Monday, July 6, 2009

Recommended Reading

Fred Kaplan remembers Robert McNamara, who died the other day. Mr. McNamara was, of course, one of the prime architects of the Vietnam War at its inception, though to his credit, he later tried to dial it down...and, still later, apologized and admitted some pretty deadly errors.

One wonders if Donald Rumsfeld will ever have the self-awareness to try and atone. His recent statement that he regrets how they happened to foresake compliance with the Geneva Conventions gives one hope. On the other hand, Rumsfeld doesn't regret that they did it; only that they seem to have done it sorta by accident.

• Posted at 3:57 PM · LINK

Today's Video Link

From 1961 to 1964, there was a popular show on NBC called Sing Along With Mitch. Its host Mitch Miller had produced a vast number of hit records, many of which bore his name as the conductor of a male chorus. His TV program featured an hour each week of familiar tunes, and viewers were encouraged to sing along, aided by lyrics flashed on the screen. It was kind of like Karaoke except that no one but your family and neighbors had to listen to your rotten voice.

The show was produced in New York and Mr. Miller employed arrangers and performers he'd worked with there on his records. Nearly every "studio singer" ever heard on a Little Golden Record was involved but you never heard of most of his cast. The two exceptions were Leslie Uggams, who was a featured vocalist, and Bob McGrath. McGrath was just an occasionally-spotlighted member of the male chorus but he later gained great fame on Sesame Street.

The simplicity of Sing Along With Mitch appealed to America and it was a high-rated show for four years. Its ratings arguably justified a longer run but this was the period when networks began fretting about demographics — not how many viewers a show had but if they were within a certain young adult age bracket. The age of those singing along with Mitch was a bit too high for NBC and they got rid of the songfest when it was still winning its time slot. It was reported that Mr. Miller's reaction was not calm and that the show's fans were invited to Curse Along With Mitch.

Our clip below is the last ten minutes of an episode from '64. The show's finale usually consisted of the cast standing on stage, singing songs without the props, sets or costumes used in the rest of the program. They'd just stand there and sing...but to make things interesting, an unannounced celebrity would be slipped into the mix. As the camera panned the choir, viewers would watch and try to spot the familiar face. See if you can catch the surprise cameo guest in this one. And my thanks to Scott Edelman for telling me about this...

• Posted at 11:16 AM · LINK

Recommended Reading

Even before her recent resignation announcement, I didn't think Sarah Palin would ever win another elected office unless it was another term as governor of Alaska. If anyone thinks she has a chance now, read Fred Barnes on the topic. Barnes is kinda fascinating because he's emotionally incapable of writing an article which suggests that anything is bad for Republicans or good for Democrats. He still goes through life thinking not only that George W. Bush was a fabulous president but that pretty much everyone agrees.

Ms. Palin had no bigger supporter in the punditocracy and he still loves her...but even he doesn't think she has a presidential bid in her future. He says the only way is for her to run for Congress, win, move from that into the Senate in 2014 and then make a run for the White House in 2020. Yeah, like she might want to go that route.

• Posted at 11:13 AM · LINK