Your local PBS station may be showing this wonderful documentary about the man behind The Music Man, Meredith Willson. If you can't watch it there, you can watch it here — but only for a limited time…

Hey, wanna read a pretty good interview with Birthday Boy Al Jaffee? It was done some time ago but it's a good read and it's right here.

Al is probably busy today thinking up Snappy Answers to the Stupid Question, "How does it feel to be 102?"

A few folks have written to disagree with my position that there's no real proof out there as to the effectiveness of masks against COVID.  As far as they're concerned, there's absolute, definitive proof of whatever they want to believe…and it seems to bother some that (a) I don't think so and/or (b) I might or might not be wearing one when they think I should or should not.  The latter seems to rile some folks who are unlikely to come within fifty miles of me.

The ones who say it's settled that masks are useless all seem to be pointing to the "Cochrane Study" as having settled the issue once and for all.  Cochrane is a widely-respected organization but their findings in this area were extremely limited in scope and they're being so misinterpreted that Cochrane put out a notice that started with these words…

Many commentators have claimed that a recently-updated Cochrane Review shows that "masks don't work," which is an inaccurate and misleading interpretation.

Could they say it any clearer? Somehow, that didn't persuade a friend of mine. I sent him the link and he wrote back that as far as he was concerned, the study still proved his position — i.e., what he wanted to believe it proved. There's a lot of that around.

I am reminded of a year or two ago when a different friend sent me a draft of an article he was working on about the failure of Charlton Comics' super-hero line in the late sixties. He said he wanted any corrections I had and I sent him what I thought was a big one. In the piece, he cited sales figures for certain comics and he got those out of the Statements of Ownership that ran in some of the Charlton comics in question. Back then, if you published comics sold by subscription, you had to print an annual notice in each book divulging its past sales.

I sent the guy an interview with Dick Giordano, who was the editor of those comics. In it, Dick said that the numbers in those Statements were bogus; that someone just made them up to satisfy the postal authorities who apparently never checked. This friend wrote me back, "I was aware he said that but those numbers are the only ones we have." In other words: Wrong numbers are better than no numbers at all.

But of course, they aren't. Imagine if a policeman said, "Yes, I know the guy we arrested for that murder was probably not the killer but he was the only suspect we had."

To some people, proof of what they want to believe doesn't have to be accurate. It just has to fit into their arguments for the moment, kind of as a placeholder for the real proof they "know" is coming. Look at all the folks who passionately believe that Donald Trump won the 2020 election. Trump and his lawyers, some of whom may be facing disbarment now, got laughed out of court with their "proof" something like eighty times. Even judges Trump appointed saw no merit in any of it.

But die-hard Trumpers fervently believe that solid proof of Donald's landslide is someplace out there and they're not going to let a little thing like not actually having it change their positions. How much "proof" has Mike Lindell touted and then quietly abandoned?

I know I've said this before on this blog but often, I think "I don't know" is the correct answer to a question. We often don't like admitting that we don't know but sometimes — increasingly often in my life — we don't. At least, I don't. What really baffles me about this mask business is that no one discussing it seems to be considering the possibility that the N95 masks that doctors wear and recommend might be more effective than masks made of the cheapest cloth some non-medical company can find.

Common sense tells me that there could be a difference and maybe a huge one. But I don't see anyone doing any real analysis of this…and I'm talking about actual research.

We seem to be getting very lazy with the whole concept of evidence and proof. These days when someone says, "I did the research on this," they just might mean they searched the Internet until they found someone who gave them the answer they wanted to believe. And that someone didn't have to be an expert or have done any real research themselves. Like that Cochrane Review study that didn't say what many people wanted to think it said, all the alleged research just had to be someone saying it online somewhere.

Here are two more videos by my new favorite pianist, Lord Vinheteiro. In the first, he plays the Woody Woodpecker theme song the proper way…which is to say, dressed as Woody Woodpecker. If you've been trying to learn this tune and it's not working for you, try putting on your Woody Woodpecker costume. As you can hear for yourself, it helps…

And that's the prelude to this video in which Lord V, turns off the sound on the 1946 Woody Woodpecker/Andy Panda cartoon Musical Moments From Chopin and supplies his own real-time accompaniment. He does a good job but it might have been even better if he'd worn the Woody Woodpecker costume and better still if he'd swapped it out now and then for an Andy Panda suit. (If you want to view the cartoon with the original, full orchestral soundtrack, click here.)

I repeat: This is an award for a body of work as a comic book writer…someone who is or was unrecognized and/or unrewarded for that body of work. It is not for your favorite artist. It is not for someone who wrote a few stories. It is not for someone whose talents have been honored over and over and who got very, very rich and/or famous writing comics.

We have so far received a lot of interesting nominations for comic book writers who produced a substantial body of work…but almost as many nominations for artists who, if they ever wrote a comic in their lives, didn't write more than a few. Come on, folks.

Yes, it's that time of the year again — the time when Evanier, on behalf of the selection committee, solicits nominations for the annual Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. This year, we will select someone who is alive for the honor and there will also be a posthumous award. All past nominations will be considered so if you nominated someone in the past, you need not submit them again. Basically, we're asking if any new names have occurred to you.

If so, they will probably not be people who recently joined the industry…and I'd better put the following in boldface: This is an award for a body of work as a comic book writer…someone who is or was unrecognized and/or unrewarded for that body of work. It is not for your favorite artist. It is not for someone who wrote a few stories. It is not for someone whose talents have been honored over and over and who got very, very rich and/or famous writing comics.

And the posthumous one is not for someone who is alive. Look up the word "posthumous," people. Each year, people nominate very-much-alive people and say their nominee should receive the posthumous award. We also have a couple of people who nominate themselves and I'm just waiting for someone to nominate themselves for the posthumous award. It will happen.

It is also not for anyone who has received this award in the past. The full list of such people can be read over on this page.

Here's the address for nominations. They will be accepted until April 15 at which time all reasonable suggestions will be placed before our Blue Ribbon Judging Committee and we'll make our decisions. They'll be announced before this year's Comic-Con International in San Diego and the awards will be presented then and there. Thank you.

I don't watch Bill Maher's show very much these days because on certain topics, I think he's being more controversial than insightful. But he and his writers do hit the bullseye at times…

I found this interesting. It's a short video about how an awful lot of our food is not really what we might think it is. We all probably know that but some of these examples are a bit surprising…

The New York Times has an article today about the effectiveness of masks in warding off COVID or other nasty diseases. It reinforces my belief that none of the studies have settled this question and that the folks who claim it's been definitively proven, one way or the other, are either relying on faulty studies or misinterpreting what they say.

The Hollywood Reporter notes the passing of our friend.

Leonard Maltin has a nice tribute up to his friend, my friend and a lot of folks' friend, Rick Scheckman.

WonderCon 2023 starts two weeks from today so it's time for this…

Friday, March 24 — 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM in Room 213AB
HOW TO WRITE FOR ANIMATION
Did you ever dream of writing cartoon shows? Well, here's your chance to find out how to do it from three guys who have written hundreds and hundreds of them. The secrets of animation writing will be divulged by WonderCon special guests Tom Ruegger (Pinky and the Brain, Disney's The 7D), Paul Rugg (Animaniacs, Freakazoid!), and moderator Mark Evanier (The Garfield Show, Dungeons & Dragons).

Saturday, March 25 — Noon to 1:00 PM in Room 207
THE ANNUAL JACK KIRBY TRIBUTE PANEL
Like we do at almost every convention, we remember the man some called The King of the Comics — the man who created or co-created many of the most popular characters ever in the medium. Discussing Jack Kirby are Marv Wolfman (writer/editor), John Morrow (publisher of The Jack Kirby Collector), Paul S. Levine (lawyers for the Kirby Trust), and moderator Mark Evanier (former assistant to Jack Kirby).

Saturday, March 25 — 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM in Room 207
CARTOON VOICES
It's another one of Evanier's popular panels where he gathers a bunch of top animation voice actors to demonstrate their craft, tell how they got into the business, and destroy the script for a beloved fairy tale. Appearing this time are Joe Ochman (current voice of Jiminy Cricket), Kaitlyn Robrock (current voice of Minnie Mouse), Neil Ross (Transformers, G.I. Joe), Cynthia McWilliams (What If?), and Brian Hull (Hotel Transylvania). Mark Evanier (of course) is your host.

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As always, times, rooms, panelists and just about everything is subject to change so check your Program Guide and this site to make sure. And as always, I refuse to sit behind a table at a convention for very long so I'll be wandering the hall. If you see me, say howdy. The entire programming schedule can be found online here and remember to consult the COVID policy here.

It's never a good day when it starts with writing one of these about a good buddy. Rick "Shecky" Scheckman took sick a few days ago and now he's gone. He was a beloved friend among lovers of old movies and TV shows and a helluva nice guy. He was also a longtime friend and employee of David Letterman, starting way back in Dave's early NBC days and continuing to the very end of The Late Show with David Letterman.

He had many duties in that job but the main one was finding and coordinating film clips. If twenty minutes before tape time, the writers suddenly came up with a bit that required film of a monkey washing a cat, Shecky knew where to find it. He was, as a small number of people are in their jobs, utterly irreplaceable.

And as you'll see in the video below that the Letterman crew just posted, he was often pressed into service as an actor in sketches — sometimes dressed as Elvis, sometimes not dressed at all. Dave loved him. And when I visited with him up at Letterman's NBC offices and later at CBS, it was obvious the whole staff did too.

We stayed in touch mostly by e-mail but the last time I was in New York with my friend Amber, we met Shecky for lunch at a Benihana's. Rick and I talked about old movies for two hours while she consumed bowls of Benihaha fried rice. She understood almost none of what we were talking about but after, she said she just adored Shecky anyway — his enthusiasm, his love of film, his whole spirit. Everyone loved the guy for all of that.

Here's the tribute video. Caution: It starts with Shecky naked…one of the few times David Letterman ever seemed actually surprised on his own show…

Jerry Wardlow wrote to ask…

I've read on a couple of websites that in 1970 or around that time, DC discussed having Jack Kirby do a James Bond comic book and they also apparently discussed it with Alex Toth. You are usually cited as the source of this information so I wonder if you could tell us more about what sounds to me like it could have been a spectacular project. Do any preliminary sketches or plots survive?

No preliminary sketches or plots survive, at least by Kirby or Toth. That's because none were done, at least by those two men. I can't swear DC's head honcho (then) Carmine Infantino didn't have someone else do something before the idea was abandoned…but the talk with Jack and later Alex was just talk and not very much of it. Infantino had some sort of option on doing a 007 comic book as a result of a one-shot comic they did in 1963. I wrote about it here.

Well, now that I think of it, let me add this: Infantino said they had some sort of option. That's a long time for that kind of option. I suspect he found out that they'd had such an option once and it had expired…but knowing about it prompted some discussion about maybe getting it back. Whatever, he asked Jack if he thought it was a good idea and if Jack would like to do it.

Jack loved the Bond films — at least, the ones he'd seen as of 1970. He said he thought it was a good idea but that it shouldn't be a regulation 15-cent comic on cheap newsprint, which was then what DC published. What he described sounded more like what we'd call a graphic novel today. That format would enable them to reach an older audience and also to have the book contain the kind of sex 'n' violence that consumers expected of a Bond novel or movie.

He also wanted to edit it but not draw it…though I assume he could have been persuaded to do the first book. The name of Alex Toth came up but I don't think Jack especially wanted to work with Alex. I have a vague memory that he told Carmine, "Toth would be great but if you've got him, just let him do it on his own. I don't need to get involved with that." Later, Carmine did talk to Alex and maybe others but nothing came of it. I don't think DC would ever have done it in the format Jack wanted and it's possible it would not have worked, no matter who did it, as a 15-center with cheap printing and Comics Code approval.

It especially might not have worked if they didn't have the right to make Bond look like Sean Connery…and that was probably not available. At the time, Diamonds Are Forever was in pre-production and it was widely believed that it would be Connery's last time in the role. Roger Moore had not yet been selected to take it over…so what would Bond look like in a comic book then? It was not to be but it sure is an intriguing "What if?"