Friday, February 13, 2004

Fast (Disappearing) Food

For some time, one of my favorite places to eat has been Koo Koo Roo, a chain that I suppose comes under the broad classification of "fast food" but not exactly. The Southern California-based operation was founded in 1987 by two brothers who believed in offering non-fried, non-frozen fare...like their skinless broiled chicken, served with an array of mostly-fresh veggies and side dishes. They quickly expanded their menu to include rotisserie chicken and turkey, and expanded their reach throughout the state and to a few others. Eventually, there were 44 outlets and I ate in at least 18 of them.

But despite my patronage and that of others, it's been a rocky life for Koo Koo Roo. The company was briefly solvent enough to acquire the Hamburger Hamlet chain but went through a dizzying series of management shake-ups and takeovers. Not long ago, it was purchased by a different hamburger company, Fuddrucker's, which has downsized to eighteen stores. Rumors are that even they've been failing and almost every time I've walked into one lately, there's been a new experimental menu item like roast beef or burritos or some kind of weird toasted sandwiches that I never saw anyone order. Tonight, I walked into one and discovered it's now a combination Koo Koo Roo and Fuddrucker's. That's right: The Koo Koo Roo chain, founded on the idea that people want a healthy alternative to burgers and fries, is now selling...burgers and fries.

I'm sure the parent company is optimistic but this smells like the beginning of the end of Koo Koo Roo to me. The chain's been getting smaller and smaller and now they're even being squeezed out of their own shops. There's also a schizophrenic quality to the place encouraging, as it does now, a mix of people who watch what they eat and people who don't care. My guess is they won't come together; that we'll eventually see all the Koo Koo Roos close or turn into Fuddrucker's. Sure hope I'm wrong.

• Posted at 10:55 PM · LINK

Julius Schwartz Memorial

A public memorial for the late Julius Schwartz will be held in New York on the morning of Thursday, March 18. I don't like posting e-mail addresses or phone numbers on this page but that info will probably be available on the DC Comics website shortly. I'm hearing chatter that there may also be some sort of Los Angeles function but that's far from definite.

• Posted at 10:54 AM · LINK

Recommended Reading

I agree with darn near every word of this article by Frank Rich on the Janet Jackson controversy.

• Posted at 10:47 AM · LINK

Mitzi and Charlie

The night of 2/9/64, the Beatles made their historic appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show and everyone's world changed at least a little. It was an especially wrenching evening for the comedy team of Mitzi McCall and Charlie Brill who were on the same show and they didn't do very well in maybe the worst spot two comedians ever found themselves. I've worked with Mitzi and Charlie over the years and find them to be two of the funniest, nicest folks in show business...and it's always been great to hear them laughing over that horrible night. Here's an article that will tell you more about it.

• Posted at 9:08 AM · LINK

Porky Pines Away

Valentine's Day is coming up. To celebrate, The Official Pogo Website is presenting four wonderful Walt Kelly strips having to do with romance. Go read.

• Posted at 1:57 AM · LINK

An Important Election

The folks who bring you The Price is Right are looking for a new announcer to replace the late Rod Roddy. They've tried a few gents out and are now running a poll on the CBS website to ask who should get the job. If you have a moment, do me a favor and go over there and vote for Randy West. He's a good guy and the right man for the job.

• Posted at 1:49 AM · LINK

Recommended Reading

I sort of agree with Dahlia Lithwick on the practical side of dealing with the issue of gay marriage. I know I agree completely with the notion that two adult human beings, regardless of gender, should be able to marry but I also don't believe enough of America is ready to embrace that concept. So what this article proposes may be the best bit of common sense on how the matter stands at the moment, or should stand.

• Posted at 1:23 AM · LINK

Another Schwartz Obit

This one's in The Los Angeles Times. And today, I helped a gent who is putting together a segment that is tentatively planned for next Sunday's CBS Sunday Morning. I'll let you know if it looks like it's going to get on.

• Posted at 1:16 AM · LINK

Forthcoming DVDs

We're in the Golden Age of DVD Collections of Old TV Shows, we are! Here are some of the ones I plan to purchase when they come out. And note that some of these listings are linked to Amazon where you can advance-order them. If you do so through our links, this site gets a tiny commission...

• The Dick Van Dyke Show, Season 3 - My favorite TV show of all time. What can I say? And the third season was really when it started to get good. (The fourth season comes out a month or two later.)
• Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, Vol. 2 - I watch these on the Trio network which, despite rumblings to the contrary, is still available via DirecTV satellite. Amazingly, they hold up pretty well.
• I Married Joan, Vol. 1 - I don't know why but I always liked this old sitcom, which featured Joan Davis trying to be Lucy, and Jim Backus doing a great job of being Jim Backus. No link yet for purchasing.
• The Flintstones, Season 1 - And it was the best season, done when Hanna-Barbera was still laboring under the apparent delusion that they were doing this show for adults. It was on at 9:00 Friday nights and sponsored sometimes by Winston cigarettes. It was not a kids' show, though this kid sure loved it.
• SCTV, Vol. 1 - Just announced is a five-disc set that, happily, will not start with the crude, half-hour first seasons. Instead, they're going to start with the 90-minute shows, which are easily the best. And some of the best sketch comedy ever done on TV. No link yet for purchasing.
• The Amazing Spider-Man - This is the 1967 animated Saturday morning series. This six-disc set includes a mini-documentary on the history of the show, including interviews with Stan Lee and (as a supposed expert on such matters) Yours Truly.
• The Complete Jonny Quest - I also helped out with a documentary that will be included on the upcoming release of a DVD collection that features all 26 episodes of the 1964 Hanna-Barbera series created by Doug Wildey. No link yet for purchasing.
• The Jack Paar Collection - Shout! Factory, which is the company formed by the folks who used to be the nucleus of Rhino Records and Rhino Home Video. They have a three-disc set that includes the recent PBS special on Paar, three complete hours of the prime-time show he did after The Tonight Show, and some moments from what little of his Tonight Show work survives. No link yet for purchasing.

A complete collection of the prime-time Jetsons episodes was announced and advertised but it seems to have disappeared from the websites that were soliciting advance orders. Also, later this year we'll have the second volume of Rocky & Bullwinkle and the first of a show I worked on, Garfield and Friends. When they're getting down to shows I wrote, I have to think that eventually, every show that has ever existed will become available.

• Posted at 12:42 AM · LINK

Recommended Reading

Jimmy Breslin doesn't like George W. Bush and he doesn't like New York's mayor very much, either.

• Posted at 12:04 AM · LINK