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Oxnard TV director receives award
Steve Binder honored for body of work
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Jason Redmond / Star staff Steve Binder of Oxnard directed the 1964 film "The T.A.M.I Show," which included singer James Brown.
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More from Local NewsLongtime TV special director and Oxnard resident Steve Binder received an award for his career body of work this week from the Caucus for Television Producers, Writers & Directors.
Binder was honored Sunday night during an awards dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Other winners included actress Tina Fey of "30 Rock" and "Saturday Night Live" fame, longtime Academy Awards show producer Gil Cates and writer Bill Blinn. Public television talk-show host Tavis Smiley received a journalism award.
Binder said Wednesday that it was the first time a variety-show director has won in the award's 26-year history.
"I was surprised to even be nominated, and then even more so to win it," Binder said.
The other nominees in the director category were Dan Attias ("Entourage"), Tom Hooper ("John Adams"), Arlene Sanford ("Boston Legal") and Barry Sonnenfeld ("Pushing Daisies").
Binder, who was introduced by actress Sean Young, was cited for his work on many TV specials, including a 1968 Elvis TV special he directed for NBC that is widely credited with reviving The King's career.
Binder's behind-the-scenes book about the special, "‘68 at 40: A Retrospective," was published this fall and will be out in paperback soon, he said.
Binder co-directed James Whitmore's Oscar-nominated performance in 1975's "Give 'em Hell, Harry!"; directed "The T.A.M.I. Show" concert film with James Brown, the Rolling Stones, the Supremes and others; and has done TV specials involving Diana Ross, Barry Manilow, Patti LaBelle, Michelle Kwan and others.
The caucus is a 34-year-old organization dedicated to elevating the quality of TV and protecting the creative and artistic rights of TV talents.
At the dinner, Binder said he cited a 1967 special he did where singers Harry Belafonte and Petula Clark touched. An inter-racial touch was controversial then, and pressure came to take it out of the show, but in the end — with Binder's help — it aired.
"It basically broke the color line in prime-time variety television," he recalled. Noting it's the type of issue the organization monitors, Binder said, "I've always believed in the caucus."
Posted by Wkg4theDream on December 12, 2008 at 4:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Reviving Elvis' career? This is a long held and oft-repeated myth. Elvis' career was just fine. This was no "come back" this was a Christmas special. And Mr. Binder did an awsome job. To my knowledge this is the only 1968 television variety show special that is as fresh and exciting today as it was 40 years ago this month! The music and DVD from this show continues to this day to top the charts.
The truth is that if you are an Elvis fan, no explanation is necessary; if you are not a fan, then no explanation is possible!
Posted by MikeRossi on December 12, 2008 at 5:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Not only did Binder not revive Elvis' career, he didn't have anything to do with Petula Clark's "controversial" touch of Harry Belafonte during her 1968 NBC special making it to the screen. What actually transpired has been documented frequently throughout the years since it aired, and Clark and her husband Claude Woolf (executive producer of the show) recently hosted a 40th anniversary screening at the Paley Center for Media in New York City and discussed the incident during the Q&A period that followed. Chrysler was sponsoring the program, and when their representative demanded a different take be substituted for the one in which Clark touched her guest on his arm, it was she, her husband, and their attorney who went to the control room and insisted all other takes of the segment be erased, forcing NBC to run the special with the touch intact, an historic moment on American television. The program received excellent reviews, achieved high ratings, and is available on DVD.
Posted by AngryChihuahua on December 12, 2008 at 7:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Who cares? Rewritng history is an American tradition.
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