Actor Nicolas Cage and his wife Alice have named their new child Kal-el, which is Superman's birth name, which is of course their right. But don't I remember a sketch that Nicholas Cage did when he hosted Saturday Night Live back in 1992? He played a man arguing with his pregnant wife (portrayed by Julia […]
Damn…another obit. This one's for the "Poet Laureate of Television," Nipsey Russell, who was probably best known for his countless game show appearances. I met him only once — backstage at the game show called Rhyme and Reason that was more or less invented to have him on its panel. He was cheery, he was […]
For what it's worth, I'm surprised by George W. Bush's selection of Harriet Miers as a Supreme Court nominee. Point One: She has no judicial experience and while that may not be a disqualifier in and of itself, you'd think this would not be the time Bush would want to have the accusation that he's […]
Another talented, wonderful performer has left us. Hamilton Camp (aka Bob Camp and Hamid Hamilton Camp) died yesterday from a heart attack. He was 70. He was probably best known for his role as the handyman, Andrew Hummell, on the short-lived 1967 sitcom, He and She, which starred Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss, but he […]
Here's a website that has posted this past weekend's Frank Rich column. […]
If you are a fan of the great writer-performer of silly songs, Professor Tom Lehrer, you might be interested in hearing some of his earliest work that never made it to any record. You can do this at this site. […]
One of my regular correspondents, Ray Arthur, sends the following note… Actress June Allyson will be celebrating her 88th birthday on Friday. June is not in the best health and I'm sure she would enjoy any birthday greetings from fans. If you feel so inclined, please e-mail them through me at, and I will forward […]
Read More… from Happy Birthday (this Friday) to June Allyson!
Here are some articles you might want to peruse today… Jesse Green in The New York Times addresses a topic that we've addressed here: The fact that Las Vegas can make and is making Broadway shows a better offer than they can get in Manhattan. And speaking of alternative venues for Broadway shows, this article […]
I've heard from three different folks who went to the NecroComicon yesterday — one as a guest, two as attendees — that the thing kind of turned into The O.J. Simpson Convention. Simultaneously this weekend, there's a Hollywood Collectors Show in progress at the Burbank Hilton and at least two guests advertised for the NecroComicon […]
A week ago, a panel discussion at the Juilliard School of Music featured, among its participants, the odd match-up of Stephen Sondheim and Antonin Scalia debating government funding of the arts. What I find even odder is that I think I agree with Scalia. Here's a quote — I think this constitutes "fair use" — […]
October 2 may also have been the birthdate of the greatest "straight man" of them all, William Alexander "Bud" Abbott. His official bio always gave October 2, 1895 as the date but a website operated by his family (and Lou Costello's) says on its opening page that it was October 2, 1897 and on their […]
Well, at least most scholars of such matters think it was 115 years ago today that a woman named Minnie Marx gave birth to a son named Julius. Julius tended to give out different birthdates from time to time but 10/2/1890 seems like the right one. It was years later, after Julius and some of […]
Tracey Weiss writes… I love your site and read it daily. However, as much as I dislike O.J. Simpson and am pretty sure he's a murderer, he was found not guilty in a court of law. That means that, as a journalist, it would be more correct for you to refer to him as, well, […]
As readers of this weblog know, I don't see much leadership or statesmanship from our elected officials. I'm a bit hesitant to suggest that a recent letter/article by Senator Barack Obama shows both. History has shown that whenever I think that of some politician, it won't be long before he or she does something to […]
Let's go through a batch of letters. This first one's from my longtime pal, Gary Brown, who works as a journalist in Florida… Not that we need to stretch this out any further, as you said it pretty well today, but as a journalist and copy editor with a few years of experience under my […]