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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
I am of the opinion that "increased security measures" at airports are a sham; that, in an effort to look like something's changed, they're doing a lot of things that grossly inconvenience law-abiding folks…but not a damned thing that will prevent a terrorist from boarding with weaponry. BBC News is reporting that security screeners at […]
Interesting article over at Animation World Network about some of the rumors and reports that disparage Walt Disney. There certainly are a lot of stories about the man and, since every single person I've ever met who knew Walt has spoken well of him, I tend to believe the version most favorable to him. That […]
Republicans once complained about Bill Clinton using recess appointments to bypass Congress and install Bill Lann Lee in a post in the Justice Department. Now, Democrats are complaining about Bush using recess appointments to bypass Congress and put Thomas Dorr in a job in the Department of Agriculture. At the same time, Republicans who once […]
A very talented writer and actor named Lorenzo Music died yesterday following months of brutal, heart-breaking illness. He was — like his distinctive, well-known speaking voice — unique. Those who cast him as a voiceover performer often said that just to hear him, no matter what the script or ad copy, was curiously comforting and […]
My longtime pal, Ken Gale, is the anchor of the premier radio talk show in the country devoted exclusively to comic books. 'Nuff Said has been broadcasting since 1993 with guests from the world of comics (including, three or four times now, Yours Truly) and it's presently heard every Tuesday night at 10:00 pm, Eastern […]
Saturday evening (Aug. 4) and Sunday morning (Aug. 5), TV Land is rerunning Inside TV Land: Get Smart, a fine documentary on the making of a sitcom that was very funny, at least for its first few seasons. The TV Land presentation interviews most of the surviving cast members and creators and gets into the […]
Carolyn and I spent last evening listening to one of the world's great jazz artists, Chick Corea. There's a certain beauty in watching someone do something — anything — about as well as it can be done. When the skill is playing great jazz piano, so much the better. His new trio includes bassist Avishai […]
One of the all-time great comic book writers, Bill Finger, passed away in 1974. Among his many achievements was that he wrote the first Batman story and most of the early ones that established the character and his supporting cast. Some have argued that Finger should be billed as co-creator of Batman but, for contractual […]
This is your last reminder that this Sunday, August 5, PBS is debuting an episode of Great Performances subtitled Recording The Producers: A Musical Romp with Mel Brooks. What it is is a documentary about the recording of the cast album/CD, filled with generous excerpts from the score and (I'm told) a lot of kibbitzing […]
The David Letterman show sent a video crew to the Comic-Con International in San Diego to shoot a segment. It's tentatively scheduled to run on Late Show this coming Monday, July 30. A few months ago, I recommended a visit to Gary Grossman's website and the purchase of his terrific book on the George Reeves […]
Back in 1995, the fine folks at Wildstorm issued a set of Groo Trading Cards that are still avidly collected. The main set consisted of 153 cards drawn by Sergio Aragonés with clever-but-difficult-to-read quips on the rear by Yours Truly. The same set also included nine harder-to-find "Images of Groo" cards featuring artwork by Mike […]