Monthly Archives: November 2012

Matt Taibbi has a long and, I think, perceptive piece about the impact of Hurricane Sandy on this nation's politics. I was especially struck by this line which I believe is true…

In the abstract, most Americans want a smaller and less intrusive government. In reality, what Americans really want is a government that spends less money on other people.

When most folks these days talk about their government getting rid of "non-essential services," they mean "non-essential to me." That's kind of what the Ryan budget is all about: Stop spending on things that don't benefit me and my people.

Speaking of Marty Feldman as I was recently here, here's a sketch with him and John Cleese from At Last…the 1948 Show.

It reminds me a bit of another sketch he did…with Cleese and other folks on several occasions. I first saw it with Charles Nelson Reilly on that Dean Martin summer replacement series I mentioned…any my friend Paul Dini also mentioned it in an e-mail. Reilly played a dapper gent waiting at a bus stop. Feldman played a little beggar who came up to him and said, "Gimme five bob, guv'nor. Gimme five bob." When Reilly refused, Feldman announced, "Give me five bob or I will take off all me clothes."

Anyone remember that? It was one of the funniest sketches I ever saw in my life and I'd wager big that it was something Mr. Feldman had done elsewhere and then reused on that Dean Martin placeholder. I saw him do it — I'm thinking with Cleese again — on one of those Secret Policemen's benefit shows or somewhere like that…and I remember liking the version with Charles Nelson Reilly better. Anyway, does this ring a bell with anyone?

Here are Mssrs. Feldman and Cleese in another sketch about a little, annoying man…

I just read this interview with Grover Norquist, the guy with the "no tax increase" pledge. I've long felt that he doesn't get called enough on something, which is that while he talks about how taxes must not be raised, what he means is that they must not be raised on rich people. He doesn't seem bothered at all if they're raised on the poor or middle class, especially if that makes tax cuts for the wealthy more possible. Here is one exchange I thought was telling…

SK: What about the payroll tax cut? Do you think that should be extended for another year as well, to keep people's taxes from going up, or should it expire?

GN: Either way — We could replace that with other tax cuts…I think the Republicans are looking for revenue neutral tax reform — make sure you don't increase the total burden. Whether that means a Social Security tax cut or income tax cut, there are plenty of ways to do it.

The payroll tax cut affects poor and middle class folks mainly so he's fine with trading that away. My guess is he'd prefer it because, you know, we've got to get the Koch Brothers some relief.

Here's an article about cartoon voice actors getting more recognition. While I would never deny anyone their right to have fans and be noticed, I'm guessing the folks who are happiest in this line of work are those who've made a conscious decision not to expect that. I'll write more about why I think that is in a few days.

As mentioned, Carolyn and I went to see The Book of Mormon the other night. Finding a place to stow one's auto around the Pantages Theater in Hollywood has never been easy and it got a whole lot worse recently when they started erecting an office building on what was formerly the largest nearby parking lot. So we went by subway. It was my first time ever on a Los Angeles subway but not Carolyn's so she steered us through what turned out to be a comfortable, easy way to get there and back. The train let us out directly across the street.

I think I heard too much about how wonderful the show was to the point where I was expecting something more than a good musical. Years ago, I had an adolescent friend who had been so inundated with imagery and others' enthusiasm for female breasts that when he finally got to touch one, it had to be and was a disappointment. Utter enchantment did not happen. He was not transported to a new level of ecstasy. It just felt good the way a lot of things in life feel good. That's how I sometimes feel with things that are too hyped and therefore too anticipated. So I won't tell you Book of Mormon is the greatest thing ever put on stage because, well, it's not. But it's real, real good.

My problem with it, and this is sure not a reason to not go, is that I really disliked everyone on stage. Not the actors…the roles they played. There's not one character in this show you wouldn't do everything possible to avoid in the real world. Apart from The Life (maybe), I can't think of a single other show where I so little wanted to spend time with "those people." Which I guess was the authors' point. I also felt a little bad for a few Mormon friends I have because the premise of this show is that their religion is a fragrant pile of crap and that you have to be a colossal idiot to not see that.

Still, I laughed a lot, especially in the first two numbers in Act Two. I liked the songs and I was never bored or fidgety in my seat, even for a moment. This was a National Touring Company which is at the Pantages through Thanksgiving, then it heads to San Francisco for a month, then to Portland for a few days. I believe a second N.T.C. is about to open in Chicago for six months. Given the size of the Cancellation Line the other night, the one at the Pantages could probably park there for another six months but it's a tour and the theater has this huge subscription season with many other plays and events lined up to come in.  One is a Christmas show with Donny and Marie Osmond, which I guess is kind of the rebuttal to this one.

The two male leads at the Pantages are Gavin Creel and Jared Gertner…and I couldn't help but thinking that if I had to make up fictitious names for the characters they play, I'd name the Mormon played by Gavin Creel "Gavin Creel" and the Mormon played by Jared Gertner "Jared Gertner." Nevertheless, they were both terrific…and Mr. Gertner gave one of the best curtain speeches I've ever heard, urging us to donate on the way out to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. It wasn't quite as funny as Jackie Hoffman's when I saw Xanadu in New York but it was probably more effective in prompting folks to cough up and shell out. If this guy had sold Mormonism the way he sold that charity, he'd have had a lot of converts.

Also, there was something very nice about meeting so many cast members who were out in the lobby in full costume after the performance, selling tote bags and collecting donations with fervor and passion. We bought two tote bags from a lady of stunning talent, Samantha Marie Ware, who played the female lead and was about as good in the part as I could imagine anyone being. Then we went and got on the subway.

I can think of a couple of folks who'll read this who probably shouldn't go see The Book of Mormon. Some of the language is pretty rough and the bringdown of a religion in which a great many people believe is rougher. I think it's healthy to not flinch in the least at that kind of thing and it's very American that a show like this can exist and thrive and win the Tony and play to packed houses that love it. A friend wrote me that he doesn't think it will have the staying power of a My Fair Lady or a Music Man and I wouldn't bet that it would. It's lacking in the "heart" department and I somehow don't see a lot of high schools and community groups staging their own productions. Still, it's damn funny and that sure counts for a lot.

As I think I just said, I'm all for Obama. I think he's been a good president and that Romney would be a bad one. (Actually, I think the worst part of a Romney president would be the empowerment of the rabid right-wing and guys like Paul Ryan.)

In the interest of fairness, I'm going to do something that few bloggers would do. I'm going to link to a rational endorsement of the guy I hope loses. Here's David Frum on why he wants Romney to win. Yes, Frum is not a mainstream Republican and a lot of them loathe him. But he does not do the "my guy is perfect, their guy is evil and incompetent" routine which means he actually says something.

The Romney campaign is going all out to insist he's going to win and it's in the bag. I think you have to do that when it looks like you won't and it isn't. The Obama campaign is more along the lines of "He's going to win…with your help." So it pretty much comes down to this concept: Obama will win unless a lot of Obama voters are less enthusiastic about going to the polls than the Romney voters.

My assumption that Obama will win is based on the simple observation that while Romney has occasionally nosed ahead in the popular vote totals, he's never been anywhere close to 270 in the electoral vote projections. I don't think anyone who's been averaging and weighting the polls and fitting them into computer models has ever had Romney above 257 and in most, he tops out at 235. The 257 count seems to me to be giving him every state where he's in the ballgame.

This is discounting those who can't even conceal the fact that they desperately want Romney to win Obama to lose. Here's an article that lists seven of these analysts who think Obama will win. These guys all seem to me to be more interested in being right than in pushing "their guy."

If somehow Romney pulls it off…well, I'll be fearful for my country and especially for the health and welfare of the poor and middle-class, but not as fearful as I'd be if there seemed to be a chance of a G.O.P. Senate. Which now looks darn near impossible.

I would also take some comfort in two other things…

1. I think it would be a great benefit for Democracy if one of these times, all the major pollsters were dead wrong. I don't want it to be this time…but sometime.
2. And at least this friggin' election would be over. Really. I'm sick up to here (about forehead level and I'm very tall) of ads and robocalls about the propositions and a few minor races. I can't imagine what it must be like in states where the presidential vote matters.

I don't think those comfort points will be necessary. I also don't think charges of "it'll mean the end of America" are warranted in either case…or ever with the Democrat or Republican candidates. There are an awful lot of ways in which I think one — guess which one — is better for this country than the other. But an awful lot in which they're the same and America is a lot stronger than those differences.

In 1971, a most unusual TV show was produced. Thirteen or fourteen episodes were shot of The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine starring Mr. Feldman and many of the top comic actors in England. Several folks involved in Monty Python's Flying Circus were involved in this one, including Terry Gilliam, who contributed animated titles and bits of business. The show was produced in England for American television and one of its producers was Larry Gelbart, who was then living in the U.K. The writing staff included American Sheldon Keller (one of Gelbart's friends from his Sid Caesar days) and the also-American team of Barry Levinson and Rudy DeLuca, plus some British writers plus Feldman.

I was very intrigued by this show and over the years, I discussed it with Larry, Sheldon, Rudy and even briefly with Mr. Feldman. I never quite got the whole story and I'm not sure any of them knew it. Here's about as much as I know…

Involved in the deal was Greg Garrison, who was best known for The Dean Martin Show and its genesis had something to do with the fact that Garrison had produced a summer replacement series for Dean the previous year called Dean Martin Presents the Golddiggers in London. Done over there because it was cheaper, it featured Feldman more or less equally billed with Charles Nelson Reilly.

This was years before the Monty Python shows had made any dent over here. By way of reference: The first season of Python was produced for British television commencing in October of '69. They weren't really seen in America until the release of the motion picture And Now for Something Completely Different in August of '72.

I seem to be the only human being alive who remembers this but The Dean Martin Show used some footage from Python before that. There was one episode where they showed the "How Not to Be Seen" sketch but with Dean introducing it, then narrating the footage. I think Python's "Funniest Joke Ever" routine was also used and one or two others, redubbed and severely edited and laugh-tracked. I've always assumed that was part of a deal Garrison made that was connected in some way with the Feldman show he did.

ABC was promised that stars familiar to American audiences would appear on it. To start flying such folks over was not in the budget so initially, Feldman came to Los Angeles to tape a few spots with, for example, Orson Welles who was a frequent and always-available guest on Garrison productions. The sample below has Marty appearing for a moment or two with Welles, who narrated a segment that was shot in England. Relations between Feldman and Garrison ruptured and Marty stopped coming over…or speaking to Garrison when the producer-director went to England to supervise the show he was allegedly in charge of.

The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine was delivered to ABC in this country around July of 1971, the idea being that it would go in as a replacement for some show that started in September and was quickly axed. ABC hated the show and at one point was not going to run it at all. They finally found a spot for it and it debuted with almost no promotion on April 12, 1972. By this stage, the shows had been furiously recut by Garrison, trimming it from an hour to a half-hour and inserting comedy spots that had nothing to do with the series Feldman believed he'd made.

During the run of The Dean Martin Show, there were several comedians who taped monologues for it — a process which almost never involved meeting Dean or even facing a live audience. Then, as was Garrison's style, their eight minute spot would be cut down to four when aired on the Martin show. In order to get more American content into Mr. Feldman's abbreviated Comedy Machine, Garrison went to his vault, pulled out some leftovers and inserted them into the Feldman show, introduced by an off-camera announcer. One of the things Marty Feldman told me the one time I met him around 1976 was, "I keep meeting people who were on my show who I never heard of."

He was absolutely livid talking about that series…so much so that I somewhat regretted asking him about it. From his viewpoint, top comedy writers and performers, including people like Spike Milligan, had produced a superior one-hour program…and Garrison had chopped it into incoherent half-hours, ruining most of the sketches with clumsy truncations so he could insert bad stand-up acts.

Gelbart and the other writers shared his view that a good program had been butchered…though unlike Feldman, they were not still fantasizing about acts of violence on the personage of Greg Garrison. Sheldon Keller thought Garrison wasn't a bad guy; that the problem was they'd delivered a show that ABC didn't understand and which the ABC audience probably wouldn't understand. Sheldon's view was that while Garrison ruined it, he only did what he did to try and salvage a show that ABC wasn't going to air. I would imagine that if I'd ever gotten to ask Garrison about it, that's roughly what he would have told me.

And that is really all I know about it except that Gelbart thought the full hours, which aired intact on the BBC, competed favorably with the Best of Python. British comedy authorities I've asked about it have said it was a good show but not quite that good. I do not know if those hours exist anywhere and would be thrilled if someone reading this would write, tell me that they do and tell me how to get copies of them.

The clip below is all I've seen of the show since it originally aired. This is about eleven minutes and I think it's from the United Kingdom telecast and the only Garrison involvement was to direct what Orson Welles did…

Jonathan Chait explains why he thinks Barack Obama has been a great president. I wouldn't go quite that far. There are areas in which Obama has disappointed me. But I agree with Chait that Obama has been good and that past Obama supporters who are now disappointed to the point of not voting for him were probably expecting something that was never going to happen and was really never promised.