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Steve Binder

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Producer

The Resume

    (December 12, 1932- )
    Born in Los Angeles, California
    Birth name was Irwin Sheppard Binder
    Producer and director known primarily for televised musical specials
    Produced and directed ‘Petulia’ (1968), ‘Elvis’ (1968), ‘Liza’ (1970), ‘Diana Ross: Live from Central Park’ (1983), ‘The Grand Ole Opry 65th Anniversary’ (1991), ‘Aladdin on Ice’ (1995), ‘Beauty and the Beast on Ice’ (1996), and ‘Michelle Kwan Skates to Disney’s Greatest Hits’ (1999)
    Directed ‘The TAMI Show’ (1964), ‘The Star Wars Holiday Special’ (1978), and three Primetime Emmy Awards shows (1982-84)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was originally a premed student until a stint deejaying on the campus radio station convinced him to give show business a try.
    He was the director and executive producer of Chevy Chase’s failed late night talk show.
    ’What Were They Thinking? The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History’ called ‘The Star Wars Holiday Special’ ‘the worst two hours of television ever.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    When an ad manager at Plymouth, the sponsor of Petulia Clark’s 1968 TV special, demanded that a duet with Harry Belafonte that ended with Clark touching Belafonte’s arm be replaced by a different take (to avoid potentially offending viewers in the southern US), he not only refused, he had all other takes of the song destroyed.
    He convinced Elvis he was the right person to helm his 1968 comeback special with his blunt assessment of Presley’s career: ‘I think it’s in the toilet.’
    He won an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy, Variety or Music Special as producer of ‘The Barry Manilow Special.’ (1977)
    He was brought in to salvage ‘The Star Wars Holiday Special’ after the original director quit and noted, ‘I had obviously no impact whatsoever on changing anything.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 7 Votes: 28.57% Annoying