Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Andy Cohen

I knew Andy Cohen first as Andrew Cohen.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, he was my intern.

When I first met Andrew, he was twenty one, bright eyed and bushy tailed. Well kinda bushy tailed, he had a pony tail. More on that later. He's from St. Louis and had come to New York where I met him at CBS. Everyone liked him. I have to say that what you see today is what we saw back then. He truly hasn't changed. He's always been smart, he's always been dear, he's always been nice, he's always been classy, he's always been funny, I could go on...

As they used to say, "Let's go back to the days of yesteryear."

Those first years were a bit of a blur but I do remember going on lots of adventures with Andrew.

We went to Baltimore, when the show I was on and he worked for, broadcast from there. The show was CBS This Morning, our version of Good Morning America, our version of the Today show. We went to old Memorial Stadium, the place that brought us Johnny Unitas and the Colts plus Brooks, Frank, and Earl Weaver. Today the Orioles and Ravens play in different places but back in the day, that was the joint.

Look at the picture and you'll see a young Andrew. What you WON'T see is a pony tail.

More on that later.

We went everywhere. We went to London together. He had adventures ON the adventures. Ask him to tell you the 'coodly teddy bear' story.

We covered a number of Grammys. After being up all night for one, we were heading back to the hotel to crash. Andrew stopped in front of a mirror and saw himself in his tuxedo and jokingly said,"I look too good to just put this to bed."

I laughed out loud.


Let's talk about some of what's happened since then.

Andrew ended up a Senior Producer on our show. Left to go to Bravo. He's a big time executive there and a talk show host. Real Housewives. Watch What Happens Live. He's still the only host I know who can have a drink WHILE on television. I never could. Andrew is also a published author. He's written two best sellers.

And let's not forget he became Andy Cohen.

The pony tail story.

Andrew came to me one day and wanted my advice. People on our show told him that he should cut his pony tail off because no one would take him seriously, and give him the respect he deserved, if he had one. He told me he liked his and asked, did I think he should cut his hair? I said, "If you like it, keep it. Don't listen to them." I added, "Of course you'll never be promoted with one." His eyes just about fell out of his head.

It was gone soon there after.

One last story...

My wife is a HUGE Andy Cohen fan. He's on our television all the time. I casually told her I knew him and she was like riiight. When I proved it, I got major points in my own house. Major points.

It's been fun to watch the ascension of young Andrew Cohen. I'm proud of him and he deserves it all.

I just have to remember to call him Andy.







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1 comment:

  1. Great post. I don't know much about Andy, but from your article, he seems to be a very talented and genuinely nice man. Like you. Thanks for a glimpse into the world of show biz. It's encouraging to hear positive things about entertainers. The negativity gets old.

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