Red Buttons and Mr. Peck? Are you nuts?

See, let's go.

He doesn't want to... Just settle down. Just settle down. Just settle down.

Talk to us, Gary.

We really have to...

After it gets cold out here.

All right, but make it fast.

I'm going to wait out here, all right?

I'm going to just wait out here. You're not waiting out here. You're going in.

You've come along this far.

I can't believe you stood up the whole way and waved at people.

I didn't wave at everybody.

We're in.

Will Gary Shandling and Father Guido Sarducci be able to convince Red Buttons

forget that ugly incident of yesteryear and come to the aid of Mr.

Peck in his time of need?

Well, the fans at Peck certainly hope so. And why wouldn't they? Just listen

them. They love Red, young and old alike.

Don't you?

Of course you do.

And that's why we've decided to continue this saga next week.

So perhaps all of you who are now ho -ho -ing in your homes might get a chance

to see Red.

Sure, we'll show you the likes of Tony Orlando and Dawn, and you'll enjoy them.

Why wouldn't you?

And you'll see the multi -talented Rob Reiner sporting a brand new sweater.

And the sensational juggling stylings of, that's right, we've even got Michael

Davis.

But you want red. And Gary understands that.

Good luck, Gary.

Hope you enjoyed. It's Gary Stanley Show.