Monthly Archives: June 2006

Last August, I wrote this item here about Joe Pyne, who was kind of like what Saddam Hussein would be like if he had a radio show and less charm. Pyne's radio and TV programs were festivals of insults, and his producers often kept them that way by trotting out looney guests and people who couldn't help but annoy the host. Pyne's shows were disguised as forums where important issues of the day could be discussed but it was pretty much all wrestling, with audiences tuning in to watch the anger and occasional bloodshed. I happen to think there's a certain amount of that in most of what passes for our punditry today. Anyway, here's three minutes of one of Mr. Pyne's TV shows. For those of you who never got to see him, this is just about all you have to experience…

Animation World News has a nice obit on Lennie Weinrib that lists some (just some) of his career highlights.

Tiny points: They picked up a small error I made here when I said Lennie died at his home in Chile. His daughter Linda informs me that he actually died in a nearby hospital, apparently from a stroke. The obit also should have said that Lennie is also survived by his wife Sonia and the two daughters he had with her, Heidi and Grace.

Linda and I, by the way, are talking about organizing a public memorial event in Los Angeles, probably not for at least a month. I'll post details here when there are some.

Here's a stunner: Theodore Olson, who I believe was a thoroughly dishonest, partisan Solicitor General of the U.S., writes a wise and cogent explanation of why reporters need to be able to protect their sources. It pretty well summarizes the way I feel…which since it's Olson makes me wonder if maybe I'm wrong.

In the meantime, a lot of Conservative columnists (like Charles Krauthammer here) are arguing for an amnesty for Iraq insurgents. I have no opinion if this is a good idea or a bad one. But I do think that if this had first been proposed by Democrats, all the same right-wingers — including Krauthammer — would be arguing that it was disgraceful and dangerous to be coddling, forgiving or doing anything but trying to wipe out a band of people who'd murdered American soldiers.

And here's Glenn Greenwald with what seems to me a good analysis of today's Supreme Court decision.

Out today is the new issue of Solo, a DC Comic which spotlights a different artist each time. This one features my longtime collaborator Sergio Aragonés with silly stories. Some — the more realistic ones — are wholly from his imagination. Others — the unbelievable ones — are true stories from his life, including the tale (which I forced him to include) of how he killed comedian Marty Feldman. Way in the back is a weird Batman tale which I wrote but don't let that stop you. Pick up a copy.

A delightful, unexpected surprise from the Supreme Court saying that the Bush administration has overstepped its authority with regards to "enemy combatants." But why do I think the reaction from the White House will be that they're still going to do what they think is right, no matter who tells them it's wrong?

On the matter of the New York Times revealing the government's finance-monitoring program, Keith Olbermann did an interesting report the other day. It can be viewed here…but if you don't have the seven minutes to watch, I'll summarize. Basically, Olbermann claims that everything the Times revealed has been talked about before, including by George W. Bush, and offers clips to prove much of this assertion. I don't think the people calling for Times editors to be strung up will care. With the war going as badly as it is, they need someone to blame besides themselves and their chosen administration…and the press is always handy for that.

Lastly, and still on the topic of Olbermann: His ratings are up and Bill O'Reilly's are down. Yesterday on Countdown, Olbermann did a very funny but childish nyah-nyah-nyah speech. Haven't seen an online link to a clip but if you do, you might get a chuckle out of it.

Back in the seventies, networks loaded down their Saturday morning schedules with public service spots. This one's from a series of them on ABC where a little guy named Timer taught nutrition tips. The voice of Timer in these was performed by our departed pal, Lennie Weinrib…

That's Lennie Weinrib on the left, playing insult comic Jackie Brew-Brew in an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show. You remember that one. In this shot, he's asking Mel Cooley (Richard Deacon), "Do you pluck your scalp?"

It was a remarkable performance, all the more so because the show filmed at 7:00 on a Friday evening and Lennie was hired at 2:00 that afternoon. The role of the insult comic was written for (and rehearsed all week by) Shecky Greene who somehow ran afoul of the law and had to go off with some nice policemen. Suddenly, producer Carl Reiner found himself without the guest star in the episode they were filming that evening — a nice cause for panic — but he knew what to do: Call Lennie. And Lennie came in, learned the role and played it to perfection. He did a couple of other episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show, as well…and of just about every situation comedy that was on the air in the sixties.

Lennie was an actor, a writer, a producer, a director and — most lucratively — a voiceover specialist. He originally came to prominence working with Spike Jones and later in the Billy Barnes revues that launched many a career in the early sixties. There was a time there when everyone wanted to hire him for everything but especially voiceover work. In fact, he made so much money doing commercials and cartoons that he neglected all his other skills…to his occasional regret. One of the last times he was seen on camera to any extent was in the 1977 kid show, Magic Mongo, which was a segment on the Krofft Supershow. Here, let me show you the opening of an episode…

That series was another "last minute fill-in" by Lennie. The producers, Sid and Marty Krofft, wanted Lennie for the role but the network wanted someone else. I think it was Alex Karras. Anyway, shortly before taping was to start, there were contractual disputes with whoever ABC favored and Lennie got the part. He was wonderful in it. He was wonderful in everything he did. The Kroffts knew that, which is why they wanted him. Lennie had been the main writer of their first TV series, H.R. Pufnstuf, along with providing the role of the title character and many others.

I worked with Lennie on another of the Kroffts' shows and we became instant friends. He was just a funny man to be around…although he had one habit I must admit I didn't like. He was the master of practical joke phone calls. You may remember another episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show he was in. He played Buddy Sorrell's accountant who, for a gag, called up Rob Petrie and got him to dismantle his telephone…then told him to put all the parts in a brown paper bag, go out on his lawn, swing it over his head and "Scream like a chicken!" One of the reasons Lennie was so convincing in the role was that the script was based on a trick he'd actually pulled on people. And believe me. If Lennie had called you and tried the same trick, you'd have been out on your lawn, waving pieces of your phone and screaming like a chicken.

He was brilliant at putting people on. One time, we were driving somewhere in his lime green Rolls Royce (I told you he made a lot of money) and he said, "Listen to this" and phoned Gucci's on Rodeo Drive. Without even taking his hands off the wheel, Lennie — adopting an accent from no known country — convinced some General Manager to open the store an hour early the next morning so that the Ambassador of Frammistram could shop undisturbed and select a gift for the upcoming coronation. We arrived at the restaurant before he could take the prank to its logical conclusion, which probably would have involved the entire staff standing out on Rodeo, swinging Gucci bags over their heads and screaming like chickens.

I don't like tricks like that. But I had to admire the skill and, of course, I liked Lennie.

At some point in the eighties, Lennie got bored and unhappy with the industry. A close, trusted associate cheated him out of more money than some of us will ever see. His mother became very ill and then died, and the stress got to him. He married a lovely woman from Chile named Sonia and suddenly, almost overnight, decided he'd be happier there in retirement than here in show business. He quickly sold his magnificent home and that green Rolls, moved to Chile and purchased what I suspect was an even nicer home. There, he and Sonia were very happy and had two daughters — "the goils," Lennie called the three of them — and he spent an awful lot of time on the Internet, e-mailing jokes to everyone he knew.

When he departed L.A. and Show Biz, his friends were stunned and even his agent called me and asked, "Is this a joke?" No, it wasn't. Lennie spent the last few decades in Chile, staying in touch with his old friends by phone and Internet. We either spoke or e-mailed almost every day. I'm going to miss that a lot.

I just got the call that Lennie Weinrib, one of the great character actors and cartoon voices (he was H.R. Pufnstuf, among many others) died this morning at his home in Chile. I'll write a longer message later today. Very sad news for those of us who knew him and loved his work.

A few years ago, the Loews Theater chain had the Sesame Street division of the Muppet operation prepare a short film to be shown in theaters. The idea, I guess, was to educate moviegoers — the young ones, especially — how to behave in a movie theater. There was also a sequel which may just be tomorrow's link…but for now, here's the first one…

Here's Dana Milbank on how ridiculous the proposed amendment about flag-burning is.

You know, everyone says this is an attempt by Republicans to play to their "base" and of some Democrats to try to woo that same group. I think if I were part of that constituency, I'd be insulted by my leaders pandering to me over something so far down on my list of what's important.

On this matter of newspapers printing information about secret government programs, the best article I've read — or at least, the one I most agree with — is this piece by Glenn Greenwald. As usual, government officials are screaming "it's anti-American" whenever the press refuses to spin the news their way.

I would also call your attention to an article by Matt Yglesias. It basically says that no matter how much you think the "Global War on Terror" is costing us in terms of dollars, your estimate is way low.

Today, we have a ton of links for you but you'll have to hurry. Over on Google Video, a number of the clips that ordinarily cost a buck or two per download are free "today only." You can, for example, watch eight half-hours of Rocky and Bullwinkle. You can enjoy the adventures of Roger Ramjet, Felix the Cat or The Mighty Hercules.

The non-animated section includes a couple hundred episodes of The Charlie Rose Show. You might enjoy the interview with Stephen Sondheim or the chat with Dick Cavett or the conversation with Jay Leno or the hour with Donald Rumsfeld. In fact, if you scroll through the list of Charlie Rose episodes, you're bound to find a couple you'd like to watch.

I don't know how they're defining "today" so I don't know how long you'll be able to access all this stuff for free. I do know that you probably won't be able to watch it all today but some of you may figure out that you can use KeepVid to download the clips for later viewing. Copy the URL of the clip you crave into the appropriate window and you'll be able to save it to your harddisk as an FLV file. (You'll need an FLV player but there are plenty of free ones around…like this one, for instance.)

(Quick tip: If it doesn't work, go to the URL you pasted in and delete whatever search terms may have been appended to the web address. They usually start with an ampersand. Delete the ampersand and everything to the right of it and see if that works. And if it doesn't, just remember that Google Video has done free days before and may well do them again.)

In the meantime, here's yet another McDonald's commercial. This one is only interesting because it features the great comedy actor Frank Nelson. I was fortunate to work with Mr. Nelson a year or two before he left us and I wrote that story up and posted it here. He's the guy in the conductor outfit in this spot…

Gerard Jones on the new Superman movie.

Lyle Stuart, often described as a "renegade" or "maverick" in the world of book publishing, died on Saturday at the age of 83. As delineated in the New York Times obit, Stuart was a colorful figure in his trade, putting out books that no other publisher would touch and becoming embroiled in controversies and fights. It was said that he actually enjoyed being involved in lawsuits and feuds, and that he would sometimes do things to deliberately fan the flames of a battle.

Unmentioned in that obit is the role he played in comic book history. Stuart was a close friend and advisor to William M. Gaines, publisher of EC Comics and MAD, and he served for a time as EC's business manager. The two men met when Stuart was publishing the tabloid mentioned in the Times piece, a direct assault on the then-powerful New York columnist, Walter Winchell. MAD had only been around for a few months and was just beginning to develop a following. When Stuart ordered some back issues, Gaines recognized the name on the order form and sent them with a note that said how much he admired Stuart's courage in taking on the megalomaniac Winchell.

They soon became friends and then Gaines engaged Stuart to help him on a part-time basis in running the company. This was a mixed blessing because Winchell, who'd been attacking Stuart in his column, then began hammering his foe's connection to a publisher of "filth" (i.e., EC Comics) and predicting that the lot of them would wind up behind bars…and indeed, Stuart did. One day, apparently goaded by Winchell, New York police raided Gaines's office, charging that the comic books he published were indecent. Stuart was aware that the fragile Bill Gaines could not handle going to jail so he told the publisher to hide, then got the police to arrest him, instead. The case was eventually thrown out of court but the incident cemented a lifelong friendship between Gaines and Stuart.

According to some accounts, whenever Gaines had a problem in his life, the first thing he would do was to call Lyle. For example, when MAD's original editor Harvey Kurtzman demanded control of the company, it was Stuart who advised Gaines to get rid of him. Earlier, it was Stuart who'd advised Gaines to be a voluntary witness in front of a Senate subcommittee investigating alleged links between juvenile delinquency and the kind of horror and crime comics that Gaines published. The former advice was probably good, the latter was disastrous.

Among the many books Stuart published was the 1972 The Mad World of William M. Gaines by Frank Jacobs, an official biography. It was perhaps the least controversial book to ever come out of Lyle Stuart Publishing but it was reportedly one of Stuart's favorites — partly because of his friendship with the subject and partly because he was mentioned often in it.

Two minutes of Laurel and Hardy to start your week off right. The deep bass voice you'll hear in this one belonged to actor Chill Wills, who was probably best known for dubbing in the sound of Francis the Talking Mule.