Norm Prescott has died at the age of 78. A former disc jockey (he worked alongside Bob & Ray at WHDH in Boston, among other gigs), Prescott moved to Hollywood and into film production. In 1962, he partnered with Hal Sutherland and Lou Scheimer to form Filmation Studios, which produced hundreds of episodes of animated TV shows — including Superman, Fat Albert, Masters of the Universe, the animated Star Trek and various and sundry Archie shows — and even a number of live-action series before it closed down in 1989. Here's a list of them. Norm's smooth radio voice did not go to waste, as he could be heard speaking for characters in almost every Filmation show and often functioning as announcer/narrator.  I'll link to the only obit I was able to find online.

Keith Olbermann is currently my favorite newsguy on TV. Matter of fact, his Countdown show on MSNBC is just about the only one I find remotely watchable. If you haven't given it a try, give it a try. And you might also want to keep an eye on his weblog where he currently has the Cliff Notes version of Bob Woodward's new book about Deep Throat. Amazon says my copy has shipped and should arrive tomorrow but thanks to Olbermann's rundown, I feel like I've already read it.

David Greenberg offers a history lesson, the moral of which is that Republicans and Democrats often squabble over Supreme Court appointments and always have.

I got behind on previewing the GSN late night black-and-white reruns. As a result, I didn't alert you to the What's My Line? with Buster Keaton as the Mystery Guest or the reairing of a To Tell the Truth with Jack Bothwell. As explained in this piece I wrote, Mr. Bothwell once made the rounds of talk shows and game shows, claiming to have once played the role of "Freckles" in the Our Gang comedies. This is not so. There was no such character in those films and there's no record of Bothwell ever having worked for the Hal Roach Studios which made the films.

(The other point of note about that To Tell the Truth was that one of the impostors was a New York cop named Barney Martin who had then turned to show business, working on the Jan Murray game show, Treasure Hunt. Mr. Martin, who passed away last March, went on to a very fine acting career, including a stint as Jerry Seinfeld's father on Seinfeld. Here's an obit that I should have linked to three months ago.)

I don't know of anything outstanding on the upcoming To Tell the Truth reruns so I'll just run through what's looming on the What's My Line? airings. Tomorrow morning's has Doris Day and Robert Young as Mystery Guests. Friday morning, the big Mystery Guest is George Sanders, but you might be more interested in the first guest, Erle Stanley Gardner, the author-creator of Perry Mason. Saturday morn, it's Patti Page. Sunday morning is an unusual episode that has Bennett Cerf filling in as host. The Mystery Guests are Julie London and industrialist Henry Kaiser, and I think this is the show where guest panelist Ernie Kovacs got an enormous laugh, which I'll go ahead and blow for you here by quoting. The interrogators had established that the Mystery Guest (Mr. Kaiser) was an automotive magnate and that there was a car that had been named for him. So Kovacs asked, "Is it Abraham Lincoln?"

Due to some ambiguous phrasing, I misunderstood something about the passing of Selby Kelly, as noted in this item. Although her death was announced over the previous weekend, it actually occurred two weeks ago. Sorry for the confusion.

I haven't linked to too many articles about potential Supreme Court Justices because…well, because predictions are all over the place and the predicters seem to be flying semi-blind on this one. The consensus, to the extent there is one, seems to be that the extreme right-wing of the Republican party believes it is owed a guy who will vote as per their wish list…so the question is whether Bush will make good now on that debt or just give them partial payment with the balance due upon Rehnquist's retirement. I have no idea but William Saletan has some thoughts that might be worth considering.

Here's an early announcement of something that we'll be discussing at the Jack Kirby Tribute Panel at the Comic-Con International in San Diego…

FANTASTIC FOUR, X-MEN AND HULK CREATOR'S FAMILY ANNOUNCES MUSEUM

HOBOKEN, New Jersey, USA (6 July 2005) – Signifying a momentous step for comicbook lovers and popular culture scholars worldwide, Lisa Kirby, the daughter of the late Jack Kirby, artist and co-creator of the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Hulk, Captain America and many other comicbook characters and stories, today announced the creation of the Jack Kirby Museum and Research Center (JKMRC).

"My dad's work, starting with Captain America in the 1940s and reaching a peak with most of the other Marvel Comics superheroes in the 1960s, had a great influence on our culture, " Lisa Kirby says. "His imagination, storytelling ability, and prolific output contributed significantly to making the comicbooks he created among the most highly regarded in the U.S."'

Although the general public is familiar with some of his work, Kirby himself is still relatively unknown. "In the years since his death in 1994, there have been a number of high profile movies featuring properties and characters Dad created, but he has, for the most part, not been featured in the movies' promotions," Lisa Kirby added, "In that respect, my family and I were excited by the creation of a non-profit educational organization devoted to Dad's work."

Spearheaded by Randolph Hoppe of Hoboken, New Jersey, a cartoonist and web designer who hosts Kirby discussion groups, and supported by the Kirby Family and John Morrow, the award-winning publisher/editor of the Jack Kirby Collector magazine from Raleigh, North Carolina, JKMRC is devoted to promoting and encouraging the study, understanding, preservation and appreciation of the work of comicbook creator Jack Kirby.

"Our first program is to build an exhaustive, collaborative online Jack Kirby 'Catalogue Raisonné'," reports Hoppe, referring to the term for a book of "all the works" by an individual artist. "With support from the Kirby Estate, TwoMorrows Publishing, JKMRC members and scholars worldwide, we will take what has been known as the Jack Kirby Checklist and build it into an invaluable media-rich resource — not just for comicbook and Kirby fans, but for popular culture scholars, as well. I hope that programmers who have knowledge of or experience working on similar volunteer-based online projects will be able to provide some expertise."

However, the online Catalogue Raisonné is not JKMRC's only project. "We hope to develop an exhaustive, multimedia Jack Kirby biographical presentation and to partner with museums, conferences and conventions around the world on Kirby-related exhibits, papers and more," Hoppe adds. "But it all depends on how much support we can garner. I know the first question on most people's mind when learning about a new Jack Kirby Museum will be, 'where will the building with the collection and the exhibit space be built?' My cautiously optimistic response is, 'One step at a time.' At this early stage, it's best to say that anything's possible with the right support."

For John Morrow of TwoMorrows Publishing, the JKMRC is a perfect fit. "I've been editing and publishing the Jack Kirby Collector magazine for more than ten years," Morrow says. "Back in 1995, Rand approached me about posting a web site for the Kirby Collector – I didn't know what a web site was. When he told me his idea for a Kirby Museum, I agreed its time had come. I'm going to put the full resources of TwoMorrows Publishing behind this effort." TwoMorrows started with a 16-page bi-monthly xeroxed Kirby Collector, and is now a thriving operation publishing trade paperbacks and five magazines targeted at the comicbook specialty market.

JKMRC will also celebrate Jack Kirby's co-creators and colleagues. For almost fifteen years starting in 1940, Joe Simon partnered with Kirby, becoming the top creative team during comicbooks' so-called "Golden Age." Starting with their work on Captain America, they then worked on Sandman, Manhunter, Newsboy Legion and Boy Commandos. Simon & Kirby also invented the Romance comicbook genre with the publication of "Young Romance Comics" in 1947. "I've had considerable contact with Joe Simon while publishing the Kirby Collector," Morrow added. "I hope we can work closely with Joe on JKMRC programs, too,"

"Most people remember Jack for developing and telling the stories of the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Hulk and more in the 1960s with Marvel Comics' Editor, Art Director and Writer Stan Lee," Hoppe noted. "Marvel Comics would not be what it is today without those Kirby/Lee collaborations. They defined the Fantastic Four in the more than 102 issues they produced together," he said. "We can't celebrate Jack's 1960s work for Marvel without acknowledging Stan Lee's substantial efforts. We look forward any contributions Stan Lee can make to our
programs." Lee's partner on Spider-Man was Steve Ditko.

"All of us in the Kirby family look forward to the growth and impact of this organization," Lisa Kirby stated.

Sorry to hear of the passing of Ernest Lehman, a very nice man and a very accomplished screenwriter and producer. Ernie had many credits but it was hard to mention his name and not allude to North by Northwest, Sabrina, Sweet Smell of Success, and the film versions of West Side Story, The King and I, The Sound of Music, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Hello, Dolly. Yes, he was the person who decided to cast (or, rather miscast) Barbra Streisand in the movie of Dolly, rather than give the starring role to Carol Channing or anyone in the right age bracket. But during this career, Lehman did more than enough things right. There are those who, having studied the evidence, think it's a misattribution to speak of "Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest." Ernie Lehman, they say, was the creative force behind that much-honored movie.

(Ernie had a fascinating book which he allowed me to examine one day when I was visiting him and he had to leave me for about a half-hour to do a phone interview. He took all of his correspondence and paperwork relating to North by Northwest and had it bound into a book about three inches thick. As he and Hitchcock did a lot of their collaboration by mail, it was a rich and invaluable record of that movie and of Hitchcock's — and Lehman's — approach to filmmaking. Ernie told me he was looking into getting the whole thing published, and I don't know what happened after that. That was around ten years ago. I sure hope that book is preserved for historians.)

The next to the last time I saw Ernie, it was because a friend of mine wanted to meet him. It was Mike Peters, the brilliant/crazy cartoonist, and we drove up to Ernie's lovely Brentwood home for the afternoon. The whole visit consisted of two accomplished men — neither of them, me — complimenting each other's work. I just sat there nodding in agreement with both of them.

Author and cartoonist Selby Daley Kelly died over the July 4th weekend [Correction: two weeks ago] in Northern California. She had been ill for some time and the cause of death is reported as complications from a stroke. Selby was 87, having been born August 13, 1917 in Boulder, Colorado. She later moved to Los Angeles and had a long career in animation, commencing with a job in the ink and paint department at Walt Disney Studios in 1936. She was reportedly an inker on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and worked her way up to the post of assistant animator before she left Disney as a result of the 1941 strike — the same event that drove her future husband, Walt Kelly, away from Disney animation and into the comic book, and later the comic strip business.

Selby later worked for all the major Hollywood studios, including stints at MGM, Walter Lantz, Warner Brothers and even George Pal's Puppetoons, for which she did design work. She was also highly active in the Screen Cartoonists Guild.

In the sixties, she worked for Hanna-Barbera, Jay Ward and Bill Melendez, and was employed by Chuck Jones in 1969 when he directed and co-produced a TV special, The Pogo Birthday Special, based on Walt Kelly's popular newspaper comic strip. There, she wound up spending enough time with Kelly that a romance blossomed. She became his third wife and he became her second husband but, sadly, they only had a few years together. Kelly died in 1973 and Selby, who had been helping him with his work during his illness, continued the Pogo strip for almost two years with the aid of Stephen Kelly, Don Morgan, letterer Henry Shikuma and several other hands. Thereafter, she wrote, assembled and/or supervised several collections of Pogo reprints, including the 1992 Pogo Files for Pogophiles and supervised other Pogo-related projects that brought joy to many a Walt Kelly fan.

Hey, whatever happened to the National Lampoon?

Come to think of it — and I don't have a link to an answer for this one — whatever happened to Ed Bluestone? He was the guy who came up with that "…we'll shoot this dog" cover and wrote some brilliant pieces for the Lampoon, and he had a brief career as a standup comedian. Anyone have any idea if he's still with us or still performing?

We wish you all a safe 'n' sane Fourth of This Month today and suggest a screening of either of my favorite 7/4 movies — 1776 or Yankee Doodle Dandy. 1776, of course, tells the tale of the battle to write and adopt the Declaration of Independence…and does a marvelous job of building suspense as it tells a tale where we already know the outcome. There's actually a point in the proceedings, a little before "Cool, Conservative Men," where I always find myself thinking for a moment, "Gee, I hope they can get that Declaration voted in but I don't see how." Followers of the movie (or of American history) might be interested in this article that ran recently in Salon, discussing the trafficking in rum that figured so prominently into the American Revolution, and which gets its due in 1776. [To read said article, you'll either need to be a Salon subscriber or watch some advertising.]

Yankee Doodle Dandy, of course, starred Jimmy Cagney as George M. Cohan. It starts with the specious claim that Cohan was born on the Fourth of July (he was not) and like so many Hollywood bio pics, the level of accuracy never gets much higher than that. Based on the extant films and recordings of Mr. Cohan, I would say that the greatest misrepresentation is in the suggestion that he was anywhere near as talented as Mr. Cagney. I don't like the bogus history and I don't like the celebration of Cohan's hollow, "I got mine" brand of flag-waving…but I like Cagney so much in this film that I can overlook the negatives.

There's a short piece in this morning's Los Angeles Times about the general neglect of Jack Kirby, in both a credit and financial sense, in the current spate of Marvel Comics movies. I was interviewed for the article but do not endorse its view of Kirby's legal status, nor do I think its estimate of Stan Lee's compensation is an accurate summary. That's mostly a function of how few column inches the reporter was given. I don't think it's possible to summarize the situation in so little space. So not only is Jack not getting his due but the fact that he isn't getting his due isn't getting its due, either.

This will be discussed at greater length at the Jack Kirby Tribute Panel at this year's Comic-Con International. It takes place on Friday afternoon at 2 PM in my home away from home, Conference Room 8. We'll have some of Jack's friends and family members there, and we'll talk about the way the comic book industry treats its geniuses and such.

We'll also have a special appearance by the late, great Johnny Carson. As many of you are aware, Mr. Kirby once had a little altercation with the King of Late Night that resulted in a lawsuit. I showed the relevant Johnny Carson video a few years ago at a Kirby panel and have had numerous requests to show it again and to explain more about the incident. So it'll get another showing and we'll be joined by the lawyer who represented Jack in his legal action, Paul S. Levine. Paul will also tell you some very surprising (I suspect) things about some other disputes in which Jack was involved in the eighties.

I dunno which of the 7,000 panels I'm hosting this year will be the most entertaining but I can tell you which will be the most important. This one.

For no visible reason, at least around here, my high-speed Internet connection just began working again. This is the way it always is with Comcast, at least in my experience. They say, "The problem's on your end, we'll have to send a man out," and they schedule one for a few days in the future. Then, before he gets here, they fix the problem on their end.

However, just in case, I'm going to wait 24 hours before I cancel my Tuesday afternoon service appointment.

The complete programming guide for the Comic-Con International is up on their website…

• Thursday Programming
• Friday Programming
• Saturday Programming
• Sunday Programming

Of course, you can save time by just going to all the panels I'm hosting.

Michael Scott, a reader of this site, recolored the George Reeves pic to put Superman in his traditional tones. Several of you have written to me to say that the costume Mr. Reeves wore in the black-and-white episodes was grey and brown, and I think I've seen that costume. There seems to be some disagreement as to whether he had a couple of different ones and what their colors were, but I'm pretty sure that the pic I posted with the goldenrod outfit was a matter of some lobby card stylist screwing up.

A couple of folks wrote to ask if the action and violence in the Superman TV show were toned down because of the Wertham-fanned horror comics scare or because the sponsor demanded it or what. Both were probably factors but my understanding is that the decision was primarily a matter of investment. After the series went on the air, the stations that bought it were primarily programming it as a kids' show in terms of time slots and the kind of commercials they sold for it. I believe there were even cities that folded it into an afternoon block of programming anchored by a kiddie show host. (In Los Angeles, around 1960, "Engineer Bill" Stulla had The Adventures of Superman on his Channel 9 show, right after episodes of Spunky & Tadpole, Q.T. Hush and Colonel Bleep.) And of course, Kellogg's cereals — which bought heavily into the show — was primarily interested in the younger audience. So as the show found its market, content was adjusted to match…and I think they also toned down the action because it cost more to shoot, and the producers had adopted a "cheap as possible" approach to the budget.

In 1968 or so, I spent one afternoon in the office of Whitney Ellsworth, who was the former editor-in-chief of DC Comics. In the mid-fifties, the company sent him to Hollywood to supervise the Superman show and to drum up other TV projects, and he stayed out here and in that post, long after he'd outlived his usefulness. What I recall from our conversations is that Mr. Ellsworth was terrified of saying the wrong thing to me. Somehow, he feared that if he said "You know, I don't like red on comic book covers" to a 16-year-old comic fan, it would get back to his superiors in New York and they'd use it as an excuse to terminate whatever financial arrangement he still had with the company. But what he did talk about, over and over, were the high costs of production. He had not been able to get numerous DC-related projects off the ground because of how expensive everything was, he insisted. And if I asked him anything about the old George Reeves series, the answer was always money, with the implied fear that the show would be cancelled and everyone would be thrown out of work if they went a dime over budget. This is only a slight exaggeration of the way it went…

ME: I never understood why you rarely saw Lois Lane taking notes when she was covering a story.

HIM: My God, do you know what a notepad cost then?

So I gather that the answer to most questions about that Superman show is, "Because it was cheaper." Whatever it was. I think it's amazing how watchable even the latter episodes were, given that they were trying to do the show for a buck-ninety.

I'm still on a dial-up connection which is not faster than a speeding bullet, so I've gotta run here. There will be more posting on this site when the Comcast people make me whole again.