In my piece about the ABC's Wide World of Entertainment program, I meant to mention the two times they aired Monty Python material and wound up in court because of it. This Wikipedia page explains the matter in rather simple terms but to make it even simpler: ABC got hold of the last six episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus, edited them badly, broadcast them and then lost a lawsuit. If you went to delve deeper into the matter and can understand lawspeak, here's the history of the case as written up for a law journal.

There were other interesting shows on ABC's Wide World of Entertainment. I remember one in which Dick Van Dyke visited the estate of Harold Lloyd and introduced a lot of clips from that great comedian's work. I remember one that was kind of a Battle of the Network Stars with two or more teams of quasi-celebrities competing in a treasure hunt contest. There was a special covering the premiere of the movie, Tommy. And there was this salute to Walt Disney hosted by Julie Andrews with contributions by Dean Jones, Fred MacMurray, Buddy Ebsen, Annette Funicello and others…

There was also this wonky TV adaptation of the short-lived-on-Broadway play, It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman…

ABC News was then trying a series of programs they called At Ease which covered the lighter side of covering the news. ABC's Wide World of Entertainment featured at least one of them…

There was a roast of Howard Cosell with Merlin Olsen, Muhammad Ali, Bill Russell, Alex Karras, Don Adams, Redd Foxx, Ted Knight, Steve Allen, Slappy White, Don Meredith and (of course) Don Rickles among the roasters, with David Steinberg as Roast Host…

There was Vincent Price hosting The Horror Hall of Fame with, among others, John Carradine, John Astin and others. Forrest Ackerman is mentioned and also listed as a technical advisor…

And there were other shows on ABC's Late Night array of just about everything but those are all I could find on YouTube…more than enough for now. If you see any more of these posted in full online, lemme know,

Snopes debunks a lot of things people are claiming about the National Guard and other military presences in Los Angeles. I especially like this one which to me, kinda sums up the whole Trump modus operandi: "Just keep insisting we're successful even when we're not!"

In June 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the National Guard to be mobilized to quell protests in Los Angeles, despite California Gov. Gavin Newsom's objections. In a June 8 post on Truth Social, Trump claimed the troops had been successful even though the troops had not yet been deployed on the ground at the time of his post.

Being really inept at every show of force it attempts, the Trump administration dispatched troops to L.A. without arranging for enough food, housing, water…all those little things that soldiers need to survive. California governor Gavin Newsome tweeted photos of some of the troops sleeping on the floor, looking like a well-armed homeless shelter. Trumpers did what they always do and cried "Fake news!" but Politifact says the photos are legit.

From the folks at CNN: Trump makes multiple false claims to the troops at Fort Bragg.

The Washington Post says that the Vice President and Secretary of State are twisting facts about foreign aid while the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget is twisting facts about deficit reductions.

I'm not a big fan of Jimmy Kimmel but every so often, he speaks truth to power in a simple, clear way that everyone can understand and perhaps even laugh at. This is what he said on his show last night and I think it's spot-on perfect. It's a bit long but stick with it…and the montage at the end is something that should be shown to anyone who thinks that all immigrants are threats to our way of life…

Here in Los Angeles, things are a lot quieter than Donald Trump and his enablers want you to believe.  There are a few car fires and loud protests going on in a small portion of Southern California…apparently nothing the L.A.P.D. couldn't handle, especially if they didn't have all these unassigned Marines and National Guard soldiers scurrying about trying to inflame the situation.

Trump seems desperate to sell the scenario that L.A. is a hellhole of crime and destruction, most of it caused by people who weren't born here or were but they look like they weren't born here.  Ever since he was trying to sell the idea that Barack Obama was a Kenyan, Donald's had trouble with the concept that non-Caucasians can be and are birthed in the U.S.  Anyway, his operating premise seems to be that only he has prevented Los Angeles from being reduced to ashes and only he can save the other 49 states from that fate.  It's more "They're eating the dogs!  They're eating the cats!" bullshit.

Here's the first part of tonight's Daily Show with Desi Lydic.  The last few minutes of this are especially clever…

Every year, a few shows with marginal ticket sales hold on until the Tony Awards, hoping some win or exposure there will drive buyers to the box office.  When it doesn't happen, they announce they're closing…and the first one this year is Smash, which will be giving its final performance on June 22.

It got decent reviews but this was a highly competitive season with many new shows clawing for playgoers' money.  Perhaps it will have an afterlife but for now, some of us will only experience its cast album…which is for sale now and which you can hear streamed for free at this website.  Too bad…it sounds like a good show.

Years ago, I had a chilling jolt when I found myself debating an acquaintance ("friend" is too strong a word) about the Death Penalty. He was for it and I was against it…and I remember thinking that he was a bit too enthusiastic for it and that I was not as unenthusiastically against it as he was enthusiastically for it.

We finally reached the stage where I played the last card I had in my hand…the one which common sense would tell you should make even the fiercest advocate of the Death Penalty a little uncomfortable. I said something like, "And there's way too much evidence that this country has sometimes erred and executed innocent people. Surely you're not in favor of that."

Usually, the response to that was outright denial — "No, no innocent person has ever been executed" — which even then was impossible to believe given the number of last-minute exonerations. These days, it's pretty much a proven fact due to DNA testing. My jolt of the chilling variety came when he replied, "I don't give a fuck!"

I said, "You do realize that when an innocent person is executed for a murder, that means they close the case, stop investigating and the real killer has gotten away with it? In fact, then The State has a compelling interest in not locating and arresting the killer." To this he didn't give another one of those things he didn't give a moment earlier. He thought it was a great deterrent to crime that The State periodically executes people for committing crimes. He felt they should execute more people even for lesser crimes than murder. If the people turn out to be innocent, so what? It's still a deterrent.

I don't recall precisely where the debate went after that. I think I pointed out that though his main issues were his distrust of Big Government and his belief in rampant government incompetence, he was fine with government incompetence killing innocent people. Or maybe I was so stunned by what he'd said before that I couldn't get that out. I do know that the talk ended without either of us changing our minds one millimeter about the Death Penalty.

I'm not bringing this up to argue about the Death Penalty. That's one of those quaint retro issues we never seem to have time for anymore. I just lately have been reminded of that discussion as I see people on the news cheering on the idea of the government going all Gestapo on us in the service of deporting people who are even vaguely suspected to be in this country illegally. Too many of those who support ICE don't seem to give that same fuck if innocent people are detained and/or deported…and once someone is deported, they don't want to hear that maybe it was a mistake, even if the deporters admit it. Just so long as the people who have their lives ruined aren't white.

You could maybe (maybe!) convince me that deporting "illegals" is the right thing to do. It's not like the current administration is the first one to do it. I'm pretty sure that you could never convince me it's right to do it in a sloppy, sometimes-inaccurate manner ignoring the part of the U.S. Constitution that says it must be done with Due Process…or that it doesn't matter if innocent people have their lives and families destroyed along the way.

And you certainly could never convince me it's okay to do deportations or lock-ups just because you think they'll help your party win elections.

Last Thursday marked 500 days since I broke my ankle. I'm still not quite sure how I did that but I know that since then, things have gotten steadily better and I can now walk semi-okay, though not for great or even medium-great distances, plus I have some trouble with stairs. I will still need some wheelchairing at Comic-Con in San Diego next month but not as much as I did last year. (I'm currently scheduled to moderate or appear on 17 panels, plus I'll be doing three signings. Some of you may think of 17 panels and three signings in four days as insanity. To me, it's twenty opportunities to sit down.)

I have been in my home (95% of the time on the second floor) since I checked out of a Rehab Center at the end of February, 2024. I go downstairs — cautiously — when I go to doctor-type appointments and I've also left here to go to last year's Comic-Con in San Diego, this year's WonderCon in Anaheim, a Jay Ward Film Festival, the memorial for my friend Mike Schlesinger, the opening of the Jack Kirby exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center and then last Friday, I went to the Magic Castle for the first time in over two years.

In earlier posts here, I said "It hasn't been that bad." I still feel that way. Yeah, I've missed out on some things I might have liked to do but in their stead, I got a lot of work done. I put an awful lot of those bonus hours into the forthcoming book on Charles Schulz and Peanuts and some other things I hope you (or someone) will like.

Here is some probably-obvious advice to anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation: Plan. Think about how to modify your life to fit your new limitations even if they're temporary. If your body and what you can do with it has changed, maybe your living and working environment need to, as well.

While in the Rehab Center, I had my fantastic plumber (have I mentioned I have a fantastic plumber?) convert the shower in the master bathroom into something like those A.D.A. showers in select hotel rooms and install some grab bars and handrails there and elsewhere. I bought a microwave oven and a small refrigerator for upstairs since it's been tough for me to go downstairs. Another very handy thing was to have a couple of these around…

Also very helpful are all the things that I've installed — some because of the accident, some before it — that enable me to control lights and door locks and my garage door and my water heater, etc. via my iPhone. As I mentioned in my first post about the broken ankle, the app which allowed me to lock and unlock my front door remotely was one of those "What would I have done without it?" blessings.

You may never become a patient in your own home — for your sake, I hope you never do — but it isn't a bad idea to look around and consider what you'd do if it happened. You may even think of some things that could prevent it from happening.

Last night on this blog, I was highly critical of Donald Trump. In keeping with current journalistic practice, I am suspending myself from this blog for an indefinite period of time. "Indefinite" in this case probably means "Until I get my current script assignment done."

So I've been keeping one eye on the Tony Awards, one eye on the protests in Los Angeles and one eye on a script…and I still can't figure out why I'm still on the same page of that script that I was on at 3:00 this afternoon. But this post is just about the Tony Awards…

I was, of course, disappointed that Boop! The Musical was almost completely overlooked. The telecast went something like 23 minutes over and they couldn't have gone 30?

Cynthia Erivo was a good-enough host but I guess I was spoiled by the great opening numbers that Neil Patrick Harris and James Corden gave us. Her closing number (with lyrics, I'm guessing, by Alan Edelman who was credited for Special Musical Material) was pretty good though. I do not understand the reason that so many of the presenters and speakers are introduced by offstage announcers when there's a perfectly capable host there who could serve as more of an anchor. It seems to be kind of a tradition of the Tony Awards for the host to disappear for long stretches of the program. It couldn't have taken Ms. Erivo that long to get into some of those dresses.

I liked the selection of a song by Charles Strouse to be sung under the "In Memoriam" montage that led off with Charles Strouse.

Having not seen any of the nominated shows, I'm not qualified to say if the awards went to the right shows or people…but most of the selections seemed to please the audience which, presumably, saw all or most of the shows.

Usually, a few of the musical numbers on the Tony telecast make me say, "Next time I'm in New York, I definitely want to see that show" but this evening, the only one that made me think that was the presentation from Operation Mincemeat. I saw Sunset Boulevard twice when Glenn Close was doing it and have zero interest in seeing it again, no matter how wonderful the leading lady might be.

The number Audra McDonald performed from Gypsy probably made me a little less eager to see that show…and I say that as a big Audra fan. But then I'm thinking "Rose's Turn" probably always looks overly hysterical when viewed without the entirety of the play leading up to it.

And as I'm typing this, the replay is starting on CBS. It was a decent show but I'm not watching it again.

Donald Trump just put up a post on Truth Social that just said, "Paid Insurrectionists!" One assumes he's referring to some group or all groups protesting ICE in Los Angeles. This is not the first time he's made that accusation about protestors who oppose his policies…as if it's not possible that someone could honestly think he's wrong and is only holding that sign because they were paid, possibly by George Soros. We've heard others make such charges or dismiss protestors or grieving parents as "Crisis Actors," as if that's a well-known profession.

Here's what I'm wondering: Has that accusation ever been verified for any sizeable mob? I can imagine someone somewhere has paid ten or twenty people to go and demonstrate for or against something…and I know unions sometimes pay pickets to walk picket lines. But a crowd in the hundreds? And I think Trump has said that about mobs of a thousand and up. Didn't he claim that when Kamala was drawing larger crowds to her rallies than he was to his?

That sounds like something that would be real easy to expose. Someone who opposed the demonstration could easily sign up to be part of it and then go public with the check or the printed instructions sheet or a recruiting e-mail or something. How do you keep something like that secret? I would think that someone who was willing to march for a cause or candidate they didn't believe in just because they were paid would gladly accept cash to admit they were paid to be there.

I'm not talking about someone paying to bus people in or to supply them with signs or refreshments. I'm talking about the charge that "Those people don't really support [or not support] that cause or candidate! They're just pretending they do for money!" Has that ever been verified about any large protest or rally? Anywhere?

I'm sitting here in my home, working on a script with one eye on the Tony Awards. I'm many miles from where any protests are taking place or where any of the 2,000 National Guardsmen dispatched here on the orders of Donald Trump are doing whatever it is they were sent here to do. So far, it seems like they were sent here as part of a lie. That lie is that my city is overrun by violent immigrants who must be rounded up or punished or deported…or something.

How do I know it's a lie? Well, I've seen no evidence supporting it either in the news or on the streets. Last time I looked at the local news, the protests seemed pretty small — we have more destructive mobs when an L.A. sports team wins a championship — and isolated incidents. If it gets worse, it'll probably be the presence of the National Guard that makes it worse. The governor, the mayor of L.A. and the local police officials would be welcoming them if that was not the case.

John Ficarra and Sam Viviano — respectively, the former editor-in-chief of MAD magazine and its Art Director — were fortunate enough to be invited to Donald Trump's big birthday celebration and parade on June 14th. They shared the wonderful invitation they received with the Albany Times Union and that newspaper published it for all the world to see. Go take a look at it.

The 78th Annual Tony Awards are being doled out tonight at Radio City Music Hall in New York. They're viewable on CBS and I assume you know how to find CBS on your TV or iPhone or iPad or Galaxy Phone or computer browser or Etch-a-Sketch or whatever the hell you have. The live show on most CBS stations will be followed by a full replay of the event…and my, broadcast television has changed from not-that-long-ago when CBS demanded that the Tonys occupy the smallest time slot possible and not a second more.

That presentation starts at 8 PM East Coast Time and you're smart enough to figure out what that translates to where you live. It will be preceded at 6:40 PM — again, that's East Coast Time — by a pre-show which will be streamed on the Live Music channel on Pluto TV. Here's what I believe (I could be wrong) is a link to the Live Music channel on Pluto TV which usually runs programs which are not live. In fact, most of them are ancient episodes of Showtime at the Apollo, which is about as "not live" as you can get.

Pluto TV is free but you may need to sign up for a free account in order to watch…and then again, you may not. Life can be strange that way.

In 1973, ABC tried something which probably sounded good in the meetings but didn't work as well as they'd hoped.  In their 11:30 PM weeknight slot, they had The Dick Cavett Show, which was critically acclaimed and attracting enough viewers to show a modest profit.  But alas, it wasn't beating Johnny Carson in the ratings and there were reportedly execs then at the network who felt such a feat was, no matter what anyone said, possible.  They pared Cavett back to one week per month and declared that henceforth, whatever appeared in that time slot was part of something called ABC's Wide World of Entertainment.

In other words, rotating shows. I suppose that worked somewhere at some point on one of the three networks we had then but no example springs to mind. Usually, if people like a show enough to watch it, they want to watch it every day or every week. As I understand it, ABC tried this particular experiment figuring that at least one of three things would happen…

1. One of the shows they slotted into their "wheel" would attract enough of a following to make it a regular, Johnny-beating series five (or so) nights per week.
2. One or more of the new shows would click is such a way that it could go from being a late night tryout to being a regular prime-time hit. Or…
3. The entire ABC's Wide World of Entertainment would score higher ratings than Carson…or at least higher than Cavett.

And of course, none of these three things happened. It certainly didn't happen with Jack Paar Tonite. One out of every four weeks, you got a talk show bringing the former host of The Tonight Show back to television after being away for many years. It was just a sad, little-watched show, in large part because Paar hadn't updated his act and, frankly, wasn't that interesting in 1973. I wrote about this show in this blog post and linked you to a video of its first episode. If you want, you can watch it and decide for yourself why Mr. Paar was soon scurrying back into retirement.

The other two weeks, they featured a wide array of specials, some of them one-shots while others recurred now and again. There were — among many other efforts — rock music specials under the name In Concert, a spooky anthology series from Great Britain called Thriller, Playboy specials, a news magazine hosted by Geraldo Rivera called Good Night, America, and a funny news program called Comedy News. It is a slightly-fuzzy episode of Comedy News that we have for you today.

I remember watching and liking Comedy News but feeling that it was often one of those good half-hour shows stretched to a longer length. This particular installment features Mort Sahl, Dick Gregory, Bob & Ray, Peter Schickele, Spencer Quinn (I don't know who that is), Joan Rivers, Fannie Flagg, Anthony Holland, Marian Mercer and your anchormen, Andrew Duncan and Kenneth Mars. I remember other episodes including Stan Freberg (a major reason I watched), Robert Klein, Richard Pryor, Richard Dawson and many others.

Here's this one and thanks to "John G" for alerting me that it was online. The video starts with a few seconds of the end of the local (Los Angeles) 11 PM Eyewitness News, which is kind of what Comedy News was parodying. Inattentive viewers might not have realized that the allegedly real news show had ended and the spoof had begun…

We have heard nothing about Boop! The Musical being added to the list of shows performing at the Tony Awards tomorrow night…so either that ain't gonna happen or they've added it and are keeping it ultra-super-duper-secret to make it a huge surprise. Since the show's sets would have to be moved in and out at some point and the company would have to block and rehearse, it's tough to believe the latter is possible.

So I'll predict that the only love the show will get on the telecast will be a big audience cheering when the name of Jasmine Amy Rogers is read as a nominee for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical…an award she won't win. Something could be said if — and this, I hear, is likely — the show's director Jerry Mitchell wins for Best Choreography but I don't think that award is presented on-air.

It is worth reminding ourselves that award shows like this don't always get it right. As I've mentioned here, I was once on a committee for the Television Academy that looked into ways to make the awards for animated shows fairer. The committee never reached any conclusions — or if it did, I didn't participate in the final reaching. But the conclusion I came to on my own was that the awards weren't fairly decided and that all the people involved in this kind of thing wanted for was them to be looked on as important and as a really big, legitimate "win" for those whose names wound up in the envelopes.

A gent named Chris Peterson who heads up a widely-read blog about the theatre wrote this piece listing some times he feels the Tonys picked the wrong Best Musical…and it's certainly true that sometimes, a show which didn't nab the trophy has had a longer life and earned more respect than the one that did that year. I don't think I agree with all his examples but that's kind of the point.