Sunday, November 6, 2005

Weiners and Losers

Recently, I added a new section to this website entitled Great Los Angeles Restaurants That Ain't There No More. It's all about great Los Angeles restaurants that ain't there no more...and I guess I should have made clear that I was talking about restaurants in which I'd dined. An awful lot of people have written me to suggest I include their favorite eateries and have named quite a few places I never went inside and in most cases, never heard of.

To the ones listed there, I may soon be adding Tail o' the Pup, the infamous hot dog stand in the shape of a big hot dog that's been seen in about two-thirds of the movies set in Los Angeles the last few decades. It used to be located near the corner of Beverly Boulevard and La Cienega and when the proprietor lost his lease, there was much wailing and protest...a lot of it, I suspect, from people who never cared about the Tail o' the Pup enough to stop by and buy a chili dog. But they somehow lamented its passing and the owner wasn't ready to give in, so he finally found new land a few blocks away, over on San Vicente Boulevard. A fancy hotel was erected on its former site and snippy critics haven't been able to resist comparing its restaurant unfavorably to the hot dog stand it displaced.

Rumor has it that the present location of Tail o' the Pup is now to be developed for some fancier building not shaped like a meat product, and that this may be it for the kitsch landmark. If I owned Universal City Walk or Hollywood and Highland or some other tourist mecca, I think I'd buy the thing and move it there, with or without the business inside it. But I own no such place to put it and I don't think it would fit in my yard.

I haven't eaten at Tail o' the Pup for about twenty years. If the rumors of its demise are true, I may try to get by there in the next month (which is how long my source says they'll remain open) and scarf down a frankfurter, just to say I was there. If you hear anything about it going or staying, let me know.

• Posted at 11:24 PM · LINK

Late Night Loyalties

Yours truly is quoted in this Associated Press article about why Jay Leno is increasing his lead over David Letterman in late night. I said what I said but I wish I'd said it a bit more eloquently.

I don't think Jay's show is "different every night." I think both shows have become more repetitive than I'd like. I just find Letterman has gotten a bit too predictable for me to watch it as often as I once did. I TiVo both programs, fast-forward through certain segments of both and enjoy Dave when he seems truly engaged in an interview, which lately is like one guest per week. I don't like at all that Jay so often delegates Act Two of his show — the comedy bit after the first commercial break — to others, and I can't stand the bits based on the utter stupidity of people on the street or in the audience. (I feel the same way about Letterman's use of stagehands and Rupert, the guy with the deli around the corner.)

But night after night, Leno comes out with a first-rate topical monologue and unlike Letterman, always seems happy to be there, happy to see his guests. I go back and forth but these days, I find myself watching more of Jay, less of Dave. What I should have told that reporter is that what I really wish is that those guys had more competition than each other.

• Posted at 8:07 PM · LINK

Recommended Reading

Albert Brooks on his (and I guess, my) generation getting older. Thanks for the link, Bruce Reznick.

• Posted at 9:54 AM · LINK