Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Kingfish Becomes Kingfox

Over on Cartoon Brew, my pal Jerry Beck announces a Los Angeles screening of episodes of Calvin and the Colonel, a prime-time cartoon series that was on from 1961 to 1962 and has rarely been seen since. The series was created and the leads were voiced by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, the two white guys who played Amos and Andy (and other recurring characters) on the radio show of the same name. When Amos and Andy went to television, it was wonderfully recast with black actors. I used to love the TV show — especially Tim Moore as George "Kingfish" Stevens. Sadly, when they compile those silly lists of the all-time great TV characterizations, they never seem to rank Kingfish up there with Bilko and Bunker and Louie DePalma, which is where I think he belongs.

I never cared as much for the old radio programs when I tried listening to them, in part because that Kingfish didn't have the energy and wonderful timing that Tim Moore later brought to the role. And by the way, in case anyone's puzzled here: Amos and Andy started out being about Amos and Andy but at some point, Amos faded into supporting status and the show could have been called Kingfish and Andy. Correll voiced Andy, while Gosden was both Amos and the Kingfish. When the show went to television, the two men relinquished their roles and served as producers, and the show was quite successful, both first-run and in endless repeats. In the early sixties though, the endless repeats ended because the depiction of minorities made some — sponsors, especially — uncomfortable. I thought that was an overreaction, but that's another topic for another time. It was shortly after those shows disappeared from the screen that Gosden and Correll figured out a new, less-racial way to package their old act. They turned the Kingfish into a fox and Andy into a bear, and called it Calvin and the Colonel.

Jerry says the cartoon program was banned from distribution for years due to the participation of Gosden and Correll. That may be overstating the case a bit. A one season show needs to generate some interest to have an afterlife of any kind, and Calvin and the Colonel didn't manage that in its year of life. I liked it but much of the time, I opted to watch The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, which was opposite it on CBS. A cartoon show that couldn't hold my loyalty when I was ten was almost destined to fail. It's like if I wouldn't watch it every week, who would? I seem to recall a brief attempt to rerun the shows on either Saturday or Sunday afternoon which ended after a few weeks. Overall, I suspect its scarcity is due as much to it never attracting much of an audience as it is to any racial subtext. Or to put it another way: The fact that it was Amos and Andy in animal drag might not have mattered if the show had ever developed any real following.

Oddly enough, I watched two episodes just the other day — the first I'd seen in twenty or thirty years. There was a lot of funny stuff in them, especially as performed by voice whiz Paul Frees in an array of supporting roles. But the pace is sometimes very lethargic, and the shows have the fakest-possible canned laughter on them. It's not just bad because you can't imagine a live audience sitting there watching cartoon characters perform. It's bad the way clumsy sweetening can ruin a live-action sitcom. I enjoyed seeing them again, and I may even make it up to the screening later this month to hear the guests talk about the making of the show. But there are an awful lot of "lost" TV programs I'd rather watch...including the Amos and Andy shows with Tim Moore.

• Posted at 5:27 PM · LINK

A Word of Advice...

You see that thing the Penguin is holding? That's called an umbrella, also sometimes known as a parasol or bumbershoot. In addition to the usual things the Penguin does with his — shooting bullets, spraying lethal gas, slowing his descent when he leaps off a tall building, etc. — it is possible to use one to keep the rain off one's person. If you are journeying to San Francisco this weekend to attend the WonderCon and see all the splendid panels I'm conducting, you might want to bring one along...and not just to shoot bullets, spray lethal gas or slow your descent when you leap off a tall building.

• Posted at 11:13 AM · LINK

Funny Is...

Again, it's a list with which we could all argue...but you might enjoy reading what someone thinks are the 100 Funniest Jokes of All Time. [CAUTION: Occasional naughty language. And thanks to Bruce Reznick for the pointer.]

• Posted at 9:35 AM · LINK

Creative Accounting

My pal Gerard Jones writes in the Los Angeles Times about the Stan Lee lawsuit and the way the comic book industry has treated some of its greatest creative talents. And no, I still haven't gotten a copy of Gerry's new book...but I will.

• Posted at 9:07 AM · LINK

P.S. to Bill Maher...

Pat O'Neill reminds me that on the Jonny Quest TV show, "sim sala bim" were the magic words employed by Jonny's pal, Hadji, whenever he exercised his mystic powers.

• Posted at 8:36 AM · LINK

Early A.M. thoughts

I have a new way to tell when I've been working too late. My computer's virus software is set to scan the system each morn at 4:00. I was sitting here, working on a script when it kicked in and I went, "Jeez! It's four o'clock in the morning. Last I looked, it was quarter to one."

Odd how time disappears sometimes when I get deep into a project. When I was 17, one of my first professional assignments was to rapidly ghost-write a cheap paperback novel...and it was one of those jobs where anything I produced would be good enough. If it was more-or-less in English and had punctuation marks sprinkled throughout, the publisher would have been happy, just so long as it was finished in the next five days. The deadline was way more important than any literary content...which was good because given my experience, my manual typewriter, and the limited amount of time I had to pound script, the literary content stood to be a notch below the instruction label on a package of suppositories.

My parents were in Vegas so I had the place to myself. Instead of bringing my girl friend over when the neighbors weren't watching — which is what I usually did when Mom and Dad went off to gamble — I sat down around Noon and began writing. The next thing I knew, it was 3:00 in the morning and I had about half the book piled up next to me. I'd stopped for a couple of snacks and bathroom breaks, but I'd pretty much worked straight through, losing all track of the hour. It was the first time I ever experienced that as a writer, and it was both exciting and chilling in different ways, maybe even better than sneaking in the girl friend. As I recall, I slept about six hours, got up and finished the book in two shorter spurts of maybe six hours each. I do remember handing it in a day early, which stunned the publisher...absolutely stunned him. He'd promised me a bonus if I was finished in five days, and I'd delivered in three.

Naturally, as rush jobs so often go, it turned out not to be the crisis he'd thought it was. The publication date was then delayed, and as far as I know, the book never did get printed. In a way, that was probably just as well, except I'd been in too big a rush to deliver so I skipped making myself a copy. At the time, the payment I got meant everything in the world to me. Today, I'd give it back with interest, just to have a copy of that manuscript. If something I now wrote evoked the comment, "This is the worst thing ever written," I could haul out the novel I wrote in 2.5 days, shove it in the critic's face and say, "Oh, yeah? Read this!"

The virus-checker isn't detecting anything and I'm going to bed. Good night.

• Posted at 4:28 AM · LINK

February 16, 2005 • Current • February 14, 2005