Anyone here see David Copperfield's special last Tuesday evening? The "sexy," much-advertised feat — and the only part of the show done live — involved Mr. Copperfield standing in the center of a tornado of fire. It was, to me, the least-interesting segment of what was otherwise a superb hour of magic. (In some other […]
One thing you can say for World War II: A lot of great comics came out of it. One was Blackhawk and, after I update my website, I have to finish the foreword for DC Comics' upcoming Blackhawk Archives, which will reprint the first 17 episodes of that superb strip from Military Comics. Another great […]
Congress is currently discussing abolishing — or, at least, reducing — the so-called "Death Tax." It's actually an Estate Tax but its foes find it's easier to drum up opposition if they call it a "Death Tax." They also argue, apparently wrongly, that it amounts to double-taxation. If you've been led to believe it does, […]
Yesterday marked one year since my longtime chum, Scott Shaw!, began his Oddball Comics page over at Comic Book Resources. For 52 weeks, Monday through Friday, he has favored us with examples of some of the most bizarre comics ever published — like that Rifleman one above — accompanied by witty and informative annotation, which […]
On the political front, I have come to enjoy my daily visit to www.kausfiles.com, a site operated by Mickey Kaus. His longer pieces usually run over on Slate but, almost every day, he updates his "Hit Parade" column with links to articles currently available on-line, along with his comments on those articles. I don't agree […]
I've always loved my TiVo but, now that they've upgraded the software, I love it even more. The new version lets you "prioritize" Season Passes, meaning that you can tell it to record your favorite shows every time they're on but if one is opposite another, the higher-priority one gets recorded. You can also search […]
My favorite play and I'm working on a column that will explain why — is A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. I've seen at least 30 productions of it over the years, ranging from the superb (Phil Silvers as Pseudolus) to the ghastly (a Vegas incarnation that cut songs and added […]
Ratings for Week 8 of the XFL: They got a 1.8, which was up a hair from the previous week's 1.6. Given that it was still the lowest rate prime-time show of the week — even below everything on the WB network — I doubt anyone is uncorking the bubbly. To the surprise of no […]
In the photo above, the guy on the right is Jackie Kahane. I assume you recognize the guy on the left. The last five years of Mr. Presley's life, his opening act was Mr. Kahane, a comedian who also, in his day, opened for the likes of Wayne Newton, Tony Bennett and just about every […]
One of the best voice actors working today — cartoons, announcing, and he even does on-camera at times — is Gregg Berger, not to be confused (though he often is) with Greg Berg or Greg Burson. One of my goals in cartoon voice-directing is to someday do a session with those three guys, plus Bob […]
I thought Steve Martin was the best Oscar host in many years…better even than Billy Crystal. I always liked Crystal but felt that when he hosted, the show — which oughta be about the awards and their recipients — was a bit too much about Billy Crystal. Martin was funny, unobtrusive and managed to treat […]
I haven't seen a copy yet in person but I'm told that The Groo Kingdom, our latest collection of old Groo stories, is now in book shops. If you're collecting these, you'll want to race right out and purchase at least one copy. If you're not collecting these…well, we all do dumb things in our […]
I'm not sure what, if anything, I want to write about Bill Hanna, who died — not unexpectedly — this morning. Like many who will read this, I was reared on Hanna-Barbera cartoons and loved at least the early ones — Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Yogi Bear, The Flintstones — dearly. And before that, […]
Whenever we write about Las Vegas here, we caution you about trying too hard to save money in that city, as it can lead to extreme discomfort and/or ptomaine. However, if you're egregiously cheap — or if you just want to browse a rather funny travel guide — check out Las Vegas on 25 Cents […]
Wondering what became of Chuck Barris? Here's a link to an article in The New York Observer about the current activities of the man who gave us The Dating Game, The Gong Show and the song, "Palisades Park." (If that link doesn't work, go to the Observer's website and do a search for "Chuck Barris.") […]