The Internet Movie Database has decided that Joe Barbera did not pass away last year and has removed the date of death from his listing.

In other non-dead news, I see Abe Vigoda is still alive.

The Animation Guild is holding its Golden Awards Banquet on April 9, 2005, 6 pm at the Pickwick Gardens in Burbank, California. This event honors those veterans who've logged fifty (count 'em — 50) years in the field of animation and certain related fields. This year's honorees began their careers between 1943 and 1955, during the heyday of Warner Bros, UPA, Disney, Walter Lantz, etc. Tickets are still available. You can order and see a list of the honorees here.

For those of you following the saga of Peter Paul and the now-defunct company he set up for Stan Lee, another chapter is unfolding.

I've tried — Lord, how I've tried — to pay zero attention to the Michael Jackson case. This is not easy. I could easily avoid seeing any sign of the War in Iraq (that is still going on, right?) and the proposed evisceration of Social Security. But to venture anywhere near a source of news is to glimpse Circus Jacko, and there's no way around it.

A few days in, it's already beginning to look like Jackson will moonwalk. Ironically, Jay Leno — who has done so much to convince the world that Michael is a pedophile — may testify and become be a key contributor to Jackson's freedom. And sadly, it looks like if the King of Pop does go free, the reason will be that his lawyers have convinced the jury that the parents of the allegedly-molested kid are money-grubbing sleazeballs. This will be sad because if Jackson does go free, it would be nice if it was because he actually didn't commit the crime. But I'm not sure that kind of thing matters much anymore.

Speaking of Rhino Handmade, as I did a few items ago, I should mention that they still have copies available of their superb Soupy Sales CD set. It contains the full contents of his 1961 record, The Soupy Sales Show, which I played the hell out of when it first came out. It also has the entirety of his '62 follow-up, Up in the Air, plus a few singles and oddments, and the best thing is that Clyde Adler is also heard on it. (You can learn why this matters to me by reading this article.) Soupy's not the greatest singer, and I'd rather see him than listen to him…but his records were still fun.

My occasional items here about the Soupman bring me two or three e-mails per week from folks who fondly remember watching his program, so I know we have a lot of Soupy fans logging in here. If you're one, you might want to order this thing quickly, since they only pressed 2500 copies and can't have very many of them left. Go to the Rhino Homemade site and search for "Soupy."

This may seem a tad tardy but I just got around to watching last week's episode of The Late Show With David Letterman with Dan Rather in the guest chair. Having read on many a blog that Letterman did a great, incisive interview and that Rather came back with good, dignified answers, I must say I felt let down on both counts. One can forgive Letterman for lobbing softballs since it is a comedy show, since Rather is a fellow CBS asset, and since Dave seems genuinely fond of the guy. I think "real" reporting has gotten so bad in this country that when a David Letterman or Jon Stewart asks something that's the tinest bit challenging, people fall all over themselves to praise it, either because it's such a novelty or because it slams reporters to note that comedians are often doing a better job of covering the news. One of the few comments of Rather's that impressed me was when he talked about the new softness of reporters who don't challenge those in power for fear of losing access.

But for the most part, Dan Rather continues to be a man who disappoints me every time I see him, and who should have left the anchor chair about half-past the administration of George Herbert Walker Bush. He really was a good reporter at one time…or, at least, he resembled a good reporter enough to remind us what that meant. He asked tough questions and he challenged the answers he received. Some folks hated him because they only think it should be done to the other side; that when you do it to theirs it's bias or disrespect or whatever you have to say to discredit the messenger. But I think the press should always be at least slightly hostile to those in power, and to the extent Rather represented that in his pre-anchoring days, I thought he was a good newsman. Back then.

The centerpiece of the man's visit to Letterman was, of course, the discussion of the infamous Bush National Guard Memo flap. Rather admitted error and hid behind the findings of the CBS internal investigation that said it was a screw-up but not one motivated by political objectives. I think that's probably true, but I also thought Rather was dead wrong when he tried to argue that America was not about to turn out an incumbent president in a time of war, and that Bush was going to get in again, no matter what. Did Dan not notice how close that election was? How even midway through Election Day, some of the pollsters thought Kerry was going to win? Even if true, "Bush was going to win anyway" is not an excuse for anything, and I thought Rather said it to respond to a charge that Letterman did not raise but others have: That the CBS screw-up took the focus off Bush's actual, probably-damning National Guard record and instead made him look like the victim of a smear.

Rather also defended himself by noting that the makers of the CBS internal report said they were unable to prove the documents were forgeries. Some bloggers were outraged at this comment, noting that the burden of proof should be on CBS to establish legitimacy, not on anyone's ability to prove the opposite. They're right…and one might note that one expert consulted by the internal investigators was pretty adamant that the alleged National Guard papers were bogus. Still, I think Rather was trying to say that despite what some have claimed, it was not inarguably obvious that the documents were phony. In fact, he still seems to be taking the position that while they should not have been used, there remains some question as to whether or not they were fakes. One wonders if he truly thinks that's so, or if he just figures that it's a less embarrassing stance to hold. Based on his sorry defense of sorry actions, I'm inclined to believe the latter.

Still, I'll make a prediction here that in his new assignments, Rather will return to hands-on investigative reporting; that he will move mountains to come up with some big, sensational scoop that will eclipse the recent, sorry escapade and not leave "Rathergate" as the final chapter of his career. I'm not saying he'll succeed in this. It's been a long time since Rather has been known for anything other than quirky bromides and arousing the ire of the political right. But if somehow, he can tap into the part of him that he lost when he left the White House beat, he just might pull it off.

Gary Sassaman reports on what he did last night, which was to spend An Evening With Groucho. Well, actually, it wasn't Groucho. It was Frank Ferrante. But these days, Frank is a lot funnier.

As you can see by earlier postings here, we're big fans of America's foremost parodier of songs. Those postings have prompted a lot of e-mails from folks asking me where they can get Allan Sherman recordings, especially the rarer items.

There's no announcement up yet on their site but I have it on good authority that Rhino Handmade is prepping a boxed CD set of Allan Sherman goodies. It will not include his RCA album with the Boston Pops, but that's available on CD now. It will also not include his few early, obscure recordings for Jubilee Records. But it will include all eight of his albums for Warner Brothers, including some leftover material and alternate takes that didn't make it onto the original releases. It will also include all his singles for that company, some earlier unreleased recordings from parties, and two albums that he did as industrial/commercial jobs — Music to Dispense With, his ultra-rare album for the Dixie Cups company, and one he recorded for a carpet company. In all my years of collecting Sherman, I've never been able to score a copy of the Dixie Cups record, and I never even heard of the other one. So this is all very welcome news.

My Son, the Box is supposed to be out around June of this year. Rhino Handmade does limited pressings that actually sell out and become unavailable, so we're going to keep an eye out for this, and I'll let you know when to order. Or if you see an availability before I do, you tell me. But I thought I oughta let you know before any of you spend any more bucks on eBay for this material.

This is interesting…I think. I mentioned yesterday that if one does a Google search, one discovers how few people who write about Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster know how to spell either or both of their surnames. I was going to point out how this is also true of Charles Schulz, creator of Peanuts — so many people insist on spelling it "Schultz" — but I see that Google compensates for this. If you search for "Schultz AND Peanuts," it just assumes you mean "Schulz" and proceeds accordingly.

I'm used to Google figuring out typos. If I go to search for "David Leterman," it asks me if I meant "David Letterman." But in the case of Schultz/Schulz, it doesn't even bother to ask.

I'm guessing — and will probably find out for sure, since at least one Google employee reads this site — that Google builds some sort of database of common spelling errors, noting how many people take it up on its suggested corrections. When the volume reaches some specified level, it just starts taking people directly to the correction. Is that how it works?

Here's another reminder that if you live in the Los Angeles area, you have the rare opportunity to meet June Foray, buy her new book and get her to sign it to you. A goodly chunk of the local animation community will turn out this coming Wednesday evening to salute the First Lady of Cartoon Voicing…the tonsils behind Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Granny and so many more. Your objective is the Barnes & Noble shop in The Grove at Farmers Market, and June will appear at 7:30 PM. Don't miss this one.

Speaking of appearances by animation's greats: On March 16, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (the Emmy people) will be unveiling a wall sculpture at their headquarters out at 5220 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood. Only a few TV legends have been so honored and on that morning at 11 AM, they'll be adding Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera to their Hall of Fame Plaza. Mr. Barbera is expected to attend, even though the Internet Movie Database has somehow decided he passed away in 2004.

I've just sent in a correction. Let's see how long it takes them to change it.

I will not be running in the Los Angeles Marathon this Sunday. There are many reasons for this but a good one is that on the marathon website, it says that Tylenol 8 Hour is — and I quote — "The Official Pain Reliever of the Los Angeles Marathon." I don't participate in anything that requires an Official Pain Reliever. This is why I stopped working for Disney.

Late Saturday night (aka early Sunday morning), NBC is rerunning the full, 90-minute version of the third-ever episode of Saturday Night Live. Actually, as you'll note from the above ticket, it was still called NBC's Saturday Night at the time. I believe this was the last episode before they changed the name.

This is the one hosted by Rob Reiner who, it is said, freaked out after a disastrous dress rehearsal and almost walked off the show. It was good he didn't because things miraculously came together for the live broadcast. It was not only a decent episode but it represented a giant step forward in the program finding its format and identity.

The first week was a jumble of disparate segments with occasional appearances by host George Carlin. The second week, Paul Simon hosted and it turned into a long Paul Simon special, including a reunion concert with Art Garfunkel. The third week, with Reiner, it actually began to look like a sketch comedy show.

There are some nice moments in there. Andy Kaufman does his "Pop Goes the Weasel" routine. John Belushi does his Joe Cocker impression. Near the end, there's a brilliant film by Albert Brooks in which he attempts to perform open-heart surgery on someone.

The Brooks film was the subject of much upset. He was contracted to produce films of a certain length and that week, he handed in one that was more than double the agreed-upon running time. No one at SNL questioned its cleverness but already, they were beginning to sense that long film pieces did not work on a live show, and members of the cast and writing staff resented that Brooks was usurping so much of their screen time.

There was a strong push to chop it down or even dump it but the host, Mr. Reiner, was one of Brooks's closest friends and he insisted it air without cuts…which it did. The whole matter pretty much soured the relationship between the show and Brooks, and one might note that after he delivered the remaining films on his contract, he disappeared from Saturday Night Live forever. He never appeared on it again, and has gone largely unmentioned in the various histories and retrospectives.

Anyway, you might want to catch the episode…or at least, Brooks trying to become a surgeon. It's buried at the end, right after a spot with the Muppets. Their "Land of Gorch" segments, though done live in the studio, were otherwise in the same category as the Brooks efforts — another good idea at the outset that didn't fit as the show found its form. As it did, everyone wanted to dump everything besides the host spots, the musical guests and the sketches. (John Belushi reportedly lobbied to dump the hosts and everything else that didn't feature John Belushi.)

I always thought it was a shame Jim Henson didn't do more with Gorch. The bits didn't fit into SNL but the characters were funny and oddly appealing. I'm guessing there was some contractual problem where he had to share revenues with NBC and/or Lorne Michaels, so he opted to invest his time and energy in projects he could own outright.

One other thing I should have mentioned about Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. If you want to research them on the Internet, it may help to remember that though they were two of the most important creators in comic book history, an amazing number of comic book fans and scholars cannot spell their names. Sometimes, it's Siegal. Sometimes, it's Schuster. Often, it's Siegal and Schuster, and there have been other permutations. I have a magazine here somewhere that says that Superman was created by Simon and Schuster.

Think I'm exaggerating? Take a look at this Google search.

This probably shouldn't bother me as much as it does…but I lived through the period when DC Comics pretended Jerry and Joe had never existed…when they even published histories of the character without mentioning their names. I recall vividly sitting in the Writers Guild Theater for an early screening of the 1978 Superman movie, which gave them their first on-screen "Created by" credit after Time-Warner management came to its senses and gave them that, plus pensions. I didn't particularly like the film but that moment in the credits — when their names came up and a huge cheer erupted from the audience — was one of the most thrilling moments I can recall spending in a movie house. Considering what it took to get those names on their creation, it seems like we oughta make an effort to spell them correctly.

(The story of how Jerry and Joe waged that battle, and how master cartoonist Jerry Robinson acted as their representative, is told in the new book by Gerard Jones, Men of Tomorrow, which I reviewed/plugged here.)

Spent all afternoon at the dentist having old, cracking fillings drilled out and replaced with new ones. This is about as much fun as…well, as spending all afternoon at the dentist having old, cracking fillings drilled out and replaced with new ones.

Came home to find the entire neighborhood was without electricity. I called up the Department of Water and Power to inquire if anyone had reported it (someone had) and to inquire as to when it might be restored. The lady on the phone gave me an answer that roughly translated to "Sometime between now and the next time the Red Sox are in the World Series." Her tone of voice seemed to favor the latter so I spent the next few hours trying to find a flashlight without dead batteries and wagering whether the power would be on before the Novocain wore off. The Novocain beat the electricity by about an hour. I'm going to hurriedly post a few things before it goes off again…

As a few of you may know, the families of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster have taken legal action to reclaim the copyright to Superman and certain allied characters. I think this is the most important news story to hit the comic book industry in decades but most of the sites that report on the business take the Jeff Gannon approach to news and just print press releases, so they're a lot more interested in who's signed a long-term contract to ink Iron Man. In fairness, some fans are more interested in that, too…but I think it's Big News. The business was largely founded on the success of Superman, and many companies thrived on the concept that you could lock up the rights to someone's idea, boot them out and then make all the money there was to be made off it. Because some decent folks at Time-Warner and DC Comics came to power, Siegel and Shuster did not live out their declining years in poverty and humiliation.

The two men received a respectable pension, and Jerry was at great peace the last time I saw him, which was only a few weeks before he passed away in 1996. Nevertheless, if he can see what's going on, I'm sure he's cheering on his widow and children as they pursue legal avenues that were not open to him for most of his lifetime.

As I said, a lot of the comic book community has not heard about this legal action, and some of what has circulated is in the Erroneous Rumor category. Some more of it has taken the form of panicked fans, worrying that Superman will be plucked out of the DC Universe, rupturing the precious continuity of the Legion of Super-Heroes or otherwise disrupting their collections. (It is highly unlikely that Superman will ever not be a Time-Warner property. The squabble is pretty much about how the super-millions of bucks the character grosses will be rewarded, and whether the saga of Siegel and Shuster will have a happier, albeit posthumous, ending.)

One of the few places where you can get solid info is the news site, Newsarama, where Matt Brady has been going beyond cut-and-pasting press handouts and filing stories like this one. Some of it's a bit complicated but Matt's presentation seems to be both fair and accurate, and I wanted to call your attention to it. Keep your eye on his site for further developments.