Category Archives: Uncategorized

Shelly Goldstein recognized the second bit I just asked about and it wasn't from Monty Python. It was in the first Rutles movie — a lawyer who said…

Suddenly, everyone became amazingly litigious. I remember I'd get up in the morning. Sue someone. Check in the papers that I hadn't been fired. Go to the office. Sue someone. Pick up the morning's writs. Sue the bank. Go out for lunch. Sue the restaurant. Get back in, collect the writs that had been received that afternoon. Read the papers. Phone the papers. Sue the papers. Then go home. Sue the wife.

I said it felt to me like Michael Palin or maybe Eric Idle. Actually, it was Michael Palin reading lines that were probably written by Eric Idle.

Okay. One down, one to go…

Okay, let's see if anyone out there can help with this. I've been asked about two phrases that are very familiar but which we ("we" being myself and a friend or two) cannot place.

One is an expression that Keith Olbermann uses a lot: "It's genius! Genius, I tells ya!" Where the heck is that from?

Another is a routine in which a lawyer ticks off a list of things he intends to do that afternoon, and it goes something like this: "Go to the barber…sue the barber…go to the bank…sue the bank…" On this one, I'm thinking Monty Python and hearing Michael Palin or maybe Eric Idle, but I can't precisely identity the routine.

Anyone know for sure about either one? If you can, the e-mail link is over on the right to let me know. Thanks.

Roger Ebert remembers the very funny Lou Jacobi. Everything Ebert says about Lou is correct except that he gets the name of one of Lou's records wrong. It was Al Tijuana and His Jewish Brass…a cute album but not one that shows much of what Lou could do. It's pop music arranged as an amalgam of Herb Albert and a klezmer band…and they have Lou talking over some of it, sounding very Jewish. Downloads (unauthorized, I suspect) are easily found on the Internet but it's not worth seeking out.

Here's hoping things will be funny again…

This morning, the moment where nothing is funny came a little later than it usually does…at 6:10 AM. Good night, Internet!

Last night, I was among the speakers at a dinner in honor of the great comic book artist, Gene Colan. It was thrown by CAPS, the Comic Art Professional Society and everyone had a great time…especially Gene, even though he was 3000 miles away. I'll tell you all about it in the morning or whenever I'm not battling a deadline.

One of my correspondents, James H. Burns, writes: "I have a piece in today's Sunday New York Times. I don't quite get around to how I once invented the word 'gore-or' — as in 'gore-or movies' — but I think there may be some neat stuff in there on our country's Halloween legacy of fantasy films, and an unfortunate problem that's arisen, in how some horror movies are promoted." Here's a link to the piece which makes, I think, a good point. Not everyone wants to see (or can handle) some of the more graphic bloodshed in movies today. Especially around the dinner hour.

We're losing our funny people too rapidly. The above pic is of a hilarious man named Lou Jacobi who you may remember from Woody Allen's movie of Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask. Mr. Allen used to — and may still for all I know — cite Jacobi as the perfect comic actor…the guy who'd get every single laugh it was possible to get in a scene…and then some. Neil Simon felt much the same way about him. The general public may not have known the name of Lou Jacobi but among folks who create comedy for a living, he was very well respected.

I don't have any great stories about the man, I'm afraid. I met him once on the phone and once on the set of The Dean Martin Show, where he was a regular for a couple of years. He spent much of this time on that series annoyed that he didn't get to rehearse with Dean. That was a point of annoyance with many actors who worked that show, especially stage-trained actors…and that's what Jacobi was, scoring his greatest successes on or around Broadway. But his co-workers didn't mind too much when Lou was riled because Lou was very funny when he was riled. He was very funny when he wasn't riled, too. He just left us at the age of 95 and I'll bet he was funny right up until the second he died…and then some.

Hey, remember I announced that The Garfield Show was debuting on Cartoon Network this Monday? Well, it said so on the Cartoon Network website and it said so on my TiVo schedule. In fact, it still says so on the TiVo schedule and I have a "season pass." But some time yesterday, it disappeared from the Cartoon Network schedule. Other shows are now in those time slots and I'll bet they, not the cat, will be broadcast next week.

No one involved with the series on our end seems to have any idea wha' happened…and it seems that Cartoon Network does not yet even have the shows to broadcast, though the deal has (I'm told) been signed. This channel is doing a big week-long Halloween promotion, airing spooky-themed shows, and I'm guessing the folks there got their signals crossed. Someone wanted to delay our premiere until after that and someone else didn't get the memo and stuck it on the schedule prematurely. Or something. Anyway, when I have more info, I'll post it here. If you see them running any promos, let me know.

So they're saying a new surgical procedure may enable Julie Andrews to get her singing voice back…

It is customary when a TV or movie celeb dies for his or her fans to place flowers on the celeb's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Comedian Tim Powers just e-mailed me from the star for Soupy Sales to let me know what an inspiration the departed comic was…and to show me that someone has left a pie there.

Attention, most of my friends. You all know Chris Valada…lawyer, photographer, horsewoman. The lady married to Len Wein. You all know how smart she is. Well, let's see how smart she is on Jeopardy! Tune in on Monday.

Let's see if things are funny again today. If not, I'll work on Groo…

I've passed the stage where everything is funny. I'm now in the stage where nothing is funny. Time to go to bed. Good night, Internet.

L.A. Times obit on Soupy, who is much-mourned across Ye Olde Internet this morning. I can't imagine any current local performer meaning so much to viewers that they'll care like this when he or she goes.