Saturday, February 25, 2006

On Another Blog...

Comic book retailer Brian Hibbs writes on his weblog about a just-completed trip to New York to see the new restaging/rethinking of Sweeney Todd.

Brian also writes about massive lines at the big New York Comic Convention that's going on this weekend. I'm hearing that the con is closing its doors to people who didn't secure advance tickets. That is, you can't just show up there tomorrow and buy a ticket to go in. I'm not sure how much of this is due to the Javits Center (which is pretty big) not being able to hold the crowds and how much is due to problems processing admissions. Probably both.

• Posted at 11:52 PM · LINK

More Sad News

The "authorized" website of actor Darren McGavin is announcing he passed away this morning at age 83. I always enjoyed his work on screen but I'm afraid I have no anecdotes or personal experiences to put up here about him. I mention this because when some famous performer or creative talent dies and I don't post something like I just posted for Don Knotts, I often hear from some fan who wonders why I ignored their death. Did I have a grudge against the person? Did I not think they were important? No, the answer is that I just didn't have anything to say I thought was worth saying.

And yes, I know that a lot of what I do think is worth saying is probably not worth saying. But that's how these things work.

• Posted at 7:05 PM · LINK

Don Knotts, R.I.P.

There's a group I may have mentioned here called Yarmy's Army — a social club for veteran comedians and actors that convenes once a month. I have been privileged to be an invited guest for several of their meetings and at almost every one, I found myself seated next to Don Knotts.

It's tough to get a word in edgewise in a roomful of comedians and I sure didn't try. At one meeting, I recall sitting there as Pat Harrington, Tom Poston, Shelley Berman, Howie Morris, Chuck McCann, Gary Owens, Pat McCormick, Harvey Korman, Jack Riley, Jerry Van Dyke and about a dozen other funny men swapped anecdotes and insults at a pace that made the Daytona 500 seem lethargic. People talked over one another, interrupted one another, topped one another and kept the conversation relentless for about two hours.

Of all the members, only one hardly said a thing. Don just sat there and enjoyed the show.

Which is not to say he remained absolutely silent. At one point in each meeting I attended — and I'm told this was typical — Don would think of something he wanted to say. He'd raise a finger, gesturing to indicate this and someone would notice and yell, "Hold it! Don wants to say something!" Suddenly, miraculously, everyone else would shut up and let him say his one thing, which would always get the loudest laugh of the night.

They wouldn't shut up for anyone else. But they shut up for Don.

Because they loved him. Everyone loved him. In a business where even your best friend can have some small resentment at your success, Don was utterly undespised. No one didn't like him, either as a performer or as a person.

When Yarmy's Army did benefits, as it has done for many worthy causes, many of its members would get up and perform. Don was not up to performing much. He hasn't been well for many years and — I don't know how many people know this about him — his eyes have been bad for quite some time. When he has acted in the last decade or two, someone has had to read the script to him and help him memorize and prompt him when he couldn't. That's how we did it when we had him as a guest on the Garfield cartoon show. I had another actor read each line to him and then Don would repeat the line, giving it that wonderful Don Knotts inflection.

So Don couldn't perform at these benefits but he could sure do his part to raise money. After the performance, it would be arranged to have him just sit in the lobby. There'd be a photographer, and you could have your picture taken with Don Knotts for ten or twenty dollars. I don't recall what they charged but there was always a line around the block. When he showed up at those Hollywood Collectors Shows, it was the same way. The line of people who wanted a picture or wanted an autograph — or just wanted to be able to say "I met Barney Fife" — was out the door and well into the parking lot.

I don't have to review his career and his many awards for you. There are many fine obits up, including this one over at the Los Angeles Times site, where you may have to register. I also don't have to tell you how good he was because you've seen The Andy Griffith Show and Three's Company and The Incredible Mr. Limpet and all those appearances with Steve Allen. I just wanted to get on here and tell you that the most beloved person in all of show business has died. Because that's what he was: The most beloved person in all of show business.

• Posted at 3:57 PM · LINK

Golden Oldies

Here's an interesting news story about proposed legislation that would demand "truth in labelling" for musical groups. There are many bands playing around the U.S. now which claim to be The Drifters or The Platters or The Supremes but actually have no one participating who was a part of the original group that became famous under that name. Under this law, an act couldn't call itself The Coasters unless at least one performer on stage had been a part of the original Coasters.

In principle, this sounds fair and logical, and I assume it would stop a lot of phony advertising. On the other hand, some of the groups around that do still have one original member are engaging in a bit of a sham to act like they're the original group. Suppose you paid good money to see an act that billed itself as The Beatles and out came three new guys with guitars plus Ringo on the drums. Or suppose it was Pete Best on drums (he was an original member of The Beatles, albeit briefly) plus three new guys. Wouldn't there be some amount of fraud being perpetrated there?

Several years ago, I spent an hour with a gent who was booking "oldies" acts for a casino showroom. During our conversation, he was interrupted by a call from an agent offering him a group that had been very hot in the sixties. I don't recall the name of the group but let's say it was The Electric Lemon. The agent said he could deliver them to play all their hits...and the talent booker said, "But I had The Electric Lemon here playing all their hits, two months ago."

I heard the agent on the speakerphone reply, "No, let me tell you what you had. That was one of several drummers who played with the original Electric Lemon, plus three impostors. He didn't even sing on their records. The Electric Lemon I represent has a guy who played the guitar and actually sang on all their records...plus three impostors."

• Posted at 10:15 AM · LINK

Cable Wars

If you haven't been watching Countdown With Keith Olbermann on MSNBC, you've missed some pretty good news reporting. You've also missed some very funny feuding with Bill O'Reilly, who's the competition over on Fox. Olbermann often points up O'Reilly errors or quotes some of the sillier things that Bill has had to say lately. O'Reilly, who routinely insults his political opponents while lecturing them about decorum, has fired back with some pretty pompous replies. His latest is to post a petition — this one, over on his website — which urges MSNBC to bring the back the previous occupant of Olbermann's time slot, Phil Donahue, and to get rid of what's there now (i.e., Countdown).

On his show yesterday, Olbermann devoted a whole segment to O'Reilly's petition and did a little montage of a fraction of the times Countdown has slammed the Fox News host. Here's a link to an online video.

• Posted at 1:39 AM · LINK

Obit Watch

Two weeks after he passed away, an obituary for Rickie Layne finally turns up in the Los Angeles Times. [Registration might be required.]

• Posted at 1:23 AM · LINK