• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Former 'Cheers' Star Ratzenberger Tapes Travel Channel Show at E-One in Ocala

Posted on: Friday, 14 October 2005, 00:00 CDT

By Rick Cundiff, Ocala Star-Banner, Fla.

Oct. 13--OCALA, Fla. -- John Ratzenberger has a message for those who see nothing wrong with a U.S. economy based on service instead of building things.

"Michelangelo couldn't go to work until somebody built the ceiling," the former "Cheers" star said Wednesday. "Bruce Springsteen couldn't work 'til somebody built the guitar. We didn't set out to be, and we shouldn't become, a service economy."

Ratzenberger was in town to film a segment of his Travel Channel series "John Ratzenberger's Made in America" at the Emergency One fire truck plant. The series celebrates American manufacturing and American workers.

"I want to honor the people who get up and go to work every day whether they're hung over or not," Ratzenberger said.

It's a different role for Ratzenberger than Cliff Clavin, the character he played for 11 seasons on "Cheers." He likes it that way.

"I'm having a ball. I'm more comfortable on a factory floor than I am in Hollywood," he said. "Hollywood and the media have given us the idea that if you work hard for a living, you're somehow a lesser human being.

My dad drove a truck for Texaco for 35 years. Up every day at 4:30 ... If it wasn't for the people that Hollywood makes fun of going to work each day, there'd be no Hollywood."

Producers for the show sought out E-One, said company president Marc Gustafson.

"They made a request to do a feature on E-One," he said. "We certainly saw that as our opportunity to showcase our finest asset, our people."

The E-One segment was one of four filmed in Florida this week, said Shayne Lewin, supervising producer for "Made in America."

"We do about eight trips a year. We try to bunch them together," she said.

In addition to E-One, the "Made in America" team visited sunscreen producer Hawaiian Tropic, boat maker Chris-Craft and G&T Conveyors, Lewin said.

No air date has been set for the E-One segment, Gustafson said.

Producers have said they will notify the company in March when the episode will air, he added.

Because each one is a custom product, fire trucks can be a showcase for creativity, Gustafson said. Firefighters have a lot of opinions on what they want in their trucks, he said.

"You do see a lot of their creativity and passion coming through in how they want their truck designed," he said.

"Made in America" is entering its third season. Ratzenberger offers a simple explanation for its success.

"It's a show you watch with your kids," he said. "You don't have to be afraid that all of a sudden we're gonna be jumping in a hot tub."

Ratzenberger offers a word of advice to those who say it doesn't matter where in the world goods are made.

"If you think, 'Well, I can get it here cheaper,' that's short term thinking. You're not thinking of your kids and grandkids," he said. "If you keep buying items to save three or four bucks, and you're putting Americans out of work, you better start learning to speak Chinese."

The way to avoid that is to realize that everything is connected, Ratzenberger said.

"It's a tapestry," he said. "We all need each other, with all the jobs that we do."

"JOHN RATZENBERGER'S MADE IN AMERICA" airs on the Travel Channel, at 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays and at 4 p.m. Saturdays.

-----

To see more of the Ocala Star-Bannner -- including its homes, jobs, cars and other classified listings -- or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.starbanner.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, Ocala Star-Banner, Fla.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

COX, L, CCN,

Source: Ocala Star-Banner

More News in this Category