10/16/2023
Ronnie & Stephanie FINALLY Got Married Bringing Together a Gaggle of the OLD & NEW Show Crew...
By Doug Goodstein
I just returned from Las Vegas from The Mund’s Wedding. I wanted to be there for them as Ronnie has always been a great friend that has been there for me…despite what seems like my never-ending ball-busting against him! Ronnie has a heart of gold!
However, the trip stirred up some mixed thoughts given that this would be a gathering of the ‘old crew’ and ‘new crew’. I was really excited to see the ‘old crew’ after not seeing them for so long- ranging from one to ten years. Frankly, I was not sure how I was feeling about the ‘new crew’ for reasons I can’t fully explain.
The festivities began on Wednesday night in a massive breathtaking rooftop suite/party room at Red Rock Resort. I arrived with Scott ‘The Engineer’ Salem and I immediately saw Ronnie and Stephanie; it felt like no time had passed since we last hung out. Slowly the guests began trickling in.
Before long it felt like the good ole days at the show as the guests now included JD, Jason Kaplan, Gary, Brandano, Bubba, Sal, Richard, Richie & Rachel Wilson and a lot of unfamiliar faces that were the ‘new crew’. I have not listened to a full show since the day my time came to an end exactly 10 years ago today on October, 16, 2013 as I was reminded by Richie. I have only listened to just two interviews in the past 10 years: Hillary Clinton and Bruce Springsteen and I’ve watched snippets of a few clips posted on X (Twitter) but besides that nothing else, so I don’t know the show anymore or the staff. However, I have heard and seen a lot of things about people's feelings about the show these days. I will be listening on ‘Munday’ for the post wedding wrap…which will probably focus on the vows and ‘speeches’ at the wedding (not sure what JD was thinking)!
Catching up with the guys was really great and my uncertain thoughts about how I’d feel seeing them were quickly only positive ones. Gary…JD…Brandano…the legendary Bubba The Love Sponge and other colleagues and friends I made through my association with the show: my great friend Jon Harris, Wayne Siegle, Pat. F., Joe L. and others I’ve worked and associated with were all at the party. But I still didn’t know these new guys and girls except meeting Steve Nowikie and Mike Pearlman in the past (I did meet Samantha on the plane ride in and she was extremely nice).
Shortly after the party started Memet came up to me and introduced himself and said we met before at Ronnie’s house party but I did not clearly recall meeting him but we had a nice chat; Nowikie and I also caught up. The ice was broken with the ‘new guys’. Then it was catching up with Steve Brandano, Ryan from the tapes team, JD, and someone who blew my mind seeing – Jason Kaplan. I had no idea about his dramatic weight loss; we had a great catching up convo as well but who were these other guys?
The next day at the pool cabanas, which I heard was a huge on-air bit, I started to meet more of the unfamiliar faces: Chris Weilding, Jon Blitt, Mike Trainor and seeing more familiar faces including Wolfie and Will Murray. Overall the cabanas were fun but nothing worthy of a big to-do on the show as it was a very mellow hang out...but that’s the show! At night, it was a great dinner with Richie, Rachel and Scott at my friend Cory’s amazing restaurant: Carson Kitchen; a walk through old Vegas on Fremont Street then back to Red Rock where we met up with another blast from the past: Tabitha Stevens and her husband Gary along with a HowardTV ‘Wrap Up Show’ reunion with me, Rachel Fine and Jon Hein. A lot of photos were taken that I have posted here which hopefully won’t get anyone in trouble!
I was told numerous times by some of the ‘new team’ how they enjoyed the E! Show and HowardTV and knew very well who I was and expressed how much they had enjoyed the TV show(s) when they were fans and before working there now. It was a cool feeling and classy moves. I asked a lot of questions of them, as they did of me about the show during my tenure and we got to know each other. It was nice to know they enjoyed the work of the TV crew and not forget that we existed!
The wedding day came and it was an awesome, very unique ceremony conducted by an Elvis impersonator. Regardless of what may be said on the show – it was great and well received. Richard Christy also almost deafened me by prematurely setting off a very loud and large explosive party popper about a foot from my head…but, heeeeeey, how can you get mad at Richard!
As the night went on more and more hanging out with the old and new crew. Hanging with Brian Phelan, as always, was great, same with Richie and Rachel who I shared a lot of time and laughs with. Scott Salem does a lot of smiling these days and looks great. Meeting Mike Trainor, Derek Jones and getting to know Jon Blitt some more and his thoughts on some old classic segments I was a part of was a fun journey down memory lane. And a great long talk with my buddy Sal.
The strangest moment of the night for me was when the ‘new crew’ got together for a big group photo and none of my team were there and seeing so many new faces of the new regime. The other strangest moment was when after the Best Man and Maid of Honor speeches an open mic was offered…I am 100% certain that that will be the bulk of the on-air fodder with the speeches made by Sal, JD, Wayne, Joe L., Jon Harris and Bubba; including Ronnie’s speech that may have gone on a little too long…but it was classic Ronnie!
At the end of the day, my and many others issues with the way things ended with HowardTV are issues with a certain person or two or three; not any of the current regime and I quickly realized holding any uncertain feelings, animosity, or hostility towards anyone else is misdirected and misguided. This is truly a really nice group of people that seem to all get along well (I think!) just as the camaraderie we had at HowardTV with not only the TV crew but with the radio staff as well.
I missed seeing others that I was hoping would be there: Shuli, Tracey Millman, Benjy, Tim Sabean and Gange…it would have been so nice to see them in person and catch up.
I wish everyone well and hope when things come to an end in a few short years that they will all land softly and respectfully.
And most importantly, a very huge congratulations to the reason we were all there: Stephanie & Ronnie Mund
