Chris Gumprich asks…

For as long as I've been following you, you've hosted a tremendous number of panels. How do you prepare for these? Is it like a journalist preparing for an interview, or do you rely on your own deep knowledge of virtually everything in comics and animation to just wing it?

Has there ever been a time where you hosted a panel and felt completely out of your depth?

Some panels, you just wing. I've usually found that if you have a solid opening question, the responses you get usually lead organically to a solid second question and a third and so on. So I don't do much prep with those except to think of a solid opening question…and to research the interviewee(s) a bit just to see if there are areas worth exploring that I don't know about.  You don't want to miss some fascinating part of the panelists' lives.

But Quick Draw! takes a lot of prep as do the Cartoon Voices panels, as does Cover Story. This Comic-Con, I'm interviewing Don Glut, who I've known for about fifty years. If I just bring up all the interesting things I can remember about Don and his work and get him to telling stories about them, it should be an entertaining breeze.

I don't recall any awkward panels when I was the one deciding on the panel's theme and who'd be on it. I do recall a few where the convention operator asked me to moderate a panel they'd configured…and they had configured it with no rhyme-and-reason. I told one of those stories here and there were others long ago.

The con would have a lot of guest stars who really had nothing in common with each other. That was fine when they were sitting behind tables in the Dealers Room autographing stuff. But someone running the con would say, "We have to have our guests on a panel" and there were two things wrong with that. One was, and probably still is, that some convention guests would rather spend that time at their tables making money. They were appearing on a panel under at least slight duress, eager to get the thing over. Never a great situation.

So I had to moderate a panel where the panelists had nothing in common and there were few (if any) questions I could put to all of them. And when I asked Panelist #1 a question about his or her work, Panelist #2 wasn't interested…and it can make for an awkward panel when anyone on the panel doesn't care about much of what's being said. They're fine with the parts of the panel where they can talk about their own work but during the ones when they can't, they're sitting there squirming, thinking of all the sales they're not making back at their tables. So we try to avoid that.

Mostly, it's just a matter of me thinking either "What do I know about this person that this audience would like to hear them talk about?" or sometimes, "What do I not know about this person that I'd like to hear about and which I think the audience might be interested to hear?" If you keep those two questions in mind and the panelists have something in common and want to be there, you can't go much wrong. And when it's me interviewing just one person, you usually don't have those problems because most people like to talk about themselves.

Robert Kanigher was a writer-editor at DC Comics from 1945 until around 1985. He was amazingly prolific and several folks who worked around him told me, with only slight variations, the following: That one of the other editors could go to him and say, "Bob, I'm in a jam. I need an eight-page romance script" and Kanigher would drop whatever he was doing, roll a fresh piece of paper into his typewriter and without pausing to mull, start writing Page One with no idea whatsoever what might happen on Page Two or subsequent pages. The story, of course, would be done in an hour or so…

…and it would always be publishable. It might be wonderful, it might not but it would always be something they could use with one possible exception. The only reason it might not be used is that it might be the same story Kanigher had written a few months or years before. He had a tendency to repeat himself without realizing it…as any longtime reader of Wonder Woman, Metal Men, Enemy Ace, Sgt. Rock or any other comic he wrote could tell you.

Needless to say, he made a lot of money writing comics…a fact which I think prevented him, as it prevented others in comics, from branching out to other areas. We had a few interesting encounters, including one time when he explained to me that every single comic book ever published by Marvel ad most of the non-Kanigher comics published at DC were pure shit.

He always struck me as perpetually angry that he felt trapped in a profession that probably didn't allow him to explore the full range of his abilities. He also struck me as just plain perpetually angry and a lot of folks who worked with him found him difficult to work for. There was a point in the sixties when a lot of DC artists were migrating to Marvel, usually hiding under pseudonyms at first. They were almost all artists who'd worked for Kanigher.

Here he is in a 1972 episode of the game show, To Tell the Truth…

A lot of folks online seem sure that the axing of The Late Show is a case of CBS giving in to some demand by Donald Trump…and given some of the things CBS has done lately, that's an understandable suspicion. It could be that but the "financial decision" seems utterly credible to me. Colbert's show is expensive and even with it leading in the ratings of all late night shows, it's quite possible that CBS could put something else there that would be more profitable. Or at least thinks they can.

Networks have canceled profitable shows thinking that there's more cash to be made with something else. It's also not impossible that forces high up in Skydance Media, which is likely to merge with CBS/Paramount, don't like Colbert's politics (and recent criticisms of the "bribe") and decided to dump him without any pressure from the White House.

And of course, it's possible that there are more sinister doings here. One way I think we might know is if we see some of those Trump tweets where he basically confesses to his dirty dealings. A more likely way would be to see what Jon Stewart has to say. I don't believe we've heard from him yet but he has a very real interest in this. Colbert has ten more months of shows on CBS and may want to not get into too great a pissing contest with the network…for his staff's benefit if not his own. But Stewart doesn't have to get along with CBS until next May.

In case you haven't heard — I just did from Stu Shostak — CBS is getting out of the late night business and terminating Stephen Colbert's late night show as of next May. They're saying this is a purely financial decision and I have no reason to doubt that even though Colbert currently has the most-watched of all the late night shows. But that species of show has become less and less profitable over the last decade or two. That's why they tried replacing James Corden not with another late night host but with something much cheaper…and then they decided to dump even that. All the regular broadcast networks are cutting and slashing expensive programming. It's just the way the business has been going for some time.

Colbert will do fine. His managers are probably cackling now at the kind of offers he's likely to get. If I ran HBO or one of those networks, I'd offer him a check with a lot of digits on it to do a completely uncensored — live, even — version of the kind of show he's been doing. He may not want that. He's such a versatile guy and a talk show only taps into some of what he can do so he may want to do something else.

And that's about as far as I've thought this thing through as of right now. It's kind of shocking, I know, but we're going to see CBS, NBC and ABC all remake themselves over the next few years so there will be more such shocks.

Here's another Three Stooges short…Hold That Lion. And there are several interesting things I have to say about it, starting with the fact that it was released on July 17, 1947. That's 78 years ago today. Also, it was the 100th short comedy that the Stooges made for Columbia…and it's a film with four Stooges in it — Larry plus the three Howard brothers.

As we all know, Curly Howard had to retire from acting — and I guess you could call what he did "acting" — due to a stroke. His brother Shemp took over his spot in the act and this was the third short with Shemp in that capacity. Curly visited the set during filming so they decided to bolster his spirits a bit or perhaps give him some hope that he might someday resume his career. For one or more of those reasons, they gave him a brief cameo as a train passenger.

I wonder what audiences of the time thought about the Three Stooges transitioning from Larry, Moe and Curly to Larry, Moe and Shemp. And then I wonder that they thought if/when they spotted Curly in this film. I'm guessing there were a lot of puzzled moviegoers.

Later on at Columbia, the studio saved money in the declining business of making two-reel comedies by making more and more of them with old footage. Increasingly, making a short comedy amounted to shooting new scenes to incorporate with reused scenes from earlier pictures and scenes from Hold That Lion turned up in many later comedies. Curly's cameo was reused in Booty and the Beast, which was released in March of 1953, around fourteen months after Curly's death.

Here's the film. If you just want to see the brief bit with Curly, clicking on this link will take you magically to YouTube and it will start the playback with that scene. Isn't modern science wonderful? If you want to watch the whole film from the start, click below…

Donald Trump keeps changing his story on how many missing children we have in this country and how many of them have been found. Glenn Kessler has the details on this.

There are crazy people out here who think the floods in Texas were due to human beings deliberately modifying the weather to make that happen. FactCheck.org has the details and the debunking.

Trump's rambling, fact-free tale about his uncle and the Unabomber is analyzed by Daniel Dale. People said Joe Biden had dementia for less embarrassing performances.

The deportation of dangerous criminals is understandably cheered by many. One wonders how many of the cheerers would be cheering if they realized that most of the people being rounded up and perhaps having their lives ruined have no criminal record. The Associated Post has some eye-widening numbers.

As Steve Benen notes, the Trump Administration is trying to have it both ways: Our cities are safer under Trump but more drastic ICE-type measures are necessary because they're getting less and less safe.

And on and on it goes…

If online forums are any indication, the Broadway community is quite surprised that the current revival of Gypsy starring Audra MacDonald is closing way sooner than expected. Its last performance will be August 17 and it will have played 28 previews and 269 performances. By contrast, the 2008 revival with Patti LuPone — which received less attention, less acclaim and which I thought was not very good — ran 27 previews and 332 performances. The Audra version had been expected to run at least until October 5 and there was much chatter about whether it would run longer than that.

Having not seen the new version, I have no guess as to why the shortened run. Well, I have one: Maybe Gypsy has just been revived too often. And come to think of it, I have two: Maybe audiences are getting less eager to shell out huge bucks to see huge stars. I think both these reasons are worth some consideration.

It's a show I think I love…and my hesitation to commit is because I never liked the movie or most of the live versions I've seen. My favorite, which I only saw on video, was the 2015 revival in London starring Imelda Staunton. (You can order a copy on Amazon or probably watch it on many streaming services including Tubi.)

My problem with many presentations of it — and I've discussed this here before — is that I see this as the story of a woman (Mama Rose) who had to make one or more of her kids into stars because she could never be a star herself. And there's something wrong with a production of it where the person on the stage playing Mama Rose is the one with most of the star quality and talent. (Or as in the movie with Rosalind Russell, comes across like a woman of wealth and breeding…and in Ms. Russell's case, an obviously-dubbed one when singing.)

I obviously never saw Ethel Merman in the part but she strikes me as the perfect Mama Rose. She was a Broadway star who didn't look like a Broadway star. But maybe I'm underestimating the suspension of disbelief an audience can muster for the right performance. I just had no interest in seeing Audra MacDonald, who I think may be the most talented performer in the business today, playing someone who could never be a star. Oh — and what you had to shell out to get good seats was also kinda discouraging.

Here is the complete list of what I'm doing at Comic-Con.  Yes, I'm actually scheduled for all these things along with several business appointments and interviews.  I'm having the guys who built the robot Walt Disney make one of me to handle some of these panels but I fear it won't be ready in time. And it'll probably be better-looking than I am…

• THURSDAY •

Thursday, July 24 – 10 AM to 11 AM in Room 9
GREAT CARTOONISTS AND COMEDIANS WE HAVE KNOWN
Film expert Leonard Maltin and writer Mark Evanier have thousands of years of show business between them and have met and sometimes even worked with some of the cleverest, funniest men and women. They'll be sharing their experiences with people like Groucho Marx, Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett, Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, and as many others as they can squeeze into the time they have.

Thursday, July 24 – NOON to 1 PM in Room 10
TALES FROM MY SPINNER RACK LIVE
It's the world premiere weekend for Fantastic Four: First Steps, and “Tales from My Spinner Rack Live!” returns to Comic-Con with Gary Sassaman (former director of programming and publications for Comic-Con) taking a nostalgic look back at Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four covers, alongside Kirby experts Mark Evanier (author, Kirby: King of Comics) and John Morrow (editor/publisher, Jack Kirby Collector). They'll each pick their top ten Kirby covers from Fantastic Four 1-101 and Annuals 1-7. Learn the secrets and untold tales behind some of these covers at this graphics-filled presentation! FREE limited edition Tales From My Spinner Rack booklet and button for each attendee!

Thursday, July 24 – 3 PM to 3:45 PM at Booth 1635
SIGNING
Mark and design wizard Chip Kidd will be at the Peanuts booth because of their forthcoming book, The Essential Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz: The Greatest Comic Strip of All Time. They'll be signing free posters for the book and at some point, Chip will hold a football and Mark will try to kick it. Good luck with that.

Thursday, July 24 – 4 PM to 5 PM in Room 25ABC
ABRAMS COMICARTS: REDEFINING GRAPHIC STORYTELLING
Abrams ComicArts, a division of Abrams Books, provides an inside look at how they're reshaping the graphic novel landscape. Known for literary adaptations, curated collections of classic comics, genre-defying originals, and captivating manga, Abrams ComicArts continues to push the boundaries of visual storytelling. Panelists will share behind-the-scenes insights into the creative and editorial processes, talk through their approach to publishing and promoting diverse content, and give an exclusive preview of what's coming next. Featuring Chris Ryall (Megalopolis: An Original Graphic Novel), Charlie Kochman (editor-in-chief, Abrams ComicArts), Joseph Montagne (Abrams ComicArts), Chip Kidd (The Essential Peanuts, The Avengers in the Veracity Trap!), Nate Powell (Fall Through, Save It for Later, Run), John Jennings (Kindred, Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talents), Grant Snider (Thinking About Thinking, The Art of Living, I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf), Mark Evanier (The Essential Peanuts) and moderator Jacq Cohen (director of marketing and publicity, Abrams ComicArts).

• FRIDAY •

Friday, July 25 – 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM in Room 10
THE GROO PANEL
Since 1981, Groo the Wanderer — the creation of cartoonist Sergio Aragonés — has wandered from comic book to comic book, company to company, and weird adventure to weirder adventure. Where did he come from? What's he up to now? And most important, how do we avoid him? Sergio's accomplice Mark Evanier will tell you all about the stupidest character in any multiverse anywhere, aided by the comic's longtime letterer Stan Sakai (the creator of Usagi Yojimbo) and its newest colorist, Carrie Strachan. And they may even try to get Sergio on the phone.

Friday, July 25 – 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM in Room 10
SPOTLIGHT ON TODD KLEIN
Your favorite comic book would be nothing without a skilled letterer, and one of the most skilled (and most honored with awards) is Todd Klein, who is also an expert on all those who have plied his craft, past and present. Come hear Todd interviewed by Comic-Con Special Guest Mark Evanier and learn all about this too-often-unappreciated part of just about every comic book you've ever loved.

Friday, July 25 – 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM in Room 10
TWO MARKS EXPLAIN EVERYTHING
Do you have a burning question about the world of comics? About some character or writer or artist or publisher? Well, if writer Mark Waid doesn't know the answer…and if writer Mark Evanier also doesn't know the answer…then probably no one knows. The two of them fielding questions from the audience made for one of the most popular panels at WonderCon earlier this year, and they've agreed to give more of you the opportunity to get the answers you seek.

Friday, July 25 – 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM in Room 10
FOCUS ON DON GLUT
Don Glut is the writer/creator of the popular comics Dagar the Invincible, The Occult Files of Doctor Spektor, and Tragg and the Sky Gods. For Warren Publishing, he authored tales for Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella, and for Marvel, his writing could be found in, among others, Captain America, The Invaders, Kull the Destroyer, Solomon Kane, Star Wars, and What If…? Don also has more than 80 books to his credit, including The Dinosaur Dictionary and the authorized novelization of the movie The Empire Strikes Back. This year, he's receiving the coveted Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing, and he'll discuss his amazing career in this spotlight interview with Finger Award chairman (and Comic-Con Special Guest) Mark Evanier.

Friday, July 25 – 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM in Room 10
WALT KELLY'S POGO
Walt Kelly (1913–1973) was one of the most honored cartoonists of his day, primarily (but not exclusively) for his popular newspaper strip, Pogo. He brought to life not only the highly quotable possum Pogo but also all the creatures Pogo fraternized with in the Okefenokee Swamp, including Churchy LaFemme, Howland Owl, Mam'selle Hepizbah, and Albert the Alligator. Walt Kelly was also a Disney animator, a writer-illustrator for Dell Comics, and a pretty quotable guy himself. His work and legacy will be discussed by cartoonist Liniers, writer Paul Dini, and the folks who bring you Fantagraphics' award-winning reprintings of The Complete Pogo: Maggie Thompson, Eric Reynolds, Jane Plunkett and your moderator, Mark Evanier.

Friday, July 25 – 8 PM to Whenever in the Indigo Ballroom the Bayfront Hilton
THE WILL EISNER AWARDS
Sometime during the ceremony, Mark and Bill Finger's granddaughter Athena Finger will be presenting the annual Bill Finger Awards for Excellence in Comic Book Writing, which this year are going to Don Glut and the late Sheldon Mayer.

• SATURDAY •

Saturday, July 26 – 11:45 AM to 1 PM in Room 6BCF
QUICK DRAW!
It's the battle you wait for every year, as three speedy cartoonists cross Sharpies to prove who's the fastest and the funniest. They create cartoons right before your very ideas, based on suggestions and challenges they've never heard before—suggestions and challenges that come from you in the audience and from your Quick Draw! quizmaster, Mark Evanier. Competing are Scott Shaw! (Sonic the Hedgehog), Tom Richmond (MAD magazine), Emma Steinkellner (Nell of Gumbling), and several surprise cartoonists. No Sergio this year, but he may try to phone something in. See why this is one of the most popular events in all of Comic-Con!

Saturday, July 26 – 1 PM to 2:30 PM in Room 6BCF
CARTOON VOICES I
Once again, your host Mark Evanier has assembled a panel of some of the hardest-working folks in the colorful profession of speaking for animated characters. They'll show you what they do, tell you how they do it, and probably massacre a beloved fairy tale in the process. On the panel this year are Gregg Berger (Transformers), Audrey Wasilewski (Monster High), Fred Tatasciore (The Hulk), Jim Meskimen (Thundercats), Benni Latham (Transformers: Earthspark), and Dana Gould (The Simpsons).

Saturday, July 26 – 3 PM to 4 PM in Room 6DE
SPOTLIGHT ON FRANK MILLER
Comic-Con special guest and legend Frank Miller, one of the most important creators of the last half century, returns to San Diego for a career-spanning conversation with Mark Evanier. From Ronin Rising to Sin City, from Pandora to The Dark Knight Returns, this panel will give attendees insight into Miller's storied collaborations, the resonance of his work, and the highly anticipated projects to come.

Saturday, July 26 – 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM in Room 7AB
THE ESSENTIAL PEANUTS BY CHARLES M. SCHULZ
A distinguished panel of contributors to The Essential Peanuts (Abrams ComicArts, October 2025) offer a heartfelt and insightful conversation about the legacy of Charles M. Schulz. Panelists include Mark Evanier (author of The Essential Peanuts), Chip Kidd (graphic designer), Paige Braddock (creative director emeritus at Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates), and Alexis E. Fajardo (editorial director, publishing & experiences at Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates). Moderated by Charles Kochman (editor-in-chief, Abrams ComicArts), the discussion will explore Schulz's artistic genius, the enduring cultural impact of Peanuts, and how this landmark volume frames the iconic strip with fresh historical and cultural context.

Saturday, July 26 – 7 PM to 8 PM in the Marriott Marquis Grand 10 & 11
PETER DAVID: A CELEBRATION OF HIS LIFE, WORK AND LEGACY
The comic book and science fiction communities recently lost a true titan when Peter David passed away. While Peter's works will be celebrated for decades to come, panelists invite you to join them for a lively celebration of Peter, the longtime convention presence, and amazing “Writer of Stuff.” Panelists will include comic legends, friends, and collaborators, including Paul Levitz, George Takei, Mark Evanier, Chris Ryall, and J. K. Woodward. Moderated by Peter's longtime Comics Buyer's Guide friend, Maggie Thompson.

• SUNDAY •

Sunday, July 27 – 10 AM to 11:15 AM in Room 5AB
THE ANNUAL JACK KIRBY TRIBUTE PANEL
It's a Comic-Con tradition to honor the man they call The King of the Comics, creator or co-creator of a staggering number of comic book characters, universes, and trends. If you don't know who he was and what he did, just look around the exhibit hall and you'll see his influence everywhere. Talking about Jack this year are Paul Levitz (former president of DC Comics), "Jack Kirby: Heroes and Humanity" curator Patrick A. Reed, attorney Paul S. Levine, Marvel editor Tom Brevoort, and Tracy Kirby and Jeremy Kirby from the Kirby family. Your host, as always, is former Kirby assistant Mark Evanier.

Sunday, July 27 – 11:45 AM to 1:15 PM in Room 6A
CARTOON VOICES II
Yesterday's Cartoon Voices panel was such a hit that we're doing another one with more people who speak for some of your favorite cartoon characters. On the dais for this one are Michael Scott Action (The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse), Kaitlyn Robrock (Minnie Mouse), Vincent Martella (Phineas and Ferb), Abby Trott (Demon Slayer), Gabe Kunda (Barbie: A Touch of Magic), Maurice LaMarche (Futurama), and at least one surprise guest. Your moderator is, of course, Mark Evanier.

Sunday, July 27 – 2 PM to 3 PM in Room 7AB
COVER STORY
Maybe you can't judge a book by its cover, but no book was ever harmed by having a great cover. So, what makes a great cover? Does the idea precede the interiors, or is it the other way around? And why have covers become more varied and artistic in the modern age of comics? These and other related topics will be discussed by a group of artists who've drawn some acclaimed covers in the last few years, including Rick Hoberg, Michael Cho, and Dan Jurgens. And it's all moderated by Mark Evanier.

Sunday, July 27 – 3 PM to 4:30 PM in Room 7AB
THE BUSINESS OF CARTOON VOICES
Are you considering (or maybe even actively pursuing) a career providing voices for animated cartoons, video games, and other related fields? You can find many people who will teach you — for a price. But how do you know who’s any good? And how does the business work? And what are the odds against you? In the interest of preventing wanna-be voice actors from being exploited, overcharged, or otherwise ripped off, this annual panel answers these and any other questions you may have for free. No one is going to try to sell you anything at this panel, which features voice actors Kaitlyn Robrock and Fred Tatasciore, as well as agent Julie Thompson of the prestigious agency, Sutton, Barth, and Vennari. The panel is moderated by Comic-Con mainstay (and professional voice director) Mark Evanier.

---

The time, place and/or personnel for all panels could change.  That usually doesn't happen but that doesn't mean it won't. I suggest arriving early for the panels in the bigger rooms — the ones whose numbers start with a "6" — as they usually have the greatest number of turnaways. Apart from the one signing listed above, I will only be signing items after each panel, time permitting, and only for people who sat through the panel. I don't charge for a reasonable number of items but I'm going to start charging an unreasonable fee for an unreasonable number of signatures. The entire Programming Schedule can be accessed at this link.

A whole lotta folks online are discussing the new animatronic Walt Disney and saying it doesn't look enough like him. As I said, I think he looks a little like Mike Lindell.

This is not a huge deal but I'm curious about one aspect of this. Obviously, the Disney folks could have called in any of thousands of sculptors in this world who could have produced a dead-on accurate likeness of their company's founder…and maybe at some point they did.  What strikes me as wrong about the final version of Walt is that his face is too wide. Here — I altered an image to explain what I mean. The image at left is how he/it looks. The image on the right narrows his/its face down a bit…

To me, the one on the right looks a little more like the Walt Disney I recall…the guy hosting the TV show in the early sixties.  And what I'm curious about is whether the animatronic's face is as wide as it is because they had to stuff it so full of whatever kind of gizmos they need to squint his eyes, blink 'em, make his lips move, etc.  What that face does in the video released so far is amazing.  I don't know the tech terms for what's inside there that makes all that happen…but I'll bet there's a lot of it.

Did Walt get a bit of a swelled head for that reason?  I still think the folks who built this thing did an incredible job.  I'm just curious if at some point they decided to sacrifice likeness for lifelike facial movements.  If anyone sees any articles that address this, lemme know.

In 1962, an outta-work TV producer-writer named Allan Sherman recorded an album of song parodies for Warner Brothers Records and quickly went from being broke to being very rich and famous. Very few records have had the immediate success of My Son, The Folk Singer and very few of them were comedy records. Sadly, Mr. Sherman's success did not last. He had a number of failures and a self-destructive streak. He was almost forgotten by 1970 and dead by '73.

I was a tremendous fan of his work even though when I was in high school, he sorta/kinda threatened to sue me — a story I've told several times on this site, here for instance. I still like listening to his recordings even though a lot of the comedy in them is quite dated.

Here he is on some TV show, singing one of the bigger hits from that first record, "Sarah Jackman." The lady in the duet is Christine Nelson, who was on the record with him. Most of the lyrics were rewritten for this TV appearance on the assumption, I assume, that everyone had heard the original record too many times by then…

On almost every show I worked on for Sid and Marty Krofft, the main guy in charge of design — of sets or costumes or both — was a lovely and talented gent named Jeremy Railton. No matter how little money there was in the budget or how little time there was on the schedule, Jeremy would cobble up something that looked like he had unlimited time and money. That was because he had unlimited talent.

He was an Emmy winner who worked with just about everyone including Michael Jackson and Fleetwood Mac. He designed a lot of Pee-Wee's Playhouse and you had to be damned good and imaginative to come near that franchise. Online sources say he was 80 but they don't say what he died of.

I hadn't seen Jeremy in many years but I have only good thoughts about him. He was really good at what he did. InPark magazine has a lot more about him.

Amanda Marcotte on why, after all the Trump crimes and moral transgressions his base has excused or denied, they're in high dudgeon about this Epstein thing.

I also think this conspiracy theory is different from many of the others because this one has an actual dead body attached. Of all the ones these same people believed about Hillary Clinton, the ones that had the widest fan base were the ones that led to the mysterious death of White House Counsel Vince Foster.

Someone killed Jeffrey Epstein and the circumstances — and the fact that a video that was released was apparently edited — makes it quite easy to believe that Someone was not Jeffrey Epstein…especially when Trump's White House seems to be saying there was no evidence against him. And of course, Trump is looking more and more panicked with his denials, practically ordering them to forget about the whole thing.

I have no idea where there is going and you don't either. But it does seem to be a possible answer to the question that all those Internet "reporters" trying to make like Jordan Klepper keep asking people in MAGA hats: "Is there anything Donald Trump could do that would cause you to break with him?"

We've been talking here about short comedies made by Columbia Pictures in the thirties through the fifties. Here's a Three Stooges short from 1944, Crash Goes the Hash. This one features two of the Most Valuable Supporting Players in the Columbia stock company…Vernon Dent (playing Fuller Bull) and Bud Jamison (as Lord Flint). In fact, it was Jamison's last of many, many appearances in the Stooges' films.

This was the Stooges' 77th film for Columbia. Stooge experts — there are such people — cite this short as one of the first in which you can see Curly Howard's declining health. Two years later while filming Half-Wits Holiday, he had the stroke that ended his performing career. He's still pretty funny in this one even if he was slowing down a little…

I've been staring at the animatronic version of Walt Disney, thinking that he looks familiar but not because he looks like Walt. And it finally hit me who he reminds me of. He looks like Mike Lindell.

We're now getting a First Look at a new Disneyland attraction — "Walt Disney – A Magical Life." I'm sure the museum parts of the exhibit are wonderful but all anyone's going to talk about is the audio-animatronic figure of Mr. Disney. It took the tech guys a long time to build this and it probably would have been a lot cheaper to find a few good actors who looked enough like Walt that a make-up team could make them look more like him. But the technology is the star here.

It's an amazing creature they made but based on what's been released so far, I'm surprised it doesn't look or even sound more like Walt. That's supposedly Walt's own voice but it doesn't sound that much like him to me.

What a creation like this makes me think about is all the TV shows, movies and comic books I've experienced in which someone turned out to be a robot and no one knew that until the robot busted or caught fire or something. If the Disney experts spending years and oodles of Disney dough couldn't make a robot that could pass for human even for a few seconds, maybe we're a lot farther from that day than anybody thought. And they weren't even trying to build one that could walk around and interact with humans.