The Beau Hunks is a Dutch musical group that likes to perform American movie music, mainly from the thirties and especially from Laurel and Hardy films. They strive to be "note perfect," meaning that their music is arranged exactly the way it was arranged for its most famous film presentation. This is not always simple because the original sheet music and scores are often unavailable so someone has to listen over and over to the movie and transcribe every note. The results are always worth it. I have all of their CDs and often listen to them as I motor about town.
Here, they recreate Raymond Scott's famous 1937 tune, "Powerhouse," which most folks recall as the tune that always seemed to pop up in a Warner Brothers cartoon when anything mechanical or robotic was occurring. I enjoyed this and I hope you will, as well…
Below we have moments from a recent evening (August 24) at the Writers Guild Theater with Ray Bradbury and Hugh Hefner. The subject was Ray's landmark 1953 novel, Fahrenheit 451, and there was a screening of the 1966 movie based on said book. Before the film, the two men were interviewed — quite skillfully, it would appear from this clip — by Geoff Boucher, who presides over the Hero Complex blog at the L.A. Times. Geoff ably brought out an important point that many forget about Hefner. Never mind the naked ladies. Playboy, at least in its early days, really was a magazine folks could truly buy for the articles. It contained important pieces, fiction and non-fiction, and ran work that others feared to touch. Running Bradbury's then-controversial book took some nerve but also helped establish Hef as a courageous publisher who would defend the written word as vigorously as he'd fight to be able to market Miss October's chest.
I have, and will probably always have, enormously mixed emotions about Ray Bradbury. When I was about 13, he welcomed some similar-aged friends of mine and me into his office in Beverly Hills for an afternoon of talk about his work, the world, comics and writing. When he understood that I was serious about writing as a career, he invited me back for a one-on-one conversation that was enormously inspirational. He continues to be just that if only because despite his age and afflictions, he still manages to write almost every day. That I rarely agree with what he writes or with any opinion he has formed since around 1993 and that some of what he says or does these days makes me cringe is almost beside the point. Having interviewed him myself in several public appearances, I have seen how riveting and powerful his words can be and watched then as his wheelchair was engulfed by the best kind of autograph-seekers: The ones who have a palpable need to touch and thank an author whose work changed their lives and only for the better.
I probably need to reread Fahrenheit 451. It's been a while…like 30+ years. My sense is that it endures well as a work of compelling fiction but not of prophecy. Perhaps it needs a little add-on chapter where the characters decide it's sorta okay to burn book paper as long as you first digitize what's on it and make it available for downloading. Then again, if ever there was a novel that should be read in book form and not on a Kindle or iPad, it's that one…and just as a reading experience, it's a tremendous and important ride. I was sorry I couldn't make it to this event, which was part of a whole week in Los Angeles that celebrated Bradbury turning 90 but through the miracle that is YouTube, we all get to experience about ten minutes of it…
I should warn you that there's brief nudity in this video of the costume competition at the 1972 Westercon, a medium-sized (I suppose) science-fiction convention held that year at the Edgewater Hyatt House in Long Beach, California. At the time, the Edgewater was known primarily as the place Elvis Presley once stayed. Today, it's called the SeaPort Marina Hotel and it's known primarily as the place that used to be the Edgewater Hyatt House, where Elvis Presley once stayed.
I'm posting this mostly because it's a memory for me. My friend Rob Solomon and I drove down to Long Beach on, I believe, the July 4th weekend that year and shared a room at that convention. They still have Westercons, by the way, though it's been a long time since I've been near one or any s-f con, for that matter.
Someone wrote in an article about me a few years ago that I was "active in s-f fandom." Not really…but you didn't have to be to enjoy yourself at one of those gatherings. My whole time there, no one ever tried to discuss science-fiction with me and the one time I tried to attend an s-f related panel that was on the schedule, I found it had been cancelled because no one had shown up. Mostly, it was just a three-day party of folks with common sensibilities. I remember a lot of motel rooms where the tub was filled with ice, beer and for those of us who didn't drink, soft drinks. You just kind of went from room to room and party to party all evening except when we all piled into the grand ballroom for the big costume competition. Rob and I were in about the third row with Shel Dorf, the most prominent founder of the then-new annual comic-con in San Diego.
Without audio and reduced to choppy 8mm, the contest looks pretty shoddy in this video but I remember everyone having a lot of fun. The loudest reaction was because of two ladies who entered the costume competition without costumes. As it was explained to me, a mini-controversy had been erupting at recent s-f con costume contests. There was always someone who'd spent four months on their outfit, then lost to a woman who spent twenty minutes but had her breasts largely exposed. The cry was heard, "How am I supposed to compete with that?" Or maybe "those?" To placate what seemed like justified complaints, someone came up with the idea of adding a new category which they called "Most naked lady." The idea was that the judges could award that, then give the costuming trophies to people who were actually costumed. It was, of course, an open invitation for some woman to show up completely nude…and two that year did.
The cute blonde lady holding the vase called her presentation, "Thor's wife waiting to offer him a drink." The cute brunette lady with the foil cape called hers, "Reflections of love." I actually remember those names. The crowd loved both of them and after the show, when the entrants were all available to pose for photos, there were 11 pictures taken of the other competitors and 17,684 of Thor's wife and Miss Reflections. There was also one of the dumbest arguments I had heard in my life up to that point.
As I recall, the judges had opted to award the special trophy either to both ladies or just to "Reflections of love." This prompted outrage from some folks who felt the award should be taken literally. It was, after all, for Most Naked Lady and the blonde was completely nude, whereas the brunette was wearing sandals and a cape. See the problem? Grown men and women — I'm not sure who they were — were suddenly debating this point…and I guess there was no denying that Thor's wife was, technically, the most naked. Which prompted someone else to ask what would happen in the next costume competition when, as seemed at that moment inevitable, two or more women entered with no sandals, capes or anything of the sort. How could you award "Most naked lady" when several women were equally naked? I never heard how the matter was resolved or even if it ever was. I just recall thinking that some people can find a way to take the fun out of anything, even naked women.
I have another vivid memory of the con that involves no nudity. In fact, it involves the Marx Brothers. I'll tell you about it one of these days. In the meantime, here's a few minutes of that event described above…
I spoke at a Writers Guild meeting last night and ran into my friend, the fine comedy writer Doug Molitor. Which reminded me that I haven't linked to one of Doug's Dozens lately. So here's the latest…
Tony Benedict was one of the most important and well-liked storymen in animation and a major reason for the success of shows like The Flintstones and The Jetsons. A few years ago, he took some old film clips from his days at Hanna-Barbera and assembled them into a little movie, which is what we have here. In the story conference for Magilla Gorilla (obviously a "re-creation" for the cameras of something that didn't actually happen that way), Tony is the short guy who says he can do six banana stories himself.
The thing to note in this film is the obvious affection and camaraderie that existed, and which Tony obviously still feels, among those who worked then up at 3400 Cahuenga Boulevard. I was always aware that I was privileged to work in that building and with so many of those folks…though I might not have appreciated how privileged. I got there around '77 when most of them were still active…and also when some of them might not have been as thrilled with the shows they were working on as when these films were taken. It's nice to see them in what I guess were happier times…
For my money, the best political-type talk on television isn't on television. It's on the Daily Show website. About once every other week, Jon Stewart has on someone who's of an opposite political mindset and he actually talks to that person.That alone is nearly unique on TV where some shows don't want to unnerve their viewers with alternative viewpoints and only want to bring on dissenting views so their deliverer can be body-slammed and outshouted for the enjoyment of those who hate (or don't want to believe) what he or she says. But Stewart actually talks to these people and what's more, he rarely asks them any of the questions they could have expected or which they've answered so often they have rote answers at the ready. So it's a discussion as opposed to a yelling match or a recital of scripted talking points.
I'm sure many who are invited will not come on with him. Since the last election, his once-frequent guest John McCain won't. Stewart does enjoy home court advantage and has a studio audience full of folks who are Liberals and also big Jon Stewart fans. He's also a charming guy…and one who I think a lot of them envy and respect even if their careers are built on opposing viewpoints. Still, The Daily Show does sell an awful lot of books for any author who comes on and if you think you can conduct yourself with wit and sparkle, it ain't a bad place to show any viewers who might be "gettable" that you're not the stereotyped, Cheneyesque ogre that Republicans are too often assumed to be.
The discussions can and do run long…and lately, rather than have his staff chop them down into highlights (thereby leaving themselves open to the charge of selective editing), Stewart says, "We're outta time but let's keep talking and we'll throw the whole thing up on the website, unedited." If you're not going there and watching them, you're missing some good conversation.
Last week, he had on Representative Eric Cantor, the House minority whip from Virginia…who forgot a fundamental rule authors should remember.Though your publisher may tell you to mention your book at every possible opportunity, after the third mention you look like a bad Home Shopping Network host…and if you're a politician, you look like you're trying to avoid answering a question. But Cantor didn't do a bad job of staying "on message," even though Stewart boxed him in with a few points that he could not deny. I think in the back-and-forth, some differences were brought to light…like the fact that the current G.O.P. leadership is worried about government limiting Americans' freedoms but not the least bit worried about corporations limiting our freedoms.
I've decided to embed the entire interview, starting with the part that aired on Comedy Central…
And then we continue with the first part of the Extended Interview…
And here's the Grand Finale. I won't do this every time Stewart has an intriguing conversation of this sort so you might want to keep an eye on his show's website…
I'm kind of amazed, not necessarily in a bad way, about what "barbershop quartet" has become. Here, considerably larger than a quartet, is a group called the Westminster Chorus…
Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis and the Step Brothers dance their little hearts out. The Step Brothers were always terrific at this kind of thing but you may be surprised at how Dean and Jerry hold their own…
From 1952, we have an episode of Kovacs on the Corner, which was a short-lived series (January 4, 1952 through March 28, 1952) done live from station KPTZ in Philadelphia and sent out by NBC to its entire network at 11 AM. Naturally, the appeal is the chance to see the brilliant Ernie Kovacs winging it for a half-hour with not a lot of script or budget. Since I probably can't add anything constructive, I'll just throw to the video embed and get outta here…
Mark's on a game show kick here.This is the pilot for The Match Game from 1962 starring your genial host, Gene Rayburn and celeb guests Peggy Cass and Peter Lind Hayes. It's a bit difficult to see why this inspired the network to order the series but it did…and the show went on the air December 31, 1962.
If you stick it out until the end credits (or as I finally did, fast forward) you'll see the name Dick DeBartolo in there as the guy who wrote the questions. You may recognize that name as Mr. DeBartolo has been a mainstay writer for Mad for an awfully long time. He holds the record for the longest continuous streak by any writer.There's been something he wrote in every issue of Mad since 1966. He also is an expert on "gadgets" and turns up often on TV shows showing off some of the latest.
The questions for this version of The Match Game were pretty sedate up until 1963 when the show was cancelled by NBC.There were six more weeks to do and, as the story goes, Dick asked producer Mark Goodson if it would be okay for him to experiment with an idea he'd had about how to liven up the show. Goodson, noting they had nothing to lose, gave him the go-ahead and Dick began writing sillier questions…even some that were a bit naughty like, "Dick told Jane to put jam on his _____." It did indeed liven up the show and caused the network to "uncancel" it and keep it on the air until September of '69 — a pretty healthy run. Goodson then waited a decent interval then launched Match Game '73, which was later retitled Match Game '74 and then Match Game '75 and so on, all thriving on the questions of Dick DeBartolo. That's the version you probably remember but here's where it all started…
Hey, how about another game show? Carl Reiner hosted the weekly, prime-time one, The Celebrity Game. (He was also briefly the star of another one called Keep Talking, which changed hosts a number of times.) The Celebrity Game was a weekly CBS prime-timer that originally replaced half of The Judy Garland Show when it was cancelled in 1964. That placed it opposite Bonanza at that show's peak of popularity and led to its demise. But it was a cheap show to produce so CBS brought it back a year later for a few months to replace something else they had to cancel.
The format may remind you a bit of Hollywood Squares and there's a reason for that. It came from the same producers — Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley — as well as the same announcer, Kenny Williams. Once they were sure Celebrity Game wouldn't be resurrected for a third go-round, Heatter and Quigley retooled the idea with a tic-tac-toe motif and wound up with one of the biggest hits ever in the game show world. They credited what they'd learned doing Celebrity Game for much of the success of Hollywood Squares.
This episode is from '65 and the most interesting of the celebs on the panel is probably Oscar Levant, the famous pianist-hypochondriac. Reiner seems a bit unable to properly play straight man to Levant and the others but I think this episode was a bad example. I remember enjoying The Celebrity Game greatly, in part because Reiner did such a fine job of setting up the panelists to be funny and then asking humor-eliciting follow-ups. This one is still worth a look…
Here's a golden oldie…blast from the past…call it whatever you like. It's a full episode of the daytime game show Treasure Hunt from March of 1958. This was a little more than a year before the events I described in this posting when I, a tender lad of seven, got to meet its host Jan Murray in the corridor outside the studio. As I think back, I'm not sure that encounter didn't have a larger impact on my burgeoning psyche than I'd previously realized. I never longed to go into his line of work but I thought Jan Murray was the coolest guy in the world and that he had a magic power. He could make everyone around him smile and even laugh. He was by no means the only person I saw on TV who could do that but he was the first one I met in person. Ergo, it was the first time I could verify that the folks who had that power were actual human beings.
Here he is in an episode of this game show he did that wasn't, when you got right down to it, much of a game show. It worked because of the sheer force of his charm and showmanship. I didn't like everything he did on it. Most days, there was a point where he had to torture a contestant a little, making her think she'd picked the wrong box when in fact, she had a lovely and thrilling gift awaiting her. As he went through that routine, I practically yelled at the set, "Get on with it!" But I liked him most of the time and so did America, which watched this show for quite a while. When it went off, they watched the next Jan Murray-hosted game show, too.
Here ya go…and remember this is live TV and that Jan is operating with almost no cue cards — probably just a few to help him introduce the contestants and to tell him when to throw to commercial. He did this every day, Monday through Friday, for many years…
