Category Archives: Video Links

From last year's Chabad Telethon: Triumph the Insult Comic Dog makes a memorable pitch.This segment also features a brief appearance by three singing rabbis and a lot of appearances by the top of Robert Smigel's head…

Back in this message, I told how in 1968, I helped a friend fish hundreds of 16mm film reels out of dumpsters outside CBS Television City in Hollywood. They were old TV shows that the network was tossing away — episodes of Amos & Andy, General Electric Theater, The Jack Benny Program, an obscure Allan Funt show called Tell it to the Camera and many more. One of the canisters was the show that is our video link for today…and for all I know, this video was transferred from the same print that my pal Mike and I rescued. (Mike kept them all and I have no idea what he did with them, except that I'm pretty sure one Jack Benny episode that is out on home video was transferred from one of those prints.)

Groucho Marx's popular radio show, You Bet Your Life, debuted in 1947. Late in '49, producer John Guedel was attempting to sell a TV version of it and so they hauled cameras into the studio and filmed a couple of episodes. This was partly so the television folks could see how much more entertaining Groucho could be when you could see him and partly to help make decisions on how to stage the show for the new medium. This video is one of those filmings. It's dated December 28, 1949 and I'm not sure if that's when it was filmed or if it's when the radio edition was broadcast. That date was a Wednesday and the show aired on Wednesdays but it sometimes also filmed on Wednesdays. The TV version went on the air October 5, 1950 and lasted until June 29, 1961.

Groucho did both versions — the radio version and the TV version — via what they then called the "transcription" method. This was at his insistence. He refused to do either program the way most others of that kind were done, which was live. Supposedly, he was deathly afraid of saying something off-color or of the show, which was supposed to rely heavily on his ad-libbing ability, just plain being dull. So they'd record (or for TV, film) a full hour and then edit it down to a half-hour. They also decided not to bet their lives (or anything) on his improvisational prowess. Comedy writers were hired — credited as Production Associates or under other titles — and they gave Groucho a pile of quips and jokes to use at his discretion. On radio, he had them on the desk in front of him, and you can see him refer to the pages throughout this video. On TV, the ad-libs were projected on an off-camera screen that Mr. Marx could see.

The great thing about this video is that it gives us a chance to see how the radio show was done. This includes all the departures and rambling that Groucho and his announcer George Fenneman were free to do because they knew it would all be heavily edited. You may not want to watch all 54 minutes and 30 seconds of this but you might enjoy a few minutes…

I can't think of a man, woman, child or animal alive today who's funnier than Tim Conway. Okay, you all know that. What some folks don't know is that Mr. Conway has a thriving business, playing all over the country with a wonderful live show. He used to do it with Harvey Korman or sometimes with Don Knotts. Now, he tours with the equally-mirthful Chuck McCann…and the only downside to that is that whenever Chuck and I talk about getting together for lunch, he says, "I'd love to…but I have to go to Jerkwater, Alabama [or wherever] with Tim and do two shows." My loss is your gain, Jerkwater.

Also touring with them is Louise DuArt, a terrific impressionist I met whilst working for Sid and Marty Krofft. Louise was our all-purpose actress/impressionist. She was amazing. We'd go to her and say, "We have an idea for a sketch — you as Cher and Billy Barty (another member of the Krofft Repertory Company) as Sonny Bono." And Louise, who at the time had never tried to impersonate Cher, would say, "Okay, I'll work on it." She'd go home and then the next day, Cher would walk into my office. I always thought we could have asked her to learn to do Billy Barty and the next day, Louise would have figured out some way to make herself three-foot-nine.

She appears with Tim and Chuck, doing her own stand-up and playing what one might call the "Carol Burnett" roles in some of their sketches…and it's really a wonderful evening in the theater. You might want to check this schedule to see if they're coming your way soon. You have to watch carefully because when they're there, they're only there for a night or two and those tend to sell out rapidly.Tomorrow night, they're at the Pechanga Casino in Temecula and then late in April, they hit Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri and Mississippi. Here's a little commercial that Tim recorded that various cities use to promote their appearances…

I'm sorry you folks didn't getTo attend that Bob Newhart interview I went to the night before last. Maybe this will make it up to you in some small way…

This is video of the demolition of the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, which occurred on Tuesday, November 13, 2007. You see some of the fireworks display that preceded the bringdown…and I always think these say something about that city. It's not spectacular enough that they're about to blow up an entire building. Someone actually said, "Gee…it needs something. Maybe we oughta have a fireworks display first."

And I've never really understood the point of these.That's — what:? — a few hundred thousand dollars worth of fireworks. Why? Who profits from getting a big crowd to turn out for the demolition and making sure they're entertained?There's no two-drink minimum to watch it. No one sets up slot machines in the viewing areas. Of what value is that publicity to anyone? More to the point, aren't they just drawing crowds away from the gaming tables and other places where they'd be spending/losing money? I'm not groping for a bit here. I really don't understand how anyone profits from (a) drawing a crowd for the implosion and (b) spending money on fireworks to make the moment more special.There are those who'd say just exploding that hotel was memorable enough. It was a true Vegas landmark rich with history, some of it not the most pleasant history.

Here's the end of all that history…

This is almost an hour long and if you have some yearning to watch the entire hour, click over here and view a larger image. This is the December 14, 1950 episode of Broadway Open House, an early TV series that is remembered largely as the forerunner of The Tonight Show.

The show debuted on May 29, 1950 and ran until August 24, 1951, airing at the then-unheard-of hour of 11 PM to Midnight. Networks in those days signed off early but the legendary Sylvester "Pat" Weaver at NBC thought the broadcast day (and therefore, his network's profits) could be expanded. It was all done live for about eleven dollars and most of the episodes I've seen are about as clumsy and cheap-looking as this one. Which is not to say they were not entertaining.

When the show was originally announced, its host was to be a comedian named Don "Creesh" Hornsby. Little is known about him except that he liked to yell "Creesh!" as a catch-phrase. Hey, it's still a funny word: Creesh. Next time you're in public, try shouting it over and over and see if you don't get big laughs.

Sadly, two weeks before debut date, "Creesh" Hornsby passed away. Some histories say it was a car accident. Some say it was polio. Whatever the cause, NBC had to scramble to replace him and they came up with two hosts — Morey Amsterdam and Jerry Lester — who alternated nights. After a while, Amsterdam went on to other projects and Lester took over his duties, abetted by a statuesque young lady named Dagmar. The big joke was that he was about as tall as her formidable bustline so when they stood together, guess where he was looking.

Lester was also aided by a constantly-changing stream of writers. Allan Sherman was briefly one. So was Stan Burns, who was later one of Steve Allen's main writers. If you make it to the end of this video, you'll see a credit for Danny and Doc Simon. Doc, of course, was later better known as Neil Simon.

I've seen a half-dozen of these and always found them fun, largely because of the tireless energy of Jerry Lester. He was like a guy hosting a party who was a little too determined to make sure no one didn't have a good time. He could sing, dance, tell jokes, do stunts, interview guests and even work in his own catch-word, which was "beanbag" — admittedly, not as witty as "creesh."

You probably won't make it through the whole thing but watch a little. This was about as polished as television got in 1950…

Okay, I'm not quite done with the topic…

Hey, I was just wondering. How do you make perfect rice every time?

Here's what Eric Idle has been up to lately…

An important word from Stan Lee…

A few weeks ago, we brought you a video of Ross Bagdasarian (aka David Seville) singing his 1958 hit record, "Witch Doctor." Here's a more modern rendition offered by a group called, for reasons that should be obvious, Cartoons…

We'll return right after this commercial message. It's for Kellogg's Corn Flakes and it features the voices of Arnold Stang and Allen Jenkins in their roles from the Top Cat TV show…

Barry Mitchell, who does great interviews with folks I like, does one with Caroll Spinney, the man inside Big Bird and under Oscar the Grouch…

Some time back, I posted a link to the end (and therefore theme song) of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in German. Well, here it is in Italian…

I have a theory that the special effects wizardry of today is changing the way audiences view movies. Put simply, it's creating at least the subtle assumption that anything impressive you see on the screen is trickery.The big, impressive set or scenery is a CGI construction.The impressive bizarre creature is a CGI creation.The impressive physical stunt was not actually done by any human being. It's an illusion created by CGI.

Remember that great opening scene in The Spy Who Loved Me when James Bond does a ski jump off a cliff and you think — just for a split-second — that he's doomed? Intellectually, of course, you know that he's not going to die because, well, he's 007. You also know that if he did die, he wouldn't die from that because it's the start of the movie. And of course, you know that you're looking at a stuntman, not at Roger Moore. Still, there's a moment there when you're fooled for a half an instant; when you think that maybe you're watching the guy with a license to kill get killed.Then, of course, the parachute you didn't know he was wearing opens and the entire audience goes, "Ahhh…" because it collectively and happily realizes how foolish it was to underestimate James Bond.

It works because you don't feel like you're watching a cartoon. Okay, so it's not Roger Moore. But an actual human being actually did that stunt. (The stuntman's name was Rick Sylvester and apparently, he almost had an awful accident when one of his skis nearly became entangled in the chute.)The feat feels real because on some level, it is real.

And I think that if you put that scene in a movie today, exactly the same way, it would have a third the impact. Because after all the CGI we've seen, something in us says that if it's impressive, it was created in a computer.There's nothing real on the screen.

What's amazing is that a lot of stuff that doesn't scream "Special Effects!" isn't real, either. Green (sometimes, Blue) Screen is used in an awful lot of movies and TV shows for street scenes, panoramas…sometimes so seamlessly that it never dawns on you that those buildings in the background weren't really in the background. Here's the demo reel for a studio that does a lot of this kind of thing…