The Crowd

B.W. Cook

“It’s hard to believe that it’s been seven years since we started,”

said Barbara Venezia, co-host of “At Home On The Range,” the locally

produced television show that also stars John Crean.

“We’re on the air in Australia and England, and next year we may even

go to England to produce shows specifically targeted for the British

market,” added the redheaded Venezia with the bigger-than-life

personality that has been an ingredient of success with partner Crean on

what the duo calls the cooking show for the “deranged.” Crean delivers

the one-liners and sets up all the recipes on the show, and Venezia

stirs.

There is plenty of stirring going on behind the scenes in the Newport

Beach-based television production facility in the garage of the Crean

estate known as “The Village,” and down the street from the Crean

residence in the working home offices of the Venezia compound off the

Back Bay.

“I’m not just the dumb redhead with the big wooden spoon,” jests

Venezia, who has taken the local dream and turned the project into both a

career, a profitable business and now an international video enterprise.

“John Crean is no dilettante and neither am I,” added Venezia, who

works on the show from all perspectives including video production,

performance, sales, marketing and programming year-round. “John will not

tolerate any red ink on this job, and frankly, I won’t either. This is

not an ego exercise. We’re trying to accomplish something here.”

The duo have just self-published a cookbook based on the television

show. The book, appropriately titled, “At Home On The Range, The Cookbook

for the Deranged,” is available on the Internet at www.hotrange.com . It

just came out last week.

“This is the first day, and we’ve had more than 200 orders,” shared

the writer, Venezia. “But what if that’s it? What if there are no more

orders?” Checking in with Venezia later in the week she reported that the

orders continued to flow in, and that in fact they were even receiving

international requests from both Australia and Great Britain where the

show enjoys considerable success.

“The cookbook is just a natural outgrowth of our show,” she added.

“For years we’ve been getting requests from fans that they wanted a

cookbook.”

Crean, the millionaire mobile home mogul behind Fleetwood, known for

his dry wit, (both on the show and in the community where he and his wife

of 51 years, Donna, enjoy a position of royal prominence on the social

hierarchy), added, “OK, where else can you find a cookbook that gives you

jokes along with great recipes. You can laugh while you make dinner.”

If laughter and good cooking can lead to a 51-year marriage, then

there is certainly good reason to accept Crean’s supposition. The

cookbook is not so much about making money, although it too will

eventually end up in the black given the work ethic of both partners.

Rather, the book, filled with jokes, pictures, anecdotes, and plenty of

recipes including such favorites as Span Indonesia, crunchy almond

snapper filets, seven-minute cabbage soup surprise, and the best tuna

casserole this side of somewhere, is meant to expand the franchise.

“In seven years we’ve made 228 episodes of the show. We began on

Southern California access cable and now we are on KOCE, the local PBS

station with some 5 million viewers,” reported the workaholic Venezia who

also sold the show to Australia’s Lifestyle Channel and to Sky TV in the

UK, where it plays both in daytime and late night slots.

“They don’t really know what to make of us there either,” said the

producer, star and videotape shipper. “But they are committed to finding

a niche for the show. Hey, it’s not so bad to be on at noon and midnight.

We get them all that way.”

Many folks assume that with the Crean fortune behind the project, it

has been an easy ride. Venezia, who is married to a very successful local

businessman as well, has never taken a penny for granted.

“This has been a real career pursuit from day one,” she said, adding

that at times her involvement in the local social and charitable circuit

was a challenge in terms of time management. Venezia has been past chair

of many worthwhile events, most notably handling the major duties at

several Opera Pacific balls and Islanders projects for children.

“I had to pull back at a certain point,” she said. “I just couldn’t do

it all, and do it all well.” Today, Venezia and Crean are dedicated to

seeing how far they can take their seven-year video experiment. Along the

road, the pair have been courted by major managers, production companies

and networks.

Castle Rock Entertainment, producers of major national television

product wanted to do a development deal. Fox Lab, a division of Fox TV,

signed them to a five-year deal in 1995, only to disappear in 1996.

They’ve been regulars on ABC-TV’s “The Home Show,” and a host of other

popular outlets.

“We’ve learned that we have to do it ourselves,” Venezia said. “Can

you imagine these 20-something-year-old TV executives coming to Orange

County to the Crean garage and telling John what’s funny? Please!”

Venezia recounted some of the more bizarre Hollywood forays, including

an early trip to Beverly Hills when the show first began.

“Everyone told me we needed an agent,” she said. “So, I drove up to

Beverly Hills and went to the biggest agency I knew, William Morris. I

walked in the door and asked to see an agent. I said it didn’t have to be

a big agent. A little agent would do. Any one would do. What did I know?

It seemed like a civilized way to do business. I’d introduce myself and

tell them what we were doing and it would go from there. I have never

been more humiliated in my life.”

Venezia has learned much in seven years. So has Crean, in fact.

However, their experience has taught them that in show business, as in

life, if you want the job done right, do it yourself.

So Crean, at 74, and Venezia at 38 and holding -- an unlikely yet

highly likable duo -- talk the talk and walk the walk of show biz and

media saturation in an ongoing attempt to take their little local cooking

show to the world.

“It could happen,” insisted Venezia with a wide grin. “We got 90 more

book orders today. And that’s with no publicity.”

Crean tells his cohort to let him know if he has to go to England to

tape new versions of the show.

“John will just come over for the actual taping which will last a few

concentrated weeks,” she reported. “We’ll do all the preproduction before

he arrives, which means that I’ll be there for a couple of months in

advance. Please don’t tell my husband.”

Actually, her husband is well aware of the demands placed upon his

wife. They only recently returned from a trip to Europe for meeting and

scouting the project possibilities.

“I think my husband prefers Costa Mesa,” Venezia said. But the

prospects for a professional stirrer and her wealthy and powerful Spam

expert chef and partner are only limited by their determination. With

that in mind, you can be sure that our Newport-Mesa neighbors will one

day be on TV sets broadcasting in foreign tongues.

“I have enough trouble with English,” Venezia added. Trouble is

clearly a good friend. In fact, the more trouble the better. Check out

the cookbook. It’s a real hoot.* B.W. COOK’S column appears every

Thursday and Saturday.