Beyond Vaudeville is a perfect time capsule. It’s a pre-internet era, when public access provided a rare outlet for entertainers. As Frank Hope, Rich Brown was the neurotic calm in the storm. Along with stoic sidekick David Greene, the pair held together a 30-minute variety show that paired celebrities with outsider entertainers for a decade. In 1997, the show was reborn as Oddville, MTV, which managed to revive some of the magic, in a more formal format that partnered gen x names with buzzbin bands. Brown has maintained a high profile show business career in the intervening decades, appearing as a Daily Show contributor and producing shows like Fear Factor and the Jay Leno hosted, You Bet Your Life.
","author_name":"Brian Heater"}