Recently, my health insurance changed and I now get my prescriptions via a firm called Express Scripts. But on the advice of my local pharmacist, I also signed up for three prescription discount services that anyone can sign up for — GoodRX, Kroger RX Savings and SingleCare. On all four sites, you can enter the name of a medication you take and the dosage and it'll tell you where you can get it and what the price will be. The discounters are not insurance companies but they sometimes are cheaper.

Maybe you already knew this but I was amazed at the price variance. There's one medication I take which is $1371.70 from Kroger RX Savings, $1391.00 from SingleCare, $1306 from GoodRX…and with my Express Scripts insurance, it's $50. (These and all numbers I'm quoting here are for a 90-day supply.)

Okay, so Express Scripts is way cheaper, right? Not always. There's another medicine I take which is $71.87 at Express Scripts, $12.00 from Kroger, $19.27 from SingleCare and then GoodRX gives me a wide range of pricing depending on where I pick it up…

The lowest is Safeway Markets where it's $4.15 and that would be great except that the nearest Safeway with a pharmacy is 302 miles from me. Next lowest would be either a Von's Market (6 miles from me), a Pavilions Market (2.4) or an Albertson's Market (5.6), all of which will give me those pills for $9.43. The odd thing about this is that Von's, Pavilions and Albertson's are all owned by the same company that owns Safeway.

Express Scripts also wants $725 for a prescription that is $9.19 from Kroger, $15.72 from SingleCare and $12.74 at Safeway, Von's, Pavilions and Albertson's. Express Scripts is way cheaper on almost everything else I take but when it isn't, it really isn't.

The pharmacist who told me about these discount cards — and there are apparently others — also told me he'd been quietly applying some of them to some of my prescriptions to lower the prices I pay. He can do this with certain discounters even if I don't sign up for them. He suggested I look at some of my recent pharmacy bills and see if any of the prices I'd paid could be lowered by applying the right cards.

I went home and found that one recent prescription filled at his pharmacy (not by him) could have been $14.00 cheaper if a different discount had been applied. When I went back and showed them, the pharmacist on duty apologized and issued me a refund for $14.00. Maybe some or most of you have known this about this kind of thing all along but it was news to me, not to be confused with newsfromme.

Here's our friend — the Legal Eagle — breaking down the possible charges connected with the seizing of those documents at Mar-A-Lago…

I sleep about five hours a night but not always the same five hours. Before Comic-Con, it was generally 3 AM to 8 AM. 10 PM is, I've found, a great time to write because my phone rarely rings (unless it's Sergio) and I'm not thinking about calls I should make. But since around Comic-Con — and I'm not sure it caused the change — the five hours are more often around 11 PM to 4 AM, and right now, I've been sitting here writing since about 4:15. I'm one of those people who, if I wake up for any reason, I'm generally up until further notice.

4 AM isn't a bad time for writing. The phone is still not a distraction…and won't be until around 9 AM, by which time I won't feel that annoyed at the interruption since I already got so much work done today.

Except that as I was typing the first paragraph of this post, the phone rang.

The Caller ID pegged it clearly as a Spam call and I usually don't answer those but I was curious: What kind of business thinks it's a good idea to call people at six in the morning? Might not that be a good way to make people more hostile towards whatever you're selling?

So I answered and it was lady with an accent of no identifiable region asking if I'd be interested in selling my house. At 6:08 in the morning.

My latest way of dealing with such callers, assuming they're not of the robotic variety, is to ask them where they got my phone number. They never know…or claim to not know. This lady told me, "You're on a list I was handed. I don't know where they come from."

Since this call is about real estate, I figure she must have my address there and she admits that she does. What follows goes like this…

ME: So it shows you I'm in Los Angeles. Do you know what time it is in Los Angeles?

HER: Six in the morning, I guess.

ME: What time is it where you are?

HER: A little after 9:00 in the evening. [I suspect she's in The Philippines.] I like to get a few hours of calls in before I go to bed.

ME: What time do you usually get up in the morning?

HER: Around eight or so.

ME: And how would you feel if someone woke you up at 6:00 in the morning?

HER: I wouldn't like it.

ME: But you call people at 6:00 in the morning their time.

HER: Yes, I've found that people are usually home then.

ME: Aren't some of them mad that you wake them up?

HER: Some are.

ME: So mad that they won't answer your questions or say they're interested in selling their houses?

HER: Yes but no matter what time I call, people are angry that I called and they won't answer my questions or they say they're not interested in selling their houses. Calling at this time, I reach more of them.

True conversation. Hey, at least it made me laugh and gave me something to write about here. I think I'll go back to bed and see if I can manage another hour of shuteye.

Talk about leaking classified government material! Here's why there was so much crime in the sixties in this country: Criminals could find actual police secrets on boxes of Post cereals. All they needed was the Dick Tracy Magic Decoder, which looks strangely to me like a piece of cardboard with holes punched in it…

Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away, I had some respect for Alan Dershowitz. Alas, he long ago joined a list of sorta-right-wingers that have since left me wondering if I was wrong about them back then…a list that includes Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee and John McCain. I'd like to think I wasn't wrong; that they merely veered into Crazyland because they saw opportunities therein.

Anyway, in the limited time I allow myself these days to look at recent political-type matters, I read Professor Dershowitz's piece for The Wall Street Journal about how Donald Trump is being treated in the most prominent of the current investigations. You may need a subscription there to read the whole piece but I can't help that.

It is however an amazing piece of trying to gin up a scandal where there isn't one. In his rebuttal article, Joe Patrice explains to the Professor of Law that different alleged crimes that might violate different laws at different times and had different levels of cooperation from the targets of those investigations might just not be comparable.

• I'm keeping an eye on eBay for my chance to buy one of Donald Trump's stolen passports. Please don't bid against me.

Fred Rupnow wrote to ask…

I saw your post where you mentioned having seen It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World for "the fiftieth-or-so time" and wondered if it meant seeing it at the Aero Theater that many times or overall? I like to re-watch it as well though theater screenings aren't an option. How many (if any) times have you seen it outside that optimum situation?

I've seen it twice at the Aero and an awful lot of times at the theater that was built to show it…the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. The film debuted there on November 7, 1963 and I saw it there on November 23, 1963 at its full original running time before it was cut down.

"Fiftieth" was meant as a comedic exaggeration. I'd be guessing wildly to come up with a serious number but I don't really watch it on television and I don't like watching it alone. A few times when it's been run on Turner Classic Movies, I've had it on while working because I find the music and the sounds of the stars' voices a pleasant thing but I wouldn't call that "watching it."

One time, my late and much-missed friend Earl Kress and I decided to watch a DVD of it on my home TV as an instrument of discussion. We watched it together and paused every few minutes to talk about what we were seeing on-screen and to point things out to each other. I think the whole "screening" took about seven hours spread over three visits. Again, I wouldn't call that "watching it."

When Mike Schlesinger, Paul Scrabo and I recorded the commentary track for the Criterion release, I watched it all the way through twice on TV to make notes about when to discuss certain aspects of it. Then in the recording studio, we watched it in chunks and sometimes stopped and redid one of those chunks if we weren't satisfied with what we'd said. I've done commentary tracks where you just watch the movie in one pass and say whatever comes to mind. Criterion doesn't do it that way. It took us a couple of days and then they did extensive editing, mostly to move certain lines to more appropriate spots in the film.

I saw it two or three times in regular movie theaters in the sixties and maybe ten times at the Dome and once at the Academy Theater and I don't recall where else. I've seen it a lot and I have to tell you: Every time, I see something I hadn't seen before and every time, I enjoy some aspect of it I hadn't enjoyed before. I also enjoy watching it with friends who've never seen it before. It's interesting who younger folks recognize in it and who they don't. In my experience, the most-recognized comedians in it are Don Knotts and the Three Stooges, followed closely by Peter Falk, Jack Benny and "the rich guy from Gilligan's Island."

The New York Times has a nice obit on Paul Coker, Jr. What a fine cartoonist that man was.

I need a day or two to get some things done. A lot of folks think the wisest thing to ever be said or written by the late screenwriter William Goldman was his line about the movie business — "Nobody Knows Anything." I don't think that's true and I don't think he really meant that the way some people quote it.

I think he meant something more like, "Everyone who predicts what will be a hit (or at least a good movie) and what won't be is playing hunches which might well be wrong." But "Nobody Knows Anything" is kinda snappy.

No, I think the wisest thing he ever said about The Business was something he said many times in different ways. It was about how your scripts were never going to be as perfect as you want them to be or the people you work with and for want them to be…but it was possible to get them in on time. So in that spirit, I'm trying to get something in on time and that's why I won't be posting much on this blog for a day or three. Thank you for your patronage anyway.

Not that long ago, "CBS Television City in Hollywood" — which is not now and has never really been in Hollywood — was sold to a developer who wants to convert the place into a huge combination TV facility and retail mall. Nothing noticeable changed there right away except that at one point, they took down most (not all) of the big "CBS" signs and a week or two later, they put back most (not all) of the big "CBS" signs. It still looks pretty much like the same place, filled with history, memories, and people trying to get in to play Plinko on The Price is Right.

But that will change…and recently, the surrounding community learned how much the developers want that precious parcel of real estate to change. As I live in that surrounding community, I am being blanketed and leafleted with cries to stop those folks from doing what they want to do.

Their plans, I am told, include a building of two million square feet in size including "1.4 million square feet of office development." There would be buildings twenty stories tall with a parking lot for 5,000+ cars which will somehow all go to and fro on the not-particularly-wide streets around there. The main one is the one where James Corden keeps snarling traffic when he and his crew go out to shoot one of their Crosswalk Musicals. Here — watch this and tell me if you think this street can handle thousands more cars per day…

The complex they plan would also have "14 mega sound stages for new audience shows, utilizing 18-wheeler production trucks." It all sounds way too big for this area.

In fact, it sounds so "way too big" to me that I suspect the developers are deliberately overstating what they want to build, knowing there will be opposition and that they'll have to scale back their plans to get the necessary go-aheads. It's like when I want to sell a car worth $1000 and I ask $3000 for it so you can talk me down to $2000 and feel like you won something. But I also suspect that what the developers really want to build — what they're secretly prepared to settle for — is still way too massive and congestive for the area.

So I'm joining the opposition. I'm not sure what (if anything) I can do except to just sit here and passively oppose…but I'm at least going to do that. Maybe I'll go to a public hearing or something. If you're in the area and you want to join me, here's the website. If you're not in the area but would like to see some vestige of CBS Television City remain, you might also want to keep an eye on this matter.

The post about Dick Shawn being "banned" from Johnny Carson's Tonight Show brought a lot of mail and before I clear up some things that were said here, I should say this: I think Dick Shawn was one of the greatest comedians of his era and that he has never been properly recognized as such.

A weekend or two ago, I saw It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica. Must have been the fiftieth-or-so time. I love that movie and often discuss it with others. Naturally, the question always arises: Of all the comedians in that film, who was the funniest? Many answers are possible but in the unscientific poll of me just thinking about comments from friends, I would say the winner by a slight edge is Jonathan Winters…and then tied for second, you have Dick Shawn and Phil Silvers.

All three of those men managed to wring every possible laugh out of every line or stage direction they were given. And Shawn's performance is especially remarkable when you recall how unknown he was at the time. He's still not as well-known as he should be. (He was also hilarious in another of my favorite films — The Producers.)

And no one who ever saw his one-man show would ever doubt his brilliance. I raved about that show here.

Anyway, one night when Rich Little was guest-hosting Mr. Carson's show, he had Shawn on as a guest and things got — shall we say? — "out of hand." My pal Jeff Abraham tells me the episode was on May 6, 1974. Jeff is the co-author of the book, The Show Won't Go On: The Most Shocking, Bizarre, and Historic Deaths of Performers Onstage by Jeff Abraham & Burt Kearns, and he sent me the following excerpt from its chapter on Mr. Shawn…

"Shawn just decided to tear the set apart," Little told Mark Malkoff on The Carson Podcast. "And he turned the plants over, he turned the sofa over, he turned the desk over. We got in the desk and started rowing like we're going across the Potomac. You know, like George Washington. I was out in front with the oar. And we wrecked the set, totally wrecked the set. The people were in hysterics, so Fred DeCordova and all the staff were all just standing around, going "Well, this is awful. He's ruining the set but at the same time, this is the funniest thing we've ever seen." Carson wasn't there to see the humor — 'cause it was funny, all Carson saw when he came back was the set was ruined."

Johnny Carson was offended that his set, his desk, his plants were violated, but in fact, perhaps because of his affection for the comedian, Dick Shawn was invited back to The Tonight Show many times over the next dozen years — but he appeared only with guest hosts like David Brenner. Carson eventually reconciled with the comic in 1985, and Shawn made two appearances with him that year.

So there you have it. Shawn was not "banned." He just didn't appear with Johnny for a while and then he did. Here's his appearance with Carson on the episode for November 11, 1986. It's one of those stand-up appearances where you can hear Johnny laughing in the background and showing obvious delight for what his guest was doing. Thanks, Jeff.

Brian Dreger, who sends me a lot of good questions, wrote…

I really enjoyed your post about Rod Hull, and I very much enjoyed the video even more! It was great how Johnny and Richard Pryor both looked at the puppet if it were real! When Pryor said, at the end, "Will he go good with dumplings?," I laughed as hard as I've ever laughed!

My question is about people who push the line with Johnny and lost. There's a rumor that I've seen online — but I can't substantiate — that Dick Shawn was banned from The Tonight Show because he tipped Johnny Carson's desk over during some sort of schtick and pretended it was a canoe. Johnny, watching from home, was offended. Does any of that ring true? I looked on your blog and Wikipedia and I couldn't find anything about it (though maybe I missed it)…

I heard the story from…well, I can't remember where I heard it but I think it was from a good source. Reportedly, Rich Little was guest-hosting, Shawn was a guest and he did indeed turn Johnny's desk over and pretend it was a canoe. As I heard the tale, not only was Shawn not on the show again but it was quite a while before Rich Little was asked back.

There have been a lot of people who were once welcome on Johnny's show and then were not. I always think "banned" is the wrong word for this situation. "Not asked back" is a more accurate term and it could happen just because Johnny decided someone wasn't funny or entertaining. There was a long list of people who were frequent guests and then one day, he decided they'd worn out their welcome or just didn't sparkle anymore. That may sound cruel but it's kind of the way most show business works.

Folks like Tony Randall, Charles Nelson Reilly, Charles Grodin, Robert Blake, Jaye P. Morgan, Orson Bean and many others went abruptly from being very welcome to very unwelcome. Johnny could be pretty ruthless in that regard and also was pretty firm in dismissing writers who, he felt, weren't handing in enough usable material.

Other sins a guest might commit would include excessive plugging and straying wildly from the conversation discussed in the pre-interview. Carson might lead a guest to a topic that had not been planned but they were faulted for going there on their own. Some former guests claimed they'd been dropped from the talk show guest list because Johnny thought they were appearing too often with his competitors.

Getting back to Dick Shawn: I don't think he was ever a Carson favorite. The alleged canoeing occurred on a guest host night and I don't recall him ever appearing with Johnny. If he did, it wasn't often…so it was no big deal that Johnny didn't have him on after that. One of Carson's producers, Fred DeCordova, used to say that they got over 500 submissions per week of possible guests. They needed a dozen or less per week so they could afford to be selective.

By the way: Here's an article on talk show sets.

YouTube "Legal Eagle" Devin J. Stone, Esq. explains about search warrants like the one which allowed the F.B.I. to look into Donald Trump's underwear drawer at Mar-A-Lago. The news on this story is advancing so rapidly that Mr. Stone had to append several updates to this video between the time he first recorded it and the time he posted it…and it may be outta-date in about three hours because of the deadline Trump has to formally agree with or block the release of the search warrant.

Note how many things about this case Stone places in the "we don't know" category and then note how little that mattered to so many people in the public eye who didn't let that stop them from forming firm, extreme opinions.

I guess I understand it. Those who think Trump is lying, criminal scum have been on the edge of their chairs, waiting for Merrick Garland to take some bold, decisive action. Those who think Trump walks on water (or find it politically advantageous to act like he does) have been bracing themselves for Merrick Garland taking some bold, decisive action. Everyone in both camps thought, "This is it!" and leaped immediately into attack or defense mode. But I think it remains to be seen if this is what either side thought it was.

Here's The Eagle scurrying to keep up with the story. This guy's pretty handy to have around…

I'm going to stop watching how-to-cook videos. Lately, the ones I've seen have all involved a lot more kitchen equipment than I will ever possess, especially items that a professional chef (like the one making the video) might use several times a week and which I might use one or twice a year. My last few bottles of Worcestershire sauce all expired before I'd used up a tenth of the bottle. About ten years ago, I bought a potato-ricer and so far, I've used it to rice a grand total of two potatoes — one Russet, one Yukon Gold.

A lot of the videos go to elaborate lengths to make things that I'm not going to make and which I have a hard time believing anybody is going to make. I watched a few by a friendly gent named Brian Lagerstrom who seems to really know what he's doing in the kitchen but, for example, in a video about how to prepare a Chicago-style hot dog, he spent most of the video telling us how to bake hot dog buns. Counting the time I'd have to wait for my dough to proof or rise, it looks like it would take me about five hours.

I can understand how someone might think of this as a fun challenge like doing a crossword puzzle…or how someone who cooks a lot might factor hot dog bun baking into a full day of making many things in the kitchen. But I'd be very surprised if the hot dog buns that I'd make would be even half as good as the ones I can pick up cheap while I'm at the market. They sure wouldn't be so much better I'd be glad I spent the five hours.

Also, every chef lately I see talks about adding in red pepper flakes or cayenne or hot sauce to give the meal "a little heat." I don't like "heat" of the Tabasco variety and neither does my stomach. So I find myself thinking, "This chef's idea of what's pleasing to eat is very different from mine." It doesn't matter how orgasmic they look when they eat their own cooking at the end of the video.

I'm not knocking these people. Given the number of viewings some of them notch, they obviously have huge followings who enjoy their every concoction. I'm just coming to the much-too-late realization that they ain't cooking for folks like me with limited kitchens and even more limited palates. I'm going to save a lot of time by not watching cooking videos and I'll save even more by not baking my own hot dog buns.

When the great Larry Storch died last month, I plumb forgot I had a photo I'd taken with him at one of his many birthday parties. (When you live to the age of 99 as he did, you have a lot of birthday parties.) At that party, much of what was discussed was his series, F Troop, which is one of those shows that holds up pretty well many decades later. Not all of them do but that one does.

But I asked him about a record he made once called "The Eighth Wonder of the World." There was a trend in novelty records for songs that had one or more naughty words in the lyrics but some sort of sound effect would replace every naughty word at every opportunity. This was unlike some records of this kind because I was never sure what naughty words were being bleeped…but no, I didn't ask Larry what they were. I asked him if he'd made any money off this record and he didn't hesitate before saying, "About enough to buy a chicken salad sandwich."

Back when he recorded this, that was probably less than a buck but I still think it's a fun record…