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It's that time of the year again. Here's the official-type press release…

John Broome, Frank Jacobs to Receive Bill Finger Award

SAN DIEGO – John Broome and Frank Jacobs have been selected to receive the 2009 Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. The choice made by a blue-ribbon committee chaired by writer-historian Mark Evanier was unanimous.

The Bill Finger Award was instituted in 2005 at the instigation of comic book legend Jerry Robinson.

"Each year, we select two writers who favored us with important, inspirational work that has somehow not quite received its rightful recognition," Evanier explains. "The idea is that the award may go some distance to rectifying that, and I sure hope this one does. Because no one is more deserving than Frank Jacobs, for his past and current work, and John Broome for legacy he left behind."

Frank Jacobs was the first freelance writer hired by Al Feldstein when he assumed the editorship of MAD magazine in 1957, and his byline continues to appear in MAD more than 50 years later. More than 300 issues have featured his witty satires of movies and TV shows, but he is most famous as the magazine's poet laureate, filling its pages with his amazing poems and song parodies, many of which have drawn praise from the composers of the works he burlesques. MAD has published numerous original paperbacks of Jacobs' work, and in 1972 he authored The MAD World of William M. Gaines, the definitive history of MAD and EC Comics.

John Broome began writing for science-fiction pulps in the early forties. When his agent, Julius Schwartz, left agenting to become a comic book editor, Broome followed. From 1946 through 1970, he wrote for DC Comics, mostly for books edited by Schwartz. His work included The Justice Society of America and Detective Chimp, among other features, but his most notable scripts helped define the Silver Age of Comics with The Flash, Green Lantern, The Atomic Knights, and The Elongated Man. Broome passed away in 1999, only months after making the only comic book convention appearance of his life: at the 1998 Comic-Con International.

The Bill Finger Award honors the memory of William Finger (1914-1974), who was the first and, some say, most important writer of Batman. Many have called him the "unsung hero" of the character and have hailed his work not only on that iconic figure but on dozens of others, primarily for DC Comics.

In addition to Evanier, the selection committee consists of Charles Kochman (executive editor at Harry N. Abrams, book publisher), comic book writers Kurt Busiek and Tony Isabella, and writer/editor Marv Wolfman.

The 2009 awards are underwritten by Comic-Con International. DC Comics is the major sponsor; supporting sponsors are Comics Buyer's Guide (CBG) and Heritage Auctions.

The Finger Award is presented under the auspices of Comic-Con International: San Diego and is administered by Jackie Estrada. The awards will be presented during the Eisner Awards ceremony at this summer's Comic-Con on the evening of Friday, July 24, at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront.

Additional information on the Finger Award can be found at the convention website.

I am proud to be associated with this award…and even prouder that I got through this entire announcement without one reference to giving someone The Finger.

So, as I was just Twittering, there's something unfair about the funniest woman in town being a guy. Dame Edna Everage is on his/her "First Last Tour" at the moment. After the event, I overheard a die-hard Edna fan telling someone that they'd seen him/her a half-dozen times and this was the best ever. Since much of the show is improvised each night, that might not be the case tomorrow…but this evening was certainly smashing.

The fan also said that he believed that this might be Barry Humphries' last tour as the eccentric lady; that he's calling it the "First Last Tour" because he's not sure about that. Just in case it is, you owe it to yourself to see this creature at least once, live on stage. This may not be easy to do since he/she (I'm having what Daffy Duck would call Pronoun Trouble) is only in Los Angeles 'til the 21st, then it's on to Fort Worth for a week and apparently nothing is scheduled after that. Here's a link to the Dame Edna website in case you'd like to keep abreast of other possible wanderings.

The less I tell you about the proceedings, the more you'll enjoy them…but Dame Edna sings and chats with people in the audience and brings a few up on stage for more in-depth interviews. And basically, you just sit there and laugh 'til you can't laugh any longer. I can't give a comedy show a better review than that, can I?

Keep an eye on things around here for me, will you? I'm heading off to see this person tonight…

Every so often, you see a news item that just cries out to be a wacky comedy for a younger audience…like, say, this one. I'm thinking Jack Black and Paul Giamatti.

Joe Laredo writes…

I had the privilege of writing the liner notes for Burl Ives' Greatest Hits, which led to an incredible opportunity. Bear Family Records in Germany wanted to produce a multi-CD career retrospective, and Burl wouldn't submit to extended interviews via telephone. As a happy consequence, I got to spend two wonderful weeks as the incredibly grateful and excited house guest of Burl and Dorothy Ives in Anacortes, Washington, combing through his archives and chatting about his life and career on a daily basis.

In my mind, Burl belonged to a select group of entertainers (including Jimmy Durante and Louis Armstrong) who just had to be nice men in real life or the world would come to an end. I didn't need to worry. This Academy Award-winning actor and Grammy Award-winning singer (a real Renaissance man and genuine 20th Century pop culture giant) proved to be every bit as warm, charming and delightful as I could have hoped.

My visit was on the cusp of the holiday season, and the Ives had a huge inflatable display of Sam the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in their front yard. You had to buzz a security intercom at the front gate to gain entrance to the property. At least six or seven times a day, carloads of families would pull up and ask if their children could come in and meet Mr. Ives. Burl was in his late eighties and had mobility issues, so they were politely thanked for their interest and told he was on a concert tour. The reservoir of good will this man built up over the decades was something to behold. Thanks so much for mentioning him.

Thanks so much for telling us about that. Yeah, he seemed like a great guy…someone who really enjoyed performing for people because it made them happy.

Say, this isn't an example of that but I remember one moment when Mr. Ives was on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Ives had recorded a new song about the Comet Kohoutek. This was '73 or '74 when it was in the news and a lot of musicians were writing tunes about it. Anyway, Ives came on to chat with Carson and then the plan was for him to sing this new song. I suspect Carson planned this in advance. He wanted Ives on the show and he wanted him to sing…but what he really wanted him to sing was his big hit, "Blue Tail Fly." So Johnny decided to bait-and-switch or something.

He said, "You know, Burt…I'm sure the folks here would really love to hear you do 'Blue Tail Fly,'" and of course the audience clapped mightily. Ives was sitting there with the guitar in his lap as he smiled a wicked grin and said, "I'll be glad to sing it if you'll let me sing my new song first." Burl Ives was no dummy. He was there to plug the new song and he knew that if he didn't sing it first, it would never get on the air because Johnny would announce they'd run out of time. He also probably figured it would seem like a letdown if sung second.

There was an exchange of looks between Johnny and Burl. Each knew exactly what the other was trying to do…and Johnny knew that he wasn't going to win this one. So he said something like, "Well, we don't have time for both so promise me you'll come back some night and sing 'Blue Tail Fly.' Ives so promised and he launched into the new song, which I doubt anyone remembers. I barely do. But I sure recall the slightly-annoyed "good sport" look on Mr. Carson's face during it…and a slight, smug trace of victory on Burl's face as he performed.

Hey, would anyone like to hear Burl Ives sing? Of course you would. Here's an audio link to one of his records. I had this as a 78 when I was a kid and I played the heck out of it. If the player I've embedded ain't there, refresh this page a few times and it should appear. And when it does, you'll get to hear all about "The Lollipop Tree."

Before I get back to a script that should have been done yesterday…

• Yes, I know a lot of white people have recorded "Shout." I was making what is sometimes referred to as a joke…though among the many recording artists who have been cited to me as having covered it, I'm not sure The Beatles really qualify as white people. Musically, at least.
• Many of you had suggestions as to why some links I click on open in Internet Explorer rather than my default browser, Mozilla Firefox. The most relevant seem to be that some links employ JavaScript that has I.E. encoded as preferential. Some of the others may apply, as well.
• I may have overstated the lack of fame of Robert Walker, who starred in the movie, Ensign Pulver. Then again, several of you who wrote to tell me of his grand film career have him confused with his father, who acted under the same name. The son has had a pretty good run of acting jobs and he was very good in Ensign Pulver. I just thought following Jack Lemmon in a part like that is like trying to follow Tiger Woods around the golf course. You can hit a great game and still look like a runner-up.

Okay, back to that assignment…and fretting because I have to go downtown tonight. One hopes the massive Lakers victory parade will be gone by then. One does hope.

The whole dust-up 'twixt David Letterman and Governor Sarah Palin seems to be about 98% over. That 2% will linger because there are some loud activists out there who vowed to never rest 'til Dave was fired and they seem to be the type who'll keep a crusade going to no effect rather than admit it failed. They should have taken a cue from Sarah and quit when they could claim victory.

If their protest had any chance of endangering Letterman's employment, it would have had to turn out a meaningful demonstration in front of the Ed Sullivan Theater the other day. Instead, reporters there to cover the picketing outnumbered the 40-50 folks with placards…so of course, the story became about the protest effort fizzling, not about a growing demand in this country for Dave's rather unimpressive scalp. A couple of the interviews with the demonstrators made them look pretty hateful. There was one woman yelling about Letterman's bastard child and the "whore" he finally married. Good way to claim the moral high ground, lady.

Throughout this squabble, Dave's ratings have generally gone up. Makes you think Conan O'Brien oughta consider trashing the Palin daughters a little. But actually, Letterman's ratings were edging upwards even before this all started.

A lot of folks writing about this have talked about Sarah Palin being "Dave's Hugh Grant," meaning that she'd catapult him into back into the lead. That's the wrong way of looking at this. Way too much has been made of the impact Mr. Grant had on the late night ratings. When he went on The Tonight Show to speak about his arrest for soliciting sex, it was indeed the first night that Jay Leno beat Dave Letterman…the first of a nearly-unbroken 13-year winning streak. But Leno was edging upwards before that. All Grant did was start that streak a month or so earlier than it would have without him.

People did not thereafter watch Leno in larger numbers because he'd once had Hugh Grant on. It was just a matter of them liking one show more than another. In subsequent years, there was the occasional night when Dave would beat Jay, usually because of some "one-time" event — having Hillary Clinton as a guest, Dave's return from surgery, etc. Some of those outlier broadcasts yielded huge tune-ins for one episode and occasionally a smaller, lingering excitement for the following one. But within two days, the numbers were always right back where they'd been before…every time.

The Palin Controversy has helped Letterman, no doubt. But what will be more significant — because it'll matter in the long run — is if more people are deciding they'd rather watch Dave than Conan. Which is all the ratings contest is really about.

This item over on Roll Call pretty well summarizes why the important issues confronting this country go unfixed and unaddressed for so long…

House Republicans presented a four-page outline of their health care reform plan Wednesday but said they didn't know yet how much it would cost, how they would pay for it and how many of the nearly 50 million Americans without insurance would be covered by it.

But of course, it was important to issue the outline so they could say, "We have a plan!"

With MAD Magazine down to quarterly publication, a lot of funny people have time on their hands. To fill the void and generate bucks, MAD is resurrecting a lost art form…original MAD books. Once upon a time, MAD reprinted its best articles in rack-size paperbound volumes but also issued all-new books, as well. We treasure especially the ones by Don Martin, Al Jaffee, Dick DeBartolo, Frank Jacobs and that Aragonés guy.

Well, MAD is getting back into that business and will soon release (in hardcover!) Bo Confidential: The Secret Story of America's First Dog. It's written by the editorial staff and drawn in record time by Tom Richmond. Tom has a little preview over on his website and you can pre-order your copy at this link.

I often recommend that you tune in Stu's Show, the web-only radio show that my buddy Stu Shostak hosts on Shokus Internet Radio. I'm going to give a special recommendation for today's (Wednesday's) show, especially for those of you with an interest in game shows.

Stu has scored a major coup by landing Roger Dobkowitz for a two-hour interview. Roger worked his way up from a lowly post at Goodson-Todman to a longtime position as show runner on the most successful game show in the history of mankind, The Price is Right. He was there for the glories of that show, the controversies, the successes, the failures…all of it. And I think this is the first time he's spoken about his years there since he left the show. Perhaps he will even explain why so many people on the crew thought Bob Barker was the one who should be spayed or neutered.

Now, here's where I explain again about Internet Radio. This is not a podcast. Got that? Not a podcast. You can't download it and listen to it whenever you feel like it. You have to "tune in" when it's on…which in this case is from 4 PM to 6 PM Pacific Time, 7 PM to 9 PM Eastern. Stu's Show is done live on Wednesday and that's the best time to listen because that's when you can call in and ask questions. To hear the show on your own computer, go to the website of Shokus Internet Radio at the appointed hour and click where you're told to click. And if you can't make it then, fear not. The show reruns on other days, usually in the same time slot. Check out the site for a full schedule…and while you're there, take note of their other fine, free programming.

Here's the front page of the Los Angeles Mirror News for Tuesday, June 16, 1959. The headline is the suicide of George Reeves. Some of the "facts" in the news story — like the description of the actor's current career and prospects — are at odds with what others believe.

Speaking of Burl Ives — and I was speaking of Burl Ives — Greg Ehrbar sent me this link to a half-hour BBC radio program about his life and times. If you want to listen, hurry because it'll only be good for another day or two.

And, hey! If my friends at Turner Classic Movies are reading this, it's been a while since you've run Ensign Pulver, the 1964 sequel to Mister Roberts that Jack Lemmon turned down because he thought (rightfully) the script was weak. It's far from a great movie but it's kinda fun to watch, especially because of all the now-familiar faces and/or great character actors in the cast. There's Larry Hagman, Walter Matthau, Jack Nicholson, Peter Marshall, Tommy Sands, Dick Gautier, Al Freeman Jr, James Farentino, a skinny James Coco, Gerald S. O'Loughlin, Kay Medford and George Lindsey in his pre-Goober days. In fact, everyone in that movie became famous except Robert Walker, the guy who drew the thankless task of replacing Lemmon as Pulver. He's darned good in it but how can anyone follow in those footsteps and be properly appreciated?

I mention it because Burl Ives was just wonderful as the despicable Captain that everyone loathes. He was a great singer but he was also a darn good actor. How about it, Turner Classic Movies? Double-feature with Mister Roberts?

Better still, how about it, Warner Home Video? Ensign Pulver is not out on DVD. It was out on VHS once upon a time and you can still find that but no one buys VHS tapes these days. If you guys can't sell a product with the names of Matthau, Nicholson and Hagman on the packaging, it's time to close the department. There are Andy Griffith Show fans, mostly female, who'll buy this for the three seconds of Goober shirtless.

Come on. If I can't get Skidoo released on DVD, maybe I can get this one out of the vaults. And then we can do something about The Flim-Flam Man and Pretty Maids All in a Row.

I thought David Letterman's second apology to Sarah Palin went way beyond what the joke warranted…but I guess I understand why certain of her supporters insist it didn't go far enough. They're empowered by their outrage. People who would never get quoted in the press have a bit of attention so they want to keep it going as long as possible. Saying Dave has evened things up would be the end of it for them. Staging protests and demanding he be terminated proves their power and keeps the clock ticking on their fifteen minutes of fame.

To the extent they're genuinely incensed, it's not Dave. It's that Sarah Palin has largely become a laughingstock in this nation, shunned even by much of the Republican Party. If you've cast your lot with her and the things she stands for — if you fantasize about her booting that birth-certificateless Muslim Socialist out of office in 2012 — well, you can't admit that maybe she's a joke because of her own words and actions. It's those damn late night comedians and their hateful, unfair remarks. Maybe if you can give Letterman enough grief, he and others will be afraid to utter her name with anything less than reverence.

This will go on for another day or two. Apology 2.0 should have drained most of the fuel from the fire and it'll become old news. (It's amazing it ever became news at all…but I guess it's not like there's anything important happening in the world at the moment.) CBS is not going to fire David Letterman or suspend him or anything of the sort. The only lasting impact of the protests might be measured next time — and there will be a next time — Sarah Palin says or does something really, really stupid or dishonest. If Letterman and other comedians go easy on her then the terrorists will have won.

Fifty years ago this morning, actor George Reeves died from a gunshot wound in the head, apparently self-inflicted. I don't know any more about what really happened than you probably do. All I have to go on is what others think. In the late sixties, when I met Whitney Ellsworth, who produced the Superman TV show that starred Reeves, I asked him. Mr. Ellsworth, who was one of the most nervous men I've ever met, lowered his voice to a whisper as he told me…this, despite the fact that we were alone in his office and no one could have heard him if he'd screamed what he was about to say.

But acting like he feared the KGB was listening in, he told me in quick, hushed tones that George Reeves had committed suicide, possibly because he'd gotten mixed up with an unsavory situation in his personal life, possibly because he'd been drinking heavily and taking pain pills. Pretty much everyone I've met since who either knew Reeves or who studied the case closely came to much the same conclusion. Still, the rumors persist. They are, after all, more interesting.

We were making them up on the playground of Westwood Elementary School the day after it happened. The theories popped up all across the country at the same time. Reeves got carried away with the role and thought he could fly and jumped out the window. Or he thought the bullets would bounce off him so he shot himself that way. Or someone thought he was Superman and thought they could shoot him without harm. Or something of the sort.

I remember that and I remember the great sense of shock my friends and I all felt. It wasn't the first time we'd heard a favorite TV person had died. Lou Costello had passed away three months earlier. But Mr. Costello's death was pretty normal and anyway, he wasn't Superman. The death of Superman cried out for twists and turns and a surprise ending…and while you played with all that, it was easy to forget how dreadfully sad it was. There was something about George Reeves on TV…some little twinkle and sense of humor that underscored his acting. When I've interviewed Noel Neill, who played Lois Lane to his Clark and Superman, I always ask her, "Was he as nice a man as it seems to us watching at home?" She always replies, "Even nicer." I think I'd rather remember that than the way it ended.

Okay, can some tech-head explain this to me? I run a PC and I have Mozilla Firefox installed as my default browser. I also have Microsoft Internet Explorer installed because…well, because you have to have it installed. Windows will go into anaphylactic shock if it doesn't find I.E. installed.

As I read e-mail and surf the web and do other things, I often click on links that cause browser windows to open and display webpages. Usually, these are windows generated by Firefox but sometimes, they're Internet Explorer. My question is why. Why aren't all my browser windows Mozilla windows since that's what I have installed as my default brower? Somebody write and clue me in.