Bob Dylan Gets Variety Show
Two and a half minutes of screen time during an October episode of Dharma and Greg apparently wasn’t enough for Bob Dylan, so he’s planning to star in an hour-long Ed Sullivan-style variety show for HBO. It will be produced by Larry Charles, who has worked on Seinfeld and Mad About You. “If Bob’s in charge, I would expect to be surprised,” says Dharma and Greg executive producer Chuck Lorre. “You’ve got to admire the fact that the man doesn’t have boundaries about which medium is acceptable.”
Photos: Bob Dylan Captured at Home and on the Scene
Dylan and Charles have both been tight-lipped about the project, and HBO spokeswoman Tobe Becker says no production date or air date has been set. A source close to Dylan says he decided to take Charles up on the idea for a TV special because he’d enjoyed his sitcom appearance and wanted to do more TV. “He was walking around the set trying to understand how the process works,” says Lorre. “He really liked the environment, and he was even talking to us about the possibility of shooting a concert on a sound-stage like this.”
Before he can get started on the project, Dylan has to finish up his summer tour, which kicks off June 16th in Portland, Oregon, and features the Grateful Dead‘s Phil Lesh as an opening act.
This story is from the June 22nd, 2000 issue of Rolling Stone.