(upbeat music) - Hi everyone, Steve Adubato.

We kick off the program with our partner and friend, Steve Edwards, President of the great New Jersey Hall of Fame.

Steve, where are you right now?

- Right now I'm in our Late Night Jersey Television Studio.

You got your studio, we got our studio here at the Hall of Fame, and I'm at New Jersey Hall of Fame at American Dream.

This is our new 10,000 square foot state-of-the-art entertainment learning center that we just opened last June.

And so many of your, I think, audience viewers probably don't even know about it, let alone at been here.

So it's great that I'm on today and promoting it because they've gotta see this place.

Anyone who's got half a tank of Jersey Pride needs to see this place.

- Yeah, the website's gonna be up throughout the segment, Steve, so people can go there and check it out.

I will admit, as of this date, I have not been there and I will be there because I look forward to being in the studio there and interacting with some of, actually, there's real interactivity between the honorees and people who come there and it's fascinating.

I've seen it done by other people.

PS, the Hall of Fame, New Jersey Hall of Fame is our partner on our series "Remember Them" co-anchored by our executive producer Jacqui Tricarico and without the Hall of Fame, "Remember Them" would not exist.

Lemme just put that out there.

Hey Steve, let's do this.

Let's honor and feature just some of the 2024 Hall of Fame inductees.

One of them, by the way, check out the interview that Jacqui Tricarico did about Leslie Gore with Leslie Gore's brother.

Check that out.

But Steve, can I throw some names out at you and you tell us why they matter?

- Absolutely.

- One of my favorite writers of all time, Gay Talese.

Go ahead.

- Gay Talese, well, I don't think most of your viewers have read that article, "Sinatra has a Cold".

I think if they read that, that is one of the best magazine articles written of all time.

But Gay, of course, is a literary genius.

And the thing about the Hall of Fame is we're not just about sports and entertainment.

It's all walks of life.

And Gay Talese is an example from the literary world of greatness that we've exported here in the state.

- Speaking of greatness, Meryl Streep from Basking Ridge in Bernardsville, inducted, I believe, by Cher.

It was, the great interactivity was great between the two of them.

Meryl Streep, extraordinary, iconic.

Please, Steve.

- And she, listen, I've been watching Meryl Streep on movies since the seventies, like so many others.

She reached the pinnacle of the acting profession.

I think she did that probably by the late seventies, certainly by the early eighties.

And she continues to do what she loves.

She jumps from project to project, just very passionate about the acting profession, portraying so many amazing characters.

And she's also somebody that is proud to be from New Jersey.

She really is.

She grew up in Bernards Township.

Her brother, I believe, still lives here in Jersey and she has never forgotten her roots.

- Lemme give you another one who was so emotional about his induction.

Kevin Smith, director, producer, writer, actor, filmmaker.

"Clerks", check out "Clerks", a classic.

Kevin Smith, gimme a minute on Kevin Smith.

- Well, Kevin, of course, started out making these independent films.

He's grown since then.

He is somebody that is very Jersey centric and was so moved by the fact that we inducted him with the likes of Edison and Einstein.

He literally, he gave his induction speech right behind me by the Model T that we have on display here, Edison's Model T. And he literally, I don't think he'd mind me saying, he's a sensitive guy.

He literally started to cry during his induction because New Jersey means so much to Kevin Smith.

- All right, those of us who are Giants fans, right across from you, Giants Stadium, a couple of Giants were inducted.

Ron Johnson, a great running back, but also one of my favorite of all times, Phil Simms.

A class act, a Jersey guy.

Not originally from Jersey, but as he said in his acceptance speech, he accepted and embraced New Jersey as his home.

Talk about that, please, Steve.

- Yeah, I actually talked to Phil about that when we inducted him, again, right behind me by our Wall of Fame.

And Phil moved here, I guess late seventies, early eighties.

His wife is from New Jersey, but he said, he's from Kentucky.

He said, there's no way I am ever going back to Kentucky, not just because my wife's not gonna let me, but because I just love New Jersey so much.

So he is a transplant.

But we love those stories of people that come from other states and anchor here, and then they're here to stay.

- I'll tell you another interesting one.

So those of us who love Danny DeVito, and I was honored to be part of last year's ceremony at New Jersey Performing Arts Center when my dad was inducted, Steve and the team allowed me to induct my dad.

And the host of that event, the MC, who's been there for years, is Danny DeVito.

Danny DeVito and Peter Cancro, The founder of Jersey Mikes, doing really interesting, entertaining commercials together.

But DeVito inducted Cancro.

Why is Peter Cancro so important, Steve?

- Well, I think Peter is one of the ultimate Jersey guy stories.

He started back in the, I think 1960s was the first Jersey Mike's that he bought, and then he started to expand it.

I used to eat those Jersey Mike's, by the way, when I went to Rutgers college in the early eighties.

I remember the business was on the move that this is a guy that got started with very humble beginnings down in the Point Pleasant area.

And he's now grown to be one of the most successful entrepreneurs, not only in the country, but in the world.

So that's just, I think, a tremendous Jersey story to tell other people and hopefully inspire the future Jersey Mike's.

- By the way, I'm not a big skating fan, but I was fascinated by Dick Button, a two time Olympic gold medalist skating figure and a great broadcaster that made skating relevant to so many because of his work as a broadcaster.

So many other, Geraldine Thompson from Red Bank, social reform pioneer.

First Lady of New Jersey was her nickname.

Warren Littlefield, Montclair, hey, Must See TV.

- Warren made his acceptance speech right at this table where I am.

He came here and he loved the Hall of Fame, but Warren is behind so many incredible TV series from "Seinfeld", "Mad About You", "The Cosby Show".

The list just goes on and on and on of television that he originated.

And I mean literally, "ER", "Homicide", and the list just goes on and on.

He is just a legend in the television industry.

- And speaking of legends, these people would not be known to us in this way if not for Steve Edwards, who's really becoming a legend of recognizing people with the team at the Hall of Fame.

So to Steve and our partners at the New Jersey Hall of Fame, check out their website, go to American Dream, experience it yourself.

I will be there very soon because Steve will embarrass me if I do not, and plus I want to experience it.

Hey, thank you my friend.

- Steve, thank you.

We can't wait to give you the tour.

Your dad, the legendary Steve Adubato Sr. is in here.

He's the predecessor to another Steve Adubato I'm sure that's coming in here in the future as well.

Look forward to giving you the tour.

- Well, I don't know about that, but I'll say this.

I would be honored if that ever happened, but I do not wanna engage with my father and have him yell at me virtually over at the American Dream.

Thanks, Steve.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by The New Jersey Education Association.

Hackensack Meridian Health.

The Turrell Fund, a foundation serving children.

Johnson & Johnson.

PSE&G.

Citizens Philanthropic Foundation.

NJM Insurance Group.

The North Ward Center.

And by The Russell Berrie Foundation.

Promotional support provided by NJ.Com.

And by New Jersey Globe.

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