Stu Shostak's got himself a great guest tomorrow on his web-radio program, Stu's Show. It's Monte Schulz, who in addition to being the son of Charles M. Schulz, has established himself as a widely-read novelist. His new book, This Side of Jordan, has been hailed as a stirring portrait of the jazz age and of the American migration from rural to urban life.
He'll be talking about that book and also about growing up in the house of Charlie Brown and Snoopy tomorrow (Wednesday) on Stu's Show from 4 PM to 6 PM Pacific, which is 7 PM to 9 PM Eastern...and if you're not in either of those time zones, you can probably figure out when to listen. The show is heard on Shokus Internet Radio and remember that this is not a podcast that you can download whenever you like. It's a radio show. You have to log in when it's on and listen then. But if you do, you'll have a very good time.
Screenwriter Reed Fisher and his wife are touring this great land of ours with an easily-understandable goal: To photograph each and every Sizzler restaurant. Read all about it.
I can appreciate their affection for the chain and I used to be a fan of Sizzlers...and an admirer of how they'd shrewdly repositioned themselves in the marketplace. First time I went to one, it was a place to get a steak, a baked potato and not much else. But it was a darned good piece of meat for the price. I had worse steaks in places that charged three to five times as much.
Then there came a time in this land when the chug-a-lugging of beef became less fashionable...and with an uncanny sense of changing trends, the Sizzler folks reinvented themselves. Their eateries became places where you could get chicken or fish and/or graze at a rather good salad bar. They still had decent steaks but there were other things to eat and they were, again, quite acceptable, considering the price.
Since then, the Sizzler chain has filed for bankruptcy at least once (in 1996, they closed 140 of their 215 outlets) and changed management teams a number of times. Every time they bring in a new management, the quality of the meals goes down at least 25%, at least at the one near me. I've been checking in about once every two years on the gullible hope that they've reversed the downslide. So far, nope. In fact, the last try was so disappointing that I may not give it another try until late 2015. If I don't chicken out then, I'll let you know how it goes.
Robert Elisberg on Obama's Nobel. Sometimes, I don't think most Republican leaders hate Obama so much as they just hate not being in power...and don't see any other weapon at their disposal than to keep on fanning the rages of the Rush/Glenn Beck/birther mob.
Several folks inform me that that Warner Archive project — the one putting out limited run DVDs of stuff from the Time-Warner vault — will soon issue a complete set of the Robert Benchley shorts. That will be a good thing to have. I'll let you know when it's available...or if you see it first, you let me know.
I also note that they've issued Penn & Teller Get Killed. You ever see that film? The first twenty minutes or so are pretty decent and then it just falls apart. I'm a big fan of those guys and I don't think I could bring myself to watch it again.
My pal Bob Claster offers some wonderful audio interviews on his site — chats he's had with the greats of the comedy profession. I've directed you to his page before but I'm going to direct you again because he's just added a conversation with Jonathan and Darlene Edwards. If you aren't familiar with them, you should be.
Okay, I'm going to bed. Good night, Internet and Mrs. Calabash...wherever you are.
The other day here, I mentioned that it was an urban legend in the Hanna-Barbera hallways that Woody Allen had once written a never-used script for The Flintstones. Well, it turns out that our pal Richard Bensam actually managed to find a copy of it.
Randy Cohen, a former writer for David Letterman, discusses an interesting aspect to this former employer's inter-office trysts. What does it do to the mood of a workplace when the boss — and in Dave's case, a boss who's not going to be replaced or overruled by a superior — is involved with one or more staff members?
One point: I doubt Letterman was putting any staff member on-camera because he was involved with them. With a couple of exceptions like Johnny Dark, I think Dave is just more comfortable with amateurs and with folks who are never going to get a laugh on their own.
Those of you who (like me) have cancelled your season pass for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon might want to record Wednesday night. Jimmy's guests will include, it says, "Monty Python."
And Thursday morning, the guest list on Live with Regis and Kelly includes John Cleese, Eric Idle and Michael Palin. There's also something about them on the Today show on NBC but I don't know if it's an appearance or just a news item or what. (Odd that they're not turning up on Letterman. Or maybe they are with a surprise Top Ten list or something...)
All of this is a prelude to the Python Reunion in New York on Thursday night and the debut of the six-hour documentary, Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut), which debuts on IFC on Sunday night. In fact, IFC is running a mess of Python films over the next week or so: Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Monty Python's Life of Brian and Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. If you look really, really fast at Monty Python: Live at the Hollywood Bowl and use a microscope on a huge Plasma screen, you can see me in the audience. I'm the one not dressed as Mr. Gumby.
October 14, 2009
