Credit Where Due
I neglected to thank B. Baker for the tip-off on the article about The Projectionist. Thank you. B. Baker. […]
Author: Mark Evanier
Posts by Mark Evanier
Premature Elucidation
How do you know when political reporters have absolutely nothing to write about? Answer: They write about Al Gore's chances in 2004. Isn't it a little early for that? All this talk about who'll be the Democratic nominee for prez in '04, how he'll fare against Bush, whether Cheney will be on the ticket and […]
Kult Klassic
Nice article in today's New York Daily News about The Projectionist. This was a brilliant but undercirculated little movie made back in the sixties, starring Chuck McCann and the man we now know as Rodney Dangerfield. It deals with a lonely film buff who fantasizes himself into the movies he's screening, and it has a […]
Another Divisive Issue
I don't really know enough about stem-cell research to have an opinion on it. I suspect 95% of America doesn't, either. However, most folks have decided it's some sort of add-on to the abortion issue so it must be decided accordingly. This necessitates the same kind of juggling act that so many Republican politicians have […]
Money Back Guarantee
Bill and Hillary Clinton have applied for reimbursement for certain legal expenses relating to the Whitewater investigation. I'm guessing they are less interested in the money than in tweaking the noses of all those Republicans who have trouble admitting that it uncovered no wrongdoing whatsoever on their parts. In any case, for what seems like […]
Two Public Appeals
At the Comic-Con International in San Diego, I introduced Ray Bradbury and Julius Schwartz on a wonderful panel and also brought up comics legend Al Feldstein to meet Bradbury for the first time, fifty years after adapting his stories for the pages of EC comics. A couple of those gents would love to have photos […]
Sites to See
Do you like to look at photos of old coffee shops and motels and such? A very nice display of them can be seen at the website for Roadside Magazine. Here's a direct link to the piece. My pal Steven Grant is one of the better writers of comic books, among other things. And among […]
Lorenzo
One of the many wonderful qualities that Lorenzo Music possessed was his tendency and talent for putting people together and fomenting friendships. So it was fitting and, in an odd way, appropriately comforting that his passing should continue the practice. Shortly after posting an obit here, I began to hear from folks who knew him […]
Jerry DeFuccio, R.I.P.
And yet another damned obituary: Jerry DeFuccio passed away last night. Jerry was a veteran of EC Comics, having worked as an assistant editor, researcher and occasional writer for Harvey Kurtzman's war comics during their "golden" period. When Mad Magazine got up and running, Jerry became one of its Associate Editors and remained there for […]
Christopher Hewett, R.I.P.
Christopher Hewett passed away last week. He was best known for playing the title role on the situation comedy, Mr. Belvedere, which — I was surprised to just learn — was on ABC for five whole years. I have, you may be shocked to know, an anecdote about working with Mr. Hewett, albeit briefly. In […]
New Nixon News
As a wallower in Watergate lore, I feel a tingle at the news that technicians may be able to recover the audio on the infamous 18-and-a-half minute gap on one of Nixon's tapes. For those of you who've forgotten or never knew: One of the tapes that was subpoenaed in the Watergate investigation was of […]
Set the TiVo!
The Charlie Rose Show, which has lately been sans Charlie Rose, is advertising Jon Stewart for this evening. He's always a great guest (great host, too) so you might want to tune it in. If this is too-short notice, most PBS stations rerun Mr. Rose's program the following day, often in the wee small hours. […]
Party Party!
In 1967, the Rankin-Bass studio brought forth an odd stop-motion animation movie called Mad Monster Party. It was allegedly co-written by the brilliant cartoonist who created Mad Magazine, Harvey Kurtzman. Kurtzman later claimed that he only worked a brief time on it and that little of what he did was used, but others involved in […]
Items of Interest
As this article in L.A. Weekly notes, the Motion Picture Academy ought to dump Price-Waterhouse as the accounting firm which tabulates its annual Oscar ballots. You wouldn't trust those boys with your nephew's piggy bank. When he he was a beginning actor, Stan Freberg did a number of odd roles. He has a small but […]
Ominous Dialogue
Just watched a 1977 Saturday Night Live episode — the one hosted by the 80 year old grandmother, Miskel Spillman, who won their "Anyone Can Host" contest. In the opening, two cast members were playing themselves backstage, discussing the show that was just starting… JOHN BELUSHI What if she forgets her lines? LARAINE NEWMAN Oh, […]