Many unanswered phone calls later, I suggested to Bill that we turn to Plan B. Asner's people weren't interested in doing some silly radio bit. We discussed using a Harry Caray impersonator or Edie McClurg (the secretary from Ferris Bueller's Day Off) or even Chicagoan Bill Kurtis...none of which scratched Bill's itch. Then, one afternoon, I got a voicemail from Asner's secretary who requested I phone her and go into more detail about the bit. I called her and she actually answered. I quickly explained what we wanted to do and then faxed some sample scripts to her. Again, I didn't hear anything. A few days later, she called and said that Ed agreed to do it. WHAT?!? I called Bill and shared the news. He was equally shocked and excited.
We phoned Ed to tape all the segments and he had some trepidation. The script seem off, he told us. "It seems to me that people should be nicer the closer we get to Christmas," he explained. Our script didn't reflect that. "We can do that! You want to do that?" Leff reassured him. The script called for Asner to became progressively angrier with each passing day. Things like "a candy cane" turned into "a ratty-looking elf with an overbite" as each day passed. There was even a day when Asner snarled, "I don't feel like doing one today," and then hung up the phone. We all laughed and sat in amazement that he was playing along. When we aired them back, listeners were confused. Was it really Ed Asner? Why was he so angry? Was he pretending to be so upset? Some folks even kept track of all the items on the Advent Calendar believing it would lead to cash and prizes (it didn't, but we were flattered). For Leff, it was comedy gold. For me, I felt validated for delivering to Leff exactly who and what he wanted.