Just watched the new DVD of one of the most cynical movies ever made…The Fortune Cookie, which was written by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond, and directed by Wilder. If one is in the right mood for it though, it's brilliantly funny and darn near impossible to turn off. Walter Matthau was never better, and […]
I've received a few e-mails asking what I think of Johnny Hart's allegedly anti-Semitic Easter installment of his newspaper strip, B.C.. My view is that, given Mr. Hart's tendency to tell interviewers that Jews are destined to all rot in Hell, I doubt it was intended as innocently as claimed in his recent "I regret […]
Everybody's setting up a website these days, even comedians and other interesting star-type folks. And I'm not talking about fan sites…not even "official" fan sites. I'm talking about sites that the biggie actually arranged to have on-line, usually for commercial reasons. In a few cases, they even generate original content for it or answer mail. […]
One of the great burlesque comedians (a straight man, actually) was a gent named Dexter Maitland. He appeared in the original Minsky's revues and subsequent nostalgia-type revivals for more than 70 years — that is not a typo — but is probably best known for his role in the movie, The Night They Raided Minsky's. […]
As mentioned a week or so ago, I just wrote the foreword for DC's forthcoming hardcover Archives collection of Blackhawk, which will include the first 17 episodes of that strip from Military Comics, featuring the artwork of Chuck Cuidera. In doing this, I received invaluable aid from the Unofficial Blackhawk Comics website. This is a […]
The Miami Herald did a partial recount of ballots in Florida which many are spinning as (a) a full recount and (b) firm proof that their boy "won." It was actually neither and if it proved anything, it was how sloppy the entire election and vote-counting were…a point made in a recent editorial in that […]
Nat Hiken was the creator-producer-head writer and sometimes director of You'll Never Get Rich, which was later retitled everyone refers to as Sgt. Bilko. A few years later, he followed it with the short-lived (two seasons) Car 54, Where Are You? and before either of those, he was one of radio's top writers. That's an […]
Mark highly recommends (and — full disclosure — has an article in) the new, 31st issue of John and Pam Morrow's splendid Jack Kirby Collector. The Morrows have gone to a larger, 10" by 14" page format which will be a bitch to store but which shows off Jack's art to great advantage and which […]
One of the things that always fascinated me about Bill Clinton is that he's always been willing to voice respect for certain critics and pundits who, at times, rake him over the briquets. If you don't think this is rare, show me where any other public political figure of the last decade — Democrat or […]
For some reason, I've recently been receiving three or four e-mails a day from folks asking me where they can purchase all the episodes of the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon show on VHS or DVD. The answer is a little awkward but it goes like this: Only one episode — In Search of the Dungeon […]
The picture above is of Bob Newhart. Because of his success in situation comedies, we forget that this man was once one of the all-time great stand-up comedians. As a refresher, let's all purchase Something Like This…, a 2-CD collection from Rhino Records which includes darn near every great Newhart monologue that ever made it […]
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 […]