Wednesday, December 10, 2003
Equal Time
Having posted many messages about how I don't like Governor Schwarzenegger's financial shenanigans, I should admit that he has done one thing that I like. He has indicated that he intends to allow the state's Board of Prison Terms (i.e., Parole Board) to do its job and to appoint members who do not simply believe that criminals should remain behind bars until they rot. The board was weighted to that belief and on the rare occasions that they recommended someone for release, Gray Davis would invariably overrule their decision, making some wonder why they even held parole hearings. The system doesn't work and it's time someone admitted it and fixed it. So good for Governor Arnold on that one.
• Posted at 10:13 PM · LINK
Additional Info
A few months back when Robert Stack passed away, I posted this anecdote about how he got the job as Eliot Ness on The Untouchables. Briefly, in case you don't want to go read it, the story is that producer Desi Arnaz had cast his old friend and understudy, Van Johnson, as Ness. As Desi (and others) later told the story, Johnson's wife, who acted as his manager, called up at the last minute and tried to put the squeeze on him for more money, and Desi refused. The tale makes it look like Mrs. Johnson tried to pull a fast one and in so doing, royally screwed up, costing her husband the lead in what turned out to be a very successful series.
That's how it's always told. But I love seeing anecdotes debunked (when appropriate) or clarified, so I was delighted to receive this e-mail from Schuyler Johnson, offspring of Van and Evie Johnson. Schuyler agreed to let me share it with you...
I accidentally found a web site attributed to the masked blogger and he quoted some info from you regarding a story about Van Johnson, Desi Arnaz and Evie Johnson. Please allow me to clear up the fiction. My mother had nothing whatsoever to do with that decision, That was my father's wish and he asked her to make that call for him. He often made her do things that he deemed unpleasant but necessary to his career. She is not at all the person portrayed in this account and it is my father who is the villain in the piece. Thank you for letting me clarify another fictional story that has been accepted all these years.
Well, I'm not sure he's that much of a villain, but this does make perfect sense, and it's a good reminder that a lot of people play Good Cop/Bad Cop, where the person you think is the heavy is really acting for or with the other party. There are a lot of show biz stories where an agent or manager seems to make some foolish or unethical demand on behalf of the client, and I often wonder if the client was really as unaware as he or she tried to seem. Anyway, thanks to Schuyler for coming forth with that info, and I apologize if by repeating it, I perpetuated a bad image of your mother.
• Posted at 2:12 PM · LINK
Python Stuff
Here's a good review of a new book on Monty Python and a decent, albeit quick overview of their history and impact. Even quotes my pal Kim "Howard" Johnson.
• Posted at 12:54 PM · LINK
Speculation About Speculation
I'm stealing this quote from the weblog of Matthew Yglesias (specifically from this entry) because it says what I believe. And as far as I can tell, all the folks doing the speculating believe it too. They just aren't about to allow a silly little thing like logic get in the way of all that fun speculation. Anyway, here's the quote...
Not to rain on media colleagues' parade to an undue degree here, but speculation along the lines of "...if Dean loses in 2004, then what will happen in 2008" is really a bit silly. This is 2003 — five years from 2008. Five years ago, it was 1998. Who in the world was sitting around in 1998 saying "Al Gore will almost certainly be the Democratic nominee, and if he loses in 2000 then it looks like the primary will be fought out between the Howard Dean camp and the Wesley Clark camp?" The answer, of course, is no one.
And I think all the speculation that says Dean has it locked up is premature, too. He may well be the nominee...but there are still primaries to come that he will probably lose. When that happens, or even before it happens when he looks likely to lose one, the media won't be able to resist the tease, "Is Dean Crashing and Burning?" Because they love a good horse race.
What's driving this talk that Dean is a shoo-in is probably to some extent, a frustration with the lackluster Democratic field. A lot of people who don't like Bush are eager to escalate the drive to unseat him. So for them, the sooner they can rally behind one candidate, the better. And it almost doesn't matter who that candidate is.
• Posted at 12:39 PM · LINK
Thanks...
...to all of you who've offered copies of the Jim Henson tapes. I've arranged to procure one but I appreciate so many people being willing to supply dupes of theirs.
Thanks also for the donations which have been coming in reponse to our latest subtle hint. I'll be writing to each of you individually but it may take a bit. I'm waaaaay behind on e-mail. So what else is new?
• Posted at 11:17 AM · LINK
Recommended Reading
Well, he didn't waste a lot of time, did he? The headline of this article is "Schwarzenegger Retreats on Key Campaign Vows." According to this other article, he's also decided to call off his inquiry into allegations of sexual misconduct on his part.
Do I smell another sequel? Say, Recall, Part II? Probably not. But if I'd voted for Arnold, I'd sure be a little embarrassed right about now.
• Posted at 1:50 AM · LINK
Muppet Masterworks
Have I ever mentioned what a huge fan I am of the Muppets? Especially of the original incarnation, back when it was mostly Jim Henson and Frank Oz? One of my major regrets is that Mr. Henson passed away not long after telling me he'd find some project where I could work for him. It was one of those "I'd have paid him" moments...but at least I got to meet the man. He was another of those people I felt like I already knew because of the wonderful "connect" that I had with his sense of humor and sensibility.
Like a lot of you, I first discovered the Muppets back when they intermittently guested on TV shows, most notably Ed Sullivan's. I also used to watch The Jimmy Dean Show to see Rowlf...and Rowlf also turned up on a short-run summer variety show called Our Place, which starred Burns and Schreiber and featured The Doodletown Pipers and other performers then represented by Bernie Brillstein. But the Sullivan spots were the best, so I was delighted to see that the company that now controls Ed's old shows has compiled a DVD of Muppet appearances. There were some very clever spots there, about half of which ended with one character eating another. I believe most of them were just Henson and the helping hands of Mr. Oz, who then did not speak much, if at all.
I just ordered this DVD, which you can do by clicking here. Actually, if anyone out there has them, there are two Muppet appearances I'd really like to find on home video. One was an episode of The Dick Cavett Show where he did 90 minutes with them, and I think Henson just emptied out the workshop and brought every puppet he owned over to Cavett's studio. (Actually, there are hundreds of Cavett shows I'd love to find.) The other, more recent Muppet curio I'd like is the special they did to acknowledge Henson's passing. I missed it when it aired but later, someone sent me a tape that also included video of the surviving Muppeteers performing at a public memorial for him, and it was all quite touching. I made the mistake of loaning the tape to someone who promptly made the error of taping a baseball game over it, even though I'd popped the "no record" tabs. I still don't know how they managed that; only that I lost my copy of something I wanted to keep.
I think I'll close this little item by quoting a line that Henson said the one time I met him. He showed a small group of us a "making of" tape for The Dark Crystal, explaining how robotics and remote control devices had enabled the puppeteers to control the characters. At one point, he froze the tape on one monster and said, "There's an important point I want to make here. That puppet cost something like two hundred thousand dollars to build and while he served the story, he was forgotten right after this film came out. I don't remember his name, I don't think anyone in my company remembers his name. I doubt anyone we might run into on the street would know his name..." Then Henson reached into a small purse-like satchel and pulled out, without putting it on, his main Kermit puppet. He said, "On the other hand, this one cost about fifty dollars and it's the most popular, loved thing I will ever do." Now do you see why I wanted to work with this man?
• Posted at 1:25 AM · LINK
December 11, 2003
