The late Bob Crane was best known as the star of Hogan's Heroes, though I recall him from when he was a darn good disc jockey/radio personality on KNX here in Los Angeles. How he became "the late" Bob Crane apparently had a lot to do with his penchant for having sex with a wide […]
If you live in Los Angeles: On Sunday, before the Tony Awards, KCET (Channel 28) is rerunning the recent video of the Gershwin musical, Crazy For You. Silly story, great dancing…and you can't beat the music. I enjoyed it and it doesn't seem to be coming out on VHS or DVD, and it probably won't […]
From my e-mail, I gather that many of you are as engrossed as I am in finding out what the hell happened with the voting in Florida last November. A new "must read" is today's article in The Washington Post — a follow-up to the one I recommended the other day. Here's the link…and for […]
Programming notes: If you set your VCR or TiVo to record An Evening With Mel Brooks — aka The Tony Awards — this Sunday, don't forget that the two hour ceremony on CBS is preceded by an hour show on PBS. (One thing I often find interesting about the Tony telecast is that it's just […]
The website selling Johnny Carson videos (www.johnnycarson.com) has added a database of guest appearances on The Tonight Show, which — if you're as big a fan of the show as I am — makes for fun browsing. From it, I learned that the Rod Hull/Richard Pryor encounter, which I discussed in this column, took place […]
If you're interested in comic book history, you shouldn't miss a single issue of Roy Thomas's fine Alter Ego (or, for that matter, of almost anything from TwoMorrows Publishing). Roy's latest issue — his eighth, seen at left — is a split book. One half spotlights Joe Kubert and contains the regular features about Fawcett […]
Marvel Comics, which exists in a state of spiraling bankruptcy, is about to move its offices. To raise a few bucks, they're currently auctioning the etched glass doors to their conference room on eBay, with a minimum bid of $15,000. The link will expire shortly but, as long as it's still there, click here to […]
It was back in 1889 that Cleveland-based artist Terwilliger Ryan created the first animated cartoon character, Elmo Aardvark. Skeptics have wondered how such a thing was possible since animated film hadn't even been invented then…and the answer is that the innovative Ryan drew his cartoons as flipbooks which were then distributed with Sunday editions of […]
Another mediocrity programming note: On Saturday morning, 5/26, Turner Classic Movies is running a film that always fascinated me — Ensign Pulver. This is not to say that this sequel to Mister Roberts is a good movie. It isn't. In fact, evaluated as a successor-in-interest, it's kind of a train wreck. But as a standalone […]
When Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy left the Hal Roach Studios and began making movies at 20th Century Fox, they thought they'd enjoy the lavish production values of a major motion picture producer. As Stan said in one of their earlier, better films, "For the first time, I'm wrong again." Their post-Roach efforts were all […]
I'm too upset — and occupied, writing a lengthy obit for Comics Buyer's Guide — to post the usual recommended links 'n' gossip here. But I did want to call everyone's attention to Joe Conason's excellent article on George W. Bush in this week's New York Observer. Here's the link. Even if you like George […]
What a shock to hear that Rich Morrissey died yesterday afternoon of a heart attack at age 47. I was going to write, "My pal, Rich Morrissey," but that's insufficient. Rich was a friend of everyone who loved comic books, especially vintage comics. He was a frequent contributor to fanzines, comic book history projects and […]
That's the proprietor of this website, surrounded by two heroes: Steve Allen and Stan Freberg. This photo, which I'm titling, "Me and the first two people I ever plagiarized" was taken by Leonard Maltin, last July when a star was dedicated for June Foray on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Leonard, by the way, could […]
To Roger Simon, Chief Political Correspondent of U.S. News & World Report… Dear Mr. Simon — As a staunch fan of your work — especially Road Show and Show Time — I should be elated that Amazon-dot-com says that your new book, Divided We Stand, is being released today by Times Books. And if by […]
My buddy Lou Mougin recently e-mailed me an excerpt from an old Dobie Gillis comic book that included a Hollywood gossip page. On it was the copy above left, which announced Hanna-Barbera commencing production on its first full-length feature, then called Whistle Your Way Back Home. By the time it came out, it was named […]