I enjoy watching Whose Line Is It Anyway? I don't think the improv is as unplanned as they make it out to be…especially whatever Drew Carey does at the end. But I find most of the performers to be very good at what they do. And no one's funnier than Colin Mochrie, subject of this website.

The Thing or the Hulk? I don't know and I don't care. But Frank Rich thinks he knows who's stronger than the Hulk: Harry Potter.

I'm watching a PBS Special at the moment with Craig Bierko, who starred in the revival of The Music Man on Broadway, performing "76 Trombones." I saw this show in New York and enjoyed it tremendously. But seeing him just now reminded me of one of the funniest things I've ever seen posted on the Internet. Odds are, most of you won't find this funny but I do and it's my weblog so I'm going to quote it here. This occurred on a theater newsgroup (rec.arts.theatre.musicals) in March of 2000. The Music Man revival was then pending and someone with an "in" to the production posted the following message…

I met a charming young lady this weekend — Cynthia Leigh Heim — who is in the ensemble of Music Man. She says Craig Bierko is terrific in the role and great to work with, and that Stroman's choreography is clever and tricky to execute. I asked for a "scoop" that I could post on RATM! She said that there will be a surprise at the curtain call which will be unlike any curtain call we've ever seen. She wouldn't tell me more, as they've been sworn to secrecy!

A few hours later, someone named Dave Barton posted the following in reply…

They will announce from the stage that everyone in the audience should look under their seats. 76 people will actually find trombones waiting for them. Each person with a trombone will then rise. Harold Hill will give them a 19 second lesson in the "Think Method," and then they will break into the score from Chicago.

I don't know why but that struck me as incredibly funny. I not only laughed for five minutes when I read it but later that year, sitting in the Neil Simon Theater watching the finale (which was, alas, not as Mr. Barton described) I remembered it and started laughing uncontrollably. I'm laughing now as I read it again. I'm not a well person.

Meanwhile, at this moment on the PBS Special, they have Barry Bostwick singing our National Anthem — and in the shot, you can clearly see a cue card person holding up the lyrics for him and changing the cards after each line. Now, I could sing this song from memory when I was seven years old and I have a hunch Mr. Bostwick knows the words. But every few years when some star is called upon to perform it on TV (usually live TV), they go blank and flub the words. (I once heard someone refer to it as "pulling a Robert Goulet.") It brings great ridicule along with letters and editorials that question the singer's patriotism and suggest that they go live in Russia. So I think performers have all learned: Yes, you're absolutely positive you know it and could do it in your sleep. But don't take any chances…

Hope you're having a safe and sane Fourth.

On Monday, TV Land is rerunning one of my favorite episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show (as you know, is one of my favorite TV shows). The episode in question is "The Masterpiece," which is the one where Rob and Laura accidentally purchase a painting by the great artist, Artanis, at an auction. It's a funny tale but interest is enhanced by the presence of two great comic actors, both of whom also distinguised themselves in the world of cartoon voicing. The auctioneer is played by Alan Reed, better known to all as the voice of Fred Flintstone. And the art expert who comes to examine the Artanis is the wonderful Howie Morris. In 1963 when he filmed this guest appearance, he was also directing episodes of the Van Dyke program, guesting occasionally on The Andy Griffith Show — as the uneducated Ernest T. Bass) — and doing many other on-camera roles. (The same year, he appeared in an episode of The Twilight Zone, and in the immortal Jerry Lewis film, The Nutty Professor.) In addition to all that, he was doing voices for Hanna-Barbera on The Flintstones and Magilla Gorilla. He claims his first job for H-B was the episode of The Jetsons where he played rock star Jet Screamer and sang, "Eep Op Ork." A lovely man.

Also: On Wednesday, TV Land is rerunning an episode of Fantasy Island with Phil Silvers as a has-been vaudevillian. I barely remember the episode from when it first aired in '78 but I recall feeling both sorry for his obviously-diminished energy, and pleased to see he was still able to deliver a performance. You may or may not want to watch. If you don't, I'll understand.

Yeah, I know I'm running way behind on these. So call a lawyer and sue me, sue me, what can you do me? Today, in honor of what day it is, I thought I'd link to a page over at the Washington Post that's full of drawings by and tributes to the late, great Herblock. I never quite "got" him on an individual basis; not until I studied the body of work and viewed it as the 50+ year chronicle of the American scene. He was a reporter first and a cartoonist second, and that's just fine. Here's the link.

How come no TV station on my DirecTV satellite dish is running the movie 1776 today? Not only does this mean I have to go downstairs and get the DVD but I can't recommend you tune in and watch one of my favorite movies. It's positively unAmerican.

Oh, well. Turner Classic Movies is running Yankee Doodle Dandy this evening, but that's really not about America. It's about watching Jimmy Cagney.

This article in the Los Angeles Times is headlined, "Slim Majority of Voters Backs Davis Recall." But aren't these polls pretty close to meaningless until such time as people see who else is going to be on the ballot? It's one thing to say you don't like the guy; another to say you'd prefer Candidate X. Once we know who we might be able to pick from to replace Davis, might he not look a lot better or worse to most voters? I don't think you can ever unseat an incumbent just by drumming up dislike of him. There has to be an alternative who could be a distinct improvement.

This is why I don't put much stock in these polls that tell us how much of the country would back Bush if the election were held tomorrow. They might be meaningful if the election were being held tomorrow but it isn't. By the time it is, the whole dynamic of the race will be different…including the possibility that some Democrat will have gained some real name recognition and made his case to the American people. I know that's looking increasingly unlikely but it just might happen. And if it does, it'll drive support for G.W.B. up or down depending on who that Democrat is and what that case is…and maybe even on where the economy and the war on terrorism stand at that moment.

But people love to read polls. So let's not let the fact that one whole side of the ballot is still a big Question Mark stop us from having a poll.

The other day, I posted a link to a column in which rabid left-winger Robert Scheer explained why Gray Davis should not be recalled. Here's a column from rabid right-winger Jonah Goldberg on why Gray Davis should not be recalled. Admittedly, their reasoning is a little different but they get to the same place, which happens to be where I'm at.

Go ahead. Find me another weblog that would link to both those guys. Can't be done.

Here's an interview with the CEO of the TiVo company.

Remember not long ago, we told you that the Journal American had removed Bill Bennett's name (and therefore, the punchline) from a Doonesbury strip? Well, over on The Doonesbury FAQ Page, Mr. Trudeau says it seems to have just been a printer's error. Who, apart from Bill Bennett, would have bet money on such a thing?

The Comic-Con International in San Diego is, as you know, July 17-20. If you're going, you might also like to know that the AccuWeather people are predicting clear and sunny skies for that period, with highs in the low eighties and lows in the high sixties.

Want to know where the Weapons of Mass Destruction are? Click here.

The great figure model Bettie Page has avoided public appearances for the last few decades, largely because she felt her many fans would prefer to remember her as she was. If you'd like to maintain that fantasy, don't peek at the issue of Playboy that's currently on-sale. On page 11, there's a batch of photos from one of Hef's near-daily birthday parties. The pictures aren't very large but one of them does have a recent, clothed shot of Ms. Page, who looks damn good for eighty. (If you'd like to see her in her prime, www.bettiepage.com has a load of them, plus merchandise one can purchase of the lady. Over the years, she's been ruthlessly exploited and ripped-off by an awful lot of sleazy publishers and entrepreneurs, so it's nice that she has the website where the cash goes to her.)

Have you got about a half-hour of your life that you want to throw away? I don't, but I got hooked on this anyway. Over on the Garfield website, you can wander around a haunted house and try to conquer Garfield's Scary Scavenger Hunt. But don't even click on that link unless you have the time to spare. You have been warned.

I'm not sure if it's morbid or a sad reminder or a nice bit of immortality but a lot of folks die and their website remains up and active. The website of my old pal Lorenzo Music is still operational almost two years after we lost him. The website of Buddy Hackett is of course still there — we only lost him a few days ago — and it provides us a chance to see some neat photos of him and to hear him sing "Shipoopi." (Though it's a little odd to see the pages that tell us he's fine, that he's retired and that he's taking a nap.) And I will also mention the website of Buddy's son, Sandy Hackett. Sandy's a popular comedian in Las Vegas and there's an e-mail link on his page if you want to send a condolence e-mail.