David Frum on the notion that "This is not the day to talk about Gun Control." I think he's right that something should be done but I don't believe anything will be done.

Our Pal Christine Pedi is back — and more Liza than ever…

Another mass shooting. Sometimes, I think we should put $100 in a jackpot fund every day there isn't one and then we all guess when the next will occur and whoever's closest gets the money.

And we all know the drill. One part of the country will say — and is probably already saying — let's talk about Gun Control! Another part will say that in respect of these tragic, senseless deaths, now is not the time to discuss such things. The latter group, of course, thinks it's never time to discuss such things. But there will be a lot of arguing and nothing will change.

Here's Ezra Klein with some interesting stats and facts that also won't change anything.  In fact, they won't even be believed by anyone who needs to change their mind in order for there to be change.

Back in this posting here, Garrie Burr inquired about the origin of a catch-phrase that turns up on old episodes of The Jack Benny Program (on radio) and in several Warner Brothers cartoons. It's "That's what the man said, that's what he said, that's what the man said." I was stumped so I asked if anyone out there could help Garrie (and me) out.

Quite a few folks (too many to list) thought it came from this exchange in the Humphrey Bogart movie, The Big Sleep…

Floyd Norman mentions The Big Sleep then adds: "However, I think it goes back a bit further. Way back when I was a kid, my parents often took me to "colored movies," and black comics were always using the line, "Dat's what the man said, dat's what he said, he said it!" I found this line so funny I often used it in stuff I was writing. I used the line recently in a cartoon I was scripting. I dunno. It always made me laugh."

Several folks including Philip Grecian wrote that it was a catch-phrase of Eddie "Rochester" Anderson on the Benny program…and he certainly said it there a number of times. The question is whether he was referencing some earlier source.

Dick Halsey writes, "This Google Books link has a reference on page 83 to the quote in the subject. It was given as a catch phrase for the black maid character Beulah on the Fibber McGee and Molly Show.

Richard Pontius says, "Fanny Brice/Baby Snooks leaps to mind with that quote but I can't find any reference and can't say I recall hearing her say that, so the synapses may be misfiring."

Carl Pietrantonio writes, "It sounds awfully like a recurrent phrase used in Aaron Copland's Abraham Lincoln, performed over the years and voiced by different celebrities including Henry Fonda and Gregory Peck, among others. I've no idea if that is actually where it comes from and do not have a recording at hand right now, but got to thinking and maybe that's part of it. It was briefly vaguely popular so who knows."

And there were a few other votes that struck me as even wilder guesses. You can all decide for yourselves but I suspect its origin is forever lost in the antiquity of the black equivalent of on-stage burlesque comics. It just sounds to me like the kind of thing that would have come from there. If anyone has some solid evidence, let me know.

Fred Kaplan talks about the withdrawal of Susan Rice for the post of Secretary of State. I dunno if she was the best-possible candidate but don't you get the feeling that the opposition wasn't about her qualifications or Benghazi; that it was about some Republicans' need to prove they can still beat Obama at something?

If I were Barack Obama, I think what I'd do is nominate my second choice for each position and let Republicans tear that person apart. Then once that nomination was dead and they had their "win," my first choice would sail right through.

There are a lot of articles online that ask the musical question, "Just what it is the Republicans want Barack Obama to cut before they'll agree to make a deal on taxes and the debt limit?" The best one seems to be this one by Ezra Klein.

For what little it may be worth, here's my answer to the question. I think that candidly stated, the G.O.P. demand to Obama would go something like this…

We demand that you slash Social Security and Medicare and that you do it in such a way that most folks will blame you, not us, and we can then use it as a campaign issue against Democrats!

Or something like that. I also think it's not going to happen.

Just watch it…

The Poynter Institute offers a list of press errors and corrections and other low points of the year.

Back when the station now known as GSN was Game Show Network, we loved its "Black-and-White Overnight" bloc that ran antique game shows in the wee morning hours and were sad to see it go away. Well, starting next Monday night (or Tuesday morning depending on which time zone you're in), it's back…for two weeks. Check your listings for the precise times you can see or record old episodes of What's My Line? and I've Got a Secret.

They did this last year, as I recall…and maybe the year before, too. I'm guessing that even though they don't want to run those shows on their regular schedule, they want to hold onto them and for some contractual reason, they have to run them for two weeks each year or lose them. Something like that.

Each year around this time, the good folks at Turner Classic Movies release a long, stylish video noting those in the movie business who've passed away since January 1. I'm not sure why they do this with more than two weeks remaining in the year. In 2011, they went back and edited in those who'd died after the video debuted and they'll presumably have to do that this year. So here's the 2012 one as it now stands…

The folks who bring us Comic-Con International, WonderCon and the Alternative Press Expo have unveiled a new website. Looks real sharp and like the old one, it's full of useful info if you're attending any of those great events. Check it out often.

The secret origin of Cheese Dip.

David Frum on the course of action that some on the extreme right are urging on the Republicans in Congress. He calls it "tactical radicalism, strategic nihilism" and further states that "there is no real plan, only a high-hormone demand to do something, anything, to defy and reject the results of the 2012 election."

I have often sent you to read the Huffington Post columns of my buddy Robert J. Elisberg — or "Bob," as his closest friends have come to call him. His columns are perceptive and I don't just say that because he usually agrees with me…though that would be reason enough. I think he just sees the world in a wise, pragmatic way. One of the reasons we are in agreeance is because he causes me to say, "Hey, Bob's right about that." I also like his writing when we don't agree.

Bob writes things other than Huffington Post columns. He writes screenplays and now he's written a book that would make a dandy holiday gift for someone you kinda like but don't want to spend a lot of money on. You can also give it to people you like but give them something else, as well.

What is this book? Why, it's the long-awaited sequel to A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. In it, Ol' Ebenezer Scrooge has finally decreased the surplus population (i.e., died) and left his business to Bob Cratchit who runs it promptly into the ground. This leads to a return by Scrooge in ghost form and…well, get a copy and read what Bob (Elisberg, not Cratchit) has done. You can buy a Kindle edition or you can buy a printed-on-that-paper-stuff edition but get one soon. Elisberg has done a great job here and there are only so many shopping days 'til Christmas!

I rarely talk here about what I'm working on but it might be appropriate to mention this. Yesterday, we recorded the voice tracks for the last episode of Season Four of The Garfield Show. The series is seen all over the world though its U.S. home — Cartoon Network — tends to put it on a for a while, then take it off for a while, then put it back on for a while. It's off right now but will return. During its last "on," they ran some but not all of the episodes we produced for Season Three. I assume it'll come back on one of these days and they'll debut the rest of 'em amidst reruns aplenty. Some other countries have already run them all ten times.

I wear many hats on this show. I am the supervising producer. I am the main writer. I am the voice director. When asked what I do on it, I'm inclined to just mention the middle one, believing as I do that any title with the word "writer" in it is vastly more important than any title with the words "producer" or "director" in it. It is to me, anyway. For those of you scoring at home, I provided similar duties on 121 half-hours of the original Garfield and Friends, and now have completed my end of 104 half-hours of The Garfield Show. That's a lot of lasagna jokes with more to come.

We had a wonderful cast this season and I'm going to mention their names because the way Cartoon Network shows the credits, they're impossible to read. Frank Welker plays Garfield, Gregg Berger plays Odie, Wally Wingert plays Jon, Jason Marsden plays Nermal, Julie Payne plays Liz, Laura Summer plays Drusilla and Minerva, Audrey Wasilewski plays Arlene and all of those folks juggle several other roles. They were joined on different episodes throughout Season Four by the following folks in no particular order…

Stan Freberg, June Foray, Laraine Newman, Fred Tatasciore, Joe Alaskey, Rose Marie, Grey DeLisle, Corey Burton, Frank Buxton, Bob Bergen, Candi Milo, Jewel Shepard, Neil Ross, Bill Farmer, Misty Lee, Susan Silo, Mark Hamill, Phil LaMarr, Brooks Gardner, Diane Michelle and Scott Whyte. As I keep telling people, the secret to voice-directing a cartoon show is to hire good people and get out of their way. You'd be amazed how little acting direction you have to give performers like these.

I'm really happy with this series, which is not something I say about everything I work on. I removed my name (or at least tried-to and partially succeeded) on another cartoon series I did, plus I yanked it off three or four shows where I wrote the pilot episodes. They don't always come out the way you want them to, especially when others are trying to be the Giant Ape on whom all eyes must be focused. But you put up with those jobs not because they pay — although there is that — but you have to slog through those on occasion to get to the good ones. This for me is one of the good ones, especially because of the brilliant direction and animation being done by our director Philippe Vidal and his amazing crew.

I have no idea when Season Four will air in America. I don't even know when the rest of Season Three will air in America. But when it does, I hope you'll enjoy those episodes even a tenth as much as I enjoyed working with the people I get to work with.