Tuesday, May 25, 2004

The Newspaper of Record

The blogosphere is abuzz with news that The New York Times is about to publish an apology or perhaps a self-analysis that will say, in effect, that much of their earlier news coverage on Iraq was faulty; that their reporters — Judith Miller, in particular — were conned by some of the same sources that the Bush administration believed. Or perhaps they will say that they were conned by the Bush administration itself. Whatever, they will state that a number of past stories were faulty and perhaps too willing to believe insiders who were making the case for war.

They did something of the sort with their coverage of the accusations against Wen Ho Lee and while many thought the self-flagellation did not go far enough, it is rare that any newspaper admits anything beyond minor, one-time errors. No other paper (and certainly no TV news source) ever comes out and says, "We got this whole story wrong." This is not because they never err.

• Posted at 5:28 PM · LINK

More on the Van Dyke Reunion

I received e-mails from Wayne DeWald, Matt Killeen, Paul Balze, Kevin Kozoriz, Ed Coyote and Fred Jacobs, all suggesting that when Ritchie Petrie moved back to New Rochelle, he listed his name as "R. Petrie." Then Alan Brady called Directory Assistance, got that number...and connected with the old Petrie house. That's possible, I guess, but it still seems like a bit of a stretch.

Richard Bensam wrote me to say, in part...

...my favorite part of the show was the one you seem to like the least: the choices for what had become of the various characters all seemed sensible and appropriate to me. I preferred seeing that they hadn't been caught in a figurative time bubble; that they had progressed even while we weren't watching them. The only thing I missed there was some mention of where Rob's career had gone. To judge from the Petrie's spacious Manhattan home, I imagine he may have written and/or directed at least one very successful film and possibly several, and/or created some successful TV shows...in other words, that he was still an analog of Carl Reiner.

But the image of Rob Petrie as the old man who is computer-literate and amuses himself playing with desktop animation programs is so right, so contrary to lazy stereotypes, that it won me over completely.

Hmm. If Rob Petrie's career had somehow paralleled the real life of Carl Reiner, he would have moved to Hollywood in the sixties and Laura would now be singing in jazz clubs. Ritchie would also have become a prominent actor and director.

Actually, it would have been interesting if they'd picked up on the bit in the last original episode where Rob made a deal with Alan Brady whereby Alan would star in a sitcom based on Rob's life. On the other hand, Brady — being a variety show star in the sixties — would probably have been off TV within a few years and never had another successful series...and maybe I'm taking this too far.

I believe the notion that Rob is now playing with computer animation was based on a current interest of Mr. Van Dyke's. Perhaps the idea of Laura running ballet classes was based on something Mary Tyler Moore has either done or told Carl she'd toyed with attempting. Or maybe it was just an excuse to get her into a leotard and show America that she's still in pretty good shape. I can also imagine Reiner deciding to not make the Petries seem like senior citizens: Rob's into computers, Laura's surrounded by young people. That may have been because he wanted to keep them young or because he had to assure the network that the special wouldn't be 60 minutes of old folks sitting around, longing for The Good Old Days.

• Posted at 3:53 PM · LINK

One More Thing...

Craig D. Smith points out another lapse of logic in that Dick Van Dyke Show reunion special. Ritchie Petrie moved back to New Rochelle, bought his old childhood home back from the folks his parents had sold it to, moved in...and not only decorated the living room exactly as it was in the sixties but somehow GOT THE SAME PHONE NUMBER THEY USED TO HAVE. At the beginning, when Alan Brady calls for Rob, Ritchie answers in that house. How did he manage that?

• Posted at 10:47 AM · LINK

The Petrie Dish

This review is way late but quite a few folks asked what I thought of The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited and I finally got around to watching it. I guess the answer would be that I had mixed reactions. I love those old shows and it was good to see those folks again and to have the show be remembered like that. Still, I'm not sure I like knowing what "happened" to each of them. There's something very nice about leaving Rob and Laura and Sally and Alan and all the rest in their own little time period in their own little world where Buddy, Mel and Jerry are still alive, and it sure seemed hard to buy (for instance) that Stacy Petrie had hooked up with Millie Helper or that Ritchie had moved back to New Rochelle, bought back his parents' old home and (apparently) decorated it to look just like it did in 1964.

On the other hand, I like that show and its cast so much that I am unable to generate any real negative feelings about the special. It's like criticizing your mother's cooking. If Carl Reiner says that's what happened to those folks, fine. That's what happened to them.

Well, I will carp about two things. Two deceased cast members — Morey Amsterdam and Jerry Paris — were billboarded at the top but a third, Richard Deacon, wasn't. I always thought Richard Deacon was one of the best things about the show and though his character, Mel Cooley, was mentioned in the show, it felt like he wasn't sufficiently recognized. Also, I can't recall ever seeing a show of any sort that integrated old clips into a storyline where the clips weren't (a) awkwardly set up and (b) mangled in the editing...and I still haven't. Watching Rob and Laura and the others "reminisce" and segue to excerpts, I cringed at how some wonderful scenes in wonderful episodes were chopped down...but then I thought: Anyone watching this probably knows these episodes by heart, maybe even owns the new DVD set that features each one in full. So maybe it isn't that big a deal. At least, it wasn't enough of a drawback to ruin how nice it was to spend a little more quality time with Rob and Laura Petrie. And if someone doesn't know those shows backwards and forwards, maybe this will get them to watch 'em on TV Land or purchase the DVDs.

• Posted at 2:14 AM · LINK

Sad Bob Haney News

Longtime comic book fans will be dismayed to hear that one of our great writers, Bob Haney, is currently in a nursing facility following a massive stroke that has left him unable to speak or even (apparently) recognize his friends. I was told about this a few days ago but I hesitated to post it because I didn't know if his family would want it publicized. Someone however has appended the information to this otherwise lovely piece about Bob and his retirement to San Felipe, Baja, Mexico. Bob, who is well known to readers for his work on Teen Titans, The Brave and the Bold, Blackhawk, The Unknown Soldier and so many others moved there a few years ago to enjoy his senior years. For the last few San Diego Cons, he has occasionally shown up unannounced (he claimed to not even have a phone for a time there) and I always enjoyed talking to him and squeezing him into panels as a last-minute add.

A friend at DC Comics says they're keeping in contact. If Bob shows the slightest ability to appreciate fan mail, I'll get an address and post it here so we can deluge him. But at the moment, I'm told, it doesn't look good.

• Posted at 1:48 AM · LINK

May 26, 2004 • Current • May 23, 2004