Thursday, August 13, 2009

Thursday Afternoon

...I keep reading about all these nutcases who are carrying guns (or at least signs threatening violence) because they think Barack Obama is about to do something that will make this country into the Soviet Union...

...and the thought that keeps coursing through my mind is Max Bialystock stuffing money into the hands of the bestraught Franz Liebkind, and Max is saying, "Here...buy bullets! Go! Kill the actors!"

And of course, in this analogy, Max is played by Rush, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, et al.

• Posted at 4:03 PM · LINK

Recommended Reading

A lot of folks in "mainstream" entertainment have taken note of this L.A. Times piece by Ben Fritz about how the porn industry is hurting. The reason is simple: The vast amounts of porn available for free on the Internet. Folks don't pay for that which they can get for nothing.

Why this matters to non-porn filmmakers and musicians is that the "X-rated" industry been at the forefront of most frontiers in home video and "new media." The major studios have often followed the smut peddlers into a new way of monetizing their wares...and of course, everyone who makes their living selling content is well aware that at every moment of the day, somewhere on the Internet, someone is downloading their product without paying. So they look at this piece about how it's decimating the adult film industry and they wonder if that's their future...

• Posted at 12:19 PM · LINK

Today's Video Link

Today's offering is an episode of Love on a Rooftop, a one-season sitcom on ABC that debuted in September of '66 and was gone by the following April. In 1971, when its star Peter Deuel was having something of a hit with a series called Alias Smith and Jones, someone at ABC had the bright idea of rerunning Love on a Rooftop for a while...and audiences didn't watch it then, either.

Deuel played an architect who was way too serious for his own good, and a pre-Laugh-In Judy Carne played his new wife, who was more passionate, and they lived in a cheap, tiny apartment. In many ways, it reminded one of the Neil Simon play, Barefoot in the Park, which was about a lawyer who was way too serious for his own good, and his new wife, who was more passionate...and they also lived in a cheap, tiny apartment.

Pete and Judy's characters had a lot of trouble with her parents, who for some reason didn't have British accents even though their daughter did. I guess there was some line in the first episode about how she'd picked one up when she went away to school in London but it sure didn't make them seem like much of a family. The newlyweds' best friends and neighbors were played by Rich Little and Barbara Bostock and I also never understood why anyone selected Rich Little for a role that didn't involve impressions. He threw one in once in a while but it was still kinda like...well, like hiring Rich Little for a role that didn't involve impressions.

I watched this show for a while because at that age, I had an enormous crush on Judy Carne. Eventually, even that wasn't enough to keep me tuning in. But it's interesting to watch it now because it really screams S*I*X*T*I*E*S in a big way. And this particular episode was wholly stolen by guest Dick Gautier, who was concurrently playing Hymie the Robot on Get Smart. It's a bit out of sync (with the voices and with the era) but you may find it of interest...

• Posted at 12:32 AM · LINK

Sorry, Ronald McDonald!

Esquire surveyed a group of what they call the nation's top chefs and asked them to pick their favorite fast food joints and meals. The winner, by a large margin, was In-N-Out Burger. Which figures.

• Posted at 12:26 AM · LINK