As Alan Alda settled into the interview couch on the set of KQED-TV’s The Josh Kornbluth Show in September 2005, we were taping only our sixth episode — so I was still early into my TV-hosting career. But if there was one thing I’d already learned from the previous five tapings, it was this: no one ever ate the Rice Krispie Treats.
The JK Show was, in some ways, a family operation: my sister-in-law Nancy, then a professional baker (now a nurse — she’s always making people feel better!), baked cookies for each taping (a terrible time for me to be on a low-carb diet — but a great time for our crew!) and my wife, Sara, provided homemade Rice Krispie Treats (as well as making all my shirts). Throughout each episode, the Treats had sat in a bowl in front of each guest, untouched. And who could blame the interviewees? It’s hard to seem dignified — much less speak clearly — while eating the gooey, crunchy things. So when, in the middle of our conversation, Alda casually reached for a Treat and proceeded to munch on it as he continued talking, I was, like, omigod!
This gesture turned out to be typical of his disarmingly intimate, improvisational way of chatting, acting, and — as he described to me — being. I enjoyed our interview immensely, and learned so much from him in our short time together.
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